Recently I corresponded with a researcher who had come up with a creative approach to answering a family history question. She just needed someone in Chicago to carry out her plan. I said, "Sure. I'll give it a try if it's okay with you if I blog about it." She said it was. What she knew: Her husband's ancestor's family was in Chicago in 1868. One of the family's children was baptized at Holy Family in 1873. The mother was listed in the 1880 New York census as a widow. Her questions: When did the father die? When did the family return to New York? The researcher had learned that Holy Family Parish School Tuition Records, 1865-1879 were available at the Loyola University Archives and Special Collections and she thought that at least one of the family's children would have been enrolled. Her hope was that the tuition records could help her zero in on when the family left Chicago. I called the Archives and made an appointment to visit. (
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