Quarterly Name Indexes for Volumes 1–46 (1977–2023)

Pronunciation and handwriting influenced name spellings even though the family “always” spelled it one way. Old ledgers were often recopied opening a way to errors or omissions. Consider these search tips:

Search phonetic spellings of the name

• Kraus pronounced by a heavy-accented German might sound like Graus, Popp might sound like Bopp. The census taker, tax man, or city official may have written down what he heard–search phonetic name spellings.
• Double consonants might appear alone, e.g., Haman for Hamman. Notice how far apart these spellings are in a printed index? Search each variant. Use your browser’s Find tool to quickly locate part of a name.
• Substitute every vowel for others, e.g., Seibert, Siebert, Sibert, Syburt.
• The letter H might sound like, or be rendered as, an A or O, especially at the beginning of a surname; search these variations.

Handwriting  and other misinterpretations

• An English version of a name was sometimes substituted! King for Roy, Carpenter for Zimmermann, Morningstar for Morgenstern, Steven for Ettienne, Carl or Charles for Karl.
•  A modern handwritten L looked quite similar to the letter Germans used for B. Even an American L and S looked similar at times. Other often mistaken letters are c for e, n for u, u for a.
• Hyphenated surnames may be inverted; McKane might be M’ Kane or Mc Kane, and even transcribed as M. Kane; surnames with a space (La Chance) may be indexed as LaChance; St. Eve might be Saint Eve or Sainteve. 
• Special characters may or may not appear as the English language equivalent so search both versions. For example, Müller and Mueller.
• An r at the end of a word might look like an n, e.g., Brenner and Brennen. Search both spellings.
• Search electronic indexes for part of a word/surname.
• Make a list of variant spellings, working through these in every resource you search.

Targeted searches may be necessary

For example, say great-grandfather Morgan Park was a farmer during the 1870s. A site search and Quarterly Surname Index search for Park showed many hits, none of which applied to your Morgan Park. Since only a small portion of our collections are online … continue on!

• Since Mr. Park was a farmer, search our site for subjects or topics, e.g.,  farm or agricultur (a partial word) showed two new hits. Both hits refer to the “1870 Agricultural Census.”
• Right time period, but no Park on the pages. However, prior census research indicated Mr. Park lived in Mascoutah in 1880. Look at his neighbors at that time, then find them on the 1870 Agricultural Census.
• At last, a tantalizing clue but one that sought neighbors. A person, M. Part, farmed a few acres near Mascoutah. An abbreviated first name and misspelled surname “hid” him from view.
• Correlate more findings to solidify your case, for example, 1.) If indicated, search Deed or mortgage indexes, Some at the Belleville Public Library and IRAD, others at the county Recorder of Deeds. Addresses and links. Go beyond the index! Get copies of the original records.

Table of Contents

Though the article titles are included with the surname and business indexes, this resource shows the traditional format and identifies Quarterly issues that are free to members. Tip: use the site Search to find a topic or keyword, e.g., Cahokia, military, ucc. 

1-5     6-10     11-15     16-20     21-25     26-30     31-35     36-40     41- 45     46 – 50

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