Did you know that the Archives has a large collection of family history books? Pictured below is just a small portion of the back wall in our reading room that is full of family histories!
While some family histories may only have a single volume, there are others that are comprised of many items. One family with multiple books is the Blaisdell family. The image below is just a small sample.
In addition to Champaign County, the Blaisdells can be found across the country. Philadelphia was home to the Blaisdell Paper Pencil Company; one of their advertisements can be seen here.
In New York, Nesbitt Blaisdell, one of the many members of the family, was an actor that appeared in numerous stage productions, as well as television shows and movies. Needless to say, with so many members spread out across the county, there is a Blaisdell Family National Association (BNFA). The BNFA has various regional branches, with each branch holding a reunion annually or biennially. But wait, there’s more! The BNFA publication, the Blaisdell Papers, is the fifth oldest family history publication in the US. For those curious about what’s in the publication, the Archives has copies of the Blaisdell Papers from volumes 1-18.
Another very prominent local family that we have materials for are the Buseys. This family has ties to the area as far back as 1836, when Col. Matthew W. Busey and his wife, Elizabeth, came here. Pictured below is a portion of the Busey family history materials that are in our collection.
For those familiar with the history of the The Urbana Free Library, the name Samuel T. Busey probably rings a bell. The Library’s first building, which opened in 1918, was named the Samuel T. Busey Memorial Library. And it isn’t the only building in downtown Urbana that traces its history back to the Busey family. One block over from the Library, is Busey Bank. Samuel and his brother Simeon H. Busey are two of the men responsible for the founding of the original Busey Bank, known at the time as the Busey Bros. Bank. The materials that we have of the Buseys encompasses more than just those related to Samuel and Simeon. Looking at the image above, you can see that there are many other members of the family that have histories within our collection.
The histories of the Blaisdells and the Buseys are just a drop in the bucket of the family histories we have. If you’re interested in other items in our collection, or if you’re interested in donating your own family history materials, we encourage you to reach out to us.
-Shalini Smith
Archives Librarian