Today, I visited the Cordova, Illinois library looking for an obituary for my great uncle William Thompson's first wife Mahala Jane Durbin (1907-1972). I found while researching online that the Cordova Public Library had an obituary collection and the collection included an obituary for Mahala. Unfortunately no one knew anything about an obituary collection. The good news was that the library had published a history and genealogy book, "Cordova Illinois Then & Now Revisited 1836-1976-2001". Its a 125th anniversary commemorative publication of the town. In the book there are 5 pages about Mahala Durbin's family and even pictures of Mahala when she was young. What a find! The book was free and it contains 346 pages of family information and local history.
Cordova is located in Rock Island County on the banks of the Mississippi River. It's a neighboring county of Whiteside where most of my ancestors lived. At one time people would travel up and down rivers much like we do today on highways. I've learned that it's always a good idea to check neighboring towns for ancestors. So one of my goals has been to learn more about towns in my area. Cordova is one of the towns that I didn't know very much about so I was thrilled to find this book.
I may not have found what I was looking for today but to me the book is far more valuable than an obituary would ever be. It contains a wealth of information on local history and the photographs are really priceless.
I haven't given up on finding Mahala Jane Durbin's obituary. It's just going to take a little more researching. Stay tuned...
Link of Interest: http://cordova.lib.il.us/roots.htm
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