Author Archives: SCblogger

Save the Date! Genealogy Night!

Have you been looking for your Great-great-aunt Ethel’s gravesite for so long, you suspect she’s still alive somewhere, snickering at your efforts to find her? We in the Special Collections Center of the Davenport Public Library understand.  And we are … Continue reading

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The Brilliant Wedding of Miss Lillian Hubers

Our September bride is Miss Lillian Hubers , daughter of William and Clara, who married William Edward Zuill in her parents’ home at 624 Scott Street on September 24, 1913. The bride’s father was the manager of the Rock Island … Continue reading

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A Hayward Moment

In honor of National Grandparents’ Day, which is held the first Sunday after Labor Day, we though we’d share this lovely Hostetler Studio photograph of William Phelps Kimball with his grandparents, Major Eugene Hayward and Ellen Phelps Hayward. Eugene B. … Continue reading

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Labor Day Closing!

Our library will be closed this Monday, September 2nd,  for Labor Day. If you were planing a Labor Day weekend trip to see us, we will be open Saturday, August 31st for your researching pleasure.  You could spend the next two days … Continue reading

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Solving the Mystery of Rebekah Wentz

Sometimes in genealogy, it seems that people have disappeared into thin air. That appeared to be the case of Rebekah (Rebecca) McMurtrey Wentz, widow of Colonel Augustus Wentz. When we featured Colonel Wentz in our blog post of November 11, … Continue reading

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Schmidt – Barr Wedding Memories: August 11, 1914

At noon on August 11, 1914, Belle Schmidt married Fred J. Barr at St. John’s Methodist Church, where they were both members. The Hostetler Studio took several photographs of the bride and groom and the wedding party. According to the … Continue reading

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Riverfront Development: August 5, 1912

The creation of the Davenport Levee commission in 1911 changed the face of the city’s waterfront. By 1912 sewer projects and a new levee wall were being installed. The above photo is dated August 5, 1912 and shows a sewer installation … Continue reading

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Closing the three-year-gap: 1947 – 1949 Abstracted Names

As our regular patron know, one of our Center’s best indexes for early twentieth-century newspaper announcements is the set of Abstracted Names from the Davenport, Iowa, Democrat (SC 977.769 Abs) which covers 1898 to 1946.  This resource was compiled by … Continue reading

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Main Street Branch Opening Late – July 27, 2013!

The Davenport Public Library – Main Street branch including the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections department will be opening at 1:00 p.m. this Saturday, July 27, 2013 due to the Bix 7 race that morning. Eastern and Fairmount branches will be open … Continue reading

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Living History Photos: Aluminum Drive July 24 – 25, 1941

While looking through our collections this week we came across this picture labelled “National Defense Program” Aluminum Drive – July 24 -25, 1941 We thought we would we share the memory. The photo appears to be of Boy Scouts and … Continue reading

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