RHC/RC. Regional Collections
Record Group Term
Identifier: RHC/RC
The Regional Collections include original manuscripts and records generated by private individuals, institutions, and organizations from throughout the eighteen northern Illinois counties. The collections span the period from 1800 to the present and focus on several major themes in the region's history: agriculture, politics, ethnic heritage, commerce and industry, the role of women, and urban expansion. To provide documentation in these areas of interest the Center actively collects the historical records of farmers and their organizations, businesses and retail stores, state and local politicians, churches, cemeteries, civic agencies, individuals, women's organizations, and labor unions. In addition, the Center holds vertical file manuscripts, county and local histories, atlases and plat books, city directories, maps, broadsides, posters, photographs, oral histories, genealogical journals, and core reference printed materials on the history of northern Illinois that complement the manuscript collections.
Found in 9 Collections and/or Records:
Harry A. Joslyn Collection (DeKalb County)
Collection
Identifier: RHC-RC-183
Scope and Contents
The Harry A. Joslyn Collection (1860-1905) provides excellent documentation for the study of rural life in DeKalb County, Illinois during the second half of the nineteenth century. The bulk of the collection consists of a series of 39 diaries (1865-1905) written by Harry A. Joslyn of Cortland and Sycamore. Diaries for 1890 and 1891 are missing. Daily entries vary in length but generally include information on family life work activities, politics, weather, and social life.
Two additional...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1860-1905; Other: Date acquired: 08/08/1986
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
John P. Case Collection (Naperville)
Collection — Volume 1-2
Identifier: RHC-RC-086
Scope and Contents
The collection partially documents John P. Case’s private farm practices and his participation in the organization of the Pure Milk Association from 1922 to 1965. Records include correspondence, minutes, reports, publications, and financial data.
The major portion of the collection contains financial record books used by Case to measure his farm productivity over a given year. Included are tabulations of crop, livestock, labor, and operating receipts and expenses dating from 1922 to...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1922-1965; Other: Date acquired: 01/12/1980
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
Johnson Family Records (Rock Falls)
Collection
Identifier: RHC-RC-100
Scope and Contents
The Johnson Family Records document various Johnson family enterprises from 1877-1978. The bulk of this collection documents the business affairs of the Bernhard Johnson Mill and the Johnson family farm and trace the development and inter-relationship of these two agribusinesses. The daybooks, cash books, ledgers, and contract books contain a variety of interfiled information such as detailed records of farm and mill laborers (1894-1940); wholesale commodity prices; railroad freight...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1877-1978; Other: Date acquired: 06/23/1980
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
J.W. Sandrock Farm Records (Reynolds Township, Lee County)
Collection
Identifier: RHC-RC-233
Scope and Contents
The J.W. Sandrock Farm records date from 1937 to 1990 and contain reports for the farm located in Reynolds Township, Lee County, Illinois. There is a gap in the records from 1975 to 1988. The Farm Account Books include inventories, summaries, purchases, and sales of land, farm improvements, machinery and equipment, crops, and livestock. The Illinois Farm Business Records located in boxes 2 and 3 may also contain farm business analysis and annual reports of the Illinois Farm Bureau Farm...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1937-1992; Other: Date acquired: 07/09/1998
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
Lanan Family Farm Records (Kingston)
Collection — Volume 1-2
Identifier: RHC-RC-111
Scope and Contents
These records partially document the history of the Lanan Farm in Kingston, Illinois from 1848-1978. Although few records in this collection deal with the early history of the farm, several land indentures and grants provide details of farm land transfers in the mid-nineteenth century. The major series of the collection is a complete set of farm account books (1915-l978) detailing various business transactions of the Lanan farm. These volumes contain extensive information on annual...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1848-2006; Other: Date acquired: 09/16/1980
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
Nisbet Homestead Farm Records (DeKalb County)
Collection
Identifier: RHC-RC-216
Scope and Contents
The Nisbet Homestead Farm records document the establishment of the family homestead by Matthew Nisbet using property and mortgage deeds, and traces the homestead’s development into a recreational park and campground by Helen Nisbet-Roberts beginning in 1976. The collection contains two series. Series I, The Old Stone House, is arranged chronologically, and contains land purchase deeds, National Heritage Site information, and documents pertaining to the conversion of the homestead’s land...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1824-2009; Other: Majority of material found in 1860s-1990s; Other: Date acquired: 10/19/1993
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
Norris Family Collection (Kane County)
Collection
Identifier: RHC-RC-074
Scope and Contents
The Norris family collection partially documents life on the Norris family farm in Blackberry Township, Kane County, Illinois, from 1864-1932. The earliest record contained in the collection is a copy of the diary of Hiram Norris’ wife and son, Hannah Marcella Norris and Frank Young Norris (1864). The bulk of the remaining manuscript material pertains to the last quarter of the nineteenth century; two printed books were published in the 1920’s and 1930’s.
In addition to the diary, there...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1864-1932; Other: Date acquired: 08/01/1979
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
Putnam Family Collection (Harvard)
Collection
Identifier: RHC-RC-071
Scope and Contents
The Putnam Family Collection is a partial documentation of the breeding of Jersey cattle on the Russel E. Putman dairy farm in the 1940’s in Harvard, Illinois. Herd records, registration, awards, individual cow histories reveal important breeding data for these years. Included in the collection are related printed materials, an undated account ledger, and 4-H project records. Especially valuable in this regard is the Dairy Herd Improvement Association Herd Record Book. The researcher...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1940-1952; Other: Date acquired: 06/28/1979
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
Taylor Farm Records (Franklin Grove)
Collection
Identifier: RHC-RC-037
Scope and Contents
The Taylor Farm Records partially document the agricultural and household activities of the Lawrence Taylor family in Franklin Grove, Illinois from 1944 to 1977. Materials include personal and business correspondence, property sales records, legal documents, insurance records, estate documents, and livestock commodity invoices. Journals and ledgers record the family’s household and farm expenses and Mrs. Taylor’s diary relates information on her daily activities in 1964. Although...
Dates:
translation missing: en.enumerations.date_label.created: 1944-1977; Other: Date acquired: 08/25/1978
Found in:
Northern Illinois University
