Wednesday, April 10, 2013

KVGS Adds New Collections

I'm pleased to announce that the Kalamazoo Valley Genealogical Society had added four new collections to their online database. Without further ado they are:

The Schoolcraft Express Obituaries, 1917-1972: These records come from a book held at the Kalamazoo Public Library (KPL) in which someone (or many someones, I imagine) typed up obituaries from the Schoolcraft Express. Thanks to the KVGS even those who cannot visit the KPL now have access to these records. The KVGS website notes that maiden names were included in the First Name search field so keep this in mind. Also be aware that obituaries for 1925 are missing. The page images are available through the website

Parsons' Business College, Class of 1901: These names come from a Photograph of the graduating class. The actual photograph is not on the KVGS website (that I noticed).

Applications for Veterans Burial Allotment: These applications were for “indigent,” honorably discharged military personnel (and their wives or widows) who had few assets to receive funds for their burials. This was a state program enacted in 1911 and amended as late as 1943, though I'm not certain of the exact year range of these records. The images are not available on the website. To learn more about these records I highly recommend you read the entry on the KVGS website.

Kalamazoo Columbian House, 1893 Chicago Exposition: So many people were expected to attend the 1893 Chicago World's Fair that more hotel space was needed to accommodate everyone. Several Kalamazoo businessmen came together to build a hotel for people from southwest Michigan (The Kalamazoo Columbian Home). Click here to learn more, including the names of those behind the project. These records contain the names of those who stayed at the hotel during the fair. Click on “Register Page” to view the images.


According to the KVGS website, the society is also working on indexing 1919 Kalamazoo county military naturalizations, 1847 Kalamazoo county militia tax (young men, non-head of household and non-property owners) and Kalamazoo's First Congregational Church, 1901.

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