| Notes |
- PREFACE TO THE REPRINT EDITION
The DeKalb County Historical Society is pleased to present this
printing of The Voters and Tax-Payers of DeKalb County, Illinois as
the third volume in its program to reprint important DeKalb County
histories and related publications.
Voters and Tax-Payers, perhaps the rarest of the DeKalb County
histories, was the second history of the county to be published. Pro
duced by a publishing company as a financial venture, it has a relatively
brief county history section that was drawn largely from Henry L.
Boies' History of DeKalb County, which had been published only eight
years before. The great value of Voters and Tax-Payers lies in its Bio
graphical Directory, which comprises more than half the volume. Un
like the publishers of subsequent 'biographical histories' who catered
largely to those individuals and families who could afford to pay for
the privilege of being "written up", the publishers of this volume say
in their Preface "[we] endeavored to get the names of all tax-payers
and voters. We have about 6,800 names, the vote being about 6,000,
which shows we could not have missed many."
Arranged by township, the entries in the Biographical Directory
generally include occupation; address, or, if a farmer, township section
and acreage; political and church affiliation; and state or country of
origin. Thus, this section offers the general reader a fascinating insight
into the early history of the county as expressed by the composition
of its inhabitants. The genealogist, now aided by the added Index, will
find this reprint edition of even greater value than the original edition.
The Publication Committee is highly appreciative of the work
that went into the preparation of the Index and is most grateful to Miss
Eileen W. Corrigan for the offer of the Index for inclusion in this
volume.
Note should be taken of the fact that some will recognize this
publication as The Tax-Pa_vers and Voters of DeKalb County, Illinois.
That title, stamped on both the front cover and the spine of the original
edition, is a transposed version of the title on the title page. It may be
presumed that the transposition was due to carelessness on the part
of the bindery. Following standard library practice, we have used the
title that appears on the title page.
The DeKalb County Historical Society
Publications Committee:
Charles C. Hunt
J. Joseph Bauxar
Patricia D. Canon
January 1977
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