In 1930 Margaret Bonnell Watson, youngest child of Henry Bonnell and Amelia Mattox Bonnell, wrote a book about her family. She grew up in Griggsville, Pike County, Illinois and moved to the nearby town of Barry after she married.
She wrote about herself, her parents and each of her siblings. Her husband, William W. Watson, a retired newspaper publisher, typed it for her. She glued family photograph on blank pages. The book was bound by a book binder in Jacksonville, Illinois.
The book was treasured by her daughter, Margaret Watson Cooke, who made notes in it and transcribed obituaries and relevant newspaper articles. Her son Don (my cousin) is the current owner. He kindly let me scan it and I've been looking for an effective way to share it beyond copying it to a disc and sending it to people. I'd also like it preserved.
Brooke Schreier Ganz and ReclaimTheRecords.org showed me the way when they revealed their plans for sharing the data acquired: InternetArchive.org. According to their website, "The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was founded to build an Internet library. Its purposes include offering permanent access for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public to historical collections that exist in digital format."
Anyone can upload books to this site, so you can now read my great-grandmother's book on her family and look at all the photos she carefully preserved.
Just click on the link below and be patient. It's a big pdf file because of all the pictures.
