..Sometime in 1992, I was on a business trip to Central Illinois. I decided I would drive through Melvin, where my father Frederick Eaton had been born. To my amazement, Melvin's small library in the downtown district was open. I chatted with the librarian on duty about my Eaton family and asked if there was a gazateer or other biographical information on the Eaton family available. As I was asking the question, a local farmer burst through the front door. He was carrying a book and he had overheard the question I had just asked the librarian. "Maybe, this book is what you're looking for", he said. "My mother died a couple of weeks ago and I was cleaning out her attic. I don't have any use for this, so thought I would give it to the library".

The unknown farmer and I then poured over the entries in The Ford Co. Gazeteer. Sure enough, he had exactly what I wanted.

So much for the Dewey decimal system. If you are doing family history research in Ford County, just wait around at the Melvin library long enough and ask about your family when someone comes through the door.