Welcome to the Bourbonnais Grove Historical Society
The Bourbonnais Grove Historical Society holds meetings on the first Thursday of each month except January, February and holidays. Meetings are held at the George R. Letourneau Home Museum on 698 Stratford Drive East and Route 102 in Bourbonnais. Each meeting begins at 7:00 pm. Members and the general public are invited to attend.
Call (815)933-6452 for any changes.
The Kankakee County Museum staff need artifacts for an upcoming "French Connection" exhibit at the Stone Barn in Kankakee, IL. If you have an item or items to donate or lend to the museum that relate(s) to your French or French-Canadian ancestory, please contact Connie Licon or Nancy Addison at the Kankakee County Musem (815 932-5279).
Members receive a biannual newsletter, Le Journal du Village (read past issues by clicking the "Le Journal du Village" link at left), pertaining to local history. Members also receive notice and invitation to all meetings and the annual dinner. Membership dollars provide the crucial support needed to keep the museum doors open! Please consider joining! To become a member of the Bourbonnais Grove Historical Society, please go to the "Contact Us" page or "Membership & Events" page to send the relevant information. The French-Canadian Interview Project ("Fr-Can Interview Project" page) presents internet web pages which include video clips, photo galleries, family trees, and biographies of eighteen individuals from the Bourbonnais, Kankakee, and northeastern Illinois area. In addition to the family histories, the web pages include French-Canadian recipes, maps, and links to related web sites. Please visit the new Bourbonnais Grove Historical Society Facebook site at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bourbonnais-Grove-Historical-Society/361834132796 .
George R. Letourneau, a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln, was the only person to have been village president (first) of Bourbonnais and to also later have been mayor of the city of Kankakee. Letourneau was also a county coroner, county sheriff and state senator. George & Elodie (Langlois) Letourneau raised twelve children. He, his sons, and grandson are shown above. 