The Dooley genealogy of William M. and Minerva Morris Dooley and their descendants from 1869 through 1957 was compiled by Raymond Nelson Dooley in 1957. William and his brothers were born in Kentucky and came to McLean County in the 1850s. The family has been identified with the growth of this community and considered one of the pioneer families. This collection also contains accounts of local (great fire) and national (Spanish flu) catastrophic incidents of the early 1900s as examples of what was newsworthy during that time.
There are yearbooks and papers from high school graduating classes and reunions where the names of Dooley and Fairchild appear as well as in the genealogy. Some had academic achievement and went on to become educators. Family experiences through WWII were remembered through artifacts and letters. There are engagement announcements and wedding pictures. The business papers included here are mostly real estate and property transactions
The folders reflecting the scope of this collection include the Great Fire of 1900, Spanish Flu 1918, 1890s BHS Aegis, BHS class of 1923-40th reunion, BHS class of 1923-45th reunion, BHS Directory 1925-26, WWII classification, rationing cards, and letters, Adlai Stevenson III for Senator, poem, the Dooley Descendants Genealogy, scrapbooks, school papers, and family letters, newspaper clippings, legal and business documents of Jas. Piper for whom Geo. Parker kept books, and James Parker business and correspondence.