Claudia C. Breland - Searching For Your Ancestors in Historic Newspapers

Copyright 2014 Claudia C. Breland

Genealogy and Online Research

Gig Harbor, Washington

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without proper written permission from the author. The only exception is a reviewer; a reviewer may quote brief passages in a review

Title page image: The Omaha Sunday Bee, 6 February 1916; digital image; Chronicling America ( http://www.chroniclingamerica.loc.gov :

accessed 3 Sept. 2014).

ISBN-13: 978-1500407094

ISBN-10: 1500407097

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014915792

If youve done some research on your family history, and have never looked for your ancestors in historic newspapers, youre missing out on an important resource. Not only will newspapers provide missing names, dates, places, relationships and events, but they will also provide a glimpse into what your ancestors lives were like, in recent times and in the distant past.

No one needs to tell you that genealogy research has changed dramatically in the last few years. Thousands of pages of historic newspapers are being digitized and placed online. But if youve looked at those databases and havent found the names youre researching, you havent exhausted all the possibilities. What about the newspapers that exist only on microfilm? What about the libraries and historical societies that provide indexes (and sometimes scanned images) on their websites? What about the libraries that have card files filled with newspaper clippings? What about the finding aids that can tell you what newspapers were published in 1890 in the county or state your great-great-grandparents were from? What I hope to show you in this book is all the resources that are available for tracking down those newspaper articles. Newspapers carry more than just obituaries, and I have illustrated some of the fascinating items I have found in over forty years of research. There are obituaries, birth notices, marriage (and divorce) announcements, shipwrecks, family reunions, bankruptcies, crime reports, and wedding anniversaries.

Here you will find information about free genealogy databases, and a list of subscription websites and how to use them. I have provided a listing of the genealogy societies that include, as part of their membership benefits, remote access to some important resources such as Early American Newspapers or NewspaperArchive. For all the newspapers that are digitized and online, there are thousands more waiting on rolls of microfilm in libraries, archives and universities across the country. Ill tell you how you can find those, and how to order them through interlibrary loan. More and more public libraries are setting up Local History and Genealogy departments, and some of them are putting indexes to their local newspapers online. Most of these libraries and historical societies will provide a paper or scanned copy of the original newspaper article for free or a small fee.

The second part of this book is a state-by-state listing of the following:

• Libraries with newspaper indexes
• Genealogy societies with newspaper indexes
• Digitized newspaper collections
• Microfilmed newspaper collections

My main focus in this book is on U.S. resources, but Ive also included a chapter on International Newspaper collections. Get ready to make some new discoveries! If your main focus in finding a newspaper article about your ancestor is the obituary section, then you may be missing out on some wonderful news stories. Here is a sampling of some of the items you might look for: Discover from newspaper accounts what your ancestors personalities were like. Was he a scoundrel, or a pillar of the community? Was she friendly and outgoing, or reserved and quiet? Find detailed descriptions of flowery weddings and somber funerals. In both cases, discover some of the other family members who were in attendance.

Track down collateral descendants from the lists of relatives from out of town, attending family reunions and golden wedding anniversaries. Find announcements of birth, marriage, and death, not only for your direct ancestors, but their parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins. Confirm or disprove family stories. Many family stories have a grain of truth at the heart can you find it? Find announcements of bankruptcies, crimes committed and acquitted, and new businesses opening and closing. Read letters sent home from the front lines of historic wars. Were the soldiers being truthful about their experiences, or were they putting up a brave front for the sake of their families back home? Find announcements of wills being probated and people being taken to court.

Newspapers are fascinating, and we are continually drawn to reading the news seeing our own names in print, finding out who graduated and whos getting married, and whats happening in the world. Our ancestors were no different. These are just some of the types of articles you can find in newspapers: ObituariesBirth, Marriage and Death AnnouncementsDivorcesCrimes and CriminalsBankruptcy and Business Successes & FailuresShipwrecks and tales of those lost and those who survivedFamily ReunionsGolden Wedding AnniversariesOut of Town VisitorsLetters from the Home FrontOrganization and Society MeetingsWeather ReportsSocial HistoryLegal Notices

This obituary for Henry Smith in the Tacoma News Tribune of 19 March 1941 notes that he was born in England, and how long hed lived in Tacoma: Henry Albert Smith, Tacoma (WA) News Tribune, 19 March 1941, p.17, col. 4. Although Jonathan Dunham died in South Dakota, this article was published in his home town of Ithaca, New York. Jonathan Dunham, Ithaca (NY) Journal, 11 March 1914.

The supposed suicide of Mrs. Henry Jones was reported at great length in her hometown newspaper: Suicide, Hillsdale (MI) Standard, 5 June 1883, p.5, col. 2. Other newspapers around the state of Michigan reported on the coroners findings on this case. Death of Mrs. 4; digital image; GenealogyBank( http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 29 Aug 2014) A 1971 Seattle Times obituary for John McKenzie mentioned that he was a member of the Washington Scottish Pipe Band. 4; digital image; GenealogyBank( http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 29 Aug 2014) A 1971 Seattle Times obituary for John McKenzie mentioned that he was a member of the Washington Scottish Pipe Band.

Contacting that group resulted in receiving some photographs that his niece in Australia had never seen before. Always make a note of any organizations the deceased belonged to.