Newspapers are an excellent source of information for research. They could include: birth announcements, death announcements, obituaries, arrests, weddings, and so forth. In some newspapers, they publish community columns.
These columns included more than just town happenings. What could seem like mundane town business could be of interest if you know a relative belonged to a particular organization and the column may mention them by name. These community columns also used to include if someone in town: had a party, listing guests by name; if someone went out of town and who they were visiting; as well as if someone was in the hospital or otherwise infirmed. This can create connections and potential other family members.
Pay close attention to the guests of parties. The last names could be different if the women were married, but they still could be mother/daughter. Don’t count them out because it wasn’t what you were looking for. If you are having trouble finding relatives use the guest list as a “list of suspects” and search each of them to see if any of them pans out as a relative. You are looking for either a common parent or grandparent as they could be siblings or cousins.
Be sure to print out the newspaper article. This can add a fun touch if you are doing a scrapbook on the family. You may get lucky and pictures may be included. Either way, it makes a great addition to your research and should be printed out and kept in your file or binder. Make sure to include with it the relative information highlighted or notated in some way and a note with it as to the relation so if someone else looks at your research they will know why it was worthy of being printed out.
Happy researching!
These columns included more than just town happenings. What could seem like mundane town business could be of interest if you know a relative belonged to a particular organization and the column may mention them by name. These community columns also used to include if someone in town: had a party, listing guests by name; if someone went out of town and who they were visiting; as well as if someone was in the hospital or otherwise infirmed. This can create connections and potential other family members.
Pay close attention to the guests of parties. The last names could be different if the women were married, but they still could be mother/daughter. Don’t count them out because it wasn’t what you were looking for. If you are having trouble finding relatives use the guest list as a “list of suspects” and search each of them to see if any of them pans out as a relative. You are looking for either a common parent or grandparent as they could be siblings or cousins.
Be sure to print out the newspaper article. This can add a fun touch if you are doing a scrapbook on the family. You may get lucky and pictures may be included. Either way, it makes a great addition to your research and should be printed out and kept in your file or binder. Make sure to include with it the relative information highlighted or notated in some way and a note with it as to the relation so if someone else looks at your research they will know why it was worthy of being printed out.
Happy researching!
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