Jun 24
Old newspapers might be seen as trash by many people. But, to genealogists, they are a treasure! There are things you might be able to find in an old newspaper that simply aren't available anywhere else. You might find an ancestor's obituary, or an article about a baking contest she won. It is easy to see why MyHeritage decided to add 11 million pa...
Jun 9
Having newspapers that cover hometown news, events, families and individuals is a treasure chest for information. The University of Utah has placed online a long list of local newspapers; titled the 'Utah Digital Newspapers' from across Utah covering many different time frames. They have them from all the state's counties with some dating back to ...
May 23
Photographic images of our ancestors are priceless. They really provide some insight to the relative, not just a name and date. Seeing how they dressed, if they were holding any special object such as book, who else was in the photo, whether it was taken in a studio or outside their home or business ... all which gives a little more details about t...
Mar 9
The site 'SmallTownPapers' you have free access to more than 250 current small town newspapers in the United States. Look down the list of states and names of newspapers in that state available. From the newspaper's main page on the SmallTownPapers site, click the Scanned Archives tab and then the Browse icon to view the available years. Ne...
Feb 7
Using vintage newspapers from hometowns or neighboring communities, is so essential to gather information on individuals, families or towns when collecting data for your family tree. There are some key tips you should follow in doing newspaper research. First one, most important, write down the source, the name of the newspaper, the full d...
Jan 13
Using newspapers is very valuable resource in doing family history. Using Trove (National Library of Australia), will assist those who had ancestors living, visiting or working in Australia. However, just like all newspapers, they also carried news events / happenings in other countries. So any unusual or special events in the United States or Engl...
Oct 15
The many ways to express feelings and ideas - our ancestors of more than 100 years ago had quite a variety of phrases and sayings. Here are just a small sampling and where they were located in a newspaper of the day by Mary Harrell-Sesniak: It’s up to the lovesick youth to take his from a spoon. From Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 1 January ...
Sep 5
Every era has its own way of expressing emotions or events. Some of those regional or national expressions or slang words remain in present-day vocabulary, but most are dropped over the decades. The following are from newspapers during the 1800s (19th century). A few are a bit strange, but were considered accepted at the time. Here are some for...
Aug 13
Oh, it will happen ... you'll come across some information on an ancestor that might be seen as scandalous. Of course in today's standards versus decades ago, the news may not be that disgraceful. You want to backup with facts or proof anything you do find, never accept the first thing you find is correct. Once you do have all the proof do make...
Aug 7
You are busy collection and researching the vital records on your ancestors, did you ever spot some notation or phrase that made you break out into full blown laughter?? So where might you find such humor? Start by really examining what was written in an ancestor's Will. Many times the decease had the last word, by placing some unusual or strange ...