Chasing Dead Ancestors

Adventures in Genealogy with Ancestry.Com- Week 7 Newspapers, Etc

Written By: mic - Jun• 26•18

Newspapers

This database is a collection of birth, marriage, and death announcements from several major U.S. newspapers for a variety of years. Images of the original newspapers are included.

Source Information

Ancestry.com. Historical Newspapers, Birth, Marriage, & Death Announcements, 1851-2003 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

Original data:

The New York Times. New York, NY, USA: The New York Times, 1851-2001.

The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA, USA: The Los Angeles Times, 1881-1894.

The Boston Globe. Boston, MA, USA: The Boston Globe, 1872-1922.

The Chicago Defender. Chicago, IL, USA: The Chicago Defender, 1921-1975.

The Chicago Tribune. Chicago, IL, USA: The Chicago Tribune, 1850-1985.

The Hartford Courant. Hartford, CT, USA: The Hartford Courant, 1791-1942.

The Washington Post. Washington, D.C., USA: The Washington Post, 1877-1990.

The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, GA, USA: The Atlanta Constitution, 1868-1929.

 

About Historical Newspapers, Birth, Marriage, & Death Announcements, 1851-2003

Newspapers are great sources of vital information. They can be used to supplement and verify information found in other vital records and are especially useful as vital record substitutes when actual vital records are either inaccessible or non-existent. This database is a collection of birth, marriage, and death announcements for the following years and major newspapers:

  • The New York Times(1851-2003)
  • The Los Angeles Times(1881-1985)
  • The Boston Globe(1872-1923)
  • The Chicago Defender(Big Weekend and National Editions) (1921-1975)
  • The Chicago Tribune(1850-1985)
  • The Hartford Courant(1791-1942)
  • The Washington Post(1877-1990)
  • The Atlanta Constitution(1869-1929)

Note: There may not be records for all three vital events included in this database for each newspaper and year combination. Also, the above listed newspaper titles are the modern titles. Many newspapers have changed titles over the years and some of them included the words “weekly” or “daily” depending on how often it was printed. For example, the “Hartford Courant” used to be called the “Connecticut Courant.” You will see some of these historical titles in this database.

These newspapers were indexed using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. Search results will provide links to images of the original newspapers.

 

About U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-2018

The collection contains recent obituaries from hundreds of newspapers. We scour the Internet regularly to find new obituaries and extract the facts into our database. Where available we include the original URL link to the source information. As the internet is a changing medium, links may stop working over time.

The wealth of genealogical and biographical information to be found in an informative obituary certainly makes the effort of searching for one worthwhile. For many of our ancestors (and relatives), the obituary is the only “biographical sketch” that was ever devoted to that individual. In addition to names, dates, and places of birth, marriage, and death, the obituary often identifies relationships of the deceased as child, sibling, parent, grandparent, etc., to numerous other individuals. Obituaries may even suggest other documentation of an individual’s death – a death certificate in another county because the hospital was located there; church or cemetery records (by identifying the place of burial or the officiating minister); or records of a coroner’s inquest because the death was sudden or unexpected. And, of course, the wealth of detail in an informative obituary may open up many research avenues.

In an obituary search, it is necessary to investigate the files of all likely newspapers. It is impossible to know beforehand which, if any, paper is going to have the best or fullest obituary. Many cities have more than one paper and an obituary for a specific individual could appear in more than one place. Also, when considering possible obituary sources don’t just check in the community where the individual died – also check the community (or communities) where the individual lived. Many people in their later years go to live with children and often die far from where they spent most of their adult lives. But, if they still had connections with the home community, there is a good chance that an obituary will appear there, perhaps a more detailed one than will be found in the community of death, where that person was just a new or temporary resident. However, the opposite may also be true.

To search thoroughly for obituaries from past newspaper editions, the best approach is to use a variety of tools including Ancestry’s Obituary Collection, Ancestry’s Historical Newspapers collection, and offline research through local libraries and newspaper offices.

Taken from Chapter 12: Research in Newspapers, The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy by James L. Hansen; edited by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking (Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry Incorporated, 1997).

 

Publications

Collection Information

Family historians gather information from a wide variety of sources. This information may be raw data about our ancestors, tips on research in a particular area, historical articles, or details on record collections unique to that area. The use of periodicals to disseminate this type of information is not new. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, the publication of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, has been published since January 1847, and there are historical periodicals which predate this by several centuries. In genealogical periodicals you can expect to find extracts from records, how-to articles, as well as queries submitted by members seeking to connect with others who share their ancestral lines.

Millions of pages of information about our ancestors have been published in a wide variety of periodicals.

Most useful for finding specific information about specific individuals are the hundreds of historical and genealogical magazines that have been published over the last two centuries. Information found in articles in periodicals will often lead to the original sources used as a basis for compilation.

 

Search Tips

  • Search wide in local genealogical publications, including searches for cousins, siblings, in-laws and other family members. Information about a person’s extended family may provide clues that can help you in your research.
  • Many genealogical publications contain an index of names at the back Browse the index other possible relatives who may be mentioned in the same publication.

Search entire “Newspapers & Publications” Category    Results 1-25 of 1,493

  • Australia11
  • Canada24
  • Europe61
  • USA+1000
  • Africa1
  • Asia2
  • North America+1000
  • Oceania14

 

Maps-Gazetteers

Collection Information

Beyond knowing the name of the city or township where your ancestor lived, a good working knowledge of each location can be critical when it comes to knowing what records are available, where you can find them, why your ancestors made the choices they did. Mountains, lakes, rivers, and other natural hazards may have determined where your ancestor went to shop, worship, and take care of business. Maps and atlases give us a look at the lay of the land. Detailed maps may include other features like churches, cemeteries, government buildings, and in some cases even the names of property holders.

 

Gazetteers may include maps, but are primarily dictionaries of place names and contain descriptions of geographic features, transportation routes, and the economy of the area. They can also include historical information on seats of government, public institutions (e.g., prisons, schools, etc.), churches, and charitable institutions. Population statistics can give you a feel for the growth of an area and nativity.

Throughout history, boundaries and borders have been redrawn. Knowing where those lines fell during the life of your ancestor is an important part of family history.

Maps, atlases, and gazetteers can help us become familiar with the places where our ancestors lived, learn more about the environment they lived in, and what civil jurisdiction may hold the records they left behind.

 

Search Tips

  • This category can be searched by place name, but don’t overlook searching for your ancestor by name. You may find occasional mentions of people and some places were named for prominent citizens.
  • Many of the publication in this category are browsable. Use the browse links to scan the index and table of contents and get a feel for the types of details that are included in the publication.
  • To get a better feel for the maps and gazetteers available for your ancestor’s area, visit the Card Catalogand use the filters to select Maps, Atlases, & Gazetteers, and below to filter down to your ancestor’s location.

Featured data collections

 

Stories, Memories and Histories

Collection Information

This category includes thousands of rich collections of published resources that can add depth to your family history. Published family histories may link to your family lines and can include the names, birth, marriage, and death dates, relationships, as well as stories about that family. Although published family histories can contain errors, the clues they contain can lead you and greatly help your research process.

 

The biographical sketches and oral histories of other people may give insights into what life was like for your ancestor. You’ll also find a record of events that had a profound impact locally, but don’t merit a mention in other history books. If your ancestor had any interaction with the subject of a biography, you may even find a mention of him in the publication.

 

In addition to actual family histories in biographies, there are several indexes to genealogical and biographical materials, among which is the Biography & Genealogy Master Index (BGMI). This index can alert you to the existence of published biographical and genealogical materials that may not be available online.

 

Social and place histories will typically contain descriptions of geographic features, transportation routes, and the economy of the area. They can also include historical information on seats of government, public institutions (e.g., prisons, schools, etc.), churches, and charitable institutions. Migration patterns are often mentioned, particularly in relation to the settlement of the area.

 

Military histories can give you a unique look into your ancestor’s military service. While they may not mention your ancestor by name, they can include details about military battles and engagements, the daily routine, and conditions (e.g., weather, illness, food, supplies, etc.).

 

If your ancestor had noble or royal lineage, you may find a published genealogy within this category, as well as heraldry and coats of arms. Some publications include images of armorial bearings as well as descriptions and family history information.

The names and dates you find in records create the framework for your family history, and putting what you know into the context of history can help you get to know more about your ancestors.

Even in cases where your ancestor isn’t mentioned specifically, learning about local events, social conditions, and the lives of their contemporaries can fill in some of the blanks, give you a more well-rounded view and add interest to your family story.

Sample Images

Letter from Abraham Lincoln to Horace Greeley, from Abraham Lincoln Papers Sample page from The Jacoby family genealogy: a record of the descendants of the pioneer, Peter Jacoby of Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Search Tips

  • Through the Card Catalog, it’s easy to see what local histories are available geographically. Use the filters to select Stories, Memories & Histories and narrow your search to that collection. Next in “Filter by Location” select a country, state, and county to see what’s available for the area.
  • When searching for a person in these collections, start with just a surname. Exploring all of the matches for your surname in a local publication can lead you to other related families in the area.
  • Once you’ve located a title of interest, use the keyword search to find topics of interest. Use search terms like crop, church, school, epidemic, drought, fire, flood, a neighborhood name, or any other topic you’re interested in learning more about.
  • Try searching the local histories for a particular year of interest. For example, the year your ancestor moved away. You may find reference to an event that precipitated his departure.
  • Browsing the book is sometimes the most effective way to find what you’re looking for. For many of the titles on Ancestry, you’ll find links on the database search page directly to the table of contents, list of illustrations, individual chapters, and the index. These are often mirrored in the navigation bar of the Advanced Image Viewer. (Look in the blue bar above the navigation icons that says “Go to section.”)
  • Older databases may not include the advanced navigation, but it’s still possible to read the title just as you would a book, and even where pages don’t match up exactly, you can do the math to skip ahead to sections of interest.
  • Search wide in these collections, searching for the names of friends, neighbors, and associates of your ancestor. While your ancestor may not have warranted a mention, notes on an associate could shed light on your family story.
  • Use the stories you find in these publications and locate records to back up what you find. You may find “embellishments” in some published, family histories, local histories and biographies.

 

 

Historical Photos and Pictures

Millions of photographs have been added to Ancestry family trees by users who have indicated that their tree can be viewed by Ancestry members. In the “Public Member Photos and Scanned Documents” section at Ancestry, you can find photographs of individuals, families, homes, cemetery tombstones, and more. Additionally, millions of contributors have shared documents such as naturalization papers, marriage certificates, drawings, maps and other documents that may not be found elsewhere.

Search Tips

  • Search for the names of your ancestors and add a location. There may be a photograph of him or her attached to an online tree. You will be able to see photographs on Public Trees immediately. If you find an ancestor on a Private Tree, you can contact the tree owner through Ancestry messaging and request permission to view it.
  • Try entering a place or event in the keyword field to locate other types of images relevant to your family history.
  • If your ancestor served in the military, enter his military unit in the keyword field to see if there are any images available. This category has a large collection of Civil War photographs in particular.
  • Search this collection for the ship on which your ancestor sailed to America.

 

You can copy photos from public member trees by searching for photos directly or by searching through public family trees and finding photos attached to people in the tree.

Searching for photos directly or in public trees

https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Attaching-Photos-from-Public-Trees

Uploading Photos or Documents

https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Uploading-Media-to-Ancestry

You can add photos to your family tree from your phone

You to download the Ancestry app, available for iOS and Android, which has the functionality to take photos with your camera phone and add them to your family tree.  https://www.ancestry.com/cs/ancestry-app

Note: Ancestry’s Shoebox app is no longer valid. Photos saved in shoebox are still on your family page

About Library of Congress Photo Collection, 1840-2000

This database contains a collection of approximately 340,000 public domain photographs and prints. The pictures have been collected from a variety of sources and places but today are held by the U.S. Library of Congress’ Prints and Photographs Division. This database includes prints and photos from 11 collections contained within the Prints and Photograph Division. These collections are:

  • Bain Collection
  • Brady-Handy Collection
  • Detroit Publishing Company
  • Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information – Color Photographs
  • Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information – Black-and-White Negatives
  • Gottscho-Schleisner Collection
  • Miscellaneous Items in High Demand
  • National Child Labor Committee Collection
  • Photochrom Prints
  • Popular Graphic Arts
  • Stereograph Cards

 

This database covers the years 1840-2000 and contains photos and prints from throughout the world, however, the majority are from the U.S. You may search for a photo or print by year or place, and/or by using keywords or names that may be found in the title or notes sections of the pictures.

Note:   Info About Searching this Collection:

The original metadata that came with these images from the Library of Congress did not include fields for COUNTRY, STATE, or YEAR. To enhance usability, Ancestry.com has taken the extra step to extract these fields from the original metadata and has added them to both the record pages and searchable index. Where multiple results were extracted for COUNTRY, STATE and YEAR, every result was included in the respective field. For example, an image that lists both Texas and New York in the metadata would list both of these states in the STATE field. Although this may result in some false positive searches, the added fielding and search functionality will greatly enhance the user’s ability to locate relevant content across the collection.

 

About U.S., Historical Postcards

 

This database contains over 115,000 historical postcards with photos of places in the United States. Each postcard caption has been indexed and may be searched by keyword or location. The database also includes the city, county, state, and postcard era (estimated year range) for most postcards.

This database is primarily useful for obtaining a photograph or picture of a specific place in time. If you do not already have pictures of the places your ancestors lived, historical postcards are a good alternative to personal photos.

Help preserve historical records for generations to come. Join the Ancestry World Archives Project, a collaborative effort involving thousands of people around the world keying digital records to make them free for everyone. Anyone can join, and you decide how much time you’ll contribute – as little as 15 minutes helps. Learn more.

 

Related data collections

United Kingdom & Ireland Historical Postcards

This database contains over 19,000 historical postcards with photos of places in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Canada Historical Postcards

This database contains over 26,000 historical postcards with photos of places in Canada.

Germany & Austria Historical Postcards

This database contains over 25,000 historical postcards with photos of places in Germany and Austria.

Italy Historical Postcards

This database contains over 13,000 historical postcards with photos of places in Italy.

France Historical Postcards

This database contains over 46,000 historical postcards with photos of places in France.

Sweden Historical Postcards

This database contains over 1,000 historical postcards with photos of places in Sweden.

Public Member Photos & Scanned Documents

This database contains photos submitted to Ancestry family trees by users who have indicated that their tree can be viewed by all Ancestry members. These photos can change over time as users edit, remove, or otherwise modify the data in their trees. You can contact the owner of the tree to get more information.

Directories

Collection Information

Ancestry is home to an extensive collection of city and county directories, as well as telephone books, professional directories, church centennial books, school lists, and yearbooks. City and county directories typically contain entries for working family members and include name, occupation, and home and business addresses. Early phone books may contain similar information in addition to the phone number.

 

Church histories and records may include indexes to parish records and in some cases, actual church records. The collection also includes many church histories and centennial books, which can contain the names of members of the congregation, as well as historical background information on the origins of the church.

 

Also among the collections in this category are school alumni lists and yearbooks which can be rich in details about your ancestor’s school experience and may even include a photograph.

 

Professional directories most often list members of specific professions such as medicine or law. They often include biographical information and a short paragraph of the person’s history within the profession. Like professional directories, organizational directories are lists of a specialized nature such as names of university alumni or members of fraternities. They may include addresses as well as dates of birth and death.

Directories and member lists typically contain the name of the person and address, and in the case of city directories you will also learn their occupation.

These records are helpful in placing your ancestor in a specific location in a particular year. Other collections in this category include church histories, church records, alumni lists, yearbooks, professional directories, and phone books.

 

Narrow by Category

 

Featured data collections

 

 

 

Search Tips

  • City directories are very useful in tracking your ancestors’ residences in between census years. Ancestry’s directory collections cover cities in many countries. To find the city you need, try browsing the consolidated directory collection for the United Statesor use the filter options in the Card Catalog to find directories for a specific country or state.
  • If you can’t find a city directory for the small town where your ancestor lived, try checking directories of larger nearby cities to see whether your ancestor’s smaller town might have been included there.
  • Only search for your ancestor’s surname. Since the entries are alphabetical you’ll see all of the people with that surname and you don’t run the risk of missing your ancestor if his given name is abbreviated.
  • In collections that contain directory images, be sure to use both the browse and search functions. Browsing lets you view a directory page-by-page as you would if you were looking at the actual book. Check the table of contents to see what types of information were included. You may find street directories, lists of advertisements (which may include your ancestor’s business), lists of government officials, charitable organizations, churches, cemeteries, hotels, maps, and much more. The table of contents is your guide to the contents and using the page numbers found in the index, you can navigate easily to sections of interest.
  • Remember that many people share the same names, so when you find your ancestor in a city directory, be sure to use other sources like censuses or family records to confirm that the address and occupation match.
  • Once you’ve found your ancestor in a directory, take the time to look at the addresses and occupations of other people who share their surname. You might find relatives living in neighboring houses or working in the same industry.
  • Make a note of the name, date, and publisher of the city directories you review, and also the names you checked for. In some cities, multiple directories may have been published for the same year. If your ancestor isn’t listed in one directory, you may find them in another, so it’s important to keep a record of which directories you’ve already searched to keep from duplicating your research.
  • Widows are often noted as such, so by locating the last directory in which the husband appeared and the first directory listing the wife as “widow of” it’s possible to narrow down the husband’s date of death.
  • Once you’ve located an ancestor in a city directory, enter the street address (in quotes) into the keyword field. This will bring up other residents of that address, which may include in-laws and other family members.
  • Use the Card Catalog to search for collections like church histories, yearbooks, and alumni lists. Entering your ancestor’s town name in the keyword field and selecting the Directories and Member List category from the collections filter will help you zero in on collections of interest.

Narrow by Category

Featured data collections

View all in Card Catalog

More help

 

 

 

City Directories

Tips

 

  • Once you’ve located someone in a city directory, enter their street address in quotation marks into the keyword field of the Card Catalog to bring up other residents of that address.
  • Because directory records can place someone in a specific location in a particular year, they’re often especially useful in tracking a person’s whereabouts between census years.
  • If you have trouble finding someone, try searching by their last name only. Since the entries are alphabetical, you’ll be able to see all the people with that last name. If the peron’s first name is abbreviated, you should be able to find them by skimming through the entries with that surname.
  • It’s best not to rely solely on the names in directories, since many people share names. Cross-check addresses and occupations with information from censuses to ensure the name you find in a city directory matches your ancestor.
  • Multiple directories were sometime published for the same city in the same year; when you find one directory, check for more.
  • Widows are often noted as widows in city directories. Narrow down a husband’s date of death by locating the last directory in which the husband appeared and the first directory that lists the wife as a widow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

School Directories

 

Collection Information

Yearbooks, alumni lists, and other school related records can be rich in details about the people in your family tree. You can learn what clubs and activities family members took part in, and see photographs from their school years. Some yearbooks even include insights into the student and faculty’s personalities with quotes and comments. Yearbooks typically include individual photographs of the students, as well as activities, group shots, and school events.

Yearbooks, alumni lists, and other school related records can be rich in details about the people in your family tree.

You can learn what clubs and activities family members took part in, and see photographs from their school years. Some yearbooks even include insights into the student and faculty’s personalities with quotes and comments. Yearbooks typically include individual photographs of the students, as well as activities, group shots, and school events.

 

 

 

 

Featured data collections

 

 

 

Church Directories

Tips

 

  • Identify a denomination first, and use it in your search; church records are organized by denomination.
  • If marriage records don’t reveal a denomination (either because a marriage took place in a civil ceremony or because the denomination isn’t listed in marriage records), search for marriage records for siblings of the person you’re searching for.
  • Customarily, weddings took place in the bride’s church.
  • Look for clues in a family Bible, baptismal certificates, wedding announcements, organizational certificates, or obituaries to find church information by which to search. These documents can reveal the denomination, a church name, or the identity and title of the person officiating a religious ceremony.
  • If you have a hard time locating someone in church records, look for the names of clergy and search for clergy names to learn about the congregation.
  • A death certificate usually identifies the funeral home, and funeral home records usually list the name of the person who officiated a funeral, which may lead to a church.

 

 

 

 

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