Old newspapers provide the stories of our ancestors’ lives, helping to flesh out the names and dates on our family trees. What kind of family history can be found in historical newspapers? Let’s pick a typical, ordinary family and find out. For example, what can I discover about the Crofoot family that lived in... (Read More)
In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega writes about the young boys that served a crucial role in the American Civil War: drummer boys... (Read More)
American volunteers are out in cemeteries across the country, working to document the lives of bygone generations whose graves were not permanently marked with a tombstone. When these dedicated good Samaritans identify a veteran, the volunteers often request a headstone from the National Cemetery Administration which is part of the Department of Veterans Affairs.... (Read More)
Do you have an old family journal or diary from your ancestor? What are you doing with it? Curt Balmer transcribed his great-grandfather’s journal. The old journal is a record of John Balmer (1819-1898) and Margaret Ann (Carey) Balmer (1831-1890). The Balmers were born in Ireland and moved to Ontario, Canada. John’s journal recorded... (Read More)
In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega researches old newspaper articles to show how severe weather deeply affected our ancestors’ lives... (Read More)
The Reading Eagle (Reading, Pennsylvania) ran an interesting article about the dropping membership of the Berks County Genealogical Society. According to the article this local genealogical society is feeling the impact of dropping memberships at the same time interest in genealogy is soaring. Instead of joining local genealogical societies, new genealogists seem to be... (Read More)
Introduction: Mary Harrell-Sesniak is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background. In this guest blog post, Mary shows some of the unique historical maps that can be found in old newspapers, and proposes a fun “gencaching” game to find more of these maps. Some of the greatest tools of genealogical research... (Read More)
Bertha Welch (1883-1903) died 12 February 1903 from the complications of childbirth. A wooden tombstone for her was created and placed in historic Valley Brook Cemetery in Breckenridge, Colorado. This was the last legible wooden tombstone still standing in the historic Colorado cemetery, where it had been placed over 110 years ago. Then suddenly... (Read More)
Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this guest blog post, Gena searches old newspapers to investigate the murder mystery of Louise Bailey back in 1914. “If she is innocent, may God help her.” ~ Mrs. Duryea Imagine a story that involves jealousy, murder, and... (Read More)
