Nicodemus, Kansas: the History of America’s Black Towns
By Gena Philibert-Ortega on October 6, 2014
An article about Nicodemus, Kansas, a historic black town settled by African Americans at the end of Civil War Reconstruction... (Read More)
Baseball History: Thomson’s ‘Shot Heard ’Round the World’
By Tony Pettinato on October 3, 2014
It is a cliché to say that a ballclub is a “team of destiny,” but if anyone deserves that title it would be manager Leo Durocher’s 1951 New York Giants baseball team. That’s the club that won the National League pennant in the last inning of the last playoff game on Bobby Thomson’s three-run... (Read More)
Researching Recent Obituaries for All My ‘Mayflower’ Cousins
By Thomas Jay Kemp on October 2, 2014
There is more than one way to find your relatives in GenealogyBank’s massive archive of Recent Obituaries. I’ve noticed that genealogists often go to the Recent Obituaries collection when they are researching a specific relative that died in the past 40 years. They search, find them and go. But wait—there’s more. There is another... (Read More)
Massive Online U.S. Obituaries Project Will Make It Easier to Find Your Ancestors
By GenealogyBank on October 1, 2014
FamilySearch International (FamilySearch.org) and GenealogyBank (GenealogyBank.com) today announced an agreement to make over a billion records from historical obituaries searchable online. It will be the largest—and perhaps most significant—online U.S. historical records access initiative yet. Find out more at: https://www.genealogybank.com/family-search/ The tremendous undertaking will make a billion records from over 100 million U.S. newspaper... (Read More)
Your Uncle, My Uncle, Every American’s Uncle: Uncle Sam!
By Scott Phillips on September 30, 2014
In this article, Scott Phillips searches old newspapers to learn more about the origins and history of an American icon: Uncle Sam... (Read More)
The Crush, Texas Train Crash: a Bizarre and Deadly Spectacle
By Gena Philibert-Ortega on September 29, 2014
Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this blog post, Gena reads old newspaper articles to learn about a strange episode from the past: a fatal train crash that was deliberately staged in Texas in 1896 as a publicity stunt. Our ancestors experienced some strange... (Read More)
Old Obituary Tells War of 1812 Veteran’s Story
By Thomas Jay Kemp on September 26, 2014
Here is the old obituary of Captain Ambrose Spencer (1795-1814), a young man who fought and died fighting the British during the War of 1812. This obituary from the 1800s was a good newspaper research find. The veteran’s obituary was published in this Bennington, Vermont, newspaper because his brother John Canfield Spencer (1788-1855) was... (Read More)
Divorce Records in Newspapers: Genealogy Research Tips
By Scott Phillips on September 25, 2014
In this article, Scott Phillips describes how divorce announcements in old newspapers helped him fill in his family tree... (Read More)
Help Wanted-Female Classified Ads: Working Women Ancestors
By Gena Philibert-Ortega on September 24, 2014
Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this blog post, Gena shows how “Help Wanted-Female” ads in historical newspapers can help you learn more about the employment opportunities that were available to your women ancestors—and learn about the places and eras they lived in. What... (Read More)
