{"id":23735,"date":"2017-07-12T10:02:54","date_gmt":"2017-07-12T14:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=23735"},"modified":"2021-04-22T13:34:56","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T17:34:56","slug":"search-historical-obituaries-with-a-keyword-to-find-specific-family-information","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/search-historical-obituaries-with-a-keyword-to-find-specific-family-information.html","title":{"rendered":"Search Historical Obituaries with a Keyword to Find Specific Family Information"},"content":{"rendered":"

The past few months I\u2019ve enjoyed delving into my Mayflower ancestry and discovering new relatives who are also descendants of my Pilgrim grandparents. This research has led to articles about all seven of these Pilgrims, the last of which is Thomas Rogers<\/span> (1571-1621), my 10th great-grandfather.<\/p>\n

Thomas came to New England with his son Joseph, and the rest of his children came on later voyages. We have records of at least one of his other children, John, coming to Plymouth about 1630. Sadly, Thomas died the first winter in Plymouth, leaving his children orphans. According to FamilySearch<\/span>, both Joseph and John had children.<\/p>\n

Interested in learning more about other descendants that came through this line, I decided to search GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> for \u201cThomas Rogers\u201d with the keyword \u201cMayflower.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I decided to search specifically in GenealogyBank\u2019s \u201cHistorical Obituaries\u201d collection, as I\u2019ve had good luck in the past finding new relatives using those types of records.<\/p>\n

The first obituary of the search results was that of John H. Paine (1883-1962), a lawyer from Harwich, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank, Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts,) 2 July 1964, page 41<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

John was a former attorney, banker, land title administrator and justice of the peace in Harwich, and was a descendant of four Mayflower Pilgrims: William Brewster, Thomas Rogers, Stephen Hopkins, and William White. This means I am doubly related to him \u2013 William Brewster and Thomas Rogers are my ancestors, too.<\/p>\n

John Paine was very well-connected. A graduate of Boston University Law School, he served in many prestigious public service positions and was a member of several elite organizations in the Harwich community.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank, Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts), 2 July 1964, page 41<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article also gave me the name of his wife: Mildred Williams Paine<\/a> (1893-1985). Mildred and John had one child, Robert Valmer Paine (1921-1942)<\/a> , who was sadly killed in action in World War II.<\/p>\n

To find more details about John\u2019s life, I searched GenealogyBank with his name and the keyword \u201cHarwich.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the results of this search, I found that John\u2019s obituary also appeared in the Boston Record American<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank, Boston Record American (Boston, Massachusetts), 3 July 1964, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article gave me one other interesting detail about John\u2019s life: he edited a history of Harwich which was written by his father, Josiah Paine.<\/p>\n

By making a quick search of Google using the search: \u201chistory of Harwich, MA + Josiah Paine\u201d I was able to locate the book<\/a> in question.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Source: Google Books<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s a great day for genealogy!<\/p>\n

Genealogy Tip:<\/em><\/strong> Using keywords to search obituaries in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> can help you find specific articles about your family, or locate new relatives who share a common ancestor that you weren\u2019t aware of previously.<\/p>\n

Related Articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n