{"id":30065,"date":"2018-03-26T11:40:26","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T15:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=30065"},"modified":"2025-03-31T11:35:55","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T15:35:55","slug":"genealogy-101-newspaper-articles-that-reveal-her-maiden-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/genealogy-101-newspaper-articles-that-reveal-her-maiden-name.html","title":{"rendered":"Genealogy 101: Newspaper Articles That Reveal Her Maiden Name"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article \u2013 to celebrate Women\u2019s History Month \u2013 Gena Philibert-Ortega shows how newspaper articles can help break through a brick wall common in researching female ancestors: finding her maiden name. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.<\/span>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the most frustrating problems genealogists have in their search for a female ancestor is not being able to find her maiden name. Without a maiden name we can\u2019t continue our research and connect her with her parents, grandparents, and past generations. Fortunately, newspapers can help with this problem. Some newspaper articles, searched by her married surname, can provide you with her maiden name. What newspaper articles do this? Consider some of the following examples.<\/p>\n

Marriage License Applications<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not unusual for newspapers to list county marriage license applications. In some cases, at the very least, these simple lists provide the name of the perspective bride and the groom. Always remember that a marriage license does not necessarily mean the couple went through with the wedding. Depending on the time period, a waiting period may have been required between obtaining the license and the actual wedding ceremony. Those few days were long enough for a nervous bride or groom to have a change of heart.<\/p>\n

\"Marriage<\/a>
San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, California), 6 October 1927, page 10<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The above example from the San Francisco Chronicle<\/em> not only provides the names of the couples, but their ages and street addresses as well. Contrast that with this Springfield Union<\/em> article that includes occupations.<\/p>\n

\"Marriage<\/a>
Springfield Union (Springfield, Massachusetts), 25 September 1912, page 11<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her Parents\u2019 Milestone Events<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, I know you\u2019re saying to yourself: \u201cGena! I don\u2019t know her maiden name, so how can I find articles about her parents?\u201d Milestone events like a 25th or 50th wedding anniversary, a significant birthday, or a family reunion often list children or other relatives attending the event. Because she, and possibly her husband, would be identified by her married name, you can search by that name to find these articles. Read the newspaper article carefully for the names of her parents, siblings, where the family is from, and other information that might shed light on her younger years.<\/p>\n

This example from the Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em> provides the married names of the Insingers. The newspaper reports on the Insinger family reunion honoring Albert and Anna Insinger and the 61st anniversary of their arrival in the United States. They enjoyed the company of 60 guests including their daughters Mrs. Lena Kreig and Mrs. Elizabeth Goodrich.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 9 November 1909, page 7<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Family Obituaries<\/strong><\/p>\n

An obituary of a parent, a brother, or an unmarried sister might provide the maiden name you\u2019ve been searching for. Obituaries often list survivors of the deceased, and this can include children and siblings.<\/p>\n

This example from the Caledonian<\/em> is unfortunate in that it doesn\u2019t provide much information about the deceased \u2013 but anyone looking for the maiden name of the deceased\u2019s daughter, Mrs. Richard Eastman of Brooklyn, New York, would learn that she was the daughter of Judge E. A. and Louisa Parks.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Caledonian (St. Johnsbury, Vermont), 18 June 1891, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her Milestone Events<\/strong><\/p>\n

Was she married for 25+ years? Did she live a nice, long life? Those life events result in newspaper articles. Often those newspaper articles include background information about the person, including the names of their parents or a maiden name \u2013 as in this example from the Kalamazoo Gazette<\/em> with the announcement of the 50th wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Dobbin. The last paragraph reveals that Mrs. Peter Dobbin was the former Mary J. Atwell.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Kalamazoo Gazette (Kalamazoo, Michigan), 22 August 1920, page 12<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her Obituary<\/strong><\/p>\n

It may seem like a long shot, but her obituary may provide you the answer you need. A listing of her brothers, never-married sisters, or other paternal family members will provide you the maiden surname you seek. Remember that obituaries are always a good source for information that should be further researched.<\/p>\n

In this example from the Boston News-Letter<\/em>, the deceased\u2019s parents are not only named but so too are her mother\u2019s parents! 93-year-old Mrs. Elizabeth Paybody is listed as the daughter of John Alden, Esq., and his wife Priscilla, who was the daughter of William Mullins. What a treasure for a family historian to find!<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston News-Letter (Boston, Massachusetts), 17 June 1717, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Obviously, not all obituaries for women are going to be this great \u2013 but you should always check for an obituary to see what information it may hold.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Her Maiden Name?<\/strong><\/p>\n

While not knowing the maiden name of a female ancestor may be frustrating, you can in some cases find it by searching for her by her married name. Don\u2019t forget to also search for her by her husband\u2019s complete name (a.k.a., Mrs. John Smith).<\/p>\n

Have you found a female ancestor\u2019s maiden name using historical newspapers? Share your story with us in the comments section below.<\/p>\n

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega shows how newspaper articles can help you discover your female ancestor\u2019s hard-to-find maiden name.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":30105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12701],"tags":[6215,3384,12,2719,6575,2020],"class_list":["post-30065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-female-ancestors","tag-ancestor-name-research","tag-female-ancestors","tag-genealogy","tag-genealogy-search-tips","tag-maiden-names","tag-newspaper-archives"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/photo-1018-2016-featured-graphic-classroom-2.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30065"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102380,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30065\/revisions\/102380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}