If you know of a newspaper clipping but can’t find it online, maybe it hasn’t been digitized. If so, a great place to find out what repositories have copies of it is at the Chronicling America site. I’ve been working on my Dickson family of Tennessee. A 1998 post on RootsWeb by David Walker mentioned an 1846 legal notice. The notice is in regards to the estate of my 4th great grandfather, James Dixon [or Dickson], and also mentions his son, my 3rd great grandfather, Joseph Dixon/Dickson. But, I could not find this article on any of the digital newspaper...
The 1910 census lists Elizabeth C Merrill, wife of Norman B Merrill, as a mother of 6 with 4 still living. I’m sure we all have families like this on our trees. We’d love to tell the stories of these “missing” children who both were born and died between census years. But, how can we locate them? One solution? Newspapers. What a wonderful source! And, it was newspapers that helped me locate the two “missing” children of Elizabeth and Norman B Merrill. The first newspaper article I found was dated November 25, 1902. It simply stated: The infant child of...
I’d like to make a “scrapbook” of newspaper clippings I’ve found that relate to my family. I’d like the clippings to LOOK like I clipped them out of the paper, but they always print out huge. Any suggestions? 50 Years Ago, The Express, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, 20 Jul 1967, page 1, column 4, digital image newspapers.com, (http://newspapers.com), accessed 12 Feb 2015 Thank you for your help! Dana
Have you ever looked for yourself in the newspaper? I always thought I was “never” in the newspaper – except the one time when, under my photo, the name was listed as actor “Dana Andrews” instead of “Dana Stewart!” So, I never looked for myself… until this weekend. Newspaperarchives.com carries the newspaper from the small town where I grew up. While digging around, I was pleasantly surprised to find four clippings where I was mentioned! Hospital Dismissal free from clipartlord.com When I was 5 I appear under the “dismissed from the hospital” column. My mom says it had to have been...
This week I had a breakthrough on my Snavely ancestors. I knew my 4x great grandfather, Jacob Coppenbarger (1769-1841) married Catherine Ann Snavely. But, Catherine Ann was the only Snavely I had found. My great aunt’s files had Catherine Ann’s father as “John Snavely” and said in the notes: His Will, proved 14 Mar 1826 in Smyth Co, VA (signed with a mark X). A lot of the info on his data and children was taken from his Will. Book 3: 186-187. Though I thought my great aunt was probably correct, I’d never seen a copy of the will. And,...
Today I came across this sad death notice for the half-sister of my great, great grandfather, Alexander Stewart. Before today, I only knew her maiden name, Ella Maud Stewart, and approximate birth year of 1870. But, then I found her Pennsylvania death record and, through it, found both her married name, Wagner, and date of death in 1910. It was signed by “J. P. Wagner” who I thought was likely her husband. I wasn’t able to find any marriage or any census records after she married, but then I came across this sad death notice… Altoona Tribune, Altoona, Pennsylvania, 16...
My great, great grandparents, Josiah Randolph Coppenbarger & Elizabeth (Bennett) Coppenbarger, lived in the small community of Ashton, Kansas near the Oklahoma border. In 1899, four of their children, including my great grandmother Myrtle Mae, were still living at home. I’m not sure where one son, Alva, was living, but their oldest daughter, Mary Ellen or “Ella,” was married and living nearby with her husband, D. V. Waggoner, and their 10-month-old baby, Floyd. Living in Tornado Alley, the family must have been accustomed to the fear of twisters. But, on the night of May 31st, those fears became reality as...
My great, great grandfather, Augustus L Merrill (or A. L. Merrill), was a census taker in 1900. In 1910, he was a census supervisor overseeing 4 counties and 180 enumerators in north central Pennsylvania. 1900 Census for Lock Haven, Clinton County, Pennsylvania Augustus L. Merrill, Enumerator (image from Ancestry.com) What did it take to be an enumerator? A. L. Merrill Opens Office, Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 16 Nov 1909, page 4, column 6, digital image newspapers.com, (http://newspapers.com), accessed 12 Feb 2015 I found a fairly lengthy article that describes the application process. These applications would be wonderful genealogy finds… if...
My great, great grandmother, Sarah Jane (Eastwood) Merrill, had evidently been ill for five years when a “marked change in her condition” took place. What was her very strange ailment? And, what occurred to make her feel better? Here’s the brief article I found: 50 Years Ago, The Express, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, 20 Jul 1967, page 1, column 4, digital image newspapers.com, (http://newspapers.com), accessed 12 Feb 2015 After five years’ illness, Mrs. A. L. Merrill was making good progress towards recovery. A marked change in her condition being after an attack of nausea, when she emitted an object which it...
My husband’s favorite Christmas movie is A Christmas Story in which Ralphie wants a BB gun but the adults all tell him, “You’ll shoot your eye out!” It’s taken me years to appreciate this movie, but now I look forward to seeing it every year. A few months ago, I found a newspaper clipping at newspapers.com which was a “Dear Santa” letter from my husband’s grand uncle (his grandmother’s brother). I was amused to see that this 7-year-old was also asking for a BB gun. But, he was also asking for things my husband’s other grandparents talked about getting at...
