Idaho Statesman turns 145 years old!

Congratulations to the Idaho Statesman newspaper - it turned 145 years old yesterday!

Click Here to search the old pages of the Idaho Statesman 1864-1922 in GenealogyBank.

Read about the fall of Richmond and the ending of the Civil War; sift the paper for the old obituaries, marriage notices and birth announcements.

"But now everything has changed.
The once little village has been transformed to the big, modern city...

and I am sure were I to revisit your beautiful city,
I would be a veritable Rip Van Winkle."
G.B. Baldwin 20 Dec 1908 Idaho Statesman

Discover your heritage, preserve it and pass it on!

Be a part of GenealogyBank - Sign up Now.

Find and document your ancestors in GenealogyBank - the best source for old newspapers & documents on the planet.

Period!

The Old Cemetery - a tour in 1822

Newspaper articles can tell us about our ancestors and also the details of the cemeteries where they were buried.

"English names often startled us

as we walked through

the alleys of tombstones..."

(Photo: Craig Patik, 2000)

I found this article giving a detailed tour of the Père Lachaise Cemetery (Cimetière du Père-Lachaise) written in 1822 - one of the oldest and most visited cemeteries in Paris if not the world.

Click Here: to read the complete article published in the 30 April 1822 Eastern Argus (Portland, ME).

By foreign hands thy dying eyes were clos’d,

By foreign hands thy decent limbs compos’d,

By foreign hands thy humble grave adorn’d,

By strangers honour’d, and by strangers mourn’d!

Alexander Pope “Elegy To The Memory Of An Unfortunate Lady. 1717”

Discover your heritage, preserve it and pass it on!

Be a part of GenealogyBank - Sign up Now.

Find and document your ancestors in GenealogyBank - the best source for old newspapers & documents on the planet.

Period!

Marriage Announcements -

Get the most out of GenealogyBank!

(J. Stewart wedding - 1903, Nekoma, ND. LOC.gov)

Whether you're looking for a wedding announcement published on July 22, 1802, July 22, 1862 or July 22,1962 - GenealogyBank is your comprehensive source.

I didn't know that was in GenealogyBank!

(Dallas (TX) Morning News - 22 July 1962)
(Maine Eagle - 22 July 1802)
(Baltimore Sun - 22 July 1862)

TIP: Focus your search by the type of article - In this example limit your search to only the marriage notices. Click on the highlighted topic and only those articles will appear in your search.

Discover your heritage, preserve it and pass it on!

Be a part of GenealogyBank - Sign up Now.

Find and document your ancestors in GenealogyBank - the best source for old newspapers & documents on the planet.

Period!

Genealogy - Growing Even More Popular

"In ever increasing numbers ... genealogists becoming more numerous ... in every part of the country."

"Almost every large city has its own genealogical society."

That sounds like an article from today's newspaper - but it was written in 1912.

(Read the complete article - 16 Dec 1912 San Jose Mercury News).

But it is as true now as it was nearly 100 years ago when this article was written.

There are more genealogists now than every before.

Genealogists today as then are using the tools and data available to "do accurate and truthful genealogical research."

Genealogists then and now are working at two goals:

1. To accurately research, document and record the information on their extended family tree.

2. To preserve, disseminate and pass down that information to the rising generation.

Discover your heritage, preserve it and pass it on!

Be a part of GenealogyBank - Sign up Now.

Find and document your ancestors in GenealogyBank - the best source for old newspapers & documents on the planet.

Period!

Michelle Obama's - Slave Roots - Friendfield Plantation & Grover Cleveland

(CNN Photo of a slave cabin)

CNN has produced Tracking Michelle Obama's slave roots - a video tour of Friendfield Plantation in Georgetown, South Carolina - where Michelle Obama's 2nd Great-Grandfather James Robinson was a slave.

At least one President has been to Friendfield Plantation - in 1894 President Grover Cleveland hunted there. Read the complete news account - Bagged Twenty-Nine - The President's Fine Shooting on the Second Day Out - 19 Dec 1894 - State (SC)

(Illustration of Pres. Grover Cleveland hunting - from his book: Fishing and Shooting Sketches. NY: Outing Pub., 1906.)

Discover your heritage, preserve it and pass it on!

Be a part of GenealogyBank - Sign up Now.

Find and document your ancestors in GenealogyBank - the best source for old newspapers & documents on the planet.

Period!
.

African American Funeral Program Collection Online

Hat's off to the: East Central Georgia Regional Library. They have put their African American Funeral Program Collection online.

This impressive collection has more than 1,000 funeral programs from the greater Augusta, Georgia area. They date from 1933 to 2008, with the bulk of the collection starting from 1960 to 2008.

According to the website:

The programs typically contain a photograph of the deceased, an obituary, a list of surviving relatives, and the order of service. The collection provides extensive genealogical information about the deceased, including birth and death dates, maiden names, names of relatives, past residences, and place of burial. Alongside this genealogical information, the obituaries provide a rich source of local history about African Americans. Many of the people included in this collection were prominent in their communities, and many were involved locally in the struggle for civil rights.

The African American Funeral Programs from the East Central Georgia Regional Library is a project of the Digital Library of Georgia in association with the East Central Georgia Regional Library as part of Georgia HomePLACE. The project is supported with federal LSTA funds administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.
.

Revolutionary War Graves List

Get the most out of GenealogyBank!

The annual reports of the DAR - Daughters of the American Revolution are in GenealogyBank. They were published annually as part of the US Serial Set.

I didn't know that was in GenealogyBank!

One of the important contributions that the DAR has made over the past 119 years is their effort to locate and document the grave of every soldier that served in the American Revolution.

Each year the DAR published the details of the soldier's graves that they had located the previous year.

It's a terrific resource for genealogists.

Discover your heritage, preserve it and pass it on!

Be a part of GenealogyBank - Sign up Now.

Find and document your ancestors in GenealogyBank - the best source for old newspapers & documents on the planet.

Period!

.

Deaths at the US Soldiers' Home - Washington, DC 1898-1899

Get the most out of GenealogyBank!

(Illustration - US Soldiers' Home - Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division - Digital ID: npcc 18971)

GenealogyBank has more than 250,000 historical documents and reports - like the Annual Reports of the War Department.

The War Department, like all US Government Agencies issues an annual report that includes the report of each of its component departments.

The 1899 report of the Secretary of War is 708 pages long - and it is packed with information for genealogists. (See: Date: 1899-12-04; Publication: Serial Set Vol. No. 3899, Session Vol. No.2; Report: H.Doc. 2 pt. 1)

For example - on pages 490-491 in the Annual Report of the Attending Surgeon of the US Soldiers' Home in Washington, DC is a list of the old soldiers that died at the Home in 1898-1899.

Discover your heritage, preserve it and pass it on!

Be a part of GenealogyBank - Sign up Now.

Find and document your ancestors in GenealogyBank - the best source for old newspapers & documents on the planet.

Period!
.

The Old Pioneers ...

Our town just celebrated "Old Home Days" - other towns call it Pioneer Day; Settler's Day - where the old stories are told and lives well lived remembered.

Towns across America will be celebrating their heritage this summer and newspapers will be interviewing the "old timers".

Newspapers are a good source for finding the interesting stories of what life was like when they settled in the area; their first job; the flood; the war; the successes and all of the other milestones in their lives.

Discover your heritage, preserve it and pass it on!

Be a part of GenealogyBank - Sign up Now.

Find and document your ancestors in
GenealogyBank - the best source for old newspapers on the planet.
Period!
.

Michael Jackson (1958 -2009) You'll Only Find Him on GenealogyBank's SSDI

If you're looking for Michael Jackson in the SSDI - you'll only find him on GenealogyBank's copy of the Social Security Death Index.

Why?

Because GenealogyBank is the ONLY site that updates the SSDI every week.

Be a part of GenealogyBank - Sign up Now.

Find and document your ancestors in GenealogyBank - the best source for old newspapers on the planet.

Period!

Thank you to Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak for alerting me.

.

Funerals

I attended a funeral today for an old family friend that we have known for over 44 years, Axel Ohrn. Seeing people I have not seen in decades Axel's funeral was a reunion as family and friends gathered from around the state of Connecticut to remember and honor him. He was 98 years old.

Newspapers over the past three centuries routinely carry obituaries and death notices that alert us that a person has died. They also routinely carry news accounts of the funerals themselves. GenealogyBank has more than 130 million obituaries, death notices, published funeral news accounts and sermons.

Here are some examples from the 29 May 1905 Montgomery (AL) Advertiser.

Prentis C. Randolph

Mary E. Finch

John Hunter Cobbs

In the 1700s and 1800s it was common for families to print a copy of the funeral sermon as a keepsake and remembrance of the deceased.

GenealogyBank has many funeral sermons online like this one printed in 1804 on the death of Jonathan Homer, Jr. (1783-1804).
.

California - Sutro Library Announces Closing Saturdays; Some Fridays

Sutro Library announces Friday, Saturday closing schedule.

The Sutro Library, the most extensive genealogy collection west of Salt Lake City and the San Francisco branch of the California State Library, announces changes in its days of operation. As of July 1, 2009, Saturday hours have been discontinued.

In compliance with the Governor's furlough order, Sutro Library will close three Fridays this month: July 10, 17, and 24.

Beginning August 1, 2009 and continuing until June 2010, the library will close the first, second, and third Fridays of each month.

Regular service hours for Sutro are Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding furlough Fridays and state holidays.

Sutro Library offers the most extensive genealogy collection west of Salt Lake City; a comprehensive local history collection; Adolph Sutro's rare book and manuscript collections; genealogical, family and local history catalogs; and special indexes, guides, and bibliographies. Library materials can be accessed through the California State Library's Main Catalog, and Sutro staff is available to assist in-house customers.

Items from the Sutro Library may be borrowed on interlibrary loan through local public libraries. For additional information or directions to the library, visit, phone (415) 731-4477, or e-mail. Laura Parker, Public Information Officer; California State Library; 900 N Street, Suite 300; Sacramento, CA 94237; (916) 651-6798.

You read it here first.

Here comes the bride ...

Newspaper marriage announcements can give you important clues for your family history.

Boston Journal - 2 May 1877

This one tells us where & when the marriage took place; the name of the minister; the names of the bride & groom and where they were from.

This marriage notice from the Public Ledger 23 March 1863 states that Mary A. Middleton was the second daughter of Robert C. Middleton and that Annie M. Smith was the youngest daughter of the late Col. Kenderton Smith.

Here is a good example of 4 Generations of a family gathering for a wedding.

(Boston Journal 12 July 1906).

And then there is this example of a wedding announcement that includes too much information. (Idaho Statesman 28 Oct 1922).

.

A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y

I am often asked: Do you have Canadian newspapers in GenealogyBank?

Well, no we don't - but that's not the question you want to ask. GenealogyBank has over 3,800 newspapers - all of them published in the United States - but it has several million articles, records and documents on Canadians.

Tip: I have been researching my family tree for 45 years and I can tell you that you'll find the information on your family where you least expect to find it.

Here's a wedding announcement for Alexander James Ross of Winnipeg, Manitoba and Mary Moore McArthur of Picton, Nova Scotia - they were married in Chicago 6 March 1882. (Inter Ocean 14 March 1882).

Newspapers were published - every day.
And every day editors had to fill the next day's paper & they wanted to sell papers.

So they pulled "news" from a wide circle of influence. Birth announcements, marriage announcements, and obituaries from small town and big city newspapers.

Just like CNN or Fox News - the daily newspapers had to fill their pages with hard news. News that people wanted to read and that would sell subscriptions.

If you are researching Canadian genealogy then
GenealogyBank is an essential online tool.

Eastport, Maine is a small town on the Maine coast right on the border with New Brunswick, Canada.

As you would expect the Eastport Sentinnel regularly carried birth, death and marriage announcements for individuals and families from the Canadian side of the border.

Look at this example of marriage notices published in the
29 March 1828 Eastport (ME) Sentinnel. Look at the places mentioned "Lubec" - "Dennysville" - "St. Andrews" - "Antigua" - "St. Stephens" and "Charlotte". Towns on both sides of the border. "Antigua" refers to the island nation of Antigua.

Nothing unusual here - just a typical day with a newspaper editor packing his paper with the information his readers wanted to read.

Just like GenealogyBank - everyday we pack in more resources that genealogists need and rely on. You're not finished with your research until you've searched the newspapers in GenealogyBank.
.

Daily New Mexican (Santa Fe, NM) newspaper 1871-1887

GenealogyBank has added the Daily New Mexican (Santa Fe, NM) 1871-1887.

GenealogyBank has over 3,800 newspapers from all 50 States, going from 1690 to Today.

Search the Daily New Mexican for specific obituaries, marriage or birth announcements as well as news articles of the day.

I used to live in New Mexico and was interested to see the details avialable in the newspaper.

This obituary for Gentry Floyd caught my attention. The 1870 Census listed a "John" Floyd - living in Tierra Amarilla, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. It gives his age as 80 and states that he was born in Kentucky. (FamilySearchLabs.org)

This could be our "Gentry" Floyd. His obituary gives more details of his life and death.

That he was born in 1798 in Christian County, Kentucky; joined the Christian Church and was baptized by Alexander Campbell who founded that church. That he taught school at the Indian Pueblo.

(Daily New Mexican, 1 March 1872)

.

.

GenealogyBank adds Dutchess Observer (Poughkeepsie, NY) Newspaper

GenealogyBank has added the Dutchess Observer - 1816-1821 - an historical newspaper published in Poughkeepsie, NY.

This early American newspaper includes local news, obituaries and birth announcements.

Click here & search this paper

Find and document your ancestors in GenealogyBank - the best source for old newspapers on the planet.

Period!

Jamaican historical documents being rescued

The British Library's Endangered Archives Programme reported this week that it has completed its Inventory of Archival Holdings in Jamaica - zeroing in on the records at greatest risk.

Manumission record. Jamaica Archives and Records Department

The report concentrated on manuscript genealogical resources most at risk, "specifically in the National Library of Jamaica and the Roman Catholic Chancery, as well as in the Elsa Goveia Reading Room at the University of the West Indies at Mona. Also targeted are the Jamaica Archives located in Spanish Town.

The physical condition of documents ranges from very poor to fair, with many documents crumbling and in danger of disappearing. The most urgent attention should be directed at the Chancery, which does not have a preservation department and is not a formal archive. There is concern within the Chancery at the decaying state of the documents and this initiative to digitize documents is welcomed."

When I print the article - it is too small. I can't read it. What do I do now?

A: Great question. GenealogyBank makes it easy to enlarge any page or article.

Newspapers over the past 4 centuries have been printed in all shapes and sizes. That is particularly true of Colonial American newspapers.

GenealogyBank captures each article and page and displays them for you online - making it easy for you to save them as an Adobe PDF document.

When you want print or save an article and you see that it is too small to be easily read - simply enlarge it using Adobe Acrobat.

Step One: Click on the PDF icon to open up the article as a PDF document.

Step Two: Use the zoom button to enlarge the article to the desired size.

Now you can easily read the article, copy, save or print it.

Look closely at this example - an account of the statue of King George III being torn down and made into bullets - Connecticut Journal 17 July 1776 page 1.
"On July 9, 1776, after the Declaration of Independence was read to the American army in New York City, the soldiers rushed to the foot of Broadway at the Bowling Green. As depicted in this engraving, they had the assistance of free Blacks or slaves in pulling down the statue of King George III. The lead statue was later brought to Connecticut, where it was made into bullets."

La Destruction de la statue royale a Nouvelle Yorck, Die zerstorung der konglichen bild saule zu Neu Yorck. Hand-colored etching. Paris: Chez Basset, ca. 1776. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (37)[Digital ID# ppmsca-17521]

GenealogyBank brings you:

▬ More Colonial American Newspapers than any other source
▬ Over 3,800 newspapers
▬ 1690 to Today

Join with us - sign up today.

It's a great day for genealogy.

Happy Independence Day!

Read about it - as it happened in GenealogyBank.

.

GenealogyBank adds more newspapers - 51 titles - 16 States

GenealogyBank announces that it has added newspaper backfiles for 51 newspapers from 16 States.

This major upgrade brings GenealogyBank to nearly 300 million articles, books and records from over 3,800 newspapers; 260,000 books/documents and other resources. An esitmated One Billion Names.

Click on the following links and start searching!

California
Colton. Chicano. 1 Issue. 5/10/1973
Los Angeles. Dos Republicas. 1 Issue. 1892-06-07
Los Angeles. Heraldo de Mexico. 27 Issues. 8/8/1918 to 11/1/1928
Oakland. Mundo. 36 Issues. 8/2/1973 to 4/2/1975

Colorado
Trinidad. Anunciador. 1 Issue. 9/9/1922

DC
Washington, DC. Daily National Intelligencer. 1,624 Issues. 1822-01-01 to 1884-12-31

Florida
Ybor City. Diario de Tampa. 6 Issues. 1/6/1909 to 1/30/1909

Georgia
Sparta. Farmer's Gazette*. 51 Issues. 1803-06-17 to 1807-08-08

Indiana
Indiana Harbour. Amigo del Hogar. 2 Issues. 5/29/1927 to 5/27/1928

Louisiana
Donaldsville. Donaldsonville Chief . 6/11/2008 to Today
New Orleans. Times Picayune. 528 Issues. 1861-05-01 to 1897-04-10

Maine
Eastport. Eastport Sentinel*. 555 Issues. 1818-08-31 to 1832-08-15

Maryland
Baltimore. Federal Gazette. 1,989 Issues. 1796-02-05 to 1823-11-08 Uniontown. Engine of Liberty & Uniontown Advertiser*. 73 Issues. 1813-10-21 to 1815-04-27

Massachusetts
Gloucester. Gloucester Telegraph. 1,597 Issues. 1827-01-01 to 1851-12-31
Springfield. Federal Spy*. 170 Issues. 1794-05-13 to 1804-05-29

Nebraska
Nebraska City. Nebraska City News-Press. 4/6/2009 to Today

New Mexico
Albuquerque. Opinion Publica. 1 Issue. 1893-01-21
Las Cruces. Eco del Valle. 5 Issues. 1/6/1906 to 2/13/1912
Las Cruces. Estrella. 12 Issues. 6/19/1915 to 2/21/1925
Las Cruces. Labrador. 12 Issues. 1897-11-21 to 9/1/1911
Las Cruces. Las Cruces Democrat. 1 Issue. 1892-03-09
Las Cruces. Mesilla Valley Bulletin. 1 Issue. 4/30/1937
Mountainair. Independent. 2 Issues. 4/20/1918 to 12/7/1918
Santa Fe. Daily New Mexican. 30 Issues. 1871-06-21 to 1875-01-30
Santa Fe. Santa Fe Weekly New Mexican and Livestock Journal. 1 Issue. 1895-12-26
Socorro. Defensor del Pueblo. 16 Issues. 1925-0-16 to 9/24/1937
Springer. Colfax County Stockman. 1 Issue. 12/10/1910
Springer. Estandarte de Springer. 124 Issues. 1890-07-03 to 1893-05-25

New York
Albany. Albany Evening Journal. 69 Issues. 1854-04-22 to 1874-06-30
Brooklyn. Espana Libre. 2 Issues. 2/7/1941 to 5/9/1941
New York. Doctrina de Marti. 30 Issues. 1896-07-25 to 1898-02-15
New York. Eco de Cuba. 3 Issues. 1855-06-22 to 1855-07-20
New York. Prensa. 1832 Issues. 7/19/1919 to 12/30/1929
Poughkeepsie. Dutchess Observer*. 60 Issues. 1816-07-24 to 1821-12-26
Sag Harbor. Frothingham's Long Island Herald*. 8 Issues. 1791-07-26 to 1798-03-12

Ohio
Chilliocothe. Fredonian*. 27 Issues. 1807-02-19 to 1819-06-10

Tennessee
Athens. Daily Post-Athenian. 3/28/2009 to Today
Newport. Newport Plain Talk. 7/1/1998 to Today

Texas
Brownsville. Cronista del Valle. 13 Issues. 2/21/1925 to 8/9/1927
Brownsville. Heraldo de Brownsville. 18 Issues. 7/21/1937 to 2/20/1940
Brownsville. Progreso. 1 Issue. 1876-05-07
Brownsville. Puerto. 1 Issue. 9/27/1958
Corpus Christi. Nueces County News. 1 Issue. 11/17/1938
El Paso. Atalaya Bautista: Semanario Evangelico Bautista. 8 Issues. 11/3/1910 to 1/21/1929
El Paso. Continental. 3 Issues. 10/17/1937 to 8/19/1938
El Paso. Monitor. 1 Issue. 1897-07-03
Kingsville. Notas de Kingsville. 2 Issues. 8/2/1951 to 11/11/1954
Laredo. Correo de Laredo. 2 Issues. 1892-02-11 to 1892-05-26
San Antonio. Bejareno. 2 Issues. 1855-08-18 to 1856-04-19
San Antonio. Prensa. 662 Issues. 2/13/1913 to 9/15/1916

* New titles are marked with the *

Find and document your ancestors in GenealogyBank - the best source for old newspapers on the planet.

Period!