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About Tom Kemp

Thomas Jay Kemp is the Director of Genealogy Products at GenealogyBank. Tom Kemp is an internationally known librarian and archivist – he is the author of over 35 genealogy books and hundreds of articles about genealogy and family history. He previously served as the Chair of the National Council of Library & Information Associations (Washington, DC) and as Library Director of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the New England Historic Genealogical Society. An active genealogist, he has been working on his own family history for 47 years. With the rapidly growing online archives at GenealogyBank – it is a great day for genealogy!

Finding My Relative’s Story: The Search for Madge E. Richmond

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The other day I asked myself: what can I realistically find about my relatives in GenealogyBank? How many details about my family can I discover?

So I decided to find out by searching GenealogyBank’s historical newspaper archives for a family member we know little about: Madge E. Richmond (1866-1942).

collage of newspaper articles about Madge Richmond

Collage of newspaper articles about Madge Richmond

Her Career as a Teacher

Madge Richmond was a teacher for 25 years; almost all of those years were spent teaching at the Technical High School in Springfield, Massachusetts.

photo of the entrance to the Technical High School in Springfield, Massachusetts

Photo: Technical High School, Springfield, Massachusetts. Credit: Temposenzatempo.

Beyond that we had the family traditions of her kindness, intellect and work ethic. We knew little else about her.

The family has two pictures of her—one as a young woman.

photo of Madge Richmond as a young woman

Credit: Portrait in possession of the family

The other picture of her was taken in the years after her retirement.

photo of Madge Richmond in her retirement years

Credit: Portrait in possession of the family

Madge Richmond was an “ordinary person”—your typical relative. She was beloved by the family and the school community where she worked, but otherwise she was an unknown person to the world at large.

What could I hope to discover about her in GenealogyBank?

Would newspapers have published anything about such a plain, ordinary person?

All of our relatives are special to us but—for the most part—unknown beyond our family and friends.

The Search for My Relative Begins

In my initial search on GenealogyBank I used only my relative’s name: Madge Richmond.

That first and last name search produced 331 record matches—far too many for me to sort through them all.

So I decided to try searching for my relative again, this time narrowing my search to only the newspapers in the New England states.

I did this simply by checking all the New England states on GenealogyBank’s newspaper search page.

Selecting New England states on GenealogyBank's newspaper search page

Selecting New England states on GenealogyBank’s newspaper search page

That refined search produced 80 search results.

OK—I can work with that. I began looking through the records.

Bang.

The very first record I opened was about was about her! Even better, the article included a photograph of her! It was her retirement notice in the local newspaper.

Will Retire Today, after Long Career in Public Schools, Springfield Republican newspaper article 19 June 1936

Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), 19 June 1936, page 6

Look at the last line in this newspaper article, a quote from the dedication of that year’s Tech School yearbook:

“To Madge Eleanor Richmond, whose steady poise, clear vision and wise judgment have distinguished her service in this school and have marked every association with faculty and students.”

So—now I know her middle name was “Eleanor.”

I’d always assumed her middle name was Eleanor—but now I have proof.

The old newspaper article explained that Madge was the head of the mathematics department, one of the most popular teachers at the school, and was retiring after teaching for nearly 25 years.

As I looked through more of the search results, I found dozens of mentions of Madge in news articles about school events, lists of faculty and the like. All of these stories, clues and little details I found in the newspaper archives helped me learn about a relative I didn’t know very well.

Here are some of the newspaper articles I found in GenealogyBank that gave me more of Madge’s life story.

These historical newspaper articles have given me a more complete picture of Madge’s life—and a very nice portrait of her.

Here are some of the key moments and events from her life, as captured in newspaper articles.

30 June 1911

newspaper article about Madge Richmond

“Miss Madge Eleanor Richmond was also elected teacher of mathematics in the technical high school. She has been a teacher in the Dover (N.H.) high school.”

Great. I knew she was a teacher in Springfield, Massachusetts, but I didn’t know that she was also a teacher in Dover, New Hampshire.

17 April 1914

newspaper article about Madge Richmond, Springfield Union 20 April 1914

Springfield Union (Springfield, Massachusetts), 20 April 1914, page 9

OK—here’s another fact new to me: Madge was principal of Ansonia High School (Ansonia, Connecticut) for 12 years prior to coming to Springfield.

July-August 1915

newspaper article about Madge Richmond, Springfield Daily News 12 July 1915

Springfield Daily News (Springfield, Massachusetts), 12 July 1915, page 4

More information: in the summer of 1915 she attended Cornell University.

4 July 1916

newspaper article about Madge Richmond, Springfield Republican 1 July 1916

Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), 1 July 1916, page 4

She liked Cornell so much that she and two friends went again the next year.

December 1917

newspaper article about Madge Richmond, Springfield Republican 30 December 1917

Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), 30 December 1917, page 8

She spent Christmas of 1917 with her brother and his wife: Dr. and Mrs. Allen Pierce Richmond of Dover, New Hampshire.

June-August 1919

newspaper article about Madge Richmond, Springfield Republican 27 June 1919

Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), 27 June 1919, page 3

newspaper article about Madge Richmond, Springfield Republican 29 August 1919

Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), 29 August 1919, page 4

In 1915 Madge attended the summer session at the University of Michigan. She also visited her brother Dr. A.P (Allen Pierce) Richmond in Dover, New Hampshire, and her sister Mrs. William Jordan (Abigail May Richmond) in Lisbon, Maine.

So, she also attended the University of Michigan.

That’s good to know.

15-16 November 1919

newspaper article about Madge Richmond, Springfield Republican 16 November 1919

Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), 16 November 1919, page 11

My grandmother— Madge’s niece—was an accountant at the American Optical Company in Southbridge, Massachusetts—and in Boston, Massachusetts?

I didn’t know that.

That’s a real find.

The social briefs in newspapers have been a real goldmine of information about Madge Richmond and the family!

21 May 1921

newspaper article about Madge Richmond, Springfield Republican 15 May 1921

Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), 15 May 1921, page 154

In 1921 she went to study at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

newspaper article about Madge Richmond, Springfield Republican 17 July 1921

Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), 17 July 1921, page 11

She left on 16 July 1921 for Colorado.

June 1929

newspaper article about Madge Richmond, Springfield Republican 23 June 1929

Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), 23 June 1929 page 36

In 1929 she would go down to St. Augustine, Florida, traveling through the Shenandoah Valley on the trip down and along the coast on the way back. She planned to stay at the St. Augustine Hotel.

January 1934

newspaper article about Madge Richmond, Springfield Republican 27 January 1934

Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), 27 January 1934, page 10

In 1934 she was named the Head of the Mathematics Department at Tech High School.

14 January 1942

Madge Richmond Dies in Hingham, Boston Herald newspaper obituary 20 January 1942

Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts), 20 January 1942, page 17.

Services in Hingham for Former Teacher, Boston Herald newspaper article 22 January 1942

Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts), 22 January 1942, page 21

newspaper article about Madge Richmond, Boston Herald 21 June 1942

Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts), 21 June 1942, page 23

And finally, in these three old newspaper articles, we learn of her death and the funeral arrangements.

That’s an incredible amount of genealogical and family history information I found in old newspaper articles—lots of stories, lots of details about her life—that have turned Madge Richmond from just another relative (with only name, birth and death dates) on the family tree into a member of the family that we know and understand better.

Dig into GenealogyBank’s newspaper archives to see what family history discoveries you can make and bring your family tree to life!

Get the Gift of New Genealogy Content like It’s Your B-day Every Day!

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Every day there are hundreds of thousands of reasons to celebrate at GenealogyBank. Four times each day we update and add more newspapers online. We update our holdings for over 3,000 of GenealogyBank’s more than 6,500 newspapers every day, providing more and more material to keep your family tree evergreen by helping you discover the stories of your ancestors’ lives. GenealogyBank’s online newspaper archives are the gift that keeps on giving to your family history!

Wow—let’s celebrate.

photo of a birthday cake

Credit: Wikipedia

In the next few weeks GenealogyBank will be adding the U.S. newspapers listed in the following chart. These upcoming newspaper additions provide great news coverage for genealogists researching their ancestry from California, New Jersey and North Carolina.

Wow—more reasons to celebrate! Every day is a great day for genealogy at GenealogyBank!

State City Newspaper

Start

End
California Oakland East Bay Express

2003

Current
New Jersey Cranford Cranford Chronicle, The: Web Edition Articles

2008

Current
New Jersey Flemington Hunterdon County Democrat: Web Edition Articles

2008

Current
New Jersey Somerville Messenger-Gazette, The: Web Edition Articles

2010

Current
North Carolina Highlands Highlander, The

2013

Current

1000s of Recent Illinois Obituaries & More Going Online!

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GenealogyBank is pleased to announce that obituaries from the newspapers in the following list are being added to our Recent Obituaries Collection. Note that we are adding thousands of recent Illinois obituaries from 58 newspapers so you are more likely to find your recently deceased Illinoisan relatives in GenealogyBank. These new obituaries provide fantastic coverage for the Chicago metro area.

Helen L. Pierce obituary, Landmark newspaper article 15 November 2012

Landmark (Holden, Massachusetts), 15 November 2012

Find and document your family—today.

Anniston Star (Anniston, AL)

  • Death Notices:  1/2/2008 – Current

Hunterdon County Democrat: Web Edition Articles (Flemington, NJ)

  • Obituaries:  08/07/2008 – Current

Messenger-Gazette: Web Edition Articles (Somerville, NJ)

  • Obituaries:  01/24/2010 – Current

Midland Daily News (Midland, MI)

  • Death Notices:  12/21/2004 – Current
  • Note:  Scattered earlier data also available; missing death notices 10/1/2008 through 7/5/2010

Post and Courier (Charleston, SC)

  • Death Notices:  12/02/2004 – Current

The following 58 titles are from the “My Suburban Life” group:

Addison Press (Addison, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Bartlett Press (Bartlett, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Batavia Republican (Batavia, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Bensenville Press (Bensenville, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Berkeley Suburban Life (Berkeley, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Berwyn Life (Berwyn, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Bloomingdale Press (Bloomingdale, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Broadview Suburban Life (Broadview, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Brookfield Suburban Life (Brookfield, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Burr Ridge Suburban Life (Burr Ridge, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Carol Stream Press (Carol Stream, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Cicero Life (Cicero, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Clarendon Hills Suburban Life (Clarendon Hills, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Countryside Suburban Life (Oak Brook, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Darien Suburban Life (Darien, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Downers Grove Reporter, The (Downers Grove, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Elmhurst Press (Elmhurst, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Farmside (Huntley, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Forest View Life (Forest View, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Geneva Republican (Geneva, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Glen Ellyn News (Glen Ellyn, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Glendale Heights Press (Glendale Heights, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Hanover Park Press (Hanover Park, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Hillside Suburban Life (Hillside, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Hinsdale Suburban Life (Hinsdale, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Hodgkins Suburban Life (Hodgkins, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Indian Head Park Suburban Life (Indian Head Park, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Itasca Press (Itasca, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

La Grange Park Suburban Life (La Grange Park, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Lemont Reporter Metropolitan (Lemont, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Lisle Reporter (Lisle, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Lombard Spectator, The (Lombard, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Lyons Suburban Life (Lyons, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

McCook Suburban Life (McCook, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Naperville Reporter (Naperville, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

North Riverside Suburban Life (North Riverside, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Oak Brook Suburban Life (Oak Brook, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Oakbrook Terrace Press (Oakbrook Terrace, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Reporter (Bolingbrook, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Riverside Suburban Life (Riverside, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Romeoville Reporter (Romeoville, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Roselle Press (Roselle, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

St. Charles Republican (St. Charles, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Stickney Life (Stickney, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Streamwood Press (Streamwood, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Villa Park Argus, The (Villa Park, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Warrenville Press (Warrenville, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Wayne Republican (Wayne, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

West Chicago Press (West Chicago, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Westchester Suburban Life (Westchester, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Western Springs Suburban Life (Western Springs, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Westmont Progress (Westmont, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Wheaton Leader (Wheaton, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Willow Springs Suburban Life (Willow Springs, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Willowbrook Suburban Life (Willowbrook, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Winfield Press, The (Saint Charles, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Wood Dale Press (Wood Dale, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Woodridge Reporter (Woodridge, IL)

  • Death Notices:  01/22/2008 – Current

Baylor University Anthropologists Use DNA to ID Missing Ancestors

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Hat’s off to Baylor University anthropologists who are undertaking an unusual project: identifying unknown persons buried along the Texas border.

photo of Baylor University anthropologists investigating unmarked graves along Texas border

Credit: Dlcia Lopez, The Monitor (McAllen, Texas)

Using their forensic and DNA skills, the Baylor anthropologists are determining everything they can about each corpse they recover. The information generated by this effort is going into the Missing Migrant DNA Database to assist relatives in finding what became of their family members.

To learn more about this effort to ID the bodies of these missing migrant ancestors, watch this video:

Unmarked Graves along Texas Border

Piecing Together the Clues about a Revolutionary War Soldier

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One of the fun parts of genealogy is piecing together the clues we discover during our research and learning more of the story of our ancestors’ lives.

Here’s an interesting look, relying on old newspapers and U.S. government records, at the lives of Sargent Huse and his widow Huldah.

He first caught my eye when I ran across this interesting name in an 1818 obituary: “Captain Sargent.”

Sargent Huse obituary, New Hampshire Gazette newspaper article 27 January 1818

New Hampshire Gazette (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), 27 January 1818, page 3

OK. So he was a captain, and his first name was Sargent. Given his age (dying at 78 in 1818), he was most probably a captain in the Revolutionary War. Let’s see what GenealogyBank can tell us about his military service.

information about Sargent Huse, from Thirtieth Report of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Resolution. March 1, 1926, to March 1, 1927. December 17, 1927. Serial Set Volume No. 8848; Report: Senate Document 48. Page 128.

Thirtieth Report of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Resolution. March 1, 1926, to March 1, 1927. December 17, 1927. Serial Set Volume No. 8848; Report: Senate Document 48. Page 128.

Great genealogical find. This report tells us that Huse was born in 1740, died 26 January 1818, and was buried in the Town Cemetery in Greenland, New Hampshire. This old government record further tells us that he:

  • Signed [the] Association Test in Epping, New Hampshire
  • Was a lieutenant in Capt. Nathan Brown’s company in the Revolutionary War
  • Was in Col. Jacob Gale’s Regiment in Rhode Island, August 1778

This old death notice confirms that the Revolutionary War soldier Huse died in Greenland, New Hampshire, and tells us that he was an “eminent” innkeeper.

Sargent Huse death notice, Concord Gazette newspaper article 17 February 1818

Concord Gazette (Concord, New Hampshire), 17 February 1818, page 3

By April 1818 proceedings were underway to probate his estate. His widow, Huldah Huse, placed a legal notice in the newspaper alerting all creditors and those owing money to the late Sargent Huse that notice and payments were now due.

probate notice for estate of Sargent Huse, New Hampshire Gazette newspaper article 21 April 1818

New Hampshire Gazette (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), 21 April 1818, page 3

Twenty-three years later, on 4 December 1841, we find that the widow Huldah Huse died at age 85 in this historical obituary.

Huldah Huse death notice, Portsmouth Journal newspaper article 25 December 1841

Portsmouth Journal (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), 25 December 1841, page 3

By March of 1842 her home, “as pleasant if not the pleasantest there is in Greenland” was for sale—including the house, stable, a “never failing well of the best of water, and also an orchard of the best of grafted fruit, with about five acres of land.”

ad for real estate sale of Huldah Huse property, New Hampshire Gazette newspaper article 29 March 1842

New Hampshire Gazette (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), 29 March 1842, page 4

These brief lines in this old estate record give us a sense of the home Captain Sargent and Huldah Huse made for themselves—where they had lived, their industry, and their success.

The historical newspapers and U.S. government documents in GenealogyBank give us more of the story of our Revolutionary War ancestors’  lives—as well as an occasional chuckle, such as when we see this ad copy written to spin the best talking points of a property for sale!

GenealogyBank’s Genealogy Database Grows Every Day!

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GenealogyBank’s database of genealogy records is constantly growing. We add more newspapers to our online historical newspaper archives every single day. It is really amazing to see the pace of this growth, with millions more articles added every month.  We are continuously adding more records from all 50 states to help you discover more about your ancestors. Here are direct links to just a few examples of the newspapers we’ve added records for in the genealogy database over the past few weeks.

State City Newspaper Date Range Collection
California Riverside Riverside Daily Press 9/20/1911–3/17/1928

Newspaper Archives
California Riverside Riverside Independent Enterprise 03/30/1914–10/08/1915

Newspaper Archives
California San Diego Evening Tribune 10/24/1923–10/24/1923

Newspaper Archives
California San Diego San Diego Union 06/23/1908–11/17/1920

Newspaper Archives
District of Columbia Washington Daily Union 12/25/1849–12/25/1849

Newspaper Archives
Florida Tampa Tampa Tribune 11/14/1908–10/7/1927

Newspaper Archives
Illinois Rockford Morning Star 11/25/1924–11/25/1924

Newspaper Archives
Illinois Rockford Register Star 11/20/1996–4/25/2005

Newspaper Archives
Illinois Rockford Register-Republic 12/6/1972–12/6/1972

Newspaper Archives
Indiana Evansville Evansville Courier and Press 1/19/1879–4/29/1934

Newspaper Archives
Louisiana Baton Rouge Daily Advocate 04/09/1887–09/05/1903

Newspaper Archives
Louisiana Baton Rouge Daily State 06/02/1910–06/02/1910

Newspaper Archives
Louisiana Baton Rouge State Times Advocate 01/13/1909–10/10/1914

Newspaper Archives
Louisiana Baton Rouge Weekly Advocate 10/20/1866–02/09/1901

Newspaper Archives
Louisiana New Orleans Times-Picayune 1/11/1959–1/11/1959

Newspaper Archives
Massachusetts Boston American Traveller* 11/14/1846–08/19/1876

Newspaper Archives
Massachusetts Boston Boston Herald 01/06/1862–02/23/1919

Newspaper Archives
Massachusetts Boston Boston Traveler 7/4/1837–6/30/1875

Newspaper Archives
Massachusetts Gloucester Cape Ann Light and Gloucester Telegraph 01/07/1843–12/31/1870

Newspaper Archives
Missouri Kansas City Kansas City Star 9/13/1946–9/13/1946

Newspaper Archives
Nebraska Omaha Omaha World Herald 2/20/1962–7/5/1983

Newspaper Archives
New York New York Daily Graphic 12/20/1873–02/15/1875

Newspaper Archives
New York New York New Yorker Volkszeitung 03/01/1900–11/21/1903

Newspaper Archives
North Carolina Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Journal 10/01/1902–08/01/1908

Newspaper Archives
Ohio Canton Repository 7/14/1931–5/30/1952

Newspaper Archives
Pennsylvania Erie Erie Tageblatt 04/12/1901–03/25/1912

Newspaper Archives
South Carolina Charleston Charleston News and Courier 02/09/1891–08/12/1920

Newspaper Archives
Virginia Richmond Richmond Times Dispatch 9/7/1924–5/27/1928

Newspaper Archives

Historian Leads Walter Pierce Park (DC) Cemetery Restoration

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Hat’s off to Mary Belcher. A group she organized has been diligently restoring and documenting upwards of 10,000 persons who were buried in the Adams Morgan section of Walter Pierce Park in the District of Columbia.

photo of Mary Belcher leading effort to restore historic District of Columbia cemetery

Photo: Mary Belcher. Credit: WJLA-TV (District of Columbia).

Over time the old grave markers have deteriorated and been lost. Mary’s group is using the older records and evidence found on the site to document each person buried there. No small task.

Watch this news report from local television station WJLA-TV to see what Mary and her group have accomplished so far in their cemetery restoration efforts.

Adams Morgan Cemetery Fight

There Are Some Obituaries Everyone Needs to Read

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I. D. Lilly, a retired trucker and promoter of the largest family reunion ever held, died in March of this year. He was an active participant in the famous West Virginia family’s gatherings, and served on the Lilly Family Reunion Board of Directors.

In 2009 some 2,585 Lilly relatives gathered in Flat Top, West Virginia. It was such a large reunion that Guinness’ Book of World Records named it the largest family reunion ever held.

Don’t you wish that your family was as organized and connected as the Lilly family?

Ira Dupuy Lilly’s obituary appeared in GenealogyBank and was published in the Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Florida), 22 April 2013, page B-4. Here is that obituary in full; it’s well worth reading.

His Family’s Reunions Set World Records

On Aug. 9, 2009, the Lilly family set the Guinness world record for the biggest family reunion. Within that group of 2,585, meeting for three days in a big pasture on Flat Top, W.Va., was I.D. Lilly, a former Orlando trucking company owner.

Before his death on March 27 at age 93, Lilly would earn family-reunion recognition for traveling the farthest, being the oldest and being one-half of the longest-married couple to attend the reunion. He died of complications related to dementia.

Before his mind began to abandon him, Lilly came to the reunions with a tent, a table and some chairs so relatives, near and far, could sit down and catch up.

“He would tell you about his Aunt Sally Ann and he would pull out his family tree,” said his daughter Barbara Savino, 65, of Longwood. “He had 102 cousins — can you imagine?”

So big is the Lilly family that just about anybody can find themselves on the family tree.

“This part of West Virginia, people call it Lillyland. There’s a Lilly everywhere you turn,” Savino said.

So important is the reunion, Savino said, that the governor of West Virginia often makes an appearance.

The family reunion is held on 38 acres of land that includes a kitchen and dining area, covered bleachers, stage and restrooms — all built for the purpose of the reunion. There are booths for family members selling jewelry, quilts, children’s toys and souvenir embroidered T-shirts and caps. The Lilly genealogist has a booth where she can show everyone where they fit on the family tree.

There are games and prizes for kids and a potluck buffet that would include a butterscotch pie baked by Lilly’s wife of 65 years, Allegra.

The reunion to I.D. Lilly was about home, heritage and linage. It was about staying connected to family no matter how far removed the relation or how far away the relatives. It was about walking into the kitchen and dining area and seeing the pictures of his ancestors on the wall, where his face will join the gallery of ghosts this summer.

His father and two brothers are on the wall. So is his mother, the woman who ran the general store in Cool Ridge. From her, he learned the lesson of selfless generosity.

Lilly moved to Orlando from West Virginia, in the late 1950s, when he started Laskco Inc., a trucking company. Through the years, Lilly helped out his drivers and mechanics whenever they ran out of money or into hard times.

Once, his wife came home and found her washing machine missing because Lilly gave it to an employee who needed one, Savino said.

“That’s the West Virginia style,” his daughter said. “If somebody needed something, he would just help them.”

The Lilly family reunion produces an annual program that is 160 pages thick. This year, there will be a tribute page to Ira Dupuy Lilly for his contributions on the Lilly Family Reunion Board of Directors.

After his death, Lilly’s body was flown back home to Beckley, W.Va., and the Sunset Memorial Park where so many of his relatives are buried. His interment on April 2 wasn’t in the family plot, but an above-ground mausoleum.

A Navy pilot who flew a blimp during World War II in search of German submarines, I.D. Lilly couldn’t abide being laid to rest underground.

In addition to his wife and daughter, Ira Dupuy Lilly is survived by his sons Larry Lilly, of Cool Ridge, W.Va., and Alan Lilly, of Orlando; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Rose & Quesenberry Funeral Home, Beckley, W.Va., handled funeral arrangements.

Finding Our Family’s Stories in Newspapers—Even the Children

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Genealogists want to find every story about their family—but where do you turn to find more information about the life of a youngster that passed away? Remarkably—even for those family members who died very young—you can find out more about their lives in newspapers.

When tragedy strikes a family in the loss of a young child, it would seem impossible to find stories that would tell us more about the deceased toddler’s life.

Here’s where newspapers can be a big help to family historians. For example, little Paul McBride died at the age of four back in 1889—yet look at how much we learn from his newspaper obituary.

For one thing, the young child’s newspaper obituary gives us the core genealogical facts:

  • Name: Paul Montgomery McBride
  • Age: 4 years, 8 months and 17 days
  • Birthplace: Pierre, South Dakota
  • Youngest son of Rev. and Mrs. J. M. McBride
  • Buried in Riverside Cemetery
  • Died 19 October 1889, at “twenty minutes to 8 o’clock”
  • Since his father was a minister, a pastor of another faith, the Rev. E. S. Wallace, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, conducted “the Episcopal burial service”
  • Because of the “infectious nature of the disease, no services will be held at the family residence”

That is a lot of detail from the obituary of such a young person.

With some surprise, I found that Paul’s obituary told us even more about his life.

obituary for Paul Montgomery McBride, Aberdeen Daily News newspaper article 20 October 1889

Aberdeen Daily News (Aberdeen, South Dakota), 20 October 1889, page 5

We also learn the following information about Paul from this old newspaper article:

  • He was called “Little Paul”
  • He got along well with the other children
  • He was a quiet, well-behaved child—traits often commented on by other adults
  • The week before his death, a Sunday School teacher gave Paul a copy of the small Calvary Catechism book used at that time in the Episcopal Church to teach children the Gospel
  • He liked that gift so much that it was buried with him

Little Paul McBride was not just a notation, a genealogical statistic—he was a likeable, fun four-year-old boy. He was given a small catechism book and he loved it. As you get to know him, don’t you want to go right out and find a copy of that book and read what he would have read?

Knowing the story of the lives of our family members makes all the difference. Newspapers provide those stories that we can add to our family tree.

Dig into GenealogyBank’s newspaper archives and find the stories of your family.

Don’t let them be lost.

New DNA Ancestry Study Reveals We’re All Related?!

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It’s nice to think that everyone is related—but as genealogists we have known that would be difficult to prove. Now science is proving that theory is correct.

illustration for DNA study showing that everyone on the planet is related

A new DNA study shows that everyone alive on the earth today shares common ancestors only 1,000 to 2,000 years ago.

What?

“Group Hug!”

Wow—what is this study telling us?

It is saying that we are all related and that science can prove it.

How is that possible?

With every generation the number of our ancestors doubles. We have 4 grandparents; 8 great-grandparents; 16 2nd-great-grandparents, and so forth.

But as we go back in time the reverse is true: the number of people who were alive on the earth keeps growing smaller.

A new DNA study shows that all Europeans descend from the “same set of ancestors only a thousand years ago.” This theory has long been proposed, and it has commonly been said that “everyone” in Europe is a descendant of Charlemagne—or that every Englishman alive today has royal ancestry.

UC-Davis Professor Graham Coop says that “we now have concrete evidence from DNA data” that we are all related, and “it’s likely that everyone in the world is related over just the past few thousand years.” Read the entire article: Europeans All Related by Genetic Footprint Dating Back Only 1,000 Years Ago.

This interesting finding will revolutionize the way we view “family” in much the same way that the 1873/1874 Galton-Walton study changed our view of surnames 140 years ago.

graph illustrating the Galton-Walton surname extinction study

Credit: Wikipedia

Their pioneering work showed us that it was likely for a surname to go extinct after 12 to 20 generations. Assuming that each generation begins every 30 years, then 20 generations would extend back to the 1400s.

Click here to read their study “On the Probability of the Extinction of Families” published in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain, volume 4, pages 138–144, printed in 1875.

This interesting genealogy study concluded that any given family would eventually no longer have male descendants in the male, surname line. They might have hundreds or thousands of female heirs, but no male descendants carrying the surname after 12 to 20 generations.

Their probability research showed that with each generation it was possible, even likely, that in the next generations there would be no male children born to a given household, or that the male children born would die without surviving male children. They concluded that it was likely after 12 to 20 generations—with wars, disease, or simply by chance—that there would be no more surviving males who could marry and pass down the family name. In genealogy-speak this is referred to as daughtering-out.

From the probability theories of 140 years ago to the more exact science of DNA today, we genealogists are getting a lot more to consider as we trace our family history.