Find Grandma’s Recipes in Old Newspaper Food Columns

Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this guest blog post, Gena searches old newspapers to examine food columns that may have provided the recipes our ancestors used—and shows how those food columns that featured recipe contests may contain names and addresses helpful to our... (Read More)

Tips & Tricks to Search Online Newspapers at GenealogyBank

Introduction: Mary Harrell-Sesniak is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background. In this guest blog post, Mary shows some of the search techniques she uses when researching GenealogyBank’s newspapers collection—to help our readers do more efficient searches and save them time with their family history research. Every American family has a... (Read More)

Marriage by Proxy & More Stories of Attendance from Afar

Every now and then you run across an interesting marriage announcement in old newspapers about someone who couldn’t travel to a wedding—so they attended by proxy. I once read about Mark Twain and his wife attending the funeral of his mother in law—by listening to it over the telephone 450 miles away! It seems... (Read More)

Valentine’s Day History Facts & My Sweet Genealogy Karma

Introduction: In this article, Scott Phillips turns to old newspapers to research the history of St. Valentine’s Day—and shares a personal Valentine’s Day story. Scott is a genealogical historian and owner of Onward To Our Past® genealogy services. Nothing much beats holidays as a way to get everyone talking about family, memories, stories, and... (Read More)

The Social Columns: Mrs. Smith Is Visiting Her Parents in New Mexico

Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this guest blog post, Gena shows how much valuable family history information can be found in newspapers’ social columns. Newspapers report important events and breaking news on the local, national and international level. They document accidents, crimes, politics,... (Read More)

You Find Family in the Most Unexpected Ways

Introduction: Scott Phillips is a genealogical historian and owner of Onward To Our Past® genealogy services. In this guest blog post, Scott tells about doing genealogy research on an author—and finding a surprising, direct link to one of his own ancestors. Recently I was searching the Internet for genealogy resources relating to the early... (Read More)

Amazing True Story of Shipwreck Survival

Last week I spotted the unusual story of a man saved from dying in a shipwreck in the middle of the night when he spotted a floating box—it turned out to be his wife’s coffin that he was bringing home for burial! The newspaper article containing this incredible survival story was printed by the... (Read More)