In 1772 at the age of 42, Andrew Wallace shipped off for North America from Scotland – and just a few years later he was fighting in the American Revolutionary War for his new country. According to this old soldier’s obituary, Andrew “was engaged in some of the most memorable battles of the Revolutionary... (Read More)
When Revolutionary War patriot George Shell died in 1818, newspapers in Maine, Massachusetts, and New York carried the news – but they each gave him a single-line obituary. However, Revolutionary War veteran George Shell deserved much more; the man fought two wars simultaneously, as detailed in this longer obituary found in another old newspaper.... (Read More)
I recently was researching a man from Oregon named Isaac Fernald (1814-1871), and found information related to him in a variety of places online. Isaac’s Death Reported in the News I began my search with GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives, and I found Fernald’s obituary in his home town newspaper: the Portland Daily Press. I... (Read More)
Deemed an upstanding citizen by the Salem Gazette, two-time American war veteran John M’Donogh passed away, losing a long fight with disease on 19 March 1809. M’Donogh is noted for serving directly under a young General George Washington during the French & Indian War. M’Donogh fought during British General Braddock’s failed expedition in 1755... (Read More)
Portraits of my Starbird ancestors hang on our wall on the landing at the top of the staircase. Over the years I have chained the family back from Martha Jane (Starbird) Richmond (1836-1905) to Robert Starbird (1782- ) to Moses Starbird (1743-1815) to John Starbird (1701-1753) to Thomas Starbird (1660-1723). All of them lived... (Read More)
Joseph Atwood Ordway (1852-1904) is a descendant of Mayflower passenger Thomas Rogers—and he thought so much of that genealogical fact, it was included in his obituary. This is a detailed obituary that gives us a lot of family history information about Joseph: His date and place of birth: 12 May 1852 in Boston, Suffolk,... (Read More)
Obituaries often celebrate lives well lived—but rarely with the enthusiasm this recent obituary does. His obituary states: “Sal measured out at 73 1/2 inches, and a bouncing 232 pounds, 9 ounces.” After reading a few lines from Salvatore’s obituary, you quickly realize that he was someone very special to many people. His newspaper obituary... (Read More)
I was reading this old newspaper and noticed that obituary after obituary was for young children. So many reports of very young children dying early deaths in this old newspaper article: Martha Banks, aged 1 year, 11 months and 2 days Arthur Lincoln Vaughan, aged 6 months and 12 days Caroline E. Hein, aged... (Read More)
Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this blog post, Gena shows some crossword puzzles and other games from old newspapers, giving a glimpse into the times our ancestors lived in—and, potentially, providing genealogy help because some of the names and addresses of contest winners... (Read More)
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