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)
In this article, Duncan Kuehn describes how DNA research may help solve a missing person case from 1926... (Read More)
Genealogists and the curious have been touring cemeteries since time immemorial. Here is a newspaper article about a 1913 tour of Portland’s pioneers buried in the Lone Fir Cemetery in Oregon. That cemetery is still actively offering tours today: see Friends of Lone Fir Cemetery – 2012 Calendar of Events. Be sure to check... (Read More)
A 1918 Oregon newspaper has an interesting article about an effort in Portland, Oregon, to enlist farm worker volunteers to help save that year’s crops, due to the labor shortage caused by WWI. The old newspaper article reads: “Vacation helpers are going to have a big part in saving the Oregon farm crops this... (Read More)
Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this guest blog post, Gena explores one of her many interests: the connection of food and cooking to family history, revealing how much oysters were part of our ancestors’ diets. What did your ancestors eat? Is this something... (Read More)
This week marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles John Huffam Dickens, the famous English novelist who created such memorable characters as David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Ebenezer Scrooge, and Tiny Tim. Born on Feb. 7, 1812, Charles Dickens remains one of the most popular and beloved writers in the world—in fact, his... (Read More)
Researching Genealogy with Military Records and Lists in Newspapers From the Revolutionary War to Pearl Harbor to Iraq, newspapers are a valuable resource for researching your military ancestry and learning about the history of war in the United States. Newspapers have been a dependable source of information that Americans have relied upon throughout... (Read More)
Genealogy Boot Camp Here are a few tips that every genealogist should know. Using an online index Researchers using an online index sometimes try to tell the computer everything they know about their deceased ancestor. Assuming that the computer will sort through all of the facts and narrow down the hits to just their... (Read More)
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... (Read More)