October 10, 2008
Obituaries can give us the details of our ancestor’s lives that we just don’t find anywhere else.
Today I found this obituary in GenealogyBank for Judith Tormey (1800-1898) who died in Newark, NJ.
This obituary article gives us lots of details and clues to fill in the family tree.
1. Mrs. Judith Tormey – her name and tells us that she was married
2. Died on Friday night at her home and then gives the exact street address
3. She has “lived in Newark since 1847”
4. “She was born in County Cavan, Ireland, in 1800”
5. “Her father (not named) was 101 years old when he died and her mother was ninety-nine”
6. “A grandmother died at the age of ninety-nine”
7. “She was the mother of five children”
8. “She lost her sight in 1894”
9. “In that year her son Edward died”
10. She was blind from the final moment “she was taking a farewell look at his face in the coffin”
Incredible – we learn not only about four generations of the family – but also the dramatic story of how she became blind in the last years of her life.
GenealogyBank has millions of obituaries from over 3,700 newspapers.
We add even more every day.
Click here and search GenealogyBank right now.
What will you find?
