There are a few different ways to find your ancestors in the newspaper. There are obituaries, social columns, and even using state archives. These methods will all work differently, and you can choose the one that is right for you.
Obituaries
Newspapers can provide a great deal of information about your ancestors. Not only can they tell you about their lives, but they can also provide you with information about local communities and events. Many newspapers also contain community-specific news, including community meetings and obituaries. Newspapers such as https://www.genealogybank.com/explore/newspapers/all also feature photos and visuals to help you learn more about your ancestors.
You can start by looking at newspaper articles from the specific ancestor’s period. For instance, if your ancestor died in 1848, you can look up the death notice in that newspaper. Similarly, if your ancestor married or died in the 1800s, you can use newspaper articles for the dates of those events.
Newspapers can also help find information about your ancestors’ businesses. If you have a bakery ancestor, for example, you should look for advertisements for bakeries and compare them to other records. Another great resource is city directories.
Social Columns
Newspapers are an excellent source of information for tracing your family history. Not only do these publications contain historical events and important news stories, but they also contain letters to the editor that can give you a sense of the times. Newspapers have been circulating for over 200 years and are still a great place to discover your ancestors’ lives.
Newspapers can also be an excellent source of ancestors’ addresses. Whether they lived in a city or a small town, an ancestor’s name could be listed in the local newspaper. Even if your ancestor was not mentioned in the newspaper, a newspaper index could tell you whether or not they were mentioned.
Newspapers are also a great source of vital statistics, such as births and deaths. This information can help you piece together stories about your ancestors, which can help you understand their lives.
Speak With Your Elders
Tracing your family history is one way to reconnect with family members. It is also a great way to answer the question, “Where am I from?” Tracing your family history will help you to know where you came from and where you’re going. You can find out your grandparents’ stories or uncles’ favorite childhood memories. Your older relatives—even those only 20 minutes older than you- live in libraries. The family histories stored in their brains can save them a lot of trouble later on.
Even if you’ve heard family facts and legends, interviewing your elders with a digital recorder and specific questions will refresh your memory and reveal new details. Furthermore, if you treasure hunt first and interview second, you will have artifacts to show your relatives. For example, asking them to identify people or places in old photos can spark stories and leads.
Begin by inquiring about your parents, grandparents, and, if possible, great-grandparents. This will reveal foundational information. Full names and names of siblings, birthplaces, birthdates, locations or even addresses of family homes, nationality and ethnic background, occupations, education, military service, and where relatives are buried are all essential questions to ask.
Change the subject if a relative appears hesitant or refuses to share details about an event or person. You can often fill in the blanks by speaking with multiple relatives and conducting your research without upsetting or alienating anyone.