Newspapers are the Hidden Gem

There is a lot of mention about the importance of Census records and Vital records. What if I told you there was a hidden gem that often gets overlooked. Have you tried Newspapers? Newspapers have been around for a long while. In America, they have been around since the early 18th Century.¹

As I was researching my ancestors, I came across a wide variety of articles. These articles contain interesting and vital information. Here are some types of articles that can be found while searching for your own ancestor’s information.

Advertisements: In earlier times, newspapers were one of the most powerful tools for promoting businesses and selling goods. Whether someone was selling a house, livestock, land or personal items, placing an advertisement in the newspaper was the best way to reach the community.

Accidents (injuries): Here is an example of a newspaper article of describing an accident that happened. This type of article can provide detailed information. It shows relationships between brothers and their father, and even gain insight into how close they were. It included the day of the week. Who were involved in the accident on both sides, and the extent of their injuries.

Biographical Sketches: This type of article can show people who are prominent in the community. A mini life story about them can be very valuable, similar to what you would see in an obituary. Photos are usually connected with these articles.

Clubs: Did you know there can be articles of your ancestors gathering with the community? Clubs were mentioned as part of the society columns. There have been club articles where It lists everyone involved. It is also interesting to note that this can shed some light on your ancestors personality. For example, you can see someone in charge of the meetings or gatherings as a leadership type, and someone who gathers often is most likely sociable type.

Naturalizations: You can find out about your immigrant ancestors. What better way to see when they were naturalized or their naturalization status. I noticed, while researching one of my ancestors, that he was listed a couple of times: once for applying for naturalization and once for receiving his citizenship. That helped me to piece together some of the timeline.

Personal Columns: Here is where it can be fun when finding weekly happenings of your ancestor. In these columns, you can find all sorts of information. In the image below is an example of what can be seen. This article shows John Uchytil visiting his son Anton in Gorham, North Dakota. It provides other vital information, like his other son named Frank. It shows the date (at top of newspaper), indicating the timeframe of the visit. The relationships help connect the three. Then, of course, there is the location. It shows the proximity of the brothers living near each other and how long Anton Uchytil lived in his location.

Military: A common type of article often seen from the war era is military articles. There can be articles about someone who died, details surrounding the death, and parent’s names too. In my research, I came across my grand uncle who died in World War II. There was a local newspaper giving an overview of his life.

Photographs: Here is a photo of my ancestor whom I came across. This photo was not one I had seen of her before. If it was not for researching in the newspapers, I would have never seen this photo. You never know what gems you come across.

Marriage: Marriage is an important record type, and it was also common in the newspapers. It was common for someone to share this event for everyone to see. Just like Facebook, we post all important milestones in our lives to everyone close to us. This was a way back then for neighbors, friends, and family to view the announcement. Here is an article I came across. At the time of this article, there were only black-and-white photos, but I love how this article describes the colors and details.

Birth: Usually, this can be a short snippet in the column, with a few words mentioning parents, gender, name, date etc…

Death: Death notices can show brief information, including a death date and name, with possible relatives mentioned.

Obituaries: Obituaries are frequently sought-after-articles. Not only does it provide death information, but it also gives a whole overview of the person’s life. This is a vital article and, if found, can provided a lot of missing clues. Here is a a death article showing age, location, religion, relationships, burial location and funeral date and time.

Funeral: This information can show the location and date of when the funeral will be. Usually, you can find this in an obituary, but a clipping of this can be put in to show an upcoming event. This information was needed beforehand for those who are interested in attending.

Here is a few more things you can possibly find: coroner reports, court cases, crimes, legal notices, list of immigrants and missing persons. There are lots of different types of articles. List another article type below if you know of one you frequently come across.

Where can you find newspapers that provide this information? You can find them in various locations. It could be historical societies, Library of Congress, Newspapers.com, etc… just to list a few. Newspapers.com has a subscription. You can get a free trial for one week. I feel that, out of the three I mentioned, Newspapers.com has a vast amount of newspapers with easy user experience. They are constantly adding new papers all the time. So, if you don’t see anything when you researched before, always go back in the near future and check again. With AI becoming more prominent, scanning of the newspapers is becoming faster.

If you are having a hard time finding records of your ancestors, like birth, death and marriage records, try looking through some newspapers. You might be surprised what things you can find and what treasures you will uncover.

** Important note: These newspaper articles were from Newspapers.com. Due to not having access at the time of writing this blog because of subscription issues, I cannot write citations for them.