Don’t skip searching newspaper archives– you’ll be amazed at what find!
OH, THE JOY OF FINDING THOSE VALUABLE LITTLE DETAILS ABOUT THE LIVES OF YOUR ANCESTORS!
Sure, you can look at marriage certificates and death certificates to find data about your family member, but a wonderful way to discover fun facts and figures is to scour newspaper archives. There are hundreds of online databases of old newspapers, magazines, and journals that are indexed and searchable. A number of sites are free while others require a paid subscription. In the U.S., the largest sites include Genealogybank.com, Newspapers.com, Google News Archive, Library of Congress– Chronicling America, and Old Fulton NY Post Cards.
Take a look at just a few of the many articles that I’ve found about my own ancestors. Some are amusing, some are sad. Either way, they offer a unique insight into the lives of those who walked before me.