Newspapers

Newspapers contain a variety of information that is useful to genealogists. Often, they are the last item that we check when searching for our ancestors, but they should be what we check next when vital records do not give us the information we need. Family Trees need the details that are found in newspapers.

Obituaries give us death dates, burial locations, and often provide information about the family such as spouse, children, siblings, and parents. Obituaries may provide biographical information about the deceased.

Birth announcements may contain the name of baby, birth date, place of birth, and parent’s names. Many times, they included the names of grandparents and other children in the family.

Marriage and engagement announcements give the name of the bride and groom and the date of marriage. These announcements may contain information about the wedding day such as what family and friends attended the wedding. You may be fortunate to have a photo of the couple included in the announcement.

You can find legal records in the newspaper. Probate records and court cases contain information about the ancestor such as names, relatives, and places of residence.

Many passenger lists are in newspapers. Many times, if you cannot find a passenger list for the ship your ancestor arrived on, it will be in the newspaper.

Photographs of your ancestor may be in the newspaper. You may find obituaries, weddings, birthdays, and family reunion photos in newspapers.

Even the advertisements can be useful for genealogists. The advertisements give us a glimpse into the styles of the day, the type of appliances that were popular or new and other social information that will help us understand how our ancestors lived. We may find the advertisement for an ancestor’s place of business.

Chronicling America (chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/) is a great free website from the Library of Congress. It has newspapers from 1789-1924.

The Ancestor Hunt List of Newspaper Research Links (theancestorhunt.com/newspaper-research-links.html) contains a list of links by state of free online historical newspapers.

Elephind.com allows you to search over three million newspapers across the country. They add collections regularly so if you don’t find what you need now check back later.

Searching for your ancestor in a newspaper can be overwhelming, but with the help of free websites like those listed above, your search can be more manageable. Don’t forget to search in newspapers when looking for information about your ancestors.