Examples of Newspaper articles:

• Birth
  • 1851 * 1878 * 1899
  • long list of births
  • An odd assortment of details
• Marriage
  • This 1878 article about a marriage in an Idaho paper goes on for several paragraphs, telling us who attended them, listing the gifts and naming the giver of each gift, specifying the location of their future home and generally complimenting the couple on being well liked.
  • 2 Elopments -- reported in a Philadelphia paper because of the unusual (and outrageous) nature of the event.
  • If someone married in another state you might discover it through a newspaper article.
  • This marriage notice is in a column called "Brief Notes" which covers a miscellany of events.
  • Sometimes the list if not of marriages, but licenses issued -- remember, not everyone who took out a license actually married.
  • He was already married, but at least he didn't try to fool her.
• Death
  • Sometimes an article about a death will be published prior to the actual death.
  • Sometimes a death notice has to rescinded
  • This death notice for a Michigan woman was published in California, where she had gone for her health. We will probably learn more if we view the home town newspapers on and shortly after this date.
  • Deaths can be found in the "local" or similar columns.
  • Deaths of early settlers in an area are often picked up by other papers in the state.
  • In this instance the death is noted in the "Died" column, but there is also a separate small article about the death on the same page.
  • These three death notices appeared over a period of 4 days, but each differs from the other.
  • Often from the death record you can learn the church the family attended.
  • These two deaths are in a column titled "Drownings"
  • Funerals were usually held at a residence.
  • This death notice also tells us that the woman was buried in her home state, not where she lived and died.
  • If you were looking for a lost ancestor who disappeared, do you think you could recognize him from this article about the death of an unknown person.
  • Do you find this 1881 Canton, Ohio death notice to be condescending and snide? I do.
• Combination
  • Births and Deaths on the journey west.
• Obituary
  • This 1930 obituary in a Chicago paper gives little information; doesn't even name survivors. But we can probably learn more from an Aurora newspaper, where the man lived.
  • This obituary is from a religious newspaper and gives far more detail; some praising his faith and goodness, but notice it also tells us he lived elsewhere for a number of years.
  • This obituary, also from a religious newspaper, gave me the maiden name of his wife. It is the only place I found it.
  • His obituary named his sister... giving me her maiden name.
• Accidents
  • This 1878 accident in Idaho resulted in an amputated arm. The article mentions that he has a wife and six children to support.
  • This 1881 accident in Canton, Ohio tells us what caused the death of the child and gives us a little information about the parents.
  • This 1870 Albany, NY newspaper listed the recent accidents, ranging from a thrown rock to a drowning to crushed legs.
• Advertisements
  • If you learned from city directories that members of your family living in Albert Lea, Minnesota worked as a cigar maker, and ran a boarding house, would these advertisments matching their surnames be meaningful to you? Adv 1 * Adv 2 * Adv 3
• Aliases
  • The knowledge of an alias being used might help us resolve a few questions about our ancestors.
  • This death notice mentions another possible name, with no explanation; but it may be clue we need to put 2 and 2 together.
• Anniversary
  • 50th ** 51st ** 55th
• Black Sheep
  • A long list of very bad habits
• Crimes
  • Explosion
  • A family affair
  • Murdered
• Debts
  • Albany is the county sear of Albany County and the capital city of the state of New York. This 1828 insolvancy legal notice is one of several, from a variety of differing counties, on the page of the Albany Argus April 15, 1828 p.4
  • 1823 insolvent debtor Baltimore Maryland
• Disasters
  • Newspapers will often print a list of deaths due to a disaster.
  • This story of this tragedy was printed in newspapers around the country.
  • Donner Party
• Divorce
  • Novemeber 3 1886 divorces, Springfield Republican tell us which court records to locate and give a little information about the divorce.
  • I always wondered why my ancestor, Elias Withey, left Connecticut and went to Canada. This divorce notice tells me part of the story.
  • Sometimes you will find the divorce on the docket for all types of suits.
  • This 1870 newspaper advertisments page notice to the defendent in a divorce case indicates he could not be otherwise be found in order to serve the notice.
  • Well at least we know his last known whereabouts; might we be able to match the man we are researching with the man in this story?
  • "Marital Troubles" -- almost a gossip column.
• Hotel Arrivals
  • Lists of people staying at a local hotel can sometimes be found in larger cities or resort areas.
• Information Wanted
  • At the end of the Civil War many freed blacks tried to reunite with family members. Notices were published in both African American newspapers and those for the general population, and often began with the words "Information Wanted"
    • These notices sometimes give the name of the last owner; an especially helpful piece of information for researching African American ancestors who were slaves.
    • These 1902 notices in an African American newspaper show that the practice continued as a way of finding separated family members from a later period.
    • It appears that this mother escaped into Canada and is now trying to locate her children.
    • This young man escaped by joining the Union army and his family is trying to find him.
• Land Transactions
• Letters at the Post Office
  • I can place Calvin Withey in Baltimore, 1819 because a letter was waiting for him at the post office.
    • Might Rachael Withey, who is there in 1818, be his wife or sister?
• Livestock
  • Reward
• Local Communities
• Local Other
  • The Daily Illinois Register, published in Springfield, IL had a social colum about people working in the Watch Factory. If you find your ancestor in this column, you may want to find out more about this business.
  • "Social and Personal"
  • This little article about a debating society gave me some insight into how my family members spend their leisure time.
  • Look at the variety of information in this "Statewide News" column in a Kalamazoo paper.
• Military
  • Lists of soldiers killed in action; for more information you would seek out the home town newspaper.
• Missing people
  • Chicago
• Probate
  • I will want to get these court papers to help identify the family of Thomas Wethy.
• Unusual events
  • We are taught to look carefully at numbers. Would a woman have 13 children in 9 years?
  • This one just makes a nice story -- luckily it did not result in a death notice.
  • Married 12 times