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Newspapers
With names, dates and places falling into place, Janet could move on to local newspapers.
newspaper microfilm
Why newspapers? It's important to remember that alot of information isn't indexed. Small town newspapers, for instance, are a wealth of personal information and are seldom indexed. When they are indexed, the index is usually only available in the local library or the newspaper office. If you know the date of an event and can get a copy of a local newspaper published when and where the event occurred, you may find a published account of it. Janet hoped to find some clues in newspapers about her Great-great grandmother Herkes death by drowning.
One of Janet's proudest moments was locating the following information using a microfilm copy of The Dalles newspaper. [In Oregon, the University of Oregon lends local newspapers on microfilm to local libraries; the library needs to have equipment to read the film. In Portland, the Oregon Historical Society's library has microfilmed copies of many Oregon papers, but they must be used at the Society.] Here's the article she found:
THE WEEKLY MOUNTAINEER July 17, 1879. Page 2. The Dalles, Wasco County, Oregon. Mother and Child Drowned.
The wife of Anthony Herky and youngest child were found drowned in the Attannum Creek, Yakima County, on July 6th. It appears that Mrs. Herky got up from her bed at about 9 o'clock on the evening of the 5th instant with the intention of going to the Catholic Mission, about a mile away, taking her youngest child -- a babe less than a year old -- with her, and in crossing the foot log over the Attannum she fell in and was drowned. Her husband at this time was working for someone down the river at Crate's Point and when informed of the sad affair immediately started on foot for home. Mrs. Herky was a hard working woman, and the mother of eight children. She leaves a husband and seven children to mourn her sad fate.
Related resources
Books
Multnomah County Library has a variety of resources for newspaper research. We offer a large card file that indexes local newspapers through 1987, as well as other indexes, books, and microfiche. Of special note is our index to The Oregon Spectator, the oldest newspaper in Oregon. Use the catalog with the keywords "genealogy newspaper? " to find titles like:
- Genealogical data from colonial New York newspapers: a consolidation of articles from the New York Genealogical and biographical record by Kenneth Scott
- More Gleanings from Alta California: vital records published in California's first newspaper, year--1851 compiled by Mary Dean Alsworth
- Oregon newspaper death notices, 1890-1902: an index to death notices in Eugene, Lane County, Oregon newspapers
Related Web sites
- Newspaper Research
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http://www.genealogy.com/104/lesson5/course5_02.htmlFrom Genealogy.com. This lesson on newspaper research is part of a larger course on tracing immigrant origins between 1820 and 1865.