Obituaries: Getting all the clues Thomas Jay Kemp Director, Genealogy Products NewsBank, inc. 28 March 2012

◦ Over 1 billion names ◦ Over 5,850 newspapers  All 50 states  1690 to today ◦ Over 263,000 rare books & documents ◦ 210 million obituaries & death records

Newspapers Newspapers 5,850 & Growing! 1690-Today 5,850 & Growing! 1690-Today

GenealogyBank

Obituaries -

Full name Names of relatives

Obituaries - Full name Names of relatives Name of cemetery

Obituaries - Full name Names of relatives Name of cemetery Name of clergy and their denomination

Obituaries - Full name Names of relatives Date, place and cause of death Name of cemetery Name of clergy and their denomination

Obituaries - Full name Names of relatives Date, place and cause of death Date and place of birth Name of cemetery Name of clergy and their denomination

Obituaries - Full name Names of relatives Date, place and cause of death Date and place of birth Date and place of marriage Name of cemetery Name of clergy and their denomination

Obituaries - Full name Names of relatives Date, place and cause of death Date and place of birth Date and place of marriage Name of cemetery Name of clergy and their denomination Occupation Education Social groups

Let’s see a typical obituary - Charlotte Observer (North Carolina) 30 November 1920, page 13.

Let’s see a typical obituary -

Find the ancestral home town - Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana) 26 April 1893, page 4.

Can be printed across the country - San Francisco Bulletin (California) 23 October 1874, page 2.

Printed in another language - El Continental (El Paso, Texas) 20 January 1959, page 3.

Or in long lost styles & syntax - Boston News Letter (Massachusetts) 30 April 1705, page 2

Or in long lost styles & syntax - Providence Patriot (Rhode Island) 18 September 1822, page 3

Or in long lost styles & syntax - Providence Patriot (Rhode Island) 18 September 1822, page 3

Or in long lost styles & syntax - Providence Patriot (Rhode Island) 18 September 1822, page 3

Or in long lost styles & syntax - Providence Patriot (Rhode Island) 18 September 1822, page 3

…. Papers Please Copy -

Typical Search -

GenealogyBank.com

What do you have on Grace (Toms) Stewart – who was born and married in Stamford, CT? What do we know about her? Her maiden name: Grace Toms Born: abt1896 in Stamford, CT Spouse: Charles Stewart Other: “Toms” family lived/died in Stamford area.

Search for Grace Stewart = Over 3,500 hits

Search for Grace Stewart = Over 3,500 hits Just Recent Obituaries = 167 hits

Search for Grace Stewart = Over 3,500 hits Just Recent Obituaries = 167 hits Limit to CT only = None

Search for Charles Stewart = Over 700 hits Just CT Obituaries = 1 hit

Not him

New Search for Grace Stewart Adding “Stamford” to the Extra search terms box Just One Obituary

It was her:

Grace M. Stewart, 93, …. died of pneumonia Feb. 1 at the Collingswood Nursing …Center, Rockville, MD “…a native of Stamford, Conn. …” “Her husband, Charles Stewart, died in 1920.” Washington Post – 4 Feb 1992

Some Practical Tips Some Practical Tips

Can You Read This? i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr theiproamtnt ltteres in a wrod are, the olny tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Some Practical Tips Some Practical Tips

◦ Over 1 billion names ◦ Over 5,850 newspapers  All 50 states  1690 to today ◦ Over 263,000 rare books & documents ◦ 210 million obituaries & death records

We have never had this level of access before