Newspapers

Newspapers are great sources for the information needed to build trees and locate relatives.

Newspapers have articles that may list dates, parents, siblings, children, marriages, and maiden names. Military mentions and Happy Birthday notices may provide needed information. Obituaries, marriage announcements, and court events are usually the most beneficial.

There are many newspapers online. If you can’t find what you are looking for online, local libraries and local and state historical societies may have the needed newspaper archive offline. Ask for the research librarian or newspaper archivist respectively for help researching. Most libraries and societies require a small fee to conduct the research.

Start by identifying the name of the newspapers in the location where the person you are researching was. Wikipedia Newspaper Index is a good starting point. Once you know the newspaper(s) to look in, provide as much known information as possible including date, date range, names, relatives, etc.

Reminder: Many events are printed after the date the event occurred on. Using a data range can help increase the likelihood of finding an article.