Did They Really Print That?

Perusing the newspapers of our ancestors can be quite an eye-opener when it comes to what we now deem politically correct. I'm going to jump right in here and give you two archaic examples in one clipping from 1890 I found about my 3rd great aunt Elizabeth. See if you can pick them out.

Cullen, Elizabeth Pottsville Republican 2 Aug 1890, page 4

It was quite normal in the 19th century to refer to a widow as a relict. There are two definitions here and I only knew the one that referred to old museum pieces before stumbling onto this clipping. The other reference is old lady, which I heard growing up from most every married male adult in reference to his wife. And until I grew up, never gave it a thought as derogatory. As it's used in this obit blurb, it sounds more endearing than the point I'm making.

Speaking of wives, the majority of the time newspapers referred to a married woman as part of the couple Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Doe or just Mrs. John Q. Doe rather than Mrs. Jane Doe. This makes your married female ancestor a challenge to locate in newspapers without some additional facts to confirm her identity. Single women, and sometimes widows, were referred to by their given first name and current surname.

I came across an article about an unfortunate death of an elderly mother and her daughter, caught in a kitchen fire, being described as bodies burned brown and burned to a crust or a crisp as if they were an inanimate object.  I cannot imagine that write-up in today's papers let alone reading it about my own family member. It's too sensitive a subject to include an image here.

Then there is this humorous clipping, and I say that in light of the fact that the editor approved the reporters words verbatim.  Seeing the response of the immigrant in print made me cringe a bit as if it had been in a newspaper today, but I will not lie and say I didn't laugh at his response to the dilemma.

The Herald-Journal   Bessemer, Alabama   01 Mar 1906 Thu, page 2

Old newspapers are a window into the societies of our parents, grandparents and their parents. It's an eye-opener for me every time I scan one looking for family history clues. There are many headlines and sub-headlines to catch your eye, just not as many hours in a day to read them.

Unanswered Questions

The thing about researching is how easily the objective can be derailed. Well, at least in my genealogy research. How I get distracted I can't say specifically, but yesterday I found myself on my son's branch of his family after seeing an intriguing news article on Newspapers.com.  The last several years of his great grandfather's life have some unanswered questions.

According to a "Special to the Inquirer" news article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Fred Wegelin disappeared from his New Jersey home in November 1914 without mentioning anything to his wife, Minnie. After several days of absence, Minnie reported Fred missing.

I knew the Wegelin family line had ties to Birmingham Alabama, so my research went in that direction on a hunch. Narrowing down the search for Fred to Alabama newspapers and a time period starting from 1914, I hoped to find an article with the answer to this mystery. What I found was a vague item reporting his death in December 1917.

My next step was to find the death certificate. This record type shows the cause of death among other vital dates and information. Unfortunately, Alabama has not digitized their death records for online research. A copy can be obtained from the state for a fee or looked up in person at the repository where it's archived. The index information (the county of record, book volume number and page number) for Fred's record was found online and is a great help requesting the death certificate in person. The death being indexed also confirms the date and event is true, in light of the vague blurb in the newspaper.

Fred's will and his wife Minnie's petition of probate (to have the will authenticated) were found online.  This online transcript is of the court proceeding and Fred's will, not the original will document. According to the transcribed details of the will, it was written by Fred and witnessed by two gentlemen on March 3, 1917 in Birmingham Alabama, nine months prior to his death.

It's unclear to me if Minnie had to travel to Birmingham to petition in person or have a lawyer handle the process. A sentence in the petition transcript suggests to me she had the will in her possession and presented it to the Alabama authorities, but the transcription does not state she signed any document or was present at court as far as I can tell. The two witnesses signed a short statement confirming the will was the one they signed as witnesses in March 1917 and the judge officially sealed it.

The unanswered questions remaining are: Why did Fred leave his family without notice in 1914? Did Minnie have the original will? If so, did Fred return to New Jersey to give her the will or did he mail it to her? Where was he between November 1914 and the writing of the will in Alabama? Was Fred in some trouble during this period making him fear for his life and write a will at the age of 37? Was his death an accident (and what kind of accident) or was he killed?

"Update" ... After rereading the transcription of Minnie's petition closely, I find that she signed the petition in front of a Notary Public in Atlantic County New Jersey, close to her Egg Harbor City home. The NP mailed the sworn statement to Jefferson County Alabama to start probate of her deceased husband's will.

Data Management

After collecting family tree data at the Schuylkill County Courthouse Archive Department last week, I'm anxious to see it all in its place on the tree. Unfortunately, it doesn't just jump to the branch it belongs. So, rather than pick an ancestor to highlight this week, let's put the horse before the cart in my journey.

The new details must be analyzed against the current information on my family tree. And, just because it's on my tree, it doesn't mean it is correct. (News flash! I hadn't perfected my search plan when I first started this journey several years ago). My enthusiasm to get to the story outweighed my common sense to record all sources and evaluate what I found. The records I collected this year will be used to confirm or disprove research data I filed earlier on my computer.  The more the merrier, right?

I'm not afraid of research, in fact I enjoy researching any data that interests me. Having an abundance of data gives confirmation to the true facts and adds to the stories of my families. My main sources for facts are online ancestry websites and state archives. My favorite source for stories of my family is an online newspaper website. The articles I find tell of my ancestors' activities in school, social clubs, at work, their health issues, injuries, civil obligations, travel and talents. Some articles include information I can used to confirm birth, marriage, family members, where they live and death information.

I have an online family tree with ANCESTRY.COM that syncs with FAMILY TREE MAKER 2019 program on my computer. I can work online or on my computer and the changes made in either program will be synced. Currently I'm working in FTM 2019.

The app(lication) I use to store and manage my data is EVERNOTE. In my opinion, the best filing system for digital finds and scanned documents. It's akin to Microsoft's OneNote but more powerful. So I'm in the trenches daily analyzing my finds so my stories can be published as non-fiction.