Thinking outside the box when it comes to genealogy according to  
newspapers. 
I have  been attempting to make indexes for several local papers PRIOR to 
1900 and have  discovered a few things. 
They  are an abundance of information, information that you never really 
thought of  before. 
Examples, In addition to the few marriage and obituary notices that  were 
printed in the newspaper, you will find court proceedings for some of the  
major cases going on at the time. I have seen a few Will disputes being listed 
 also.  There are also instances of  Estates being sold off. Both of which 
would help identifying when an ancestor  died in addition to cemetery, 
funeral home and obituary notices.  
In  regards to locating a relative. And just that locating, and no 
additional  information, I'd like to point out that the post office printed weekly 
if not  daily in some cases lists of people whom had mail waiting for them at 
the post  office. I have seen these lists as early as 1827 and in to the 
1880’s. and you  don't have to be head of house to get mail either. 
I met  a woman the other day who was tracing her family through 
advertisements which  I thought was weird until she  explained to me that her ancestor 
had owned a hat shop. And every time she  closed the shop or changed 
locations, she'd tell the public the reason, birth of  a child, death of someone 
etc. they had a fire or a flood, it was very  interesting reading. 
Also  during this time frame 1860’s forward, the posted court notes, who'd 
been  arrested for drinking or other minor crimes. Another good source for 
locating an  ancestor.  Later on the gossip is  unbelievable, where people 
printed when someone came to visit or when someone  was going on a trip etc. 
I also  found an interesting notice in the American beacon & Norfolk and 
Portsmouth  daily advertiser newspaper the other day and I’m going to go back 
and see if  there are more, because to some individuals despite the 
circumstances they were  printed, the actual GENEALOGY information could be 
priceless to the right  individuals. 
It  said: $10 reward for a runaway from the subscriber on Sunday Sept  
30th, Negro girl Harriet. She is about 5 ft high, quite black, thick  set and 
has two or three scars on one of her arms occasioned by being burnt. She  is 
about 15 years old. She lived in Mr. rosson’s in 1825 and had lived in town  
one or two  years previous. She has  a brother at Mr. a. martin’s and an 
aunt  at Mr. john palmer’s and 2 sisters the  one living at Mr. hatchers and 
the other at Mrs. Bowden’s in Norfolk. She has  also a grandmother living at 
Dr. butt’s in Portsmouth…………. ….. henry Moore  
from  all this you know how old she is, and that she has other relatives 
and their  relation to her and where they all lived,    
just  trying to think outside the box................. 
kristina  

_http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vaprinc2/_ 
(http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vaprinc2/) 

_http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vanorfol/_ 
(http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vanorfol/) 

_www.nyvagenealogy.homestead.com_ (http://www.nyvagenealogy.homestead.com/) 


To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html