This post is part of a series for the April Blogging from A to Z Blogging Challenge. My theme is Newspaper Clippings in relation to my family history. These have come from both microfilmed and digitized newspapers I've searched over the past 25 years. Click to enlarge any clipping.
Marriage
Both marriage licenses and announcements are printed in newspapers occasionally. Locally, it's getting more expensive to have an announcement printed and most couples are just using free social media sites like Facebook and Instagram to make their marriage known.
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| Beatrice [NE] Daily Sun, December 2, 1938 |
Both sets of my Grandparents were married in either the courthouse or church parsonage. I've found this announcement for my paternal Grandparents. They went across the border (into Kansas) because of Grandpa's age - he was 20 and underage in Nebraska. Grandma was 18.
Art & Sadie McGrath's marriage was mentioned in the Lincoln State Journal. It completely surprised me to find it there, they were married in York. Only by searching in an online digitized newspaper would I ever have found this one. Here's another couple who were married without the expense of a big wedding.
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| Lincoln [NE] State Journal, October 10, 1908 |
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| Bureau County [IL] Republican, April 6, 1871 |
I found this list of marriages performed in March of 1871 in Bureau County, Illinois while searching the microfilmed newspaper at the Princeton Public Library. My Second Great Grandparents are listed - "Josiah Negley, Macon to Sarah M. Lee, Macon". I posted this list a few years ago. It was all I was able to find regarding their marriage.
John Negley and Ruth Foster's marriage was announced in the Bedford Gazette in 1836. After finding the date and the name of the paper for this on a message board, I emailed a request for a copy from the local library. They kindly sent me two paper copies, one full page and one close-up.
Married couples very often use social media to make the big announcement. Make a note of their date and location in your family tree software.
More clippings I have from recent newspapers include memorials of family members no longer with us. Maybe you can think of other mentions to look for about your own family members. Good luck with your search!
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| Bedford [PA] Gazette, October 14, 1936 |
John Negley and Ruth Foster's marriage was announced in the Bedford Gazette in 1836. After finding the date and the name of the paper for this on a message board, I emailed a request for a copy from the local library. They kindly sent me two paper copies, one full page and one close-up.
Married couples very often use social media to make the big announcement. Make a note of their date and location in your family tree software.
More clippings I have from recent newspapers include memorials of family members no longer with us. Maybe you can think of other mentions to look for about your own family members. Good luck with your search!
When I was growing up, the Sunday paper carried detailed articles and photos of weddings. I always looked forward to that part of the paper - all those large wedding portraits, descriptions of the dresses and flowers. What a wonderful service. Today - nada. Like you said, people don't submit their weddings anymore. Our local paper charges by the line for obituaries, so I'm sure it's the same for weddings. Now here's a genealogy research story: it was a wedding announcement that made me delete a family from my database. I thought for sure I had the right guy - name was right, place of birth, age, occupation. Everything I found in the census, marriage records, etc added up. BUT the wedding announcement mentioned PARENTS that did not match my family. So I have to start over, but I'm glad for that article.
ReplyDeleteI confess I'm using this subject in its various forms. I've already used Elopement, M here is for the short mentions & license listings. I've got more up my sleeve.
DeleteI'm a retired librarian, and our staff always cringed when people asked to use the microfilm reader. Thank goodness, so many libraries did microfilm their local papers though.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind using the readers - as long as they are working. So many times they don't. At the State Historical Society, you have to find what you want on a manual reader, then remove the reel, take it to a machine that copies, then find it again. But still I use them!
DeleteI’ve found lots of marriages too and was delighted to find a description of my own parent’s wedding. Some other Ms I have found mentioning ancestors- meetings they attended, mining exploits, memberships of organisations
ReplyDeleteThose are good M words, too. Doing this challenge has me thinking about the articles that I have for one ancestor and what I might also find along the same subject on another ancestor.
DeleteYour approach to this challenge with newspaper articles is very noteworthy with so many tips and ideas for researching family history. I've been fortunate to have original clippings from my grandparents and parents wedding announcements and others in archived newspapers. I miss that section of the newspaper that Wendy referenced.
ReplyDeleteSue at CollectInTexas Gal
Thank you! I wanted to show a variety of articles or mere mentions that I've found to give ideas for others to think about.
DeleteBoth of my sets of grandparents were married at the bride's home. I found newspaper items for both, and also for my parents wedding. Unfortunately, the article about my parents was faded and impossible to read.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're able to find a new copy of your parents article. My parents' wedding had a very nice detailed write-up. Fun to read!
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