Newspaper Clippings ~ F

This post is part of a series for the April Blogging from A to Z April 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.

 Farm Sales


The majority of my ancestors were farmers and it's great to find a notice of the sale of their farm or farm equipment in the newspaper. A sale bill will include a list of their implements, possibly some livestock and a description of the location of their farm. 


This "Menke farm" had been in the family since about 1879. Patriarch Henry Menke died in 1915 and his wife kept it going with the help of their son, my Great Grandfather Albert. 

Beatrice [NE] Daily Sun, August 6, 1944

Often there is so much information about the equipment and livestock they had for sale. Notice there is no tractor listed in this one from 1940 of my Great Grandpa Mann's sale.  He preferred to work with horses. 

Beatrice [NE] Daily Sun, March 1, 1940

Giltner [NE] Gazette, October 12, 1934

Cicero Bell sold his farm during the depression. He was 65 years old at the time, but apparently the "son" (who may have been my Grandpa) didn't plan to continue farming. I wrote about this and included a transcription of the sale bill here.  A unique thing about the Giltner Gazette is that a man named Gerald E. Sherard wrote a book in which he abstracted names from the Giltner Gazette from 1918 to 1962, along with much more of the history of Giltner. He notes the date of the issue where the names occur, which make finding them very easy. ¹
 

Besides Funeral notices, family and friends who attend from out of town are occasionally noted in old newspapers, often in the social columns separately from the obituary.  It's nice to see that relatives from a distance made the trip for a loved ones funeral. Like all the way from Canada in 1923.    

DeWitt [NE]Times-News, May, 1923

A road trip to Oklahoma in 1941 for a funeral included my Grandparents, Great Grandparents and other relatives of my Grandma's aunt. I wonder how many cars were in this caravan.

Beatrice [NE] Daily Sun, May 6, 1941

Not so long of a trip, it's nice to see that the Lee family of Hastings attended the funeral of their uncle and brother-in-law. Hastings to Harvard is a short 20 mile drive. This is the only time I've seen Josiah referred to as "Cy". 

Harvard [NE] Courier, April 20,1922

Some of my newspaper clippings with my own name include the results of my 4-H exhibits at the County Fair. I have some of my Dad's, too. More articles I've found include Fraternal organizations that my ancestors were involved in.  

Fun little tidbits about your ancestors in old papers help fill the dash between their birth and death dates. For me, they help fulfill a desire to know more about them. What can you find? Good luck with your search!

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SOURCES:
1 "Historical Sketches of Giltner, Nebraska, by Gerald E. Sherard, 1985, Gateway Press Inc., Baltimore ^↩