where2look4ancestors

Category: Genealogy

  • Not Buried Here

    I come across something unique in nearly every cemetery I visit. Cenotaphs (monuments erected in honor of a person buried elsewhere) exist in many graveyards. The cenotaph above was particularly interesting to me because of the wonderful genealogical clues it offers. A family historian may have stumbled upon this memorial, as I…

  • Daily Inter-Ocean Obituaries December 28, 1874

    The Chicago Inter-Ocean was a newspaper published in the Windy City from 1879 to 1902*. The following notices of death appeared on page 8 of the Monday morning edition, December 28, 1874: “MOORHOUSE-Dec. 26, Laura Pearl, only daughter of Wm. H. and Fannie Moorhouse, aged 8 years. Funeral from residence 872 Michigan avenue,…

  • Daily Inter-Ocean Obituaries December 24, 1874

    The Chicago Inter-Ocean was a newspaper published in the Windy City from 1879 to 1902*. The following notices of death appeared on page 8 of the Thursday morning edition, December 24, 1874: “McWADE-Tuesday. Dec. 23, 1874, Jeannette McWade aged 21 years 3 months and 23 days. Funeral from the residence of her…

  • Wednesday’s Child – Ruth B Thomson

    Ruth’s headstone is no longer attached to its base. It lies in the soft grass near her parents’ headstones. Ruth is buried at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis and has a memorial on Find A Grave. May she and her parents rest in peace.

  • Wednesday’s Child – Ella Louise Hankenson

    A necklace around the top of Ella’s memorial caught my eye the first time I visited her at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis. And the second time. And every time thereafter. Who, I wonder, it adding this piece of jewelry to a monument erected in 1888? And why?

  • From and To

    As a genealogist in America, much of my research is focused on my ancestors’ countries of origin. From whence did they come? Researchers on the other side of the pond are also curious about the “to”. My husband has been helping a Norwegian genealogist learn more about his emmigrant ancestors’ lives in America. For my small…

  • Youngest and Beloved Son

    The following obituaries were printed on the front page of the June 9, 1883 issue of the Chicago Daily News;

  • Find A Grave is a Numbers Game; Family Trees

    Genealogy clues abound in nearly every cemetery I visit. Sometimes immigration, relationship, and residency clues present themselves in abundance on just one headstone:   At times, the overall layout of a family plot will reveal names and relationships:   Sometimes the only record of a child who was born and died between censuses is found on…

  • This Being Her First Birthday in Heaven

    In Memoriam columns often contain the most personal notices on the obituary page of a newspaper. The column below, which first appeared on page 19 of the May 12, 1913 issue of the Chicago Daily News, is no exception: These columns remind me to go beyond the year of death when searching for…

  • Wednesday’s Child – Frank S Howes

    The epitaph on this headstone took my breath away. In the still morning air, the the loss this family endured was almost palpable. Frank’s headstone is surrounded by large trees in a lovely section of Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis. May he rest in peace.