where2look4ancestors

  • Ice Delivered by Horse-Drawn Wagon

    There’s a picture of a horse-drawn ice wagon on the Brooklyn Historical Society Blog today. It’s their Photo of the Week post which goes on to explain how ice was harvested from frozen ponds and delivered to individual businesses and home. Interesting information about the day-to-day lives of our ancestors. It was particularly interesting to…

  • Waking with the Dead

    Coffee in hand, I head to my desk and start typing. Last name. First name. Date of birth. Date of death. Cemetery section. Photo number. Rinse and repeat. A second cup of coffee. More names. More dates. Lives begun. Lives ended. People buried alone. Families reunited for all eternity. Infants…

  • Final Resting Place for Edward Gorham?

    The words “Accidentally Drowned” caught my eye as I read the front page of the Chicago Daily News from September 22, 1879: “At an early hour this morning, Edward Gorham, aged 25, a Canadian, employed in the Life-Saving Service, fell off the pier and was drowned. His body was recovered.…

  • Is Your Ancestor in this Newspaper Column?

    So often we look for the leaves on our family tree on the obituary page of newspapers, but neglect to peruse the other pages in these publications. Even in big cities, neighborhood activities were frequently reported in the newspaper. These brevities give us a glimpse of the day-to-day happenings in our…

  • Stories under the Stones

    Albert W. Schroeder and his wife Julia are buried in Chicago’s Mount Olive Cemetery. Their headstones were among 600+ photos I took for Find A Grave in that cemetery in April. The emblem on Albert’s headstone intrigued me. If the dates on his headstone are correct, Albert was only 19…

  • 1891 Obituaries: April 9

    The following names appeared on page 5 of the April 9, 1891 issue of the Chicago Daily News in the obituary column (see image in this post for details): Bertha Annas George Barron Gracie M. Bartlett Thomas Barry Andrew Theodore Block Arthur Brennan Henry W. Baniff Elizabeth Clara Bunke Margaret…

  • Grieving Statuary

    Cemetery art and architecture often takes my breath away. And makes me wonder about the lives of the people who commissioned it.

  • Stone Chairs

    One can only imagine the heartache felt by Sarah Hickling when her beloved husband William died. William had referred to Sarah as his “darling girl”. Apparently their togetherness didn’t end with William’s passing. Sarah had stone chairs made to face the memorial she had erected in William’s honor. She may…

  • 1892 Obituaries: April 13

    The following names were listed under “deaths” on page 9 of the April 13, 1892 edition of the Chicago Daily News: Johanna Christopher Bartholomew James Donahue Herman Fromhold Edward McEwen John D. Morrison Mary E. O’Connor See image in this post to read each obituary.

  • Soldiers Laid to Rest