17 November 2012

Did You Hit the Ad's?

One of the joys I find in genealogical research is digging through historic newspapers. It's fun! Yes, we can gain a great deal of insight and real life experiences of our ancestors from these incredible resources, but there is more. Scanning the headlines, reading the quick notices, the short articles; all of that comes together to create an astonishing experience  placing yourself in that moment in time.

Breckenridge, Colorado, Summit County Journal, 1917, Gough, advertisement, newspaper, historic document, genealogy, family history, ancestry, historic newspaper, research
Summit County Journal, Breckenridge, Colorado.
1 Sep 1917, Page 8.

One thing I make sure to look for in newspaper searches is the advertisements. Have you stopped to investigate these as genealogy source? Just this advertisement for the Rogers Furniture & Undertaking Company from Breckenridge, Colorado tells you so much information: location, what they did, note the Proprietress is Mrs. J. GOUGH, and the year the business began. Knowing what I do about Breckenridge history, the date given of 1880 makes sense; the town was created in 1859 and by 1880, it was thriving. Now I know where else to look: 1880 Federal Census, 1885 Colorado State Census, cemetery records (because they acted as Undertakers and Funeral Directors), etc.

Consider the other aspects as well. As a business, they were doing well enough to afford a reasonably sized advertisement in the local paper, but not well enough to get it on the first page (it was found on page 8). In 1917, Mrs. Gough felt confident enough in her role to list herself as the "manager"; or was it that she felt a feminine touch was necessary in this particular industry?

Try a series of dates to learn more!  We can use Robert "Bob" Lott, former resident of Breckenridge, as a fantastic example. When he passed away in 1913, his friends in the community gathered to give him a proper headstone, in the "Pauper Section" of Valley Brook Cemetery. His headstone was so fascinating, it absolutely demanded more attention:

Copyright Jen Baldwin, Ancestral Journeys, 2011.

Although there is little mention of Mr. Lott in standard newspaper articles of the time period, and even less in community historical documents, there are a lot of ad's. I have learned that he went from catering - delivering meals to your home - to owning his own restaurant, partnering with at least three other men in town of varying degrees of status and luck, finally moving back to his original spot in town, where he ran a successful steak house for several years. He was the only African American living in Summit County, Colorado at the time of his death (per his obituary). Just from the newspaper pieces alone, I have been able to establish a decent timeline of his adult life, leading to further investigation. I hope to someday have his life story; where he came from, and how he ended up in the mountains of Colorado. His is one story of our community that deserves to be remembered, and its up to me, since he left no descendants. 


I have to wonder: Oysters or "Rocky Mountain Oysters"?
Summit County Journal, Breckenridge, Colorado.
5 Jan 1907, Page 5.


Have you gained invaluable data from newspaper articles? Do you have one to share? Please let me know! Leave a comment or a link, and I'll be sure to connect with you. 


5 comments:

  1. Jen, good points! I love searching through historic newspapers, but generally skip the ads. It gets particularly annoying when researching a surname like FLOWERS, for instance, when all the search results turn up florist shop ads--and nothing of use on my family!

    On the other hand, I was delighted to find several ads with my father's name from the time in his younger years when he was a band leader during the big band era in NYC. I'd love to make a poster-sized copy of some of those ads and frame one. Nothing like seeing your surname in lights!

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    1. Wow, Jacqi, that's really neat! What an awesome part of your history! I can see how "Flowers" would be tough, and I guess I'm lucky in that some of my research (not related to me) is from a town that was incredibly small for a long time, and had some key players for most of the duration. So, the names are familiar to me, just from reviewing the 1.5 pages of 1870 census for the location. (Yep, that's it. 1.5 pages) Anyway... thanks for reading, and thanks for commenting! ~Jen

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  2. I love Bob Lott's advertisement for his Owl Restaurant: Open all day and till 12 o'clock at night. (Yes, maybe both kinds of oysters.) His headstone is spectacular, too. I'm looking forward to newspaper research -- have not yet done a lot. Your blog is an inspiration!

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    1. Thanks for catching my comment on the oysters... I think you might be the only one who did! :-) I have been fascinated with Mr. Lott since I first found his headstone three years ago, it's really an amazing tribute to him. Am hoping, someday, to put together his complete story. I just recently found out that the local historical archives has a photo of him, too, so I'm hoping to get to that as soon as I can after the holiday. As always, thanks for reading Mariann!

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  3. In addition to advertisements, I'm a big fan of the legal notices sections. Dissolution of Partnerships can be great genealogical leads. Estate sales and notices are here as well. The classifieds section is also a great source of leads on land and company sales, farms for rent and the like. These things help provide context in addition to factoids for our search.

    OCR has helped but it is not foolproof by a long stretch. In some instances you may need to fully read the paper yourself rather than rely sole on OCR.

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Please comment! I would love to hear your thoughts!