Once again, while searching in old newspapers for something completely different, I found a nice little treasure. Actually this one was pretty big, if you count the number of words.
At some point in a puzzling research project, I think most genealogists find themselves asking a dead ancestor something like “Betty, just who are you really?” We might even say it out loud if nobody is listening. Of course we don’t generally expect to get an answer, but what can it hurt to ask? At a minimum, it’s a way to vent frustration. And when we get an answer? That’s the really cool and Really Spooky part of genealogy that keeps me hooked.
I other day I said out loud something to the effect of “U-ta-wa-un, you little stinker, who the heck are you?” (actually that’s cleaned up considerably for my public audience). I then decided to put him aside. Within days I stumbled on a local news piece that tells me exactly who U-Ta-Wa-Un was before he was U-Ta-Wa-Un. He was listening and he answered – Spooky stuff!
Pretty cool what you can find when you’re not looking for it, ha ;)
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Posts Tagged With: old newspapers
U-Ta-Wa-Un – Who are you?
Laton’s Death Notice
A descendant of Carrie’s, Randy Blood, has recently gotten involved in this research project. He has been searching through old newspapers and found some really great treasures he is sharing with me.
The first one I will share with my readers is the death notice for Laton Kanistanaux published in a local New York newspaper.
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Isaac & Dr. Lee
While poking around the other day in old newspapers and looking for something entirely different, I came upon a really sweet little treasure. Actually 3 little treasurers in a row that really make a big impact on the overall picture.
No matter how many different ways I search in old newspapers, the OCR process and the often extremely poor quality of the print, pretty much guarantees my searches will miss things. Today’s post is proof of this. I had already used every trick I could think of to root out the names I was looking for in this particular paper. Since the newspaper was in exactly the right place and time period, I decided to take the time to learn what I could about the “Indian” issues of the day of concern to local citizens. Entering “indian” as a key word turned up a huge number of hits over a very short time span. I used exclude with a few key words and whittled it down to a couple hundred. I got myself comfortable and began reading them one by one.
After several hours of reading and with tired eyes struggling to focus, there it was. I almost missed it – then I just stared in numb disbelief. Perhaps my mind was playing tricks on me? How could my previous searches have missed this?
The Ne-Do-Ba Research Journal 