Why Obituaries Became My Favourite Research Tool for Finding Recent Ancestors
As a young hobby genealogist, I used to get so frustrated that there were no good records to confirm more recent dates of death or find the names of younger relatives. Most countries have privacy laws that withhold exact record entries like census forms in order to protect the identities of living citizens. For example, Canadian censuses are released 92 years after they are taken since most people in those records are deceased by the time of publication.
But what about information that we, or our ancestors, voluntarily put out? We live in the social media age where it’s almost second-nature to post pictures from your wedding, or share a heartfelt post about your grandma who recently passed away. But social media is a still pretty new in the grand scheme of genealogical research — Facebook was only founded in 2004. So what do you do to find out more about the people who lived in the later half of the twentieth century?
Enter: The Newspaper
Local news publications are fantastic primary sources for day-to-day events, but genealogists especially love that newspapers served as a community’s way of sharing what was going on in the lives of its citizens. I’ve found some amazing family facts in newspapers archives. But when it comes to having a deeper understanding about your ancestor’s life, obituaries can capture their life story beyond dates and places listed on government records.
Since obituary information is willingly provided to the newspaper by family members or loved ones of the deceased, this becomes public information upon publication. Obituaries virtually always include the name of the deceased, their date of death, and where they passed away. Families will often choose to include more information, like the name of the deceased’s parents, spouse, children, grandchildren, and siblings, typically indicating whether or not those individuals are living or also deceased.
Access to newspaper archives varies greatly from publication to publication. Local libraries and historical societies often archive newspapers and journals, while sprawling access to major publications can be found through news archive websites like Newspapers.com. Some databases require a paid subscription to access, and some newspapers may not be available online. When in doubt, reaching out to a genealogical researcher or local genealogical society can help you to find the archives you’re looking for.
Here’s an example of a basic obituary:
John Smith, age 60, passed away in his lifelong Edmonton home on March 20 after a brief illness. Son of the late Robert Smith and Jane Doe, John spent his final days with his wife of 35 years, Sally, sons Joe (Jessica) and Josh, and his grandchildren Gary, Mary, and Jerry. Survived by his sister Mrs. Sarah Thompson (Bob) of Vancouver. Funeral services will be held at the Community Chapel on March 26 at 2p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation.
From just that paragraph, we learned a lot about John Smith’s life. Let’s break it down.
What facts are included?
Let’s say that this newspaper was published in 1990. This would mean that the following information is true as long as no mistakes were made in the obituary:
John was born in either 1929 or 1930, depending on which month his birthday is in
John lived in the same house in Edmonton his entire life so his address should be consistent on government records
His parents Robert and Jane are both deceased, and Jane’s maiden name is Doe
He was about 25 years old when he married Sally around 1955
The couple had sons Joe and Josh, who have three children between the two
Joe is married to Jessica, which is why her name appears in parentheses ( )
John has a sister named Sarah, who is married to Bob Thompson and lives in Vancouver
From just one obituary, we can map out four generations of a family spread across two cities. From this, we can also gather some assumptions and make educated guesses that can guide our research as we build out the Smith family tree:
Since John’s parents died before him, but were alive to conceive him, they must have died in the period of 1929 to 1990
Assuming Robert and Jane were 18-50 when John was born, we can filter their birth years using the range of 1880-1912. Years outside of this range can still be considered, but are less likely, especially for female ancestors
John’s parents lived in the Edmonton area by the time of John’s birth and may appear here in records prior to 1930
John’s sons were most likely born after his wedding, so Joe and Josh were likely born in the late 1950s or 1960s
Joe is the only married son, so it’s possible all three of John’s grandchildren belong to him and Jessica. One or more of the children could belong to Josh, so this cannot be considered as fact
John died after a brief illness and the family asked for donations to be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. It’s a bit presumptuous, but this may indicate that he died from a heart-related illness
How does all this information help us to assess other records?
All of the facts and assumptions from above can help to corroborate information you find at another time. Since we know that John and his family lived at the same address across multiple generations, this can be used to verify records that include an address like a federal census. A census will give personal details like age, location of birth, and address for all people noted. Depending on the version of the census, other information like profession, religion, and the location of parents’ births may also appear.
The most recent Canadian census which is available to the public was taken in 1931, so John and his parents most likely would have been recorded on this census as living at the same address as where John died. If John’s sister Sarah is older than him, she would also appear on this record. The census entry should have enough information on the Smith family, like where John’s parents and grandparents were born, to be able to look even further back in the family tree. From just one short obituary, we can start to gather enough information to make a four-generation tree with very strong leads for further research.
Of course this is a made up family for this example, but I’ve seen so many family histories come together from relatively short records like this. If you have known ancestral roots in Canada like the fake Smiths, there’s a very good chance that your family tree will come together quickly. Small clues like the wording in an obituary can end up being the verifying puzzle pieces that solve family mysteries.
Dates and places are great, but that isn’t everything an obituary has to offer
John Smith’s obituary was an example of a shorter obituary, sometimes referred to as a death notice. These are commonly found in large city newspapers where printing space is limited and valuable, meaning that families would have to pay more for a larger obituary to run in the paper. In my experience, longer obituaries appear more frequently in smaller publications, such as a weekly township newspaper. And it’s often from these types of publications that I learn the most incredible facts about my ancestors.
Let’s look at my favourite obituary that I’ve found from my family tree
This is the obituary for my ancestor, DA McDonald, published in his hometown’s local newspaper.
This is actually only half of the obituary. The other half included the names of relatives who came to town for the funeral, which is a fantastic way to corroborate who is still alive at the time of someone else’s death. But that isn’t why I love this obituary.
What I love is that we get to learn so much about the life of someone who died almost a century before I was born.
I already knew from other records that Donald was born in Ontario and spent time in Colorado working as a miner before returning to his hometown to have his family. But those records only gave me names, places, and dates.
In his obituary, we learn that Donald was an avid cheesemaker, even being declared the best in the country at a time. Is he the reason why I can’t resist a block of cheddar? It must be in my DNA.
After learning this, I immediately wanted to know more about Donald and the Eastern Townships Bank-sponsored event that he won. I kept digging in the archives to find the article that first announced his competition win and prize winnings, but I still wanted to know more. So I reached out to a historian at the University of Guelph who specialized in the history of cheesemaking in Ontario.
Although she didn’t have any information quickly available about that specific contest, she shared some fantastic information about what Donald’s day to day likely would have looked like. It was like I stepped back in time to rural eastern Ontario, catching a glimpse of dairy cow pastures and a humble homestead. This was so much better than just reading “farmer” listed as his occupation on census lists or his death certificate. I felt connected to my family’s history in an entirely new way, and it was all thanks to this obituary.
Obituaries are just the beginning when it comes to what newspapers have to offer
Sharing the death of a loved one through an obituary is just one of the many ways that people used to keep their community updated about the goings-on in their lives. Birth, graduation, and marriage announcements regularly ran in local papers, and often still do in smaller communities. But there’s a lot more available to us than just those captured milestones. Everyday reporting on regular events like county fairs, arts festivals, sports games, school plays, local politics, and even more help to not just place our ancestors on a timeline, but to see the world as they knew it through their eyes. Flipping through old copies of your hometown’s newspaper just might be the way to uncover the lives of your ancestors.
