Obituaries are the obit-chinest . . . .

Leafing the tree. Last week I noted the usefulness of obituaries. They often identify parents, children, and siblings of the deceased and provide a means to move forward in time, as well as deeper into the past. This week's research only confirms that belief and more. I've added some 50 people to my tree since research began on the Griffith Family Bible documents. Most of these people found their way to Macon county from Wales to farm or mine coal, and now rest in one of the cemeteries in Bevier.

Collaborating with another genealogist on Facebook introduced me to the Newspapers.com website. Today, I'm at day six of a free seven day trial, and I've managed to research, clip,and download 29 articles and obituaries. Understand that the site does not include every edition of every newspaper ever published. It is not a magic bullet. In fact, without the Denver Post or Rocky Mountain News, Colorado newspapers are poorly represented. Unfortunate. But for my ancestors living in and around Macon County, Missouri, the site contains multiple newspapers (The Bevier Appeal, The Macon Chronicle-Herald, et al.), that record neighborly social calls, and visits to and from various family members, in addition to obituary and interment information.

 One other note . . . .

I often fall into a data-collection trance, focusing more on cutting, pasting, and correctly citing documents, photos, and certificates that make up the foundation of my genealogy philosophy. I sometimes forget about the human element. Discovering these obituaries changed some of that if only for awhile, sketching lives and highlighting moments of triumph and heartbreak. Some obituaries are brief, providing only the barest of information, others are richly detailed. At the very least they have clarified, corrected, and supplemented the Daniels branch of my family tree and provided another tool for future research.

Researching the Griffiths . . . and breaking through . . .

Fist pump. I jumped right into the research, following the leads from the Griffith Family Record (See blog entry from 11/24). Initial results were discouraging, Ancestry.com yielded few clues. Sensing a brick wall, I reached out to my fellow genealogists on the Missouri Genealogy Network, describing who and what I was seeking. I was looking for a death record or grave location for Thomas W. Griffiths of Bevier, Macon County, Missouri. I attached a family photograph, as well as birth and death dates. It took less than eight hours . . . . . break through.

A tip of the cap to the moderators and hosts at the Missouri Genealogy Network, and specifically to Debra Cooper who found an obituary for Thomas W. Griffiths on Newspapers.com. Much appreciated . . . and what a discovery.

Obituaries have proved most useful in my research because they usually reveal three generations: parents, spouses, and children, in addition to siblings. This one followed a similar pattern. From this document, I confirmed the name of his parents (Thomas and Margaret), his birthplace (Llangors, Breconshire, South Wales), and learned that he had four sisters. Identifying the sisters took further research, as the obit identifies them by their husbands name; they are: Mary, Elizabeth, Jane, and Sarah. Even further research indicated that he had a brother, Daniel, who died in 1876.

Jane Griffiths

From here, I'll investigate census records, immigration records, and the Castle Garden website. I'll also use the census and find-a-grave to follow his sisters and their families, and identify their descendants. There is plenty to do here.

On another note, I've cataloged twenty-six 8mm films in preparation for converting them to a digital format. Most notable in this collection is an Iowa family reunion held in 1964. I'm hopeful that these new additions to my collection can be converted to a quality digital reproductions. Such an opportunity. Much more to follow . . . .