Procrastination Pays Off....Again?!

Really! I don't believe that my procrastination is a good thing! Actually it is my biggest shortcoming. But, then...along comes this Report of Death, sent to me from Ancestry by one of my Brainard cousins. Clarence is our shared great grandfather, who left his wife and two young children and went to Canada. Coincidentally or serendipitously, I shared a bit about our great grandmother Irene just five days ago as part of the Fearless Females series.  

Report of Death of American Citizen Abroad

The big surprises were that he was married to someone named Dorothy, that he is buried in Mystic, Connecticut and that he was registered with the Veteran's Administration. More clues to follow. Could he have had children? When did he serve in the military? 

For our twentieth wedding anniversary, MJ and I spent a week in Montreal. Before our trip I had researched the Montreal City Directories and recorded the addresses of the places Clarence had lived. There were no less than eight. The final address was listed on this report as his place of death.

Please don't think that procrastinating is a good thing and certainly Ancestry will not have everything we need, it just worked out for me this time. Yes, it payed off. I didn't have to spend money to order the death certificate, but I could also be sitting here waiting another 50 years. So, don't wait, order or go and obtain those vital records you need to validate your family's genealogy. 

Thank you to my cousin for sending this important document! I love cousins! Remember? Like siblings, without the rivalry. 

Happy Saturday!

Scrappy Gen

Let's Remember!

Genealogical Research at the Providence Public Library

We headed south to Connecticut and Rhode Island for horse shows this weekend. After a cold and successful day showing at Windcrest Farm in Hebron, Connectiut, my daughter went off to support her team at another show at Brookside Equestrian Center in North Smithfield, Rhode Island. 

Bear with me, I promise this leads to genealogical research. Because my daughter was not actually riding today, I found myself in Rhode Island with some free time, an unfamiliar commodity. What does a genealogist do with a little extra time? She goes to the library, the Providence Public Library, which has Sunday hours from September through May.

This used to be my library of choice, just a hop skip and a jump from Classical High School, my alma mater. Opened in 1878 the Providence Public Library, although truly public, is privately owned and operated by a Board of Trustees. In 1989 the Providence Central Library was designated as the statewide reference center by the Rhode Island General Assembly. See the history and historical highlights pages of the website.

My goal at the library today was to search the Providence Journal archives for three obituaries. Online it is possible to search articles from 1983 to the present, but for prior years, one must go onsite. There is a Daily Index to the Providence Journal and Evening Bulletin covering the years 1900 through 2004, but not everything is included. Only obituaries of particularly notable individuals can be found.

MJ's great grandparents, Max and Sofia (Ponce) Feldman, were unlikely to be found in the index, so I headed straight for the microfilm. The Providence Journal is available on microfilm from 1829 through the present. It is located on the first floor and requires a librarian's assistance to pull. There were multiple readers, but I was sole user today. The machine I used was in good repair and good backlighting. Twenty cent copies could be made with a push of a button on the front of the reader. 

There were few full obituaries in 1913, 1920 and 1929. I found both great grandparents simply listed in the death notices. The third obituary I sought was for Jacob Ponce, who passed away in 1965. In 1965 there were many full obituaries, Jacob's among them. He may or may not be a relative, but his obituary gives some good clues to get started.

It was fun returning to an old haunt to do a little genealogical research. Providence is a great city. Even though I have lived in New Hampshire for almost twenty eight years, I still miss it. 

Scrappy Gen

Let's Remember!

Genealogy Resources - Newspapers - ProQuest

Do you need online newspaper access? Do you like instant gratification? Are you willing to pay for it? 

Then you may wish to visit the sites below available through ProQuest. It is free to search and to view a snippet, but in order to view full images you must buy an access pass. Rates vary by paper and by number of articles accessed. A monthly subscription to the Boston Globe is $25.95 for 30 articles. 

Recently I have been using both the Hartford Courant and the Boston Globe and have been able to use the same log-in for both papers, but had to buy separate access passes for each paper. At the Courant I purchased 50 articles for $59.95, although they do have a monthly pass for 75 articles at $49.95. 

Baltimore Sun

Bangor Daily News (Maine)

Boston Globe

Boston Herald

Chicago Tribune

Daily Press (Virginia)

Hartford Courant

Jerusalem Post Online 

Los Angeles Times

Morning Call, The (Pennsylvania)

New York Post

News Tribune, The (Washington)

Newsday

Orlando Sentinel

Providence Journal, The

Richmond Times-Dispatch 

San Diego Union-Tribune

Sun Sentinel (Florida)

USA Today

Winston-Salem Journal (North Carolina)

York Daily Record (Pennsylvania)

Happy Searching and Happy Monday!

Scrappy Gen

Let's Remember!