Powerful Archive of Our Ancestors’ Stories in Newspapers Not Available Anywhere Else
Thomas Jay Kemp, GenealogyBank’s Director of Genealogy Products, introduces GenealogyBank and explains what it has to offer the genealogy community, focusing on its vast archive of historical newspapers.
“Really? I can read the obituary of Peregrine White, who was born on the Mayflower? I had no idea newspapers were available that far back!”
Yes, you can—and you can read over a billion more stories just like his in GenealogyBank. Read White’s obituary in the. . .
“Really? I can read the obituary of Peregrine White, who was born on the Mayflower? I had no idea newspapers were available that far back!”
Yes, you can—and you can read over a billion more stories just like his in GenealogyBank. Read White’s obituary in the. . .
Boston News Letter (Boston, Massachusetts) 24-31 July 1704, page 2.
Newspapers are likely the only surviving documentation for the stories of your relatives.
Birth, marriage and death records—and the census—give us a snapshot of their lives, but newspapers recorded everything that happened, 365 days per year, throughout their lives.
In GenealogyBank is an online archive of U.S. newspapers published in small towns and big cities from 1690 to today. The collection has over 1.6 billion records, like this obituary for Rufus M. Gibbs published in 1916.
With its powerful search engine, GenealogyBank is easy to use. You can browse through the pages of each newspaper issue, or drill down and quickly start reading newspaper articles about your ancestor. Rely on the newspapers in GenealogyBank to find the long-lost family stories and the genealogical details of your ancestors’ lives.
In GenealogyBank you can find stories such as this account of the 1755 earthquake that struck New England.
Newspapers are likely the only surviving documentation for the stories of your relatives.
Birth, marriage and death records—and the census—give us a snapshot of their lives, but newspapers recorded everything that happened, 365 days per year, throughout their lives.
In GenealogyBank is an online archive of U.S. newspapers published in small towns and big cities from 1690 to today. The collection has over 1.6 billion records, like this obituary for Rufus M. Gibbs published in 1916.
With its powerful search engine, GenealogyBank is easy to use. You can browse through the pages of each newspaper issue, or drill down and quickly start reading newspaper articles about your ancestor. Rely on the newspapers in GenealogyBank to find the long-lost family stories and the genealogical details of your ancestors’ lives.
In GenealogyBank you can find stories such as this account of the 1755 earthquake that struck New England.
Firsthand Account of the “Great Earthquake of 1755”
Here are the words of Hannah (Clark) Lyman recalling “the great earthquake of…1755”:
“It was between 4 and 5 in the morning, and the moon shone brightly. [I] and the rest of the family were suddenly awaked from sleep by a noise like that of the trampling of many horses; the house trembled and the pewter rattled on the shelves.”
Read her story here: Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, Massachusetts) 21 March 1832,
page 3.
Over a century later, the Bellingham Herald published this terrifying letter written by a woman who was trapped in San Francisco during the devastating earthquake of 1906:
“Yesterday morning at 5:15 an earthquake shook all the brick buildings to the ground and displaced or otherwise damaged the rest…and every bit of the…district was completely destroyed.
A scarcity of food adds to its horror. It’s so pathetic to see people wandering about homeless trying to rescue their belongings. There is a hospital opposite us, and every minute the injured are taken there.
Uncle, I won’t try to describe what is too terrible to realize. I hope you may never experience what I have gone through in the last thirty-six hours. Good bye. If things improve I will write you soon, but unless water is obtained, I can see no hope for the rest of this wretched city. Your frightened niece,”
Read her story here: Bellingham Herald (Fairhaven & Whatcom, Washington) 24 April 1906, page 1.
Newspapers might be the only way that genealogists can learn these powerful stories.
Ethnic Newspapers
GenealogyBank has over 6,500 newspapers, including thousands of important ethnic and foreign-language newspapers. There are newspapers in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Here are the words of Hannah (Clark) Lyman recalling “the great earthquake of…1755”:
“It was between 4 and 5 in the morning, and the moon shone brightly. [I] and the rest of the family were suddenly awaked from sleep by a noise like that of the trampling of many horses; the house trembled and the pewter rattled on the shelves.”
Read her story here: Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, Massachusetts) 21 March 1832,
page 3.
Over a century later, the Bellingham Herald published this terrifying letter written by a woman who was trapped in San Francisco during the devastating earthquake of 1906:
“Yesterday morning at 5:15 an earthquake shook all the brick buildings to the ground and displaced or otherwise damaged the rest…and every bit of the…district was completely destroyed.
A scarcity of food adds to its horror. It’s so pathetic to see people wandering about homeless trying to rescue their belongings. There is a hospital opposite us, and every minute the injured are taken there.
Uncle, I won’t try to describe what is too terrible to realize. I hope you may never experience what I have gone through in the last thirty-six hours. Good bye. If things improve I will write you soon, but unless water is obtained, I can see no hope for the rest of this wretched city. Your frightened niece,”
Read her story here: Bellingham Herald (Fairhaven & Whatcom, Washington) 24 April 1906, page 1.
Newspapers might be the only way that genealogists can learn these powerful stories.
Ethnic Newspapers
GenealogyBank has over 6,500 newspapers, including thousands of important ethnic and foreign-language newspapers. There are newspapers in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Irish American Newspapers
Did you know that early Irish marriage and death records were routinely published in Irish American newspapers?
For example, the Irish American, a U.S. newspaper published in New York City, published thousands of Irish marriage and death records from 1849 to 1914. No, not every Irish marriage and death record, but exceptionally wide coverage of marriages and deaths from across Ireland.
Other important collections of newspapers inside GenealogyBank includes the largest collections of:
This article was submitted by Thomas Jay Kemp, Director, Genealogy Products – GenealogyBank
Did you know that early Irish marriage and death records were routinely published in Irish American newspapers?
For example, the Irish American, a U.S. newspaper published in New York City, published thousands of Irish marriage and death records from 1849 to 1914. No, not every Irish marriage and death record, but exceptionally wide coverage of marriages and deaths from across Ireland.
Other important collections of newspapers inside GenealogyBank includes the largest collections of:
- African American Newspapers, covering the years 1827-1999
- Hispanic American Newspapers, covering the years 1808-1978
This article was submitted by Thomas Jay Kemp, Director, Genealogy Products – GenealogyBank
