21 August 2013

Was There an Epidemic?

If you have a death date for an ancestor and no information on cause of death, have you looked at newspapers for the era? Don't look just for an obituary or a death notice, but instead look for any mention of disease outbreaks, epidemics, etc. during the time your ancestor died. 

It does not mean that your ancestor died due to the disease or outbreak mentioned, but it can be a potential clue.

And if several of your relatives died with a week or so of each other, then it's possible that the illness mentioned in the newspaper was related to their cause of death.

6 comments:

  1. My browser keeps stating your site has a wrong certificate name, desplaying some facebook url...

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  2. Joan-This is the first I've heard of this. It is possible that your browser has some sort of issue? I'll wait and see if I get any similar reports. Michael

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    1. Michael, my grandmother's maiden name was Neil, her uncle was John Neil of Alamo fame. Possibly related?

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    2. It would have to be really far back. My Neills were immigrants from Ireland to Canada in the 1860s.

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  3. My browser also says that your site has a wrong certificate name. It is a facebook url.

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    1. It may be something about the links coming through Facebook. I'll have to look into it.

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