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15 August 2013

Where Could That Obituary Be?

When searching newspapers for that obituary of an ancestor, consider newspapers in the town where he or she grew up, where he or she lived most of their adult life, and where they died. I have a recently who recently died and newspapers in all three separate areas published obituaries. 

Don't focus on just one paper.

5 comments:

  1. Where their parents live (or lived at the end of their lives) is also a possibility. Two of my great aunts had lived in an area for a fairly short period of time before marrying and moving elsewhere. However, my great grandmother remained, and their funerals were in that town, and so were their obits. Someone not familiar with the immediate family would probably never have thought to look there.

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  2. It's also good to try the big city closest to where your ancestors lived. all of my family is from the south Jersey area. While the hometown newspaper isn't online anywhere, I have found some things in the Trenton newspaper, about 30 mins away, and also the Philadelphia newspaper, which of course is in the bordering state, but not too far away. Casting a wider net may yield more results.

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  3. In our area it was always the "bigger town" paper that we checked. But they have gone to charging more money for obits than many can pay...and the small town weekly papers are publishing nearly twice as many obits now because they do it for free. So sometimes you have to check on a smaller, nearby paper too, Also I live near the county line...so I get two small papers to check out. Families have lived in both areas for 150+ years now...so it is worth looking for someone who might be related.

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  4. I have tried every way I can think of to find John Tredinnick who died 7th April 1993, but no-one seems to know where. He left a ?widow in Wilkes Barre Luzerne Philadelphia, and he seemed to live there up until 1991. No paper has any obituary and no death certificate seems available. Can anyone help please.?

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  5. My guess is this is your John Tredinnick .. I'd check for obits in Hampton, VA area

    Name:
    John C. Tredennick

    SSN:
    200-05-5209

    Last Residence:

    23664 Hampton, Hampton City, Virginia, USA


    BORN:
    25 Aug 1912

    Died:
    18 Apr 1993

    State (Year) SSN issued:
    Pennsylvania (Before 1951)

    Source Citation: Number: 200-05-5209; Issue State: Pennsylvania; Issue Date: Before 1951.

    Source Information:

    Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2011.
    Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration

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