Part of our discussion on the Mondays With Myrt webinar this week was "what mistakes did you make early in your genealogy career?" My major "mistake" was not citing many sources over the first 17 years of my "career."
One of the panelists said that their mistake was not reviewing later all of the records they saved and collected early in their genealogy research. That rang a loud bell in my mind, so yesterday I decided to look into my "To be Filed" computer directory. Oh my. There are so many goodies to be discovered again! Massachusetts probates, Rhode Island probates, New Jersey probates, Massachusetts town records, portions of published books, FHL downloads, and "to be input into RM."
One of the best "goodies" I found was a newspaper article about my 2nd great-grandfather, Devier J. Smith (1839-1894) that I captured as a PDF page in 2018. Here it is:
The transcription is:
"For Sale or Trade
"I will sell or trade my property joining the C. II depot, via the north, for cash, or part horses and land. The house is now used for boarding and eating houses, is bringing $50 per month. Enquire at address.
"D.J. SMITH, Concordia, Kan."
The source citation is:
"For Sale or Trade," The Concordia [Kan.] Blade newspaper, 6 March 1885, page 2, D.J. Smith advertisement; online database and image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 18 Jul 2018).
Devier Smith moved his family from Concordia, Kansas up the Republican River to McCook, red Willow County, Nebraska in the spring of 1885, and it appears he was trying to sell the property he had near the train station in Concordia. He was a horse trader and a livery man.
But wait, there's another newspaper article from Concordia - his obituary!
The transcription is:
"D.J. Smith Dead
"A Pioneer Concordian Passes Away At His Home in McCook, Nebr.
"From the McCook (Nebr.) Enterprise
"Died, at the St. Charles Hotel in this city, May 1, at 10:20 a.m. of dropsy of the heart. Devier J. Smith, aged 51 years, 11 months and 24 days.
Devier J. Smith became a resident of this city in the spring of 1885, and had been engaged in the livery business from that date until the time of his death. Until last Thursday the deceased had enjoyed very good health, and was taken suddenly ill on that day and continued to grow worse until Tuesday morning when the messenger came. On Wednesday previous to his death he drove into the country and was caught in a rain, which precipitated his last illness.
The members of his family who survive him are his wife, now with their daughter, Mrs. Della A. Carringer, at San Diego, Cal., a son, D.D. Smith, of this city, who arrived here a week ago last Sunday from Denver, and a daughter, Mrs. Matie Chenery, now at Lincoln. The deceased was a member of the A.O.U.W., which order took charge of the funeral, which took place yesterday at 2:30 p.m. from the M.E. church.
"[Mrs. Matie Chenery has nearly recovered -- EDITOR BLADE]."
The source citation for this obituary is:
"D.J. Smith Dead," The Concordia [Kan.] Blade newspaper, Friday, 11 May 1894, page 3, D.J. Smith obituary; online database and image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 18 Jul 2018).
The Concordia Blade received this information, apparently, from daughter Matie Chenery, but it was published in the McCook [Nebr.] Enterprise newspaper and the Concordia newspaper probably modified the headlines.
I have another obituary with much of the same information from the McCook [Nebr.] Times-Democrat newspaper.
Disclosure: I have a complimentary subscription to Newspapers.com and have used it extensively to find articles about my ancestral and one-name families.
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1 comment:
Your "to be filed" post rang a bell with me because I, too, have slotted items into that kind of digital file folder and not revisited for months (or years). TY for the reminder to take a closer look and then properly file so I can find these nuggets again!
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