[S11] Navigating FultonHistory.com

I LOVE using FultonHistory.com for newspaper research. Please share any special finds that you have made by using this website and let me know if you have any questions!

Jeanette

One of my best finds was an article about an 1883 fire at the home of my 2X great grandparents. He was a teamster and it seems that the fire was intentionally set. No persons were killed but my g grandfather was seriously injured while trying to save his horses from the barn. The article stated that he was not expected to live as he had inhaled hot air from the fire. He also was burned about his face and was kicked unconscious by a horse he was trying to save. He did survive and lived until 1906. What I find odd is that my grandmother, his granddaughter, never mentioned this to anyone in the family despite the fact that she would have known this story either first hand or from her mother, the burned man's daughter, who lived with her for many years. This is only one of many stories I've found at Fultonhistory. Like you, I love this site.

I love this website! I have found so many helpful articles here, particularly obituaries. No one in my family had any information on our ancestors further back than my great-great-grandfather. By searching on his name, I was able to find his obituary and found the names of his parents! Once I had their names, I was able to add a great deal of information to my family tree. I have found many family members from this site.

I also love this site, I have found fantastic articles on family in Rensselaer county. It’s very quirky, but once you know how to use it, it’s great!

I've had several "best" finds on fultonhistory, but my favorite was in the New York Herald from early 1900s, an ad placed by my great-grandfather for his boarding house in Fremont Centre, where he boasted of the vegetables grown on site for the guests to eat. I gather he was good at provisions. He had been quartermaster during his second enlistment in the civil war in the heavy artillery.

That is the best when an obituary names the decedent’s parents. What a great find to help go back an additional generation! ~ Jeanette

I totally agree that finding the articles makes it all worth while to navigate around the quirkiness. It is such an amazing resource!! ~ Jeanette

I had to leave the conference this morning because I suddenly felt ill. I had been looing forward to your presentation and was disappointed that I had to miss it. BUT- thankfully, I just watched it at home. You have helped me make much better sense of the site, even though I have used it for a number of years! And I was glad to hear that I am not the only one who ever regretted not getting the citation down when I should have!! Thanks for the presentation and for the handout content. It is very helpful.

Most newspaper publishers had copies of their papers bound in big books, newspaper page size volumes. It's these books that were microfilmed and it was not always possible to open a thick volume flat enough to scan the inside columns. So pages on the right side of the books have cut off left-side columns and left pages have right-side columns cut off.

These morgue books were a real pain to use–worse than land record volumes because publishers usually put a whole year in one book. Even the book a 4-page weekly was heavy and awkward for a short person, like me, to read.

The second folder in the Newspaper Filecabinet is A Spreadsheet of Newspapers. In it is a spreadsheet inventory of the papers on the site as of 02-20-20. It may not be completely up to date, but it's a great start. I downloaded it.

I should have said this first. This was a fabulous presentation. I wish I'd seen it before I spent hours on the site. It would have really flattened my learning curve.

I've used the FultonHistory site for many years and found evidence that made a huge impact on some of my New York State research projects. My husband's paternal Madden ancestors lived in northern New Jersey, and he often reminisced about summers spent in Walton, Delaware County. I discovered the family's roots there through newspapers on this website. While researching his grandmother's aunt from NJ who had an unfamiliar surname, I unexpectedly found a news item in a 1913 issue of the Syracuse Herald about her wedding to a man from Onondaga County even though the event was held in NJ. The reporter identified several participants incorrectly, but there was enough detail to confirm the bride's identity and follow up with more research in both states. Many research breakthroughs on FultonHistory thanks to Tom Tryniski's efforts!

Hi Ruth, which regiment? My g-g-grandfather was in the New York, Co. B, 2nd Reg. Heavy Artillery. Sadly he was lost when their position was overrun.

I have used FultonHistory for several years and have stumbled on things of great interest. I emphasize "stumbled." After attending Jeanette's presentation on Saturday, I used one of the techniques she taught us, and Bingo! I found a marriage record for one set of great-grandparents in Allegany County, New York. I'm so excited! I will watch the presentation on demand in order to try to really connect with other methodology Jeanette showed us. Thank you so much!!

Hi Jeannette - thank you for all the great tips for using FultonHistory. I tried the Ancestor Hunt link to "Best Way to Find Hidden Ancestor Newspaper Articles" in your syllabus and it is not working. Just wanted to let you know.

Wow! That was so helpful! I'm furiously watching sessions on demand with only 2 more days to go. Took copious notes and will totally improve my searching thanks to you Jeannette!

Hi Ruth,

What a great story about the vegetables! Love it!

Jeanette

What a story, Deb! I'm so glad that he survived. I had found a similar article but the man did not survive the fire while trying to save his animals. So sad.

Jeanette

Charmaine,

Thank you for your comments and I am so glad that some of my tips are going to help you! I am sure that we are not the only two that have citation regrets! LOL

Jeanette

I can totally envision the type of binding you are describing in my head and yes, that makes total sense why the edges may have been cut off while they were microfilmed. Thank you so much for sharing!!

Jeanette

Yes, it is a great start. I ended up creating one of my own that was more updated. It took me three days to do! LOL

Jeanette

Thank you so much!! I am so glad that some of my tips may help out in future searches!

Jeanette