When Obituaries Aren't in the Newspapers
Genealogists are always looking for new sources. Tracking down information about our ancestors is what we do best. Obituaries are a terrific source of information but genealogists sometimes overlook the hundreds of thousands of obituaries that are not published in newspapers.
For example the Department of the Navy annually report to the U.S. Congress includes a lengthy list of obituaries of naval personnel who passed away in the previous year. These detailed obituaries give the genealogical details of the person's birth date, birth place and death date & place as well as the details of their military career.
These reports by the Department of the Navy along with the thousands of other documents prepared for government use are consolidated in what is called the U.S. Congressional Serial Set.
You can see a digital copy of the original pages of the 1883 US Navy Report, and other free newspaper content at: http://www.genealogybank.com/free/r/Legacy0807
Always good to have new sources of information identifeid. Thanks very much.
Posted by: Alton L. Douglass | August 24, 2007 at 12:12 PM
Where can the US Congressional Serial Set be accessed and what years does it cover?
Posted by: Dennis Marlett | August 24, 2007 at 12:27 PM
Are there similiar sources for Canada? The Toronto Star Pages of the Past, and the (Toronto) Globe and Mail archived newspapers from the 1800's are available. But that is only one city in a huge country.
Posted by: Sal | August 24, 2007 at 12:39 PM
GenealogyBank.com is focused on US content and does not have Canadian newspapers - you might check www.paperofrecord.com it has alot of Canadian newspapers. Tom
Posted by: Thomas Jay Kemp | August 24, 2007 at 06:18 PM
The US Serial Set is available on GenealogyBank.com
It is good for military records, casualty lists, Revolutionary and Civil War pension requests, widow's claims, orphan petitions, land grants and much more. GenealogyBank currently has more than 119,000 reports from the Serial Set and is digitizing March 1919 with plans to complete content through 1930 by December 2007 and through 1980 by 2009. New content is added monthly!
Tom
Posted by: Thomas Jay Kemp | August 24, 2007 at 06:22 PM