Every genealogist has inherited that prized family obituary that proudly describes the life of the family matriarch or patriarch. Obituaries are genealogy goldmines. They can be packed with information and clues that can help us learn more about our family history.
This past Thursday, November 4th, I appeared on Genealogy Quick Start, a genealogy education web show produced by Shamele Jordan that streams live to Facebook and YouTube every other Thursday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.
My Quick Start session focuses on dissecting a U.S. obituary to tell an immigrant story. The immigrant life story in question is that of my favorite ancestor to teach about, my 2nd great-grandmother María Aurelia Compeán Sánches, who immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 1919. Why is Aurelia my favorite ancestor to teach about? Because of the 1963 obituary that we discuss in this show. It is jam-packed with genealogy information, and with genealogical questions to answer and confirm. My great-aunt mailed me a clipped copy of that obituary back in 1997 when I started researching my family history, and I am still attempting to answer all of the questions posed by it. The show only had time to focus on answering one research question, but the steps covered can be applied to all questions raised by this genealogically valuable record.
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