Recently, my wife was struggling with a family history search for a friend. She and I had both run out of leads for moving forward with identifying new members of this family she was working on. Then, with one more search, she came across a single obituary that contained the names and locations of six of the siblings she had been seeking. What a find! As Springfield family history and genealogy researchers, this little story has two big messages for us. First, that nest research search may be the one where you find your break through. Second, obituaries are still one of the best sources of 'brick-wall-breaking' information.
I was reminded of this today by Kimberly Powell on her About.com Guide where she referred to her article, "10 Steps for Finding Your Family Tree Online." The Step 1 in the article is: Begin with Obituaries. What a great way to start your new year of research: Begin with obituaries!
Earlier I wrote about obituaries as an excellent source of family history and genealogy information. You may find that article useful to review as well. If you have not fully explored the use of obituaries in your research, I certainly encourage you to do so.
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