Finding the context in a person’s life is one of my favorite things about genealogy. I love finding more than just names and dates. Occupations, addresses, family tragedies, world events, awards, military service – they all shape a person’s life.
My favorite places to learn about context are newspapers and city directories (for home addresses and work places). Censuses have some information that could be useful for context, like occupation or whether the person was blind or deaf. Divorce filings often have a lot of juicy details.
Here are some of my previous blog posts, for which I used a lot of newspapers and city directories:
- Workin’ on the Railroad
- Helen Moore
- George E. Bolt
- Arthur W. Belknap
- Glenn “Fred” Moore
- William E. Oakes (1888-1928)
Week 41 (Oct. 7-13): Context
Wells & Wilson Family History 