Tip - Don't Overlook Old Social News

Have you ever tried to piece together who's who in a family? Of course you have! It really gets interesting when the eldest children in family are having grandkids while their younger siblings are still working on cranking out their own babies. Well stop banging your head on the desk in frustration!

If your ancestors lived in a small town, don't overlook the social gossip that was printed in the newspapers. They often show party guest lists, out of town visitors, medical updates, estate sales (with every item being sold listed), etc. In small towns everyone knew everyone else's business.

Guest lists for family dinners or reunions can be a real find for the family genealogist. At these events you know that almost everyone who attended is related to the host in some way, by blood or marriage. Now that you have the names, you just need to piece them together. Of course there is always the possibility to keep in mind that single attendees may have been boyfriends or girlfriends who never made it to marrying into the family....or they could be grandkids or inlaws or....

Here is an example from my paternal family. The folks I've been able to positively identify have corresponding notes. There are a few that I'm still working on and haven't pinpointed their relationship yet.

I've used my paternal grandmother, Ada M. (DeHart) Yohn as the base person to use in the relationship metric.

News article that appeared in the Reading (Berks County, PA) Eagle, on May 22, 1931

My notes on the Guest List:

Rev. A. R. Bachman - pastor of St. John's Reformed Church, Mt. Aetna, Berks Co., PA, the family church

Miss Maggie Stumbach

Mrs. Lizzie Lightner

Samuel DeHart - brother to my grandmother

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis B. Miller, Philadelphia - sister to my grandmother (Martha)

Mr. and Mrs. John Thomas

Mrs Emma Hoffman and Children, Jacob and Russell - sister to my grandmother

Mrs. Kate Boeshore and daughter Emma, Fredericksburg - sister to my grandmother

Mr. and Mrs. Frank DeHart and daughter Mary - brother to my grandmother

Charles DeHart - brother to my grandmother

Mrs. Ada Yohn and children Floyd, Evelyn, Arline, and Fern - my grandmother and her 4 kids, my Dad wasn't born until December of that year.

Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Bulles and children Elizabeth and Bernice - sister to my grandmother (Lillie)

Mrs. Carrie Sherman, Reading - sister to my grandmother

Mr. and Mrs. Hiram DeHart and children Allen and Alberta - brother to my grandmother

Miss Maggie DeHart - sister to my grandmother

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis DeHart and children Lucille and Curtis - brother to my grandmother

Mr. and Mrs. Henry DeHart, Myerstown - brother to my grandmother

Mr. and Mrs. George DeHart, Lebanon - brother to my grandmother

Mr. and Mrs. Artemus Bulles - nephew to my grandmother,  Raymond and Lillie Bulles's son

Lewis Bear - Carrie Sherman's companion/2nd husband (actually spelled Louis)

Stanley Adams, Reading

William Shimp, Wernersville

Mildred, Eleanor and Lucy Ream. Fredericksburg - My grandmother's sister, Kate Boeshore's granddaughters via daughter Mary E. (Boeshore) Ream

Miss Ethel Balthaser

Rufus Brigel - future husband of Elizabeth Bulles (dau of Raymond and Lillie Bulles)

Mr. and Mrs. Ross Bear, Reading - (related to Louis Bear, but how?)

A Memory Conversation Starter

Last year, I gave my then 77 year old mother a gift subscription to Reminisce magazine, published by Reiman Publications (http://www.reminisce.com/). It's a magazine where subcribers submit articles, photos, recipes and share memories of growing up and raising families during the 1920s, 30s, 40, 50s and even the early 1960s. I thought Mom would enjoy reading these strolls down memory lane.

Mom and Me, Christmas 1959

Well, the magazine was a big hit! Not only did she enjoy it, but as she would page through each new issue, Mom would share stories of her and her siblings from when they were growing up. This was something Mom never really discussed over the years - she didn't think it was that interesting to anyone else. Mom was one of 10 siblings that survived infancy (although one of those 10, a younger brother, drowned when he was just shy of turning five years old) She had one older sister and the  rest of the family were boys. All but one of the brothers were younger than her. Why Mom thought that wasn't interesting to anyone else is beyond me. Grandma never allowed any of the children out alone, whether playing, walking to school, running errands or dating. They always had to have at least one sibling with them, no matter how old they were.  She told of when she was dating a local farm boy, she had to take two of her youngest brothers with her when she would visit the farm to see her boyfriend. TOver time the younger boys became close to that family, so even when Mom broke up with the boyfriend, her brothers still kept in touch for many years.

Mom, who was from Upstate NY, told about going to two funerals for her grandmother...one in the winter when she passed and another in the spring when the ground was thawed enough that her grandma could be buried.

She told of wearing hand me downs and of how her grandmother had taught her to sew clothes. (Mom is a talented seamstress, I've never had the knack). Of how her brothers took a portrait of her and would throw darts at it when they were mad at her. Of her wedding portrait that was taken before the ceremony and posed in front of their home. Unseen by anyone until later, under the raised porch were her two youngest brothers dressed in their cowboy hats and aiming their toy six shooters at her.  It made her so mad then, but now it makes everyone laugh, including her brothers who are retired now.

All kinds of snippets came spilling out.

If you are looking for a conversation starter with older family members, I would recommend Reminsice magazine as just the thing to get old memories stirring. And it makes a fine Christmas gift for the person who doesn't want any more "dustables" or hand cream.

(Disclosure: I have no connection to Reminisce or to Reiman Publications. I'm just sharing a tip that worked for me.)

Happy Reminiscing!