When researching your ancestors, it’s incredible what you can find on newspapers.com!

Here is a breakdown of 5 key articles to look for to discover more about your genealogy and begin building your family tree:

1. Birth Announcements

In some local newspapers birth announcements will be listed welcoming the arrival of a new baby in the family.

It usually will read as: Birth Announcement: February 1st – Mr. and Mrs. Jane Smith of Warwick announces the birth of their son, John Smith, on Monday, January 20th.

The year and town/county/state would be located at the top of the newspaper page.

So with this news clipping you are able to find and identify:

• The mother and father’s full names
• The child’s full name
• Date of the child’s birth
• Location of birth or town the family lives in
• An extra bonus is some list the mother’s maiden name as well

2. Honor Roll / Graduations

Many modern day newspapers have the tradition of listing the names of honor roll students of their school for the semester.

In May and June some papers also publish the names of graduates, and sometimes even pictures of the graduation ceremonies.

What details to look for from honor roll:

• Student’s full name
• Grade level (7th, 8th, 9th, etc.)
• School Name
• Location of the School (city, town, county, state)

By knowing the grade that the child is in, you can calculate their approximate age and birth year.

But please keep in mind there are instances of a child being held back or moved forward based on their skills. There can also be variations based on the time of the year the child was born.

A quick breakdown of approximate age based on grade (for the United States)

• Kindergarten- 5-6 years old
• 1st-6-7
• 2nd-7-8
• 3rd-8-9
• 4th-9-10
• 5th-10-11
• 6th-11-12
• 7th-12-13
• 8th-13-14
• 9th-14-15
• 10th-15-16
• 11th-16-17
• 12th- 17-18

| Related Article: Start a Family Tree

Graduate Information

If a list of High School graduates is published, look for the students:

• Full name
• High School name
• School location
• Any distinctions or honors
• Notation of if / where the student is attending college, starting an apprenticeship, or beginning a job

Also look through the names to see if you recognize any distant relatives. There is a strong possibility that siblings and cousins attended the same school in different grades.

Join the Newsletter

Subscribe to discover more family research tips!

Sign me up!

We won’t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

Built with ConvertKit

3. Marriage / Engagement Announcements

So a fun thing to find on newspapers.com is marriage announcements and sometimes even engagements!

An important thing to remember is, there is the possibility to uncover a relationship in the history of your family that you did not know about.

With marriage clippings you can identify:

• Bride’s name (married and maiden)
• Groom’s name
• Parents’ names of bride and groom
• Names and Relationships of the people in the bridal/groom party
• Marriage Ceremony Date
• Marriage Ceremony Location
• Where the couple will be living together
• Educational / Career background of the couple
• Age and approximate birth year (if their age’s are listed in the newspaper article)
• Pictures!

All of this information is incredibly helpful when starting a new branch of your family tree with a newly married couple.

| Related Article: How to Use Newspapers.com

4. Military Records

Using the search features you can find military and war records from your ancestors.

The keyword search option can help to broaden your search and the results.

Articles to Find on Newspapers.com:

• War Draft Lists
• Death Notices
• Personal stories featured in local papers
• Use keywords to search divisions, battalions, companies, ship names etc.
• Details of specific battles your family may have been involved in
• Post war groups and associations
• Sometime pictures as well

While the information you uncover may be sad or difficult to read, it can provide important clues for outlining your family tree.

5. Obituaries

This may seem strange to say, but obituaries are one of the best articles to find on newspapers.com

As sad as they are to write in a time of grief and mourning, they provide a wealth of information in the form of a tribute to a person’s life.

Summary of Details typically included:

• Photograph
• Full Name and/or Nicknames
• Birth Date and Location
• Death Date and Location
• Memorial / funeral/ burial details
• Residence over the years
• Number of years married
• Occupation and time working there
• Personal interests and hobbies
• Involvement in the community
• Details about personality
• Pre-deceased by / survived by
• Favorite quotes/songs
• Medical conditions / cause of death

To learn more about how to dive deeper into the information in obituaries, visit:

| Related Article: Importance of Obituaries

Etsy Newspapers Printable:

For a printable sheet to help organize your newspaper clippings, visit my etsy shop!

Use promo code RLSBLOG for a 5% discount!

Click here:

News Clipping Organizer Sheet

---