Once again I was able to find many newspaper items for a family tree by starting out with one obit.
As the above screen print of the family tree shows, I found seven (7) obits for this Family tree, and the years range from 1931 to 2006 – 1931, 1941, 1956, 1975, 1988, 1990, 2006
I put a number in yellow on the family tree next to the family member names; 1 thru 7.
The first obit I found was for Minnie Helena Kieler.
I was working on another tree when I saw the title of the newspaper item “Young Wife Dies; Funeral Monday” and I copied the link so I could work on it later.
Once I had finished the other tree, I came back to this “Young Wife…” and took a screen print of the item.
- Minnie Helena Kieler Blucker
I read the item which turned out to be an obit, and I then transcribed the information to make it easier for me to make a family tree to hold the item.
Once I had the tree started I noticed that the item would be easier to read if I cropped it before putting it into her ID box on the tree.
Over the years, I’ve found that by including the original and a cropped newspaper item, I can have a more readable item on the tree, while at the same time provide the original item for the purist genealogists.
I created the tree on Ancestry dot com, by using the information I found on the obit.
Once I had the basic elements of the tree, I looked for other family tree owners who might have these Kieler family members on their branches. As my readers know, I always try to find other tree owners to alert them about the item I found.
I was given family trees as hints and when I reviewed the trees I noticed that they had some death dates on some of the profile pages, so I used those dates to find the items.
I used those dates to review the Google News Archive, Ludington Daily News collection and I was able to find six (6) more obits; shown below.
- Mary Dexter Kieler
- William J Kieler
- George Henry Kieler
I cropped the long obit to make it easier to read on the tree ID box.
- Lucy Haines Kieler
I cropped the long obit to make it easier to read on the tree ID box.
- Ida Smith Kieler
- John A Kieler
I found the above item and since it said that Dorrell Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements, I knew from past experience that they usually have a full obit in the same newspaper or following days newspapers, so I looked for the obit and found this.
I combined the death notice and the obit when I put the screen print on John’s ID box.
You will have noticed that some of the items did not need cropping and were used on the tree just like they appeared in the newspaper.
Side Note: The newspaper collection for Ludington in Google News Archives Ludington Daily News – Feb 15, 1909 has many years of newspapers and the header for the newspaper has changed over the years. You will find the newspaper called “The Ludington Appeal”, “The Ludington Record”, “The Ludington Chronicle” and finally “Ludington Daily News”. The first issue of the name “Daily News” that is in the collection is Feb 15 1909. Although the collection is huge there are many years and months within the years that are missing, so don’t be surprised if your hand search does not give you any results. Also many of the items will not be picked up by a simple “name” search… that topic is covered in another blog post.
I hope this example of a family tree and the news items that can be found by looking for death dates, will help you with your own family tree.
Thank You.
Jose from Clarkston, Michigan
PS: For those of you who have Ancestry dot com accounts here is the name of the tree and the link. Feel free to take whatever you need from the tree.
Minnie Helena Kieler Blucker – obit Aug 1931 – Mich – Family Tree
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/119609627/family
Surnames found on tree: Blucker, Felger, Haines, Hartley, Kieler, Moline, Schurig, Sine, Smith, Wright
Genealogical Collection 
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