Ohio Newspaper Archives

Find Your Family in Ohio Historical Newspapers

The task of researching your ancestors and your family history may be centered on census records, marriage and death certificates, or other records kept by governments and religious institutions. Often overlooked though, is information and stories found in old newspapers. When sifting through old newspaper articles, you may stumble upon articles that mention dates, other family members, or impactful events involving your family.

Other records have great information and shouldn't be overlooked, but archived newspapers supplement that information and may even help you fill in some of the gaps when other records fall short.

What Can You Learn About Your Family From Old Ohio Newspapers Online?

When the usual records are missing data, newspapers can potentially offer a lot of clues that aid in completing your family's story. You may be able to find dates, names of family members and friends, business associations and colleagues, social standing, volunteer work, community involvement, and much more. Articles such as birth and wedding announcements, and obituaries offer invaluable information to help complete family trees.

Researching newspaper content isn't only about the data though. Looking through old Ohio newspapers, you may be able to discover stories about your family. You may find stories that illustrate your ancestors' involvement in the community, or their valiant service in the military.

While names and dates are crucial to family history, stories connect individuals with their history. Reading stories is how one can come to know those who have passed on before. If you don't know much about your family history, an ancestor mentioned in an old article is a treasure. For those who know their family well and already have stories recorded, newspapers still have something to bring to the table. There may be small local stories that highlight things your ancestor did that aren't mentioned in journals or other memorabilia that has been passed down.

How to Start Your Newspaper Search

Before you begin browsing old Ohio newspapers, gather the facts you already have and define your family history research goals.

When looking at the facts you already have, take notice of names, dates, locations, group affiliations, and occupations.

Dates to think of when you are gathering data include, birth and death dates, marriage dates, move dates, military service dates, business opening, moving, or closing dates, date a job was started, important religious ceremony dates, and any other dates related to events you want to know more about.

Names are also very important in searching newspapers. Having names of relatives, friends, mentors, colleagues, bosses, neighbors, or other influential people can help you narrow your search and find stories. You may find stories about your relatives or stories about those who were close to your relatives.

Knowing where your ancestor lived is valuable, but knowing where they worked, what town they gave birth in, or where their relatives resided can also help you. These facts will help you not only discover more stories, but potentially lead you to other information. If you don't know where they lived, but you know of a city where they worked, visited, or had family, you might be able to find their resident city or even an exact address.

If you know that your great, great grandmother was a nurse in the Cleveland State Hospital, you might be able to find stories about her workplace. She may have even been highlighted in an article about the hospital staff. In addition to stories about the hospital, you may also find bits of information. The writer may have mentioned that your great, great grandmother had six children, but you only have documentation of five. This is a helpful clue that can lead to some research.

After you've categorized your data, define what you want to find. If you are looking for stories, great! Just search with keywords that will direct you to the kind of stories you want to learn. If you are looking for more data to find more relatives, that is also great! Use the data you have to search for records that will give you more data.

How to Find Old Newspaper Articles

There is a wealth of great family history knowledge available in newspapers, but how can you find it? Start your search with family names. If your ancestor has a unique name, you might more easily find information. This type of search is really broad, so often, you have to dig a little deeper. Add dates to narrow your search. Adding date ranges that encompass important events may help you find information relating to marriages, deaths, business ventures, military events, or religious recognitions.

Searching with dates is great, but you can narrow it down even further. Adding keywords to your research will give you even better results. Search with keywords related to your ancestor's connections and affiliations. Adjust your keywords to align with some of the following article types.