Have Times Really Changed That Much?

Sometimes, it occurs to me that society hasn't changed nearly as much as we think. Though folks may think that crime and degeneracy has continually increased as time has gone by, writings from the past, such as those we show here, make it clear that people were having to deal with all sorts of social issues in history just as much as we do today.

As a genealogy buff, I spend a lot of time looking at old records and so it is clear to me that there were plenty of marriages that had to happen, so to speak. Many of these cases show up in the newspapers, such as that of Edna Newlin that we posted a few days ago, but even more are found in the books of old church records. Countless times, I'll find the record of the marriage quickly followed by the notice of the baptism of a child, not even close to nine months later. We're no t talking about recent years either - the records I've been looking at have all been from the late 1700's. Most of the time, this type of entry is very plain and just lists the names and dates, but occasionally there is a bit of commentary. My latest favorite was one I found in records from Delaware that announced the baptism of a baby born to a man and "his strumpet". listing all the names involved. As this same source listed plenty of uncommented entries, one has to wonder why this particular couple was singled out in such a fashion.

What's Their Story?

While there are numerous places online to find stories about current celebrities, digging up information about people from earlier parts of history is a bit more of a challenge. Luckily, there are many ways to learn more about these past celebrities, including old newspaper archives. The trick in doing research of this kind is to sort out the wheat from the chaff as there are many different sides to any particular story.

When looking at old newspaper stories, it becomes immediately apparent that newspapers of the past would often give far more details about a story than you find in their modern-day equivalents. This makes these old stories much more interesting in many cases, as the writers tended to fill in more of the background story than is done commonly now.

I think these little vignettes of history add some very interesting color in the history of the families involved, but I also know quite well that many who research their ancestral roots would just as soon not have these stories broadcast. So, in many cases, they are the genealogy 'outtakes' when it comes to family research.