Religious Newspapers – Not Just For Clergy
The church played an enormous role in the lives of our ancestors, but we rarely give much thought to how we can learn about this aspect of their life histories, beyond locating their baptism, marriage, and burial entries in church records. Religious newspapers to the rescue.
Did you know that religious newspapers published different versions of our ancestors’ obituaries? Or that they printed lists of subscribers, letters to the editor, and news about Church Bazaars, Sunday School Festivals, and Camp Meetings? Want to know what your ancestors’ denomination thought about dancing, Sunday streetcars, and why young married couples shouldn’t live with their parents?
Religious newspapers were very popular in 18th and 19th-century North America. Most major denominations published weekly papers that circulated well beyond the city of their printing. In this lecture, you’ll learn about how to find religious newspapers, what you can expect to learn from them and hear lots of interesting stories drawn from their pages.
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Janice Nickerson
Professional genealogist Janice Nickerson loves a good challenge – whether it’s identifying illusive ancestors, tracking disappearing descendants or telling richer family stories. Her specialties include early Ontario research, criminal justice records and fur trade history.
