During my conversation with Mary this morning, she made the above comment, and I told her that was a good title for my blog.
I came in extra early this morning to check out an obituary for my husband’s great-step-grandmother. I was positive I had the correct death date. I pulled out the old newspaper but could not find the obituary.
Fortunately for all of us doing research, the museum has what we call green obit cards. Volunteers have gone through our old newspapers and written down death information on these cards. When I couldn’t find the obituary, I turned to these index cards and found what I was looking for. Was I surprised when I read the death date on the card was a year later than what I had. Also, there was an obituary in the newspaper for that date to confirm it was correct.
Only Fools are Positive is an old saying and I told this to Mary. It is also proof that while we are busy looking for that long lost relative, we could have some information that is not absolute.
Something else…the museum is still looking for volunteers to continue the indexing of obituaries from the old newspapers. Do you have some time to come help out? You can come anytime Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and spend as much time as you like working on this project. No pressure here, an added bonus when your eyes need a rest, is a nice relaxing view from our windows to watch the birds and squirrels or just look at the Mississippi.
~ Alice Smuda