The Dash

Do you try to find details about an ancestor’s life for the time between their birth and their death, i.e. the dash? Census records help fill in that ‘dash’ since they put a person in a specific place at a specific time. However, I’ve found that gossipy newspapers also help fill in that ‘dash’.

The value of newspapers was brought home when I uploaded images to FamilySearch for my grandfather, Edward Osmund Briles.

It was a ’40 Years Ago’ clipping that my grandmother kept that provided a major clue to my grandfather’s life.

That clipping led me to articles and court records about the time my grandfather defied the law to show movies on Sundays. My grandfather was arrested and convicted for that ‘crime’.

It was while researching newspapers in the communities where my grandfather lived prior to Emporia that I learned that he owned Briles Garage. Not only did he own a garage but he was part of a ‘Grand Tour’ in the early days of the automobile.

All of these findings reinforced my previous experiences with newspapers – pay attention to those local news items. One never knows what they will uncover for the dash.