Finding newspaper articles today is often as simple as typing a name into a search box. Thirty-five years ago, that wasn’t the case. Back then, many of us spent hours turning the crank on a microfilm reader, slowly scrolling through issue after issue in hopes of spotting a familiar surname.
One of the treasures from those early research days is a handwritten transcription tucked away in my Crawford files. I likely copied this article sometime before 1990, long before the Dodge City Globe-Republican was digitized and made searchable online.
Recently, I was able to locate the original article on Newspapers.com in the 12 August 1897 issue of The Globe-Republican of Dodge City, Kansas. Seeing the actual newspaper image after all these years was a reminder of how much genealogy research has changed—and how valuable those handwritten notes from the “microfilm era” can still be today.
The article announced the marriage of my great-grandaunt, Lida A. Crawford, daughter of Mary Crawford, to A. H. Lighter. Lida Anita Crawford was the daughter of Washington Marion Crawford and Mary Foster.
Below is the transcription of the article as it appeared in the newspaper.
Married.—Last night, the 11th inst., at the home of the bride’s mother, Mrs. Mary Crawford, by Rev. D. E. Hoover, pastor of the M. E. church, Mr. A. H. Lighter to Miss Lida A. Crawford. A number of relatives and friends witnessed the interesting ceremony, and at the conclusion of the marriage congratulated the bride and groom upon their happy undertaking. Both groom and bride are young people highly esteemed, and they have many friends who wish them abundant joy in the married realm. Whom God hath joined together let no man put asunder.
I’m thankful that I took the time years ago to make handwritten copies of articles like this one. At the time, photocopies could be expensive, and in some libraries they were not even an option. Those old notebooks and loose sheets of paper still preserve discoveries made long before newspapers became searchable from home.
Now, thanks to digitization, I can pair those handwritten notes with the original image of the article and preserve both versions for future generations.