Friday Find

 

Ethel Lighter Beggs — A Handwritten Obituary

Have you ever looked through your genealogy files and found handwritten notes from research you did years ago? Before newspapers became available online, finding an obituary often meant visiting a library or archives, locating the appropriate roll of microfilm, and scrolling through pages of a newspaper.

During my early genealogy research, I made trips to the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka, Kansas, where I used their microfilm collection to research Dodge City newspapers. Rather than paying for copies of every article, I often transcribed the information by hand. Sometimes I copied an article almost word for word, while other times I simply recorded the information I considered important.

Today's Friday Find is one of those handwritten transcriptions.

Ethel A. Lighter Beggs

Ethel A. Lighter Beggs is my first cousin twice removed. Our common ancestors are Washington Marion Crawford and his wife, Mary Foster.

Ethel was the daughter of Alvin Lighter and his wife. She was born on July 1, 1898, in Dodge City, Kansas.

Among my handwritten research notes is a transcription of her obituary, published in the Dodge City Daily Globe on Monday, November 10, 1980.

The obituary appeared on page 2, column 1, in the newspaper's "Daily Transcript" section under the heading "Mrs. Walter W. Beggs."

Mrs. Walter W. Beggs

The following is a transcription of my handwritten notes, with minor changes to punctuation and paragraph breaks for readability.

Mrs. Walter W. Beggs

Ensign — Mrs. Ethel A. Beggs, 82, of Ensign died Sunday at Dodge City Regional Hospital. She was born 1 July 1898 in Dodge City, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Lighter.

She and Walter Beggs were married 3 Oct 1921 at Winfield. They lived on a farm north of Ensign after their marriage. In 1954 they moved into Ensign. Mr. Beggs died 4 May 1977.

Mrs. Beggs was a member of the United Methodist Church, the OES and Home Relief Society of Ensign, the WWI Veterans Auxiliary of Dodge City and the Southwest Gem and Mineral Society.

Survivors: Son Eugene of Ensign; 2 daughters Mrs. Harold (Lena Marie) Bradley of Will Roads Gardens and Mrs. L. E. (Ruth) Tooley of Redmond, Wash.; 2 sisters Mrs. Vera Brown of Roscoe, Ill.; Mrs. Marie Kuithe of St. Louis; 10 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Preceded in death by grandson Scott Beggs.

Funeral 10:30 a.m. Wed. Ensign Methodist Church.

Burial Johnson Cemetery of rural Gray County.

Hulpieu Swaim Funeral Home.

Source: Dodge City Daily Globe (Dodge City, Kansas), Monday, November 10, 1980, page 2, column 1, "Daily Transcript: Mrs. Walter W. Beggs"; Kansas State Historical Society microfilm, Topeka, Kansas.

What Can Be Learned from This Obituary?

Even though this is a handwritten transcription rather than a photocopy of the newspaper article, it contains quite a bit of information about Ethel's life.

The obituary identifies her birth date and birthplace, her father, her marriage to Walter W. Beggs, and the couple's residence near Ensign, Kansas.

It also provides a small glimpse into their lives. After their marriage in Winfield in 1921, Ethel and Walter lived on a farm north of Ensign. In 1954, they moved into town, where Ethel continued to live after Walter's death in 1977.

The obituary also documents Ethel's involvement in several organizations, including the United Methodist Church, Order of the Eastern Star (OES), Home Relief Society, World War I Veterans Auxiliary, and Southwest Gem and Mineral Society.

Those memberships tell us something about her interests and her connections to the community.

Of particular interest to a genealogist is the list of survivors. The obituary names Ethel's three children, two sisters, and a grandson who preceded her in death. It also provides the married names and residences of her daughters and sisters.

These details offer clues for researching additional members of the extended Crawford family.

The Value of Handwritten Research Notes

Looking at this document reminds me how much genealogy research has changed.

Today, I would likely begin my search for Ethel's obituary using an online newspaper collection. If I found the article, I could download an image, save it to my genealogy files, and attach it to Ethel's record in RootsMagic.

When I originally researched this obituary, the process was quite different. I had to visit the Kansas State Historical Society, locate the appropriate newspaper microfilm, find the article, and record the information.

Fortunately, I included enough source information to identify the original newspaper, publication date, page, and column.

However, there are limitations to working from handwritten notes.

For example, my transcription identifies Ethel's death as occurring on Sunday. Since the obituary appeared on Monday, November 10, 1980, that would indicate she died on November 9, 1980. However, that date is inferred from the publication date rather than explicitly stated in my notes.

There are also a few names and places in my handwriting that I would like to verify against the original article.

While I believe my transcription accurately reflects the information in the newspaper, having an image of the original obituary would allow me to double-check those details.

Another Piece of the Crawford Family Story

Much of my Crawford research focuses on identifying the ancestors of my James Crawford who married Sally Smith Duggins in Garrard County, Kentucky, in 1799.

However, my genealogy files also contain records documenting the lives of later generations of the Crawford family.

Ethel Lighter Beggs is one of those descendants. Through our common ancestors, Washington Marion Crawford and Mary Foster, she is connected to my own branch of the family.

Her obituary may not help solve my early Crawford research questions, but it preserves important details about the life of a cousin who lived in southwestern Kansas.

It also reminds me that family history is more than names, dates, and places. Ethel's obituary provides a glimpse of her family, her community involvement, and the places she called home.

Preserving Earlier Research

As I continue reviewing my genealogy files, I am finding that these old handwritten transcriptions still have value.

They represent research completed at a time when accessing newspaper records required considerably more effort than it does today.

Some of these notes may contain information that I have never entered into my genealogy database. Others may provide clues that deserve additional investigation.

And some, like Ethel's obituary, simply deserve to be shared.

Do you have handwritten genealogy notes from research trips to libraries, courthouses, or archives? Have you gone back to review those notes now that more records are available online?

You might be surprised at what you rediscover!

Heartland Genealogy — www.heartlandgenealogy.org