Friday Find

A Wedding Announcement from My Handwritten Research Notes

Before newspapers became available online, genealogy research often meant spending hours in libraries and archives scrolling through rolls of microfilm. For me, that frequently involved trips to the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka, Kansas.

One of my research interests was the CRAWFORD family of Dodge City, Kansas. Since several members of this family lived in Dodge City, I spent time reading microfilmed copies of the local newspapers, looking for obituaries, wedding announcements, and other articles that might provide information about the family.

Unlike today, when I can often download an image of a newspaper page and save it to my genealogy files, my research usually involved taking handwritten notes.

Sometimes I copied an article word for word. Other times, I simply recorded the information that seemed important at the time.

Today's Friday Find is one of those handwritten documents. It contains information from a wedding announcement published in the Dodge City Daily Globe on Monday, April 22, 1946, page 3, column 1.

A Wedding at Sheppard Field

Among my CRAWFORD research files is a handwritten account of the wedding of Elaine Horton and Alton Wells.

The document begins with what appears to be a transcription of the wedding announcement, followed by additional notes about the bride, groom, and bride's father.

Wedding Solemnized at Sheppard Field

Miss Elaine Horton, daughter of Staff Sergeant and Mrs. R. C. Horton of San Angelo Field and Alton Wells, who left Dodge City for the army a month ago, were married Sat. evening by the army chaplain at Sheppard Field, Wichita Falls, TX where private Wells is now stationed.

Additional Handwritten Notes

Bride:

• Grad of Dodge City HS two years ago

• Employed at telephone office

Groom:

• Came from Paducah, TX

• Had been a taxi driver in Dodge when he enlisted

Bride's father:

• Vet of WWI

• Dodge mail carrier

• Enlisted in army WWII

• Served as military police at Dodge Army Air Field

• Reenlisted — military police at San Angelo

Source: Dodge City Daily Globe (Dodge City, Kansas), Monday, April 22, 1946, page 3, column 1. Handwritten transcription and research notes made while viewing microfilm at the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas.

More Than a Wedding Announcement

Although the announcement is relatively short, it provides quite a bit of information about the people involved.

For Elaine Horton, the article provides clues about her education and employment. She had graduated from Dodge City High School approximately two years before her marriage and had worked at the telephone office.

For Alton Wells, the announcement identifies Paducah, Texas, as a previous residence and indicates that he worked as a taxi driver in Dodge City before joining the Army. At the time of the wedding, he was stationed at Sheppard Field in Wichita Falls, Texas.

The notes about Elaine's father are particularly interesting. R. C. Horton was a veteran of World War I and had worked as a mail carrier in Dodge City. During World War II, he enlisted in the Army and served as a military policeman at Dodge Army Air Field. He later reenlisted and was serving as a military policeman at San Angelo.

These details suggest several opportunities for additional research, including school records, military records, city directories, and other newspaper articles.

They also place this wedding within the larger story of military service during and immediately following World War II.

The Value of Handwritten Research Notes

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

When I visited the Kansas State Historical Society, I couldn't simply search for a person's name and immediately retrieve every newspaper article mentioning that individual.

Instead, I had to identify the appropriate newspaper, locate the microfilm, and scroll through the pages looking for information.

When I found something useful, I had to decide how to preserve it.

Sometimes that meant making a photocopy or printing an image from the microfilm reader. Other times, it meant writing down the information.

In this case, I apparently chose to copy the wedding announcement and then summarize additional information from the article.

Fortunately, I also preserved the information needed to locate the original article: the newspaper title, publication date, page, and column.

That information is particularly valuable today. Even though I don't have an image of the original newspaper clipping, I know exactly where to look for it.

Transcription Versus Summary

One lesson I take from this document is the importance of distinguishing between an exact transcription and a summary.

The opening paragraph of my notes appears to be a transcription of the newspaper announcement. However, I cannot be certain that I copied every word exactly as it appeared in the newspaper.

The remaining notes are clearly abbreviated. For example, I wrote that Elaine was a graduate of Dodge City High School two years earlier and had been employed at the telephone office.

Did the newspaper include additional details about her schooling or employment? Were there names of wedding attendants, information about the ceremony, or plans for the couple's future?

Without returning to the original newspaper, I simply don't know.

This is one reason I appreciate the growing availability of digitized newspapers. If I can locate the original article, I can compare it with my handwritten notes and determine whether I missed anything.

Having the complete citation makes that task much easier.

Preserving Earlier Research

As I work through my genealogy files, I continue to encounter documents like this one.

They represent hours spent in libraries, courthouses, archives, and historical societies long before much of this material became available online.

While my research methods have changed, I don't want to overlook the information preserved in those older notes.

In fact, reviewing them sometimes reminds me of details I had forgotten or suggests new avenues of research.

Today's Friday Find is a good example. A brief wedding announcement provides information about education, employment, military service, and the movements of several individuals.

It also reminds me that my handwritten notes are not necessarily the same as the original newspaper article.

A Reason to Return to the Newspapers

With the citation in hand, I can return to the April 22, 1946, issue of the Dodge City Daily Globe and look for the article on page 3, column 1.

If that issue is available digitally, I may be able to retrieve an image of the original article without another trip to Topeka.

I'd like to compare the original with my notes. Did I preserve the entire announcement? Did I leave out information that might be useful today?

And since the announcement appeared on Monday, April 22, 1946, the reference to a Saturday evening wedding suggests that Elaine Horton and Alton Wells married on April 20, 1946. The original article would help confirm that interpretation.

Those questions give me another reason to return to my CRAWFORD research.

Perhaps that is the real value of today's Friday Find. Even a handwritten note created decades ago can preserve important family history. And when accompanied by a complete source citation, it provides a path back to the original record.

What about your early genealogy research? Do you have notebooks filled with handwritten transcriptions and summaries from visits to libraries and archives? Have you returned to those records now that more sources are available online?