Friday Find

Chester Lighter's Obituary

Have you ever gone back through your genealogy files and discovered information that you had collected years ago but never fully incorporated into your family tree?

That is what happened when I came across my handwritten transcription of the obituary for Chester Lighter.

Years ago, before digitized newspapers became widely available, I spent time at the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka researching the Dodge City newspapers on microfilm. Instead of printing every article, I often copied the information by hand. Sometimes those notes were complete transcriptions, while other times they were simply summaries of the information I thought was important.

One of those handwritten documents was the obituary for Chester B. Lighter, published in the Dodge City Daily Globe on Thursday, May 1, 1969.

The Obituary

According to my handwritten notes, Chester Lighter died on Wednesday, April 30, 1969, in Roscoe, Illinois, following his involvement in a highway accident. He was 60 years old.

The obituary reported that Chester was born on June 28, 1908, in Dodge City, Kansas, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Alva H. Lighter.

Although born in Dodge City, Chester spent part of his childhood in Missouri. His family moved to Rolla when he was young.

During World War II, Chester served in a military unit that included members of the Dodge City National Guard. Following his military service, he moved to Illinois.

At the time of his death, he was employed by a machinery company in Roscoe.

The obituary also mentioned that Chester was a member of the Methodist Church and an American Legion post in Rockton, Illinois.

Family Connections

One of the most valuable parts of an obituary is often the list of surviving relatives.

Chester's obituary identified four surviving sisters:

• Mrs. Walter Beggs of Ensign, Kansas

• Mrs. Marie Knithe of St. Louis, Missouri

• Mrs. Peter G. Cei of Clearwater, Florida

• Mrs. Vera Brown of Roscoe, Illinois

Since my document is a handwritten transcription, some of the surnames may need to be verified against the original newspaper.

Even with those uncertainties, this list provides valuable clues about the Lighter family. Not only does it identify Chester's sisters by their married names, but it also provides their places of residence in 1969.

Those locations could be useful when searching for additional newspaper articles, census records, and other documents.

Funeral Services and Burial

Although Chester had lived in Illinois for many years, his obituary indicates that he was brought back to Kansas for burial.

A funeral service was scheduled in Illinois, followed by another service at 10 a.m. Monday at the funeral home identified in my notes as Hulpieu Swaim Funeral Home.

Burial was to take place in Maple Grove Cemetery in Dodge City.

Thus, Chester's life began in Dodge City and, despite his years in Missouri and Illinois, his final resting place was back in his hometown.

The Value of an Old Research Note

Looking at this handwritten obituary reminds me of how much genealogy research has changed.

Today, I can often search digitized newspapers from my computer, save an image of an article, and attach it to the appropriate person in RootsMagic.

When I was researching at the Kansas State Historical Society, however, I was reading microfilm and recording information by hand. Those handwritten notes became my copies of the articles.

While I carefully recorded the newspaper title, date, page, and column, I did not always transcribe every word of an article.

In this case, I recorded enough information to document Chester's death and burial, but the obituary contains much more than those two events.

It provides his birth date and place, identifies his parents, mentions his childhood move to Missouri, describes his World War II military service, and identifies his surviving sisters.

It also provides clues about his employment, church membership, and participation in the American Legion.

All of that information came from one relatively short newspaper article!

Revisiting My RootsMagic File

Finding this handwritten transcription prompted me to check Chester's information in RootsMagic.

I discovered that, although I had saved the handwritten obituary in my research files, I had not included its transcription as a research note.

I have now added the transcription to Chester's death fact.

This also gave me an opportunity to review the other information I had recorded for him.

The process reminded me that collecting a document and fully using the information it contains are not necessarily the same thing.

A document may have been in my files for years, but unless I take the time to review it and incorporate its information into my genealogy database, some of its clues may remain overlooked.

A Reminder to Revisit Old Research

This week's Friday Find wasn't a newly discovered document. It was an old research note that deserved another look.

My handwritten transcription of Chester Lighter's obituary contains information about his family, military service, residences, employment, and burial.

It also demonstrates why I am glad I recorded the newspaper citation when I originally found the article.

Source: Dodge City Daily Globe, Thursday, May 1, 1969, volume 58, number 120, page 9, column 3, "Deaths — Chester B. Lighter." Handwritten transcription made from microfilm at the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas. Research file Crawford.KS.052.

As I continue reviewing my older genealogy files, I suspect I will find other handwritten newspaper transcriptions containing information that never made it into RootsMagic.

Perhaps the next important genealogy discovery isn't waiting in a new database. Perhaps it is already sitting in one of my research folders, waiting to be examined again.

Have you revisited your old genealogy notes lately? You might be surprised by what you find!