Through the late twentieth century, and even afterwards in certain circles, newspapers often mention women without stating their given name. Mrs. Thomas Smith may be the only way your great-grandmother is referenced in social columns of her local newspaper. Sometimes the use of the husband’s name changed if the husband died or the couple divorced, but not always.
It’s not just women who may be mentioned in a newspaper account without their name being given. My grandfather is mentioned in a 1950 era newspaper account of a family trip as the “brother-in-law without his first name being mentioned. Fortunately other family members are mentioned in the write-up.
All of which reminds us from a research standpoint of the importance of searching digital images of newspaper for the names of all family members, not just those in which we think we have the most interest.
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