Posts in October 2, 2023

When searching newspapers–particularly when those searches are of digital images of newspapers–remember that it is possible for someone to be mentioned without ever mentioning their first name. The 1912 reference in a Canton, South Dakota, newspaper mentions Louis and Mary Rampley–twice each–but only refers to them as Mr. and Mrs. Rampley. It’s possible that the writer did not know their first names at all, but using a first name as a search term will not locate this reference if a search of newspaper images is done digitally. The last name of Mrs. Rampley’s father is spelled Neal instead of Neill. That’s another name that will not be in the search results if “Neill” is used as a search term.