The Library might be a solution to your problem...

kiya@evpl — Sat, 23 May 2009 17:07:00 GMT

The problem: A customer needed to locate a relative of a deceased friend, but couldn’t remember the relative’s name.

Her solution: Look up the obituary online, and find the name in the list of survivors. She went to the Courier and Press website, and searched for the obituary. She found a listing for the obituary but the text of the obituary was no longer available for free. They kindly offered to sell it to her for a small fee.

The alternative solution: She came to the library hoping to find the obituary in our old newspapers, and was disappointed to find we didn’t have the newspaper itself at our branch. However, I checked the Browning Genealogy Database, and found the entry for her friend’s obituary, complete with the list of survivors. Then a quick look at the phone book, and she had located her missing person!

I continue to be grateful to Mr. Charles Browning and family, for all the long hours and hard work that went into constructing this extremely useful database, which can be found at http://browning.evpl.org/

What puzzle are you working on? Maybe the library can help! Ask us.

New York Times Historical Database

T-ref@evpl — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 23:41:00 GMT

The New York Times Historical (1851-2004) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. It is available through our databases pages and can be accessed outside of the library with an EVPL library card. I received a call today asking for information about Jesse Walker, an Evansville native who committed a crime in New York in 1919 and was subsequently sent to Sing Sing Prison and excuted. Although I couldn't find any articles in our Evansville newspaper index, I was able to find his obituary in the Browning Genealogy Database. The Browning Genealogy Database is the lifetime work of Charles Browning, who compiled the obituary records of Vanderburgh County and surrounding southwestern Indiana from Evansville newspapers. Here is an example of a citation from the New York Times Historical:

BOY MURDERER DIES IN SING SING CHAIR; United States Senators Fail to Win Commutation for Jesse Walker. LAST WORDS FOR MOTHER Companion Also Under Death Sentence for Killing Stationer in Attempt at Robbery.Special to The New York Times. February 11, 1921, Friday Page 7, 567 words.

OSSINING, N.Y., Feb. 10.--Last-minute efforts of influential persons failing to obtain a reprieve, Jesse Walker. 20 years old, of Evansville, Ind., a sallor veteran of the war, was put to death in the electric chair at Sing Sing tonight, [ END OF FIRST PARAGRAPH ]

Research Blog : Browning Genealogy Databse

The Library might be a solution to your problem...

New York Times Historical Database