An index to its time

A century ago, if a person was listed as a "fatality," it didn't necessarily mean he or she was dead. This unusual bit of trivia is one of many intriguing discoveries uncovered by members of the Newspaper Death Index Committee. The committee is part of the Fore-Kin Trails Genealogical Society, which has been active in Montrose since 1981.

Several years ago, a local resident donated a collection of old newspapers (late 1800s and early 1900s) to the society. These included both weekly and daily newspapers representing Montrose's first business enterprise. The first copy of the Montrose Messenger, a weekly, was printed on May 23, 1882. In 1904, the newspaper was sold to publisher and community leader, C.E. Adams, who changed the name to The Montrose Press. Another weekly, The Montrose Enterprise was started in 1887. In 1908, The Montrose Daily Press came into being and would become the primary newspaper for Montrose.

Society members decided the best way to utilize these old newspapers was to document all the obituaries, including name, date, page number and column to aid genealogists in search of their family histories. The "Obituary Project" also reflected the society's mission to collect and preserve documents that tell the story of Montrose's unique history. Eventually this information will be available in print form and on the Internet.

Participants in the project include: Judy Bunyard (current club president), Myrna Shirey, Donna Lee (25-year member), Barbara Rogen (chair) and Sue Nichol (librarian and third generation genealogist).

"This is the second winter that the committee has worked on the project," Barbara said. "We're working to complete the year 1909 now. To date, we've listed around 3,000 names."

Barbara enters all the data collected by the committee into her computer to generate a spreadsheet of information.

"Back then, there was no such thing as an 'obit page,' (a page devoted exclusively to obituaries),'" said Judy, adding that cataloguing this amount of data is very labor intensive because each and every page has to be searched not only for full obituaries, but death notices, cards of thanks, probate notices; anything giving a clue to a person's life and death.

While the Montrose Library has copies of the weekly newspapers available on microfilm (as prepared by the state historical society), committee members all agree that looking at the actual page is not only easier to scan, but gives the reader a true sense of our rich local history ... history that would otherwise be lost, as eloquently described in the following obituary from The Montrose Press dated Friday, Oct. 12, 1906:

First child born in town is dead

Roscoe Conkling Anderson, only son of Josiah H. Anderson, passed away at Lajane on Monday morning following a short illness. He was operated upon for appendicitis, but the disease had made too great inroads upon his vitality to withstand it. He was nearly 24 years of age, and leaves a wife and one child. With seeming foresight he had united with the Modern Woodmen of America, and carried a handsome legacy of $2000 for them.

The funeral occurred Wednesday afternoon from the Methodist church and was largely attended. Rev. Edgerton preaching a fine sermon, and the Woodmen attending in a body, using their service at the grave in Grandview cemetery.

This death will be a distinct loss to Montrose. Roscoe was the first child born in Montrose, the date of his birth being Nov. 13, 1882, and occurred in a tent on the lot where the Catlin block now stands. But a few months previous his parents had come to Montrose in a wagon. The lad was named for the great political leader, of whom his father was a great admirer. A few months ago, Roscoe's father died at the Soldiers' Home in California, and his mother preceded the father some nine months. Thus, with the last death, the entire family is removed.

Roscoe was a splendid young man and had been employed at the Gunnison tunnel for some time.

Humor was no stranger to death, either:

The following was paraphrased from an actual inquiry to The Montrose Enterprise, June 5, 1906, titled:

"Wants to Know"

Kind and respected sir: I see in the paper that a man named John Sipes was attacked and ate up by a bear whose cubs he was trying to get ... in the mountains near your town. What I want to know is did it kill him or was he only partly ate up. I think he is a distant husband of mine. My first husband was of that name but I thought he was killed in the war. I have been married twice since. If it is him, you will know by his six toes on the left foot. He also has a spread eagle tattooed on his front chest and an anchor on his right arm. If alive don't tell him I'm married to Joe White because he never liked Joe. Maybe you'd better act as if I'm dead, but find out all you can about him and please answer back.

P.S. Was the bear killed? Also was he married again and did he leave any property with me laying claims to?

Professional genealogist and committee member Sue Nichol surmised that searching for our past fulfills a basic need in all of us to know who we are and where we came from (ancestors). In addition, "it's a great way for kids to learn about their own family history."

The Fore-Kin Trails Genealogical Society meets the second Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Montrose Library (except August and December). In addition, members meet the fourth Tuesday of each month at noon for a "brown bag" genealogy lunch and program (except summer and in December).

Fore-Kin Trails also accepts donations of genealogy books and family histories.

Did you know?

• A resurgence in tracing our roots occurred in the mid-1970s following the highly-acclaimed television series, "Roots."

• Genealogy is considered by many as the fastest growing hobby in North America. Recent surveys indicate that it has surpassed quilting, stamp collecting and gardening in popularity.

• A 2000 Maritz Marketing Research poll noted that approximately 60 percent of the American population is interested in their family history, up 15 percent from 1996.

• The FamilySearch Web site of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah gets six to seven million hits per day. An average of 2,400 people visit the library (run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) every day.

• Internet genealogy has created an industry worth an estimated $200 million annually.