I lot of email on the list group recently is about getting information from obituaries. It should be remembered that long ago, obituaries were not a service provided by the newspaper, but had to be paid for. Only people with money to spare could afford to place an obituary in the newspaper. When no obituary can be located, I have had success in reading the actual newspaper accounts from several days prior to several days after a known death. A biographical account told of our ancestor, Peter Williams, having died from an accident. I went to the Springfield, IL Newspaper archives, and looked up the newspaper for the date of his death from his tombstone (Dec 30 1866). Nothing was found in that week, but searching backwards from that date I found this account in a column which was about the "happenings" in the area. Here I found: In the Saturday edition of the Peoria Daily Transcript, December 29, 1866, was this notice: "Accident--Night before last as the engine on the R.I.R.R. at this place was making up a train on Water street, it frightened the team of Peter Williams, a coal driver, who was driving along by Gilligs saloon, on the same street. The horses reared and plunged, and threw Peter out under the engine, which ran over him and cut off his left arm. He was taken into an adjoining house and his injuries cared for." Night before last would place the accident December 27, and his head stone lists his death as December 30. He would have had massive injuries having been thrown under the Engine of the train, and having his left arm cut off. He apparently survived for three days. (Note of interest) The same newspaper carried a news article about Doctor Mudd, explaining that his appeal would not be considered. (Death of President Lincoln) You would think that such a tragic death would have been told and retold by the generations that followed, but no one in the family, who located in Fulton County, has any knowledge Peter Williams cause of death. It should also be noted that obituaries are prepared by friends or relatives of the deceased, and often contain glaring errors. The same goes for death certificates, prepared by folks still grieving. For the best, correct information, try for Marriage or birth records, both done at a happy time, buy the person himself. Remember, also, that if the ancestor recently moved from another location, the prior residence, where the ancestor was well known, can sometimes carry an account of the death. It should be remembered, also, that the county History books which contain biographies were often published as a money making enterprise, and a charge was made for placing the biography into the book. Only those folks who were well off financially could afford this luxury. Doris Doris F. Williams [email protected] http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/w/i/l/Doris-Williams-MO/