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From Brigham City, Utah
Box Elder News 27 June 1912

Especially when writing personal history, biography, remember to check all records, not just the ones that may provide birth, marriage and death records. Think outside the box. Leslie Huber at the BYU Family History Conference (don't miss Leslie's new book--The Journey Takers) recommends financial records, school records, payment and employment records, records of societies to which your ancestor belonged, and that old favorite--newspaper articles.

Obituaries are always a must--the great-grandpa I'm now writing about had 5 obituaries in different newspapers. Of course some of the information overlapped, but some is different. But the most interesting news article I've ever read was about another great-grandpa and his adventures in his "family benzine buggy." The Box Elder News reports that "the party had such a close call that Mr. Christensen stated yesterday he would have sold the machine for twenty five dollars and a song, if some one had come along and offered it to him, and would have cranked it up to boot." That quote is a golden look into my Great-Grandpa C.N.'s personality as is his exciting auto ride and the family's "Close Call to Death."