Even the negative news can be a positive for researchers. In particular, wartime coverage can give insight.

"One of the most important parts of the paper is the military news," Ewell said.

Future genealogists may have to look deeper for information, as privacy laws are changing the way incidents and stories are reported. For instance, fewer hospitals publish local birth announcements.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 regulations will affect your ability to gather information that relates to a person's medical condition and will likely impact stories about accidents, disasters or an individual's health," Ewell said.

"Remember also that the newspaper is just one place that holds the record of our family," Ewell said. "I am still able to find wedding and birth announcements, funeral programs, etc., that have been printed and distributed by family prior to and during life events."

While much of the information gathered is from newspapers prior to his birth, he still has gained a great appreciation through the newspapers for his ancestors, Ewell said.

"Their lives are a testament to me that choices do make a difference, 'good and bad' for many generations. It has helped me understand that my choices, like those of my ancestors, do matter and will affect generations that follow me. And those parts of my life that are printed 'good and bad' in the newspaper will be recorded for those to find that have the interest to know and the instinct of Sherlock Holmes to find," he said.

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E-mail: pugmire@desnews.com