Index for the Pella Chronicle, 1855-present

Here are the steps to work on this project. Thanks so much for contributing. If you want to see the end results, here are the indices that are currently posted as static html.

1. Current status: There are now over 2300 entries with some years complete and some partially complete. Some are just entered as they are encountered doing other work. If you wish to work on this project, please email the coordinator (see footer) and let him know which year you will work on; you may wish to use one of the two links above to see what has been done and what remains.
2. You enter the data in a special web page (http://alhibbard.com/marion/obitIndex/create) after you have been registered as a contributor. Here, you can work as little or long as you like and each entry is automatically entered into a database and then available. To help, please contact Al using the email in the footer of this page so that he can first enter you in as a user and give you a password; he will then send you the details needed.
   
   The basic information recorded is the newspaper name, publication year (and month and day), page number of the issue, column number of the page, person's last, first, middle, and maiden names, place of death, death year, death month, death day, birth year, birth month, birth day, as available (and not all of these are). Carefully add these into the web site. Note that sometimes middle names are given in the text while only intials are given in the header (or vice-versa). Also, be careful not to confuse birth date information with marriage dates. Birth details are not always given so just leave the columns blank then. Just add whatever information is given into the appropriate blanks (fields).
3. Go to http://pella.advantage-preservation.com to find the newspaper online and choose your year (go to the bottom of the opening page and choose this option on the left). [Note that this web site frequently changes their user interface and the following instructions may be not quite right. This also assumes that you are working systematically on a particular year. If you working sporadically, adapt accordingly.] Start with January and proceed forward. When you pick a month, you can then also choose the date of issue. The obituaries tend to be after weddings and on about page 5, 6, 7, or 8. Once on a page, there are arrows at the top to move forward or backwards a page or a drop-down menu to choose a particular page. Note that there is also a search facility on this site. Check the "retain current filters" checkbox if you have drilled down to just one date and have not yet found the page with the obituaries. Then search for the following words: (in this order): die (handles died and dies), death, cemetery, funeral, passed away, obituary, obituaries. Very likely you will find the page containing the obituaries. If the full year is too much, stop at the end of some month and then stop. Note that sometimes there is simply a death notice and then the next week (perhaps advertised as coming or maybe not) there is a full obituary. I would encourage adding both and adding a note in the Note field that the previous (or next) week has an announcement (or full obituary). Once I find the newspaper page with the obituaries, I have found it useful to right-click on the page and then use the option of opening the image in a pdf viewer. (At least this works on a Macintosh.) I then find it easier to magnify the document and navigate within the document.
4. If you find that you need clarifications here, please let me know and I will add them here as well.