Finds from Chilton Union Banner newspaper archive: Smith and Higgins

I have found Facebook to be a great resource for genealogy.  There are many pages specific to the history of  certain surnames and places.  One that I have been following is the Chilton County (Alabama) Historical Society page. My husband's maternal grandmother is from Clanton, Alabama.

A recent post was in regards to the newspaper archive of the Chilton Union Banner provided by the University of Montevallo.  It can be accessed through their website here:  W. M. "Mack" Wyatt Digital Archive and through Archive.org. 

 From this archive I came across some great finds!

The death notice of my husband's third great grandmother Josephine Smith Higgins (1845-1913).  This is from the issue dated May 8, 1913.

Also the wedding announcement of his great grandparents Milton Smith and Inez Higgins.  This is from the issue dated April 7, 1921. 

I spent a day or two trying different search methods to locate the information I wanted.   Since I already knew the death date and the wedding date, I went to the issue immediately after the event I was interested in.  Opening up that issue, I could search within that issue for the name I was looking for. 

For a more broader search, I used the Google site search of Archive.org with the name Union Banner in quotes followed by a full name or surname.   I came up with several articles that mentioned my husband's ancestors or family. 

Collier Heritage Foundation

Check out the Collier Heritage Foundation at CollierHeritage.org.  My husband's maternal grandmother is a descendant of Colliers.  She is a descendant of Elizabeth Collier who married Josiah Smith.  Elizabeth is the daughter of Isaac Collier and Ann Vines.

The Collier Heritage Foundation focuses mainly on the descendants of Vines Collier who was a brother of Elizabeth Collier Smith (my husband's 6th great grandmother).