A few days ago, I renewed my Ancestry.com subscription despite my annual vow to resist. This year’s offer—40% off a six-month subscription—was too tempting. This package included access to U.S. and international records as well as newspaper and military archives. As I signed up, I told myself I’d regret it if I didn’t find value within the first few days.

Navigating Ancestry’s Value Over Time

As a longtime user of Ancestry.com, I’ve seen the Law of Diminishing Returns at play. In the early days, the subscription was affordable, and the wealth of genealogical data was immense. Over the years, subscription fees increased while the influx of new, valuable information slowed, especially for seasoned users like myself. The company shifted its focus to attracting new subscribers, often at the expense of long-term users. I’m sure you’ve seen their television commercials.

Still, I feel the investment is justified whenever I uncover new information or enhance my existing data. Fortunately, my recent renewal quickly proved worthwhile.

The Obituary of Col. David Judson Dobbs

In a previous post, I shared the military history of my great-great-grandfather, Col. David Judson Dobbs of Marietta, Georgia. Despite extensive research, I had yet to find his obituary or cause of death—he passed away at the early age of 42 in July 1877. Renewing my subscription led to a breakthrough thanks to my “unturned-stone strategy.” This method involves revisiting unanswered queries, convinced that as long as something should exist, it can eventually be found. That is the tricky part – knowing what should or should not exist.

A simple example is knowing that photography did not become commercially viable until the 1840s, and therefore, one should not hope to find a photograph of an ancestor who died before 1845.

But if it is something that should exist, then keep looking for it.

Knowing that the archives at newspapers.com previously excluded Marietta’s primary newspaper was a significant hindrance. However, I was pleased to find out that the archives now include The Marietta Journal from 1874 to 1881. According to my records, David was buried on July 18, 1877. Years ago, while on break during a business trip to Atlanta, my brother visited the cemetery in the heart of Marietta. From a photograph he took of the marker, I could see David’s complete birthday was 14 May 1835, but for his death date, it has only the month and year, “July 1877.”

Unearthing the Obituary

Searching The Marietta Journal initially returned numerous hits for a grocery owned by “JP Dobbs.” I believe this to be David’s cousin, James Prothro Dobbs. Refining the search to “David J Dobbs” yielded nothing, suggesting a technical issue. Undeterred, I manually reviewed each relevant page from the summer of 1877—12 weeks, 12 papers, totaling 48 pages. Yet, once I figured out that obituaries always appeared on page 3, that made things easier.

In the results from The Marietta Journal, I finally found what I had been looking for – an obituary for my great-great-grandfather, David Judson Dobbs. I hoped that it would tell me once and for all the cause of death for a 42-year-old Civil War veteran and former POW. Unfortunately, it only said that he died following a “lingering illness.”

The one new thing that I learned was that he was a Mason.

The obituary from the July 13, 1877, edition reads:

“-DIED- At his residence in this city on the morning of the 10th inst., Colonel David J. Dobbs, after a lingering illness. He was one of our most respected and esteemed citizens, a member of the Baptist Church and a Mason, and was buried with honors of that order. He was a man of fine education, kind-hearted and conscientious, and his death will cause a pain of regret to all those who knew him. He leaves a wife, two daughters, and several sons to mourn his untimely demise, to whom we tender our sympathy.”

A couple of weeks later, on page 3 of the Friday, July 27th, 1877 edition of the same paper, a “Tribute of Respect” from Kennesaw Lodge #33 of the Fraternal and Ancient Order of the Masons appeared, dated July 20th, 1877.

“Whereas, it has been the will of the Supreme Architect of the Universe to remove our brother, David J. Dobbs, from Earth to the Supreme Grand Lodge above; therefore be it resolved, that in the death of brother Dobbs, this Lodge has lost a worthy brother and member and the community, a useful citizen, and that we tender our sympathy to the bereaved family of our deceased brother. Resolved, that a blank page of our minute book be inscribed to the memory of our brother and that a copy of these resolutions be furnished to the family of our deceased brother. Signed TL Hunt, Secretary.”

Though some questions remain, discovering this obituary was incredibly satisfying. It’s a reminder of the joy found in unraveling mysteries slowly and stumbling upon the unexpected.

Next on my journey is exploring my great-grandfather’s brief career as a Base-ball player. Stay tuned for more family history adventures on Gathering More Leaves.