This week’s #FridayFind is… a kill count in an obituary?

Written By Dmitri Schmidt

If you’re familiar with Friday Finds, then you already know how… incredibly detailed…. 20th century obituaries can be. (See our find from last June on an unfortunate cause of death.) In some ways though, they’re just like our modern day announcements (if a bit long winded).

Death announcement? “Captain Robert Bruce Ferry [...] died Sunday morning, at his home at Niles Valley, after 24 days’ illness of intestinal trouble.” Check.

Biographical information? “The Ferret family were natives of Normandy and were Siegnaries and princes dating back to 1090.” A royal lineage! Check.

Accomplishments? “Captain Ferry served in many of the fiercest battles of the war - Standardville, Rappahannock Station, Second Bull Run, Brandy Station, Germantown, Gettysburg, Middleburgh, Mine Run, Wilderness, Siege of Petersburg and others.” A union war hero! Check.

Deer kill count? Wait, what? “Last fall, on Asaph Run, he killed a big buck, which brought his record for deer killed from 1851 to 1910 to 1,029.” I suppose when you have a kill count averaging more than 17 deer a year, it’s a pretty big deal.

What details have you discovered while reading old obituaries? Share your story and email us at emma@backlog-archivists.com

Dmitri Schmidt

Dmitri plays a pivotal role in coordinating Backlog’s outreach efforts. They curate our weekly #FridayFinds and #ArchivalTips social media posts, shedding light on items discovered in our genealogy work and providing tips and tricks to approaching problems in the archives.

Dmitri holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and German Studies from Saint Louis University. During their university years, they dedicated over 1000 hours to interning and volunteering at local St. Louis institutions, including the St. Louis Science Center and the St. Louis University Museum of Art. As the Collections Intern at the Science Center, Dmitri assisted in developing and installing the "Into the Vault" exhibit.

Before joining Backlog, Dmitri served as a Fulbright Grantee, teaching English as a second language in former East Germany. From guiding 11th graders in analyzing pop albums as poetry to discussing the significance of the civil rights movement with 8th graders, they covered a broad spectrum of subjects. While reveling in connecting with students and injecting fun into grammar lessons, Dmitri's deep passion for all things archival eventually drew them back home.

Today, Dmitri works as a Herbarium Assistant at the Missouri Botanical Garden, helping digitize the millions of preserved plant specimens. After being scanned and transcribed, these images aid scholars around the globe in furthering botanical research. Dmitri also serves as the archivist for the Kirkwood Historical Society. They are currently overseeing the “Journeys into Kirkwood’s History” project, which aims to digitize documents related to Kirkwood’s early Black settlements.

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