Murder in 1958 Pensacola, Florida?

Question

How would I go about finding information online about a crime that was committed in 1958 (11-30-1958). My grandmother (by marriage) was shot by her husband on that day and there is no information about it anywhere. Has African-American crime not been recorded during that time in the South? And, which would be the best geneology websites to research African-American history on the web? I know about ancestry.com but can't find any data on this family on there.

Answer 1

Have you checked the newspapers from that period?

Not all crimes were recorded in newspapers any more than every crime is reported in the newspapers today.  Even if it was recorded for public consumption that doesn't mean that it has made it online yet.  A lot of genealogical research still has to be done the old fashioned way ... purusing original documentation.

Another place to look for information would be in the court records.  While most of that stuff is in the public record domain, its unlikely to be online.  You'll need to do research directly at the courthouse.

It doesn't matter whether someone is black, white, or green with purple pokadots.  Documentation is documentation.  If your family's history is more oral then you are going to have some trouble.  Some examples of this that I've run into in my research:

commonlaw spouses vs. marriage recorded at the courthouse

birth at home where the birth was not registered with the state or county

people hiding out from the census takers for various reasons

issues of inheritance that skipped generations

unrecordded marriages that fell between census years

It doesn't matter what color your skin is, people run into brick walls all of the time in genealogy for a lot of different reasons.  I have some Native American ancestors.  Some recorded their ancestry and some didn't.  I have some other friends that due to cultural issues, when someone died you no longer spoke of them ... and if they aren't documented someplace then a researcher has a very difficult time finding them.

Another way to research would be through tax records.  

There are groups that specialize in African American genealogy.  Just use a search engine to find them and they may have online tutorial that will help you.

The Pensacola Historical Society may be able to help you

http://www.pensacolahistory.org/Genealog...

I've put some other links in the source list below.

Answer 2

Have you tried doing a google search for the information. I found similar information at the newspapers archives here in Nottingham, England. I was allowed to photocopy the story, and it was all there on record.