Tips from the Pros: Subscribe to Local Newspapers, by Paula Stuart Warren

Subscribe to the current newspaper in the city or town where your ancestral families lived. Many are online but not all of those are the complete newspaper for that day or week. The current newspaper may have a column reprinting news tidbits from fifty, seventy-five or a hundred years ago. To find current contact details on a newspaper, just do an online search using keywords such as Auburn newspaper or Somerset newspaper.

In smaller cities and towns, you may find articles on the local historical society, genealogical society, and stories on older homes and buildings. From these you may learn who the knowledgeable persons in that area are as far as local history. You might learn the name of the head of the Comfort Rest Cemetery committee.

Don’t forget to borrow older newspapers on microfilm via Interlibary Loan and spend some time reading these to get a feeling for the time when your family was in that locality. Inquire at your local public library about borrowing newspaper films from other places. Don’t forget that many older newspapers are now online, including those at Ancestry.com. Online collections continue to grow, so check back often.

2 thoughts on “Tips from the Pros: Subscribe to Local Newspapers, by Paula Stuart Warren

  1. Please stop the ridiculous movement of the anti- President Bush ad located to the right of the list of newspapers. Since President Bush was elected twice, it means more than half the country supports him. It is offensive and distracting to have it flashing in my face every time I USED TO LOOK AT YOUR WEB PAGE. Thanks, Allen Cameron.

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