Newspapers Across the States
Using vintage or even more current or recent newspapers from home states and counties of your ancestors are very invaluable. Especially decades ago, it was very common in medium-sized and smaller towns and counties to place all types of information in the newspaper about its citizens.
Never pass up checking neighboring counties or areas that border other states for newspaper articles about your relatives. It is amazing to find articles on ancestors who might have lived a couple hundred miles away from the location of a specific newspaper. It all depends on what the article was covering. But you won’t know that until you do some investigating.
A good source is the listing of available newspapers from across the United States compiled by ‘The Ancestor Hunter‘. Here is listed as of March 2019 all the states with available online newspapers. These newspapers may cover just a certain time frame, such as 1855 to 1888 because that is all the time they were in operation. Some newspapers listed had a large readership and covered many counties where others were strictly for a specific county or even city.
Scroll down and there are also special newspapers for farmers, African-Americans, Germans, Protestants, etc. There are also several Canadian and province newspapers to select from.
Just click on a specific state of interest and there is a little background to the newspapers in that state. Then a listing of free asset to newspapers with location and time frame. Further down will be listing of how many newspapers for that state in the paid subscription newspaper site.
So much can be learned of a hometown or a relative that otherwise might not be known. A bonus is when there is a drawing or illustration or a photo. Now you hit the jackpot.
Photos: New Mexico Train Travel-July 1905; Boy, Henry Chaves, Lost leg to a train-July 1905; and drawing of a gentleman in Rhode Island March 1, 1898.
Related FamilyTree.com Blogs:
Finding Your Ancestors in the Newspapers
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