Mason County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 103 Shelton, WA 98584-0103 The Mason Log Volume 10 Issue 2 October 2, 2012 October meeting • Thursday, Oct 4th • 7:00 p.m. Start time • Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at 12th & Connection • Membership dues - single: $15.00 Couple: $20.00 • Find us on the web at http://rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wamcgs/ The inside scoop • Early Newspapers • Digital photography • Letter from the editor Using early newspapers in your research Part of my job at the Mason County Historical Society Museum is looking through the old Mason County Journals seeking information for our clients. At first glance it seems that this is a no brainer. Just start reading. That’s how I started and quickly became bogged down. Turns out that small town newspapers from the turn of the century aren’t like what we see today. At first glance the newspapers seem to be organized with this general format in mind, chaos. There are no sections such as sports, obituaries, and society happenings. All of the information that would normally be contained in these sections and the others in today’s papers are scattered through out the paper. So I’m going to share how I approach the task of gathering genealogy data from small town newspapers from the turn of the century. I’ll use some examples about my family that I encountered when looking for information in Lewis County at the Washington State Library newspaper microfilms. While reading these papers is fascinating, you’re there on a mission and time is a wasting, especially if you get caught up in the latest news about the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). Like wise for the latest home recipes for canning okra and beets, unless of course the canner is one of your “people”. These are the steps I use, when diving into small town papers. I make four lists, #1 is a list of names. #2, the places I’m interesting or hope to find the information. #3 is the known events I would be interested in. #4 are the dates, usually a wide range, say around a decade give or take a year. My lists for Lewis County were #1 - Ben Curtis, W.A. Curtis, John Curtis; #2 places - Adna, Dryad, Claquato, Centralia, Chehalis; #3 events, Curtis post office opening, births, deaths, marriages; and #4, dates – 1890 -1901, 1912-1915. I had these lists beside me while I searched the microfilm containing the newspapers. Kathy Johnson from the church library is our October speaker. , OCR Text: Mason County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 103 Shelton, WA 98584-0103 The Mason Log Volume 10 Issue 2 October 2, 2012 October meeting • Thursday, Oct 4th • 7:00 p.m. Start time • Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at 12th & Connection • Membership dues - single: $15.00 Couple: $20.00 • Find us on the web at http://rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wamcgs/ The inside scoop • Early Newspapers • Digital photography • Letter from the editor Using early newspapers in your research Part of my job at the Mason County Historical Society Museum is looking through the old Mason County Journals seeking information for our clients. At first glance it seems that this is a no brainer. Just start reading. That’s how I started and quickly became bogged down. Turns out that small town newspapers from the turn of the century aren’t like what we see today. At first glance the newspapers seem to be organized with this general format in mind, chaos. There are no sections such as sports, obituaries, and society happenings. All of the information that would normally be contained in these sections and the others in today’s papers are scattered through out the paper. So I’m going to share how I approach the task of gathering genealogy data from small town newspapers from the turn of the century. I’ll use some examples about my family that I encountered when looking for information in Lewis County at the Washington State Library newspaper microfilms. While reading these papers is fascinating, you’re there on a mission and time is a wasting, especially if you get caught up in the latest news about the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). Like wise for the latest home recipes for canning okra and beets, unless of course the canner is one of your “people”. These are the steps I use, when diving into small town papers. I make four lists, #1 is a list of names. #2, the places I’m interesting or hope to find the information. #3 is the known events I would be interested in. #4 are the dates, usually a wide range, say around a decade give or take a year. My lists for Lewis County were #1 - Ben Curtis, W.A. Curtis, John Curtis; #2 places - Adna, Dryad, Claquato, Centralia, Chehalis; #3 events, Curtis post office opening, births, deaths, marriages; and #4, dates – 1890 -1901, 1912-1915. I had these lists beside me while I searched the microfilm containing the newspapers. Kathy Johnson from the church library is our October speaker. , Mason County Genealogical Society,Mason Logs,Mason Logs,2012,V10 I2 MCGS Oct 2012 newsletter.pdf,V10 I2 MCGS Oct 2012 newsletter.pdf Page 1, V10 I2 MCGS Oct 2012 newsletter.pdf Page 1