There is more to researching your ancestors than just knowing their birth, marriage and death dates. I am always curious if they traveled anywhere or received visitors and relatives from out of town. I want to know if they were involved in a scandal and what the details might be. How did they celebrate their anniversaries and birthdays? Did they ever speak out at a town meeting or were they involved in political or civic affairs? For all of this information and more it is necessary to turn to local newspapers. Many newspapers have been digitized and are full-text searchable.
Bridgeport, Darien, Fairfield, Greenwich, Hartford, Manchester, Middletown, Naugatuck, New Haven, Norwalk, and Westport have searchable newspaper databases. Norwich and New London are very fortunate to have two of the oldest newspapers in the state, but sadly neither paper feels that digitization of its earliest issues is important. Neither do the local libraries who feel that having the early issues on microfilm and microfiche is good enough. (Some of the Norwich Bulletin from 1909-1922 were digitized by a CT State Library project.)
How fortunate are those communities to be able to learn not just about who celebrated a birthday or anniversary but who may have attended the gathering, what they wore, an anecdote or two and perhaps an accompanying photograph or two.
Things have changed over the years from when newspapers contained long detailed accounts of engagements, obituaries, visitors to the community, notices of illness and recovery, births and even military service.
Here are a few places to find newspapers on line. Don’t be hesitant to check out the article if the dates are slightly off. It was not unusual for papers to share information but it took time or the paper might not have been consistent in its publishing dates. Look for details and learn to see your ancestors as individuals and not just dates.
chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
GenealogyBank.com/Newspapers
www.library.illinois.edu/hpnl/newspapers/historical.php icon.crl.edu/digitization.php
cslib.cdmhost.com/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15019coll9
https://sites.google.com/site/onlinenewspapersite/Home/usa/ct
www.newspapers.com/place-connecticut
libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/newspapers
newspaperarchive.com/us/connecticut
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View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs01?taxid=1172