Newspaper Indexing
NEWSPAPER
INDEXING
PROJECT
The Van Buren Regional Genealogical Society, working with the Van
Buren District Library, has spearheaded a project to compile computer
indexes to Southwest Michigan area newspapers. The project is entirely
volunteer, with some working from their homes and others at the Library.
The project indexes every individual, business, organization, etc.,
that appears in selected newspapers that are of a local (southwest
Michigan) nature.
Currently, there are volunteers working on the following newspapers:
Paw Paw, Bangor, Marcellus, Hartford, Gobles and Decatur.There are
still many newspapers waiting to be adopted.If you have a computer and
would like to work on the project from your home or, if you are able
to do in-house indexing at the Van Buren District Library please
contact the project coordinator, Toni I. Benson by email:[email protected]
The Decatur (volunteer, Joan Jaco), Bangor (volunteer, Gail Snow)
Marcellus, Paw Paw ( volunteer, Roxann Wilkinson) and South Haven
(volunteer, (Karen Clinard) newspaper indexing projects are well under
way and a database of the indexes are being made available on this
website.Each database includes a surname (or proper name), given name,
issue date, page number, column, and a code for the type of information
indexed.Below is a list of the types of items indexed and their
respective codes.
B - Birth
D - Death
V - Divorce
M - Marriage
E - Engagement
C - Correspondence
S - Business (not ad)
O - Organization
M - Miscellaneous
T - Obituary
R - Real estate transfer
L - Legal notices
A - Classified ads
G - Government
X - Miscellaneous
H - History
N - Military
Q - Taxes
Most early newspapers not only reported their own local news but
that of surrounding communities.This community news is also indexed in
the project and each locale also has a code.Below is a list of those
communities that are represented in the project to date.
| 1
- Lawton |
2
- Keeler |
3
- Paw Paw |
4
- Lawrence |
5
- Hamilton |
| 6
- Hartford |
7
- Volinia |
8
- Prospect Lake |
9
- Little Prairie Ronde |
10
- Barnes
District |
| 11
- Porter |
12
- Sunny Lane |
13
- Breedsville |
14
- South Haven |
15
- Cassopolis |
| 16
- Decatur |
17
- Holland |
18
- Columbia |
19
- Grand
Junction |
20
- Waverly |
| 21
- Kalamazoo |
22
- Pine Grove |
23
- Bloomingdale |
24
- Almena |
25
- Jericho |
| 26
- Kendall |
27
-
McDonald |
28
- Benton |
29
- Schoolcraft |
30
- St. Joseph |
| 31
- Geneva Station |
32
-Bangor |
33
- Casco |
34
- Dowagiac |
35
- Antwerp |
| 36
- Silver Creek |
37
- Marcellus |
38
- Arlington |
39
-
Mattawan |
40
- Niles |
| 41
- Gobles |
42
- Pine Plains |
43
-
Buchanan |
44
- Galine |
45
- Kalamazoo |
| 46
- Berlamont |
47
-
Benton Harbor |
48
- Cass County |
49
-Sturgis |
50
-Nicholsville |
| 51
- Decatur
Valley |
52
- East Decatur |
53
- Allegan |
54
- Glenwood |
55
- Battle Creek |
When correspondence produces a birth, death, marriage, engagement
or divorce, it will need to be ended with a letter code.For example,
the Keeler correspondence reports that Mrs. Anna Abbott passed away at
her home last week; this would be coded as C2D:
C = Correspondence
2 = Keeler
D = Death
The databases are organized in alphabetical order by surname (or
proper name) for ease in browsing.Searches may also be made using your
windows editor.
Following is a list of those items that are indexed in the project:
Personal names
Businesses
Real Estate Transfers
Organizations, groups, clubs, etc.
Legal Notices (not judges or other officials)
Classifieds
Stories and editorials (if of a non-fictional nature)
Authors of fictional stories if local
Anything for the following counties: Allegan, Berrien, Cass,
Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, Van Buren Counties
Things that are NOT indexed:
World, National or State news (outside listed counties above)
Fictional stories or poems
Celebrities or famous persons (such as Thomas Jefferson, Tom Mix)
Editorials of a general nature
Places (towns, villages, etc.)
General news, such as weather
COPY
REQUESTS
Once an entry of interest is located, you can refer to the
appropriate newspaper on microfilm at the Van Buren District Library,
Decatur, or the Library of Michigan, Lansing.Unfortunately, there is no
inter-library loan of newspapers on microfilm to any individual or
library outside of Michigan from either facility.Requests for copies of
the original page of the entry from the newspaper can be made to the
Van Buren Regional Genealogical Society.There is a $3.00 fee for each
request.A bulk rate discount fee for requests of 4 or more made at one
time can be arranged.For quotes on bulk requests, send an e-mail
enquiry to:Toni
Benson .
Please send your request for copies with check or money order to:
Van Buren Regional Genealogical
Society - NIP
P.O. Box 143
Decatur, MI49045
Links to newspapers that have been indexed -
Van
Buren Republican - Decatur, Michigan
The
Bangor Reflector - The Bangor Advance
The
South Haven Daily Tribune
The
Marcellus News
Paw
Paw Newspapers
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