COGenBlog

Colorado’s Historic Newspaper Collection has recently added the following newspapers to its digitized publications:

• Aspen Tribune - Aspen, Pitkin County (1895-1901)
• Brandon Bell - Brandon, Kiowa County (1912-1915)
• Brandon News - Brandon, Kiowa County (1921)
• Colorado Farm & Ranch (Eads) - Eads, Kiowa County (1914-1917)
• Colorado Farm & Ranch (Sheridan Lake) - Sheridan Lake, Kiowa County (1910-1913)
• Haswell Herald - Haswell, Kiowa County (1915-1924)
• Kiowa County Press - Eads, Kiowa County (1901-1927)
• Stuart Chronicle - Stuart, Bent County (Kiowa County Also) (1888-1889)
• Water Valley Clarion - Water Valley, Bent County (1887)
• Westland, The - Brandon, Kiowa County (1916-1921)

For a complete list of available titles (with locations and years of publication), see Colorado’s Historic Newspaper Collection - Available Titles.

Colorado genealogical researchers can access information about nearly 2,500 Colorado newspapers by visiting the Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers (BETA) section of the Library of Congress Web site.

There you will find a database of historical and current newspapers, plus images of twenty-five American newspapers. The images are from newspapers of the District of Columbia (14) and the states of California (1), Florida (6), Kentucky (1), New York (1), Utah (1), and Virginia (1), and only from issues published between the years 1900-1910.

However - for all researchers - the most valuable part of this site is the Newspaper Title Directory, a database which you can search based on various criteria. For instance, you can get a list of:

• All newspapers published in Weld County, Colorado (90).
• All newspapers published in the town of Como, Colorado (2).
• Newspapers published in Colorado Springs between 1890 and 1900 (36) … but the results include papers with unknown dates.
• Colorado newspapers with “Blade” in the title (20) … the results include papers where “Blade” was part of the preceding or succeeding title.
• Ethnic newspapers, such as all the African-American newspapers published in Colorado (14).
• German language newspapers published in Colorado (18).

For any newspaper in the database, you can get more details by clicking on the title. In addition to the data mentioned above, you’ll find names of publishers and frequency of publication. From this “About this Newspaper” view, you can then click on “Libraries that have it” or “Holdings” and get a list of repositories where you can see the newspaper. For instance, three libraries have copies of the Montrose Messenger, which began publishing in 1882:

• Colorado Hist Soc Libr, Denver, CO: Microfilm <1882:11:23> <1883:4:5>
• Kansas State Hist Soc, Newsp Proj, Topeka, KS: Original <1882:11:23> <1888:7:12>
• Pueblo City Cnty Libr Dist, Pueblo, CO: Microfilm <1889:7:11-9:12>

The National Digital Newspaper Program is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress. The database is derived from the library catalog records created as part of the United States Newspaper Program, 1980-2007. You can get more information about these programs at “About Chronicling America.”

I recently checked out the SmallTownPapers Web site and found eight Colorado newspapers. SmallTownPapers has partnered with World Vital Records and claims that they have put a million newspaper pages online. There are currently over 250 small newspapers in the collection. Most of the fifty states have a least one newspaper and many states have five or more. The site is free and there is access to current issues as well as archived issues which could date back to 1865 depending on the publication. The Colorado newspapers had archives ranging from 2004-2006. I was not able to find a list which gave the years available for each individual newspaper.

The newspapers can be searched by keyword with a digital copy of some newspapers available for viewing. You can do a search in all papers, a selected state, a selected title, and by year. If you sign up for a free membership, it allows a search to be saved and you are automatically notified of a new hit when new papers are added.

The Colorado newspapers currently available on SmallTownPapers are:

• Eastern Colorado Plainsman, Hugo, Colorado
• Haxtun-Fleming Herald, Haxton, Colorado
• Kiowa County Press, Eads, Colorado
• The North Weld Herald, Eaton, Coloado
• The Saguache Crescent, Saguache, Colorado
• San Miguel Basin Forum, Nucla, Colorado
• The Trinidad Times Independent, Trinidad, Colorado
• The Wellington Tribune, Wellington, Colorado

SmallTownPapers plans to continue adding to the collection and will post new material as it is completed

Submitted by Gary W. Routh, Columbine Genealogical and Historical Society, Littleton, Colorado.

In January I learned the hard way that Colorado Vital Records Section is now enforcing a new “proof of relationship” policy on death certificate requests. Their website explains the new policy:

Effective January 1, 2007, proof of your relationship or direct and tangible interest is required. Certified [death record] copies may be issued to: parents; grandparents; stepparents; siblings; spouse; adult children, stepchildren or grandchildren of the deceased; legal representatives of any of the above; legal representatives of the deceased; probate researchers; genealogists representing family members with appropriate credentials; others who may demonstrate a direct and tangible interest when information is needed for determination or protection of a personal property right. Applicants must submit proof of their relationship or documentation to establish their legal interest in obtaining a certificate (i.e. birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, certified court orders, insurance polices).

I was told by the helpful clerk at the Colorado Vital Records Office that genealogy database printouts, research documents, family letters, genealogy society membership cards, etc., which show proof of genealogy research work related to that person will meet the requirement. I did not find out if they expect to retain copies of these “proof of relationship” documents. It is advised that you inquire about your particular death certificate request in advance before making your trip to the Vital Records Office.

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Vital Records Section
4300 Cherry Creek Drive South
Denver, CO 80246-1530
(303) 692-2200
www.cdphe.state.co.us/certs/

I don’t know where they were hiding but the Denver district office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently found an important genealogical resource for those with Colorado roots. They are index cards created by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930’s for persons naturalized in Colorado between 1860 and 1906. These index cards contain name, birthplace, date and location of naturalization.

USCIS has decided to donate the cards to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Lakewood.

I learned about this story in a 2 February 2007 Denver Post article.