Nancy, Clayton co. had several newspapers by 1869: The Clayton County Herald of Garnavillo, was first published in January 1853. The North Iowa Times, started in Monona in 1856, then moved to McGregor. The Clayton co. Journal of Guttenberg started in May 1858. Mississippi Valley Register, Guttenberg, May 1859 (may have already folded by 1869) McGregor Press, began in August 1859. Die Nord Iowa Herald (German), started up in January 1868. If you are looking for a death notice for your gg-grandfather, if there was one, it most likely would have been in the paper published from the nearest town to his home. I don't believe that Elgin had a paper that early, but the Clermont Leader (Fayette co. ) was being published by 1866. Regards, Sharyl Ferrall http://iagenweb.org/clayton ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2006 3:43 AM Subject: [IACLAYTO-L] Re: IACLAYTO-D Digest V06 #15 Would anyone know if the newspapers went back to 1869 in Clayton county Iowa? My Gr Gr Grandfather died Dec 8 1869 in Marion Twp, Clayton County, Iowa near Elgin. His name was Gulbrand Gulbrandson or Gilbert Gilbertson. He was born Aug 17 1826 in Bratvold Norway. His wifes name was Inger. They had 11 kids. Thank you for any help you can give Nancy [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected])