What newspapers existed in Bristol County prior to 1800? Are there copies of any of them in existence? I know from Arnold's "Vital Record of Rhode Island" that one newspaper, the "Rhode Island Gazette", was founded in 1732 but discontinued the next year. The first newspaper to go into continuous publication in RI was the "Newport Mercury" first issued 12 Jun 1758 by James Franklin, nephew of Benjamin Franklin. Birth, death, and marriage data from that period are included in the Mercury and other RI newspapers which are included in Arnold's VRs, so I was wondering if anything similar is available for Bristol Co, MA. Jim Bullock

Jim, the RI Historical Society library may be able to help with this. They have a very good film collection of early RI newspapers that may have also covered adjoining areas of Massachusetts (particularly since the borders have changed so much in that area). Melissa Jim Bullock wrote: > What newspapers existed in Bristol County prior to 1800? Are there copies > of any of them in existence? > > I know from Arnold's "Vital Record of Rhode Island" that one newspaper, the > "Rhode Island Gazette", was founded in 1732 but discontinued the next year. > The first newspaper to go into continuous publication in RI was the "Newport > Mercury" first issued 12 Jun 1758 by James Franklin, nephew of Benjamin > Franklin. Birth, death, and marriage data from that period are included in > the Mercury and other RI newspapers which are included in Arnold's VRs, so I > was wondering if anything similar is available for Bristol Co, MA. > > Jim Bullock > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237