That is so cool! What a neat thing to find! Reading all that reminded me of what Facebook is like now...giving statuses of everybody! If you have more of these I would love to see them!

What a wonderful glimpse of the past.
Today people would not announce their intentions of leaving
their homes for an extended time....

Isn't that cool? We have friends that found a lot of newpapers, used for insulation like that. I don't think they had anything that old though.

If any of you live in a small town, that could be todays news. EX: John & Mable celebrated their dd 6th birthday with Uncle Bob and Aunt Lizzie and grandparents etc
Another thing is that the senior meeting will be Wed and Molly will show her pictures from her trip
Believe me I am not kidding, but this is a good way for newcombers to find out what is going on. Oh, by the way Ben and Mable will be leaving to south soon (meaning in this area either AZ or TX)

I believe the explanation for Mr. Hess having such a short trip is the fact that he went to see a young lady and she was no longer living there. I loved reading those! Even back in the 1950's, every time I "visited" friends back home, it was duly recorded in the "society page" of the local weekly paper. Funny thing is, I lived only 45 miles away and visited often. I think some of the weekly papers in the South still have that "society page". Bettye/AZ

That is so fascinating,especially since I have family in N. Attleborough.Love this!!

Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading those. I too grew up in a very small town some miles from a bigger "city". Those types of announcements were very common. Every so often you still will read that a grandaughter or niece is in town visiting.

In fact, I was just thinking the other day how hospitals always posted who was admitted and who was discharged from their facility, in the newspapers at least once a week; they sure don't do that anymore. Privacy act now and all.

Our local newspaper has columnists from the various villages who report news like this, but the front page usually contains bigger stories--like a trial at the courthouse, or the church secretary who ran off with the church's money.

Schoolhouse and Pekemom, you make good points about how much more trusting people were back then.

Gemini, if you want to give me a last name I'll see if it appears on the rest of the page. I didn't reproduce the whole thing because the rest is pretty fragmented.

Mickey, I'm afraid this is the only one I have. The newspapers were wedged into small spaces between the wide planks that make up the construction of my house, probably with a flat blade of some sort, and they emerged darkly yellow, brittle, and impossibly crumpled into that tight fit.

The paragraph about Mr. Charles L. Hess, I read into it differently than mamatoad. To me, I think "the boys" were his sons and that they thought Charley came home because their mom had left. And why wouldn't she when Charley went on vacation without her? LOL

Susan - you post the most mysterious things! Love it!

Here are some things I found interesting while doing some family research. From the Bluefield Dailey Telegraph:

Vol. III. No. 49, Saturday Morning, March 14, 1896

Yesterday afternoon about 4 o'clock there was a double wedding in the city jail. The contracting parties were Delphia Harris and William Moss, who were upon the presentation of the proper license joined in wedlock by Rev. T.C. Shuler. Then came Georgie Hale and Chris. Fitzgerald, who were joined until death did them part. Both couples were colored, and were languishing in durance vile because they had not been married some time previous.

LOL, I find that very funny. :)

Here's another:

Vol. III. No. 37, Saturday Morning, Februay 29, 1896

Wallace Hearn was shot last night about 8:30 by some unknown party near the Baptist church, on Mercer street. Wallace is the property of J.W. French and was considered a very valuable dog by all who knew him.

"Languishing in durance vile??" Wow--not too judgmental, were they?

That is funny.....reminds me of the rather rigid minister we had in our Lutheran church when I was a child. I remember going to a wedding where the minister asked the groom in the middle of the ceremony, "Are you sure you want to marry this woman? She's been married once before!"

Poor Wallace Hearn........but I'm laughing.

Fascinating, I know in the olden days of the early 20th century , when homes were built they often put newspapers between walls to act as insulation. That "social register" article was very interesting.

This sounds very much like the small town paper where my extended family lives.
My name always makes the paper...

"Salgal daughter of *Bill and Sue and granddaughter of William and Margaret visited this past weekend with her cousins. They enjoyed a weiner roast Staurday night with lots of neighbors and relatives.
A good time was had by all..."

It's so funny to read stuff like that, but sure beats reading about murders, thefts and war.