During the first three phases of the grant, running from July 2008 through August 2015, regional advisory board members were responsible for consulting with representatives from their regions to compile Top 5 Lists of titles that should be considered for digitization. This page documents the selection process for Region 2 (north central Ohio).
About
Counties (County Seats)
- Ashland (Ashland)
- Crawford (Bucyrus)
- Erie (Sandusky)
- Huron (Norwalk)
- Marion (Marion)
- Morrow (Mount Gilead)
- Ottawa (Port Clinton)
- Richland (Mansfield)
- Sandusky (Fremont)
- Seneca (Tiffin)
- Wyandot (Upper Sandusky)
Digitized Newspapers
Click the links below to learn more about each title/title family and for links to access the digital edition on Chronicling America.
- Ashland Union series (Ashland, Ashland County), 1849-1854
- Fremont Freeman series (Fremont, Sandusky County), 1849-1853
- Fremont Journal series (Fremont, Sandusky County), 1853-1875
- Marion Daily Mirror (Marion, Marion County), 1907-1912
- Plymouth Advertiser (Plymouth, Huron & Richland Counties), 1853-1855
- Tiffin Tribune series (Tiffin, Seneca County), 1856-1879
- Wyandot Pioneer series (Upper Sandusky, Wyandot County), 1845-1873
2012-2014 Grant Cycle
Selection Committee
- David Roepke (Ashland, Ashland County)
- Maggie Marconi (Sandusky, Erie County)
- Mary Carabin (Norwalk, Huron County)
- Tom Neel (New London, Huron County)
- Betty Meier (Mount Gilead, Morrow County)
- Sunda Peters (Mansfield, Richland County)
- Lisa Hasselbach (Fremont, Sandusky County)
- David Lehman (Fremont, Sandusky County)
- Rebecca Hill (Tiffin, Seneca County)
Top 5 List
- Ashland Union (Ashland, Ashland County), 1852-1860: not formed until 1846 but settled ca 1795 by John Baptiste Jerome; lots of genealogical interest in this county; strong group of Pennsylvania Lutheran-Mennonite-Brethren settlers
- Milan Tribune (Milan, Erie County), 1843-1851: lots of history; Edison connection; agricultural shipping port; Erie County was formed from Huron County and part of Milan is still in Huron County so it would get double representation; small town paper
- Mansfield Gazette (Mansfield, Richland County), 1828-1830 & Mansfield Pennant (Mansfield, Richland County), 1844: largest population and one of earliest cities (1808); has some vital records, but lots of political letters, tax delinquency lists, court news, many business advertisements
- Lower Sandusky Freeman (Fremont, Sandusky County), 1849-1853: genealogy; Whig paper
- Whig Sentinel (Mt. Gilead, Morrow County), 1849: low coverage area in south part of region; rural area; standard county newspaper
- Bucyrus Journal (Bucyrus, Crawford County), 1856-1880
- Seneca Advertiser (Tiffin, Seneca County), 1842-1865
- Wyandot Pioneer (Upper Sandusky, Wyandot County), 1853-1861
Notes on Selection Process
- Sandusky/Seneca Counties already well-represented, so only included one title from these counties in Top 5
- The Huron Reflector (1830-1853), Norwalk Experiment (1841-1844), Norwalk Reporter/Advertiser (1827-1830), Sandusky Clarion (1822-1849), and Sandusky Star (1889-1921) are already digitized on Ancestry.com, NewspaperArchives.com, etc.
- Eastern part of Region 2 (Erie, Huron, Ashland, and Richland Counties) need some type of representation since they were settled the earliest, have the most history and are the largest populated area
2010-2012 Grant Cycle
Selection Committee
- Maggie Marconi (Erie County)
- Mary Carabin (Huron County)
- Tom Neel (Huron County)
- Sunda Peters (Richland County)
Approximately ten others were contacted, including Civil War roundtables, but no responses were received.
Top 5 List
- Fremont Journal (Fremont, Sandusky County), 1861-1865: covers Civil War period; Civil War articles extensive; correspondence index on CAC web site; home of President Hayes from the 23rd OVI although he was in Cincinnati as the war began; Sandusky County home of General McPherson; this is on opposite end of Region 2 from the Marion paper done last time; complete run and starts in 1853 so earlier issues may be used leading up to war; has not been digitized by other companies; has ceased publication; is home newspaper to Hayes Presidential Center which has an obituary index for this region, another index that could be used in conjunction with digitization; county does have a few miles of border on Lake Erie and Johnson’s Island, just a few miles into Sandusky Bay, was a Confederate officer prison, studied by Dr. Bush and others
- Tiffin Tribune (Tiffin, Seneca County), 1864-1865: major paper for Seneca County; great amount of Civil War content again indexed on the CAC web site; many Civil War units organized in this region although there wasn’t much Civil War activity here; primarily rural coverage area; complete run; begins in 1856 so can lead up to start of war; paper has ceased publication.
- Mansfield Ohio Liberal (Mansfield, Richland County), 1876-1879: political newspaper presenting many lively issues after the Civil War; founded by General Roeliff Brinkerhoff who also founded the Ohio Historical Society; city editor was Abraham Baughman, who wrote many county histories in this region, and the paper is therefore filled with historical accounts and interviews with Ohio pioneers; good choice for the post war era; statewide circulation; Mansfield has generally been the largest city in Region 2; urban area with companies like Aultman & Taylor and Ohio Brass bringing in hundred of employees to the region; a model for many surrounding counties on many levels including setup of court systems, city parks, Brinkerhoff’s prison system, and many other things that got their start after the war; short run; paper has ceased publication; some genealogical content for a 3 to 4 year period have been indexed on the Richland County GenWeb site
- Wyandot Union (Democratic) and Wyandot Republican (Upper Sandusky, Wyandot County), 1861-1865
- Crawford County Forum (Bucyrus, Crawford County), 1861-1863
Notes on Selection Process
- The committee noted that several major county newspapers in Region 2 are not represented in the microfilm list available to us for that Civil War time period, for example, Ashland, Norwalk, Sandusky, and Mansfield. Many were filmed by Bell & Howell. The newspapers we selected from the western regions of our area were filmed by OHS or BGSU. Also, in our area, it was noted that just around 10 titles were available on the list provided that had coverage for any significant portion of the 1861 to 1865 time period. Around 20 titles had coverage in any part of the 1860 to 1880 time period. In other words, our selection process was not difficult this time in Region 2.
- We didn’t choose the Marion Democratic Mirror because that title was what was filmed in the first round. The Loudonville, Crestline, Plymouth, Wakeman, Cardington, and Clyde newspapers were just “too small town” for this Civil War period theme. The Bellevue Gazette and Fremont Daily Messenger runs didn’t start until 1877. The Fremont Courier is in German old-style font which doesn’t work with OCR. We did seriously consider the Mount Gilead Union Register and Morrow County Whig. We did discover later that we had been using an earlier version of the newspaper list and the Bucyrus Journal is available, so we apologize to those folks. The same holds true for the Norwalk Experiment although it is not the major paper in Norwalk and probably would not have been in the running. These two titles were done by BGSU. Of major consideration in our choice of the titles above was that a Center for Archival Collections (BGSU) volunteer Daniel Masters and some student interns had prepared Civil War correspondence indexes (chronological & surname) for four of our choices. These indexes should be utilized if at all possible in conjunction with this project.
2008-2010 Grant Cycle
Selection Committee
- Rita Kopp and Chris Box (Ashland County)
- Mary Fox and Winnie Kleinknecht (Crawford County)
- Maggie Marconi and Ann Basilone (Erie County)
- Henry Timman and Mary Carabin (Huron County)
- Maxine Marshall, Al Potts, and Melinda Gilpin (Marion County)
- Betty Meier (Morrow County)
- Linda Kolinko and Jennifer Fording (Ottawa County)
- Sunda Peters and Bvenitta Williams (Richland County)
- Tom Culbertson and Nan Card (Sandusky County)
- Ken Davison and Becky Hill (Seneca County)
- Kristina Krumm and Jean Moon (Wyandot County)
Top 5 List
- Marion Democratic Mirror (Marion, Marion County), 1880-1912: President Harding worked for Mirror in 1880s; county seat; heavily Democratic county so would give news on movers and shakers; Marion Star (Republican) on Ancestry.com so Democratic paper would compare opposing view; Harding deeply involved in Ohio Republican politics in this time period; Harding not the most popular president, but a favorite research topic; long span on film; no longer published
- Fremont Journal (Fremont, Sandusky County), 1881-1893: weekly and semi-weekly; good local and national news; President Hayes and wife Lucy living in Fremont from 1881-1893; county seat; covers long time period; no longer published
- Port Clinton News (Port Clinton, Ottawa County), 1906-1932: county seat; lots of local news; covers very large geographical area; Lake Erie islands a unique area of Ohio for study; lots of ship news; area of Ohio often overlooked but has rich history; large ethnic population (eastern European workers in quarries plus grape culture); long run; no longer published
- Norwalk Reflector (Norwalk, Huron County), 1902-1913: county seat with coverage of Huron and Erie County which borders the city of Norwalk; lots of industry in this period (Fisher Brothers, etc.); good local and national news; long run newspaper; good combination of Catholics, Germans and old New England families who settled in Firelands District of the Western Reserve; its predecessor, Norwalk Reporter and Huron Advertiser, 1827-1830, on Ancestry.com; currently active newspaper
- Clyde Enterprise (Clyde, Sandusky County), 1880-1922: weekly; lots of local news; not a county seat, but a good small town newspaper; Sherwood Anderson’s “Winesburg, Ohio” is about Clyde during this time period (would make a good study, and is about small town life); huge time span; still published; not likely to be digitized by another source; very rural, lots of migrant agricultural families in this muck farming region
Notes on Selection Process
- No respondents from Richland County
- Ohio Liberal (Mansfield, Richland County), 1876-1885: not scored or suggested by selection committee; statewide coverage; Mansfield resident and OHS founder Roeliff Brinkerhoff wrote extensively for paper
- Other suggested titles: Tiffin Tribune, Loudonville Advocate/Democrat, Mount Gilead Union Register, Bucyrus Forum, Crestline Advocate, New Washington Herald, Bellevue Gazette, Wakeman Independent Press, Fremont Democratic Messenger