New Hampshire Newspapers

Newspapers publish notices of marriage, divorce, death, funerals, obituaries, and wartime casualty lists. Notices include names of the persons involved and date of the event and may contain maiden names, names of parents, and other relatives.

Newspapers also publish articles of local interest, including religious and social events in the community with the names of those involved. Some newspapers serve several communities and devote columns to the everyday happenings in the area. Newspapers also include legal notices, estate sales, and advertising for local businesses.

History
New Hampshire’s newspapers began in 1756 with the Portsmouth New Hampshire Gazette.

Resources for New Hampshire Newspapers
The New Hampshire Historical Society and the New Hampshire State Library are major repositories of New Hampshire newspapers. For addresses of these repositories, see New Hampshire Archives and Libraries and New Hampshire Societies.

Indexes
The New Hampshire State Library Concord, N.H. has a list of New Hampshire newspapers microfilmed for the New Hampshire Newspaper Project. The list gives the newspaper title, town, publisher, life span, and catalog and reel numbers so researchers can contact them for further details and obtain microfilm copies for purchase.

The Family History Library does not have copies of New Hampshire newspapers, but it does have some published abstracts from newspapers, such as:

Hammond, Otis G. Notices from the New Hampshire Gazette, 1765–1800. Lambertville, New Jersey: Hunterdon House, 1970. . These notices include marriage and death notices, primarily from Portsmouth and nearby areas. The book includes indexes.

Published Indexes
New England Library Association. Bibliography Committee. A Guide to Newspaper Indexes in New England. Holden, Massachusetts: New England Library Association, 1978. . New Hampshire indexes are included in this guide.