Genealogy hobbyist compiles reference of newspaper stories

By D.A.WILKINSON

The book focuses on births, weddings and funerals.

COLUMBIANA — A job with computers and an interest in the past have led to the creation of a tool for those researching their family tree.

DeWayne McCarty of Columbiana has compiled “Newspaper Abstracts From the Villages of Columbiana and East Lewistown, Ohio.”

The title may seem dry but the 656-page reference book is a gold mine of information for genealogists and a window into the area’s past.

McCarty, 73, said he retired about 10 years ago.

“I got interested in genealogy,” McCarty said. “I didn’t know anything about my ancestors.” He can now trace his ancestry back for four generations in Germany.

McCarty, who is from Columbiana, worked for IBM for almost 25 years. While based in Charlotte, N.C., he discovered there were few resources on Columbiana County. When he retired and moved back, he got involved in the Columbiana County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society and The Historical Society of Columbiana Fairfield Township.

“I’m curious,” he said. “I do genealogy like putting a puzzle together.”

In researching his family, he used the three keys to information: births, marriages and deaths.

Many small towns in Mahoning County and Columbiana County had small newspapers whose information hadn’t been compiled. Three and half years ago, McCarty took on the task.

He focused on four papers: The Independent Register from 1870-1897, The Columbiana Independent from 1898-1902, the Columbiana True Press from 1877 -1878, and the New Moon in East Lewistown in 1891.

Those small, four-page papers carried news from many communities from Canfield to East Liverpool.

“They would say Mr. So and So had a crop of this or that,” McCarty said. “Unless you were a very important person, your name didn’t appear at all.”

McCarty said the life cycle items that are key to research were often two- or three-line items placed throughout the paper instead of in one place.

Entries from 1882 in The Independent Register in Columbiana state that Mrs. Robert Whan, 39, died on March 6, which was her birthday. On March 13 in East Palestine, Miss Annie Ball married Joseph Iredale of the Wyoming Territory. Entries also include the deaths of local residents on the steamer Scioto that sank on the Ohio River.

McCarty began to view microfilm copies of the newspapers at the Columbiana Public Library, searching each page for the small entries. He often spent three hours a day, and sometimes as much as eight hours, at the task.

McCarty has sold more than half of his 100 copies, many of which are in area libraries.

Carol Cobbs, the Columbiana librarian, said books like McCarty’s are helpful.

“They are always very well received by people who do that type of research,” she said.

For information on obtaining the book, send an e-mail to clarks70@sbcglobal.net and insert “Newspaper Abstracts” in the subject line.

wilkinson@vindy.com