Trying to find out how to get into local newapaper obit.archives..trying to find

Question:the obit. archives is in Benton,IL.from 1876 to 1973..any info on how to find info on ancestary free

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: the obit. archives is in Benton,IL.from 1876 to 1973..any info on how to find info on ancestary free

Hi: If you are living in Benton, you can find newspaper archives at local universities, or at the newspaper office (in all likelihood). If you need a volunteer to look up obituaries for you, you need to have the name and the approximate date of death. You can go to a website called www.raogk.com (Random acts of Genealogical Kindness) and you will be asked to indicate a region where you want a volunteer. Once you have worked your way through the menu to get to Benton, you should find volunteers willing to do obit lookups.
If you go to Rootsweb.com and look near the bottom of the page, you can find a Localities message board, and once again narrow the field until you find the board for Benton Illinois. Then you can post a request for help, with the names of the people you are interested in, and you should find someone who is able to help you. If you have specific names and dates, you can email me directly at gensearchers @ shaw.ca (no spaces) and I would be happy to see what is available on Ancestry.com for you.

best wishes

Norm Dawson
Calgary AB
Canada

The county library in Benton should have old newspapers on microfilm. As answerer #1 said, you'd have to have the exact death date, unless you want to spend a couple of years. Obits come out 0 - 7 days after the death, in my experience. I can look up 2 -3 before I get seasick. They are relatively new. You may not find any prior to 1910 or so.