Weekly newspapers were published in at least four communities in Wood County, Texas, before the turn of the century. Original copies and/or microfilm are known to survive for only two of these communities: Winnsboro (Winnsboro Wide Awake, Winnsboro Weekly News, and Winnsboro News) and Quitman (Wood County Democrat), the county seat. These newspapers are fertile researching ground. The flu and pneumonia epidemics of the later nineteen-teens caused the deaths of many of the original pioneers of Wood County. The Wood County Democrat was very good about printing biographical sketches about these old settlers. The Wood County Genealogical Society has extracted items of genealogical interest from all available papers published before 1920 plus two later issues of the Wood County Democrat that contained significant genealogical and historical information related to the nineteenth century. In addition to the usual births, deaths, and marriages, the abstracts include short notices and personal column items when these items included possible clues to family relationships. No attempt has been made to correct spelling, punctuation, or any other feature of the material that might be considered incorrect or inappropriate by contemporary standards. The character of the original material was considered of maximum importance. However, considerable liberty was exercised in extracting the genealogical content as many obituaries and family history sketches contained lengthy paragraphs of praise for persons and families not included in this book. Researchers will be happy to know that a surname index allows them to check every possible alternative spelling.
