Description

During the 19th century, Georgetown played an important role in commercial and social activities, and for a time it competed for prominence with its neighbors-the City of Washington and Alexandria. Newspapers printed in Georgetown covered commercial and social activities for both sides of the Potomac River, government activities in the City of Washington, and tidbits of foreign news. Perhaps surprisingly, editors of Georgetown newspapers often subscribed to newspapers from cities up and down the eastern seaboard of the United States, and routinely inserted marriage and death notices they deemed of interest to their audiences. This compilation reflects marriage and death notices in nine newspapers that were published in Georgetown during the period 1801-1838. Not all months are covered because not many newspapers survived for some periods. Newspapers represented here are taken from microfilm copies purchased from the Library of Congress. Georgetown lost its charter and was absorbed by the City of Washington; thus in October 1880, most street names were changed. The introductory material presents a map and a list of street names under the old and new systems. Also found is a list of early ministers that can be linked to a particular religion or church.