I know it by the name of The Thrifty Nickel.  In Phoenix, AZ, it's called The Penny Pincher.  Whatever the name is in your hometown, it's the weekly that advertises garage sales and 'cars for sale by owner.'   I bet you never thought of sending in an ad, a veritable  "Wanted" poster, on your mystery ancestor in quite this way!

    Why do it?  Why try to get in touch with distant cousins whom you've never met and who have no interest in the family history?   Well, let's say that only one in ten people do genealogy.  The answer to the above question is that the 90% who don't care about genealogy could just possibly possess treasured family heirlooms that you'd give your eyeteeth to know about! 

     Case in point:  In 1986, I traveled back to Boston with my dear (late) friend, Carolyn, who was an avid, rabid genealogist.  She'd previously written her mother's brother and asked if he had any family genealogy.  He responded in the negative....  We still intended to visit him, hope notwithstanding... .     Soon after arriving in Massachusetts,  we sat chatting with Uncle Frank in his comfortable living room.  When the subject of genealogy came up, he again said he had nothing to contribute there.  then he casually said, "I do have something that might interest you," and led us up to the attic.  Laid out for his visitors to see were Civil War letters from Carolyn's grgrfather who'd been stationed on the Merrimac! As exciting as that was, incredibly more was to come.   The next document her uncle picked up turned out to be a military commission given to her American Revolutionary War ancestor, General HOUGHTON, dated 1771 - the original!  Carolyn just about fainted when Uncle Frank said, "You can have this if you want."

    What if you don't know the name of the local weekly advertiser?  No problem  - just call                  "Information" and ask them for the number of the local Chamber of Commerce.  (Note: Not all towns have one.   In that case, ask for the Town Clerk's phone number.) I found the Chamber of Commerce in various towns, etc. to be very friendly and helpful. 

    How do you place an ad?  What do you say? This type of ad usually winds up in the 'miscellaneous category.'  Let's say that your ancestors came from Midland County, MI.  The local weekly newspaper is called The Midland County World.  You could write something like this:  "Wanted: Descendants of Charles HOWE and Fidella GOTHAM who resided in Larkin, Midland County around 1850.  I am tracing the family tree and desire contact with distant cousins."

    In the world of creative writing, capturing the reader's attention begins with the very first word of the very first paragraph.    If you succeed in holding the reader 'spellbound' until he/she has finished reading your ad, you increase your chances of success.  For instance, this ad appeared in the local Bennington, VT weekly: "Mystery!  My 3rdgrgrfather, William Henry LATTIMER, did not know he had two sisters until he was twenty-five years old.  Why, oh why, did Mary, his mother, leave behind her two small girls? Wish contact with the descendants of one of his sisters, Harriet, wife of John O'CONNOR.  They lived in Waterbury at least until 1877.  Please write..."  Give your ad a "Message in a Bottle" flavor: haunting, gripping.

    When you consider how much you could spend on queries in genealogical magazines, you can easily see that this novel route is comparable.  In this type of newspaper, the cost usually runs around $ 10.00 per ad. It's the kind of unique research tool one would use if they'd just about exhausted all other routes.   After all, you may have a distant living cousin who's in her 80's and doesn't know how to turn on a computer, much less ever wants to!  She may, however, have lots of good family history to share -- just like Carolyn's Uncle Frank.

    Try it!  It works!