Hi can some one please tell me the names of newspapers that served Somerset Co. mostly Branchburg boundbrook raritan and Neshanic Station areas , also are these papers on microfilm in a public library or the State archives . I am also trying to find what church or churches German families would have worshipped in in the same areas as above and the same for cemeteries , looking for the Peters family John ,Dora, Fred ,Annie, Rolland ,Minnie,Caroline, dora,Frederica, Louise they were farmers and worked many years at the Wood-Brook Farms . Thanks for any help given

You have described a fairly large area, so there are many churches that fit your description. And, like any state whose history goes back to the 1600s, there are numerous cemeteries of varying sizes (scads of them, in fact!). What time period are your looking for? Do you have some idea when these folks lived and died? Also, can you find them in the census and narrow down where they lived? The answers will also help you identify what newspapers existed at that time.

I have found them in the census from the 1880's to 1930's They started off in Neshanic Station then moved on to Raritan the 1920 census says that was Middlesex co then . the varius children also lived in Branchburg and Bound Brook . So I guess I will concentrate on Neshanic Station Churches Thank you for the suggestion

It's not clear to me what problem you are trying to solve. Are you trying to find when these folks died and where they were buried? And then to find their obits? Or, are you looking for baptism records for the children? Or, maybe you want all of these things.

Assuming the answer is "all of these things," I'd suggest working backwards. If the children died after the 1930s, you should be able to find one or more of them in the Social Security Death Index. With that information you can obtain a copy of their death certificate, which will give you the date and place of their death, as well as the date and place of their birth. I'm not sure about NJ death certificates, but it may say where they are buried. With a date of death in hand you can look for an obit, which will hopefully tell you where they are buried (if you don't already know from the DC) and give you more information about the family.

Getting back to your original question regarding newspapers, the big papers in the area today are the Star-Ledger and the Courier News. Try calling or e-mailing the reference desk at the Somerset Co Library in Bridgewater. They will be able to tell you if those were the big papers in the 1930s. I think they have some of them on microfilm, but I'm not sure which ones. I'm fairly certain they can tell you what other facilities have copies.

As for which churches Germans attended, I guess a "modern" German could attend about any of them. The early Germans were generally Lutheran or Reformed, both of which are still big denominations in the area.

One additional suggestion is to contact the Alexander Library at Rutgers. The NJ Genealogical Society keeps their collection there, and there's an alphabetical card file of individuals buried in NJ cemeteries. It does NOT include all cemeteries, and I don't think it has been updated since it was created (which was probably in the 1930s or so). My NJ research has been with colonial families, and the card file was very useful. Anyway, you may get lucky and find one or more entries.

Good luck.

You might also take a look at the NJ Historical Society's old newspaper database:

http://www.jerseyhistory.org/newspapers_O-Z.html#P

In searching keep in mind that regional affiliations often cross county lines around here. For example, Neshanic Station is in Somerset County, but you might well find information and coverage about it in the Princeton newspapers (Mercer County).

The Courier-News and the Home News are the present day papers most focused on central NJ, the area of your interest. Don't know about the Home News, but the Courier-News is an amalgamation of at least two older papers.

Good luck searching!

Try contacting the reference librarian at the Somerset County Library in Bridgewater. It's a couple thousand feet north of Somerville as the crow flies.
The newspaper you probably want is the Messenger Gazette which was out of Somerville. The Hunterdon County Democrat might also help.