To explain my process in getting the numerous newspaper clippings I have
concerning my various lines:

I first got the listings from ESCN Database Reports:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/escn_database_reports/

For the five surnames I requested, I received from 15 to over 1000
"hits" for each.  The listing includes the name, occupation if known,
residence if known, date, and subjects.  I found the mini-abstracts
fairly accurate and informative, and helped me choose which articles to
examine and copy first.  The main drawback is that you get ALL the
listings for that surname so that if you have a common surname, or if
one person with that surname advertises heavily, you might end up with
hundreds or thousands of listings for someone not related to you.

Still, using this database was the single most exciting thing about my
trip to SC for research.

I took the listings I got to the Charleston County Public library on
Calhoun St. in Charleston--a beautiful facility about which I'll write
later--and was able to view the SC Gazette on microfilm for the dates I
had.  There were a couple of articles I couldn't find, and a very rare
mistranscription, but overall my success with this method was such that
I scrapped all other research and a lot of sight-seeing in order to get
these articles.

For anyone with ancestors living in the Charleston area during the
mid-1700s, I STRONGLY recommend going this route in your research.

Now for the disclaimers--I had never heard of ESCN before a couple of
months ago; I do not know anyone associated with it, and I have no
connections with it other than as a paying, happy customer.

I only hope they revise their searches to be able to narrow it down to
given names as well as surnames.  And I hope they keep on transcribing
on into later years [the database only covers something like thirty
years.]

Elizabeth DuBois Russo