Two dollars in 1880 bought a yearlong subscription to the Southwestern Christian Advocate, a newspaper published in New Orleans by the Methodist Book Concern and distributed to nearly five hundred preachers, eight hundred post offices, and more than four thousand subscribers in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas. The "Lost Friends" column, which ran from the paper's 1877 inception well into the first decade of the twentieth century, featured messages from individuals searching for loved ones lost in slavery. Editor P. Cushman advised subscribers that their ads would be printed free of charge and encouraged pastors to read them from their pulpits. Similar ads, listed under the heading "Information Wanted," appeared in the New Orleans-based Black Republican as early as 1865. 

The Lost Friends Database provides access to 2,450 advertisements that appeared in the Southwestern Christian Advocate between November 1879 and November 1896. Visit the site to read more ads.