The Democratic recorder newspaper was published semi-weekly from 1842 to 1862 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Originally owned by J. M. Campbell, by 1857 it was owned by R. B. Alexander and James Carmichael was the editor.
In 1976 the Wallace Library of Fredericksburg, Virginia possessed a bound volume of newspapers labeled, on the spine, DEMOCRATIC RECORDER, 1842-1847. When examined, it was found that the volume actually contained forty-two issues of the DEMOCRATIC RECORDER, representing six volumes covering the time span September 9, 1842 to June 12, 1848 AND twenty-eight issues of the WEEKLY RECORDER, representing four volumes covering the time span May 11, 1844 to August 27, 1847. This volume was stolen from the library before 1979. In addition a few issues survive on miscellaneous microfilm from 1849 through 1861.
The index was prepared by Robert Hodge. The twice-weekly (Tuesday and Friday), four-page, six-column issues were scanned for items deemed of value to the LOCAL historian and genealogist. Each entry consists of essentially four parts: Name, Reason for being, Publication date, and Page/Column numbers. The electronic version was created by the Center for Historic Preservation at Mary Washington College by scanning a copy of the text and then modifying the format to fit a table.