I have an ancestry.com account also but accessing newspapers.com for free via my local library. Not only do I have access to newspaper.com but also my local newspaper and many other genealogical resources.

Newspapers.com is tricky to use. Try searching narrowing your search to a specific county, state whether than actual newspaper.

Sometimes the newspaper you're looking for may not include have all of the past years available.

Not sure if FamilySearch.org provide any newspaper articles.

Because my library is closed tighter than a drum --- pandemic.

but many newspapers aren't in their portfolio. Is the Watchman on their list?

A prominent Long Island family name.

You can type the paper name or select the state the paper comes from on the map to see if they have the paper. Note that even if they do have the paper it does not mean they have all years.

I find newspapers.com very useful but the name search does not always work as expected.

A suggestion would be to start with a wide search with a date range and last name and narrow from there.

I did a quick search and do not see a newspaper in NY with the title The Watchman.

3,000 miles away from me, so going there isn't an option.

But I'll try other ways.

My sister has a copy, but she is a procrastinator and hasn't gotten it to me in six months of asking. Ha.

you can do a date-limited search and see if the story was picked up by any other newspapers; the site is here. Genealogybank (pay site) also has archives of some newspapers that newspapers.com does not (that was the only place I could find the Washington Evening Star, which was the major newspaper of Washington DC before the Post).

Old Fulton History, I found a lot of old stuff (early 1900s and prior) from Oneida County, NY that newspapers.com didn't have

https://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html

But I LOVE Newspapers, I've packed so many more people in my tree playing "obituary calculus."

As for your search, you have to see what range of issues of The Watchman (assuming they have that publication available) they have.

Also, I've found that you can find the same subject in different papers in the same city/county/even state.

I went for the standalone Publisher-Extra subscription to access everything vs the basic version in Ancestry.

Hey, if you'd like, you can inbox me what you're looking for and I'll be glad to take a stab.

...that the story I'm looking for is about my third great grandmother who grew up to be the lady of the Plum Island NY lighthouse. Her husband was one of two (in succession) keepers of that light for 43 years ending in 1901. Eleanor King Beebe Wetmore.

The story is about her meeting Lafayette when he visited NY in his year-long tour of the States. Her father was a Rev. War Major, and Lafayette -- as he went about the country -- met with Rev. War veterans. From the report, Lafayette patted her on the head, and blessed her. She was somewhere about twelve years old at the time.

the site is not available. Disappointing because I have some Wheelers who were supposed to be from Oneida County.

I just checked and got to it. Sometimes the site is down for maintenance; I've experienced that.

...but Google still has (albeit archived) its old newspaper holdings

https://news.google.com/newspapers

It's not easy searching but you could browse (if you have the patience).

I finally found my grandfather a few months ago after searching for him for 80+ years.

Luckily, my cousin became interested in the situation and went on a massive search on newspapers.com.

He found some shocking info. abt. my grandfather that I never knew and the foster relations I have.

It is some ugly stuff that he found.

I am in a state of absolute shock by the findings, believe me as they are so horrific that they made the front page of the newspapers where they were living at that time (c. 1920).

So, I think if you can figure out how to use it, it is a great source of information and tool.

Best of luck.