influence of newspapers—part played by the early press—“squatter sovereign”—“freedom’s champion”—“champion and press”—pioneer editors—later newspapers and newspaper men.
of all the mighty powers for good and evil, none can excel the newspaper. take all the newspapers out of the world today and there would be chaos. mankind would lie groping in the dark, and life itself would be a vain and empty thing. newspapers are the arteries through which the lifeblood of the world runs. they carry to our firesides the continued story of civilization.
early in the history of atchison county, before the schools and the churches, the newspaper appeared. it received a bounty of the original town company when that association, september 21, 1854, by a resolution, donated $400 to robert kelley and dr. j. h. stringfellow, to start a printing office, and it was then that the squatter sovereign was conceived, and after a brief period of gestation, was born february 3, 1855. by a strange stroke of misfortune this first newspaper in the county stood for a wrong principle and preached bad doctrine, for it advocated human slavery. yet it was a creature of environment, and reflected the prevailing sentiment of its constituency. it was fearless in its attitude and rabid in its utterances. it was a violent organ of hate and bitterness toward all free state men, and in it appeared a constant flood of inflammatory comment directed against those who opposed slavery, and were determined that kansas should be the land of the brave and the home of the free. but as the pro-slavery cause waned, the squatter sovereign waned with it, and in the fall of 1857, when saner counsel and the feeling of brotherhood grew, the town company disposed of its 218interest in the squatter sovereign to the new england aid society, of which s. c. pomeroy was agent, and the paper then passed into the hands of robert mcbratney and franklin g. adams. mr. adams and mr. mcbratney were both free soilers, but they did not run the paper long. it was shortly sold to o. f. short, who ran it until the following february, and on the twentieth day of that month, 1858. john a. martin purchased the plant and changed the name of the paper to freedom’s champion. under that name colonel martin made of his paper one of the leading free state organs of the territory. always a brilliant editor, of courage and deep convictions, colonel martin during his whole career never performed a greater service than during the time he shouted the battle-cry of freedom through the columns of freedom’s champion, from 1858 to 1861. in september of the latter year, he laid aside his pen and took up his sword in defense of the principles he so stoutly advocated, and thus translated his words into deeds. when he went to the front he left the champion in charge of george j. stebbins, who continued in charge until the fall of 1863, when it was leased to john j. ingalls and robert h. horton. these two men afterwards became political rivals. both were lawyers and both residents of atchison for many years. horton was a typical lawyer, smooth and tactful, who enjoyed a successful career in the practice of his profession and on the bench. ingalls was of a different temperament, being more intellectual, caring little for the law, less tactful, but ambitious. they both met in the arena of politics, and horton was the vanquished. following the senatorial election of 1879, at which they were both candidates, they became bitter enemies, and did not speak until they met, by chance, in london, in 1891. while these two men were editors of the champion. ingalls did most of the writing and kept things warm until the return of colonel martin from the war in january, 1865, one of the nation’s heroes. three months after his return, on the twenty-second day of march, 1865. colonel martin became the publisher of a daily paper, and on august 11, 1868, the freedom’s champion was consolidated with the atchison free press, under the name of champion and press. the free press was a republican daily paper, and first appeared may 5, 1864, with franklin g. adams as its editor and proprietor. in april, 1865, frank a. root became a partner, and subsequently, l. r. elliott, who had been an assistant editor, became a proprietor, with mr. root retiring later, when the paper was consolidated with the champion.
the office of the champion and press was destroyed by fire may 20, 1869, but three weeks later the paper was in running order, with john a. 219martin as sole editor and proprietor, and from that date until the death of mr. martin october 2, 1889, it remained one of the most influential and prosperous papers in the state of kansas.
upon the death of mr. martin, the newspaper property was turned over to his father-in-law, w. l. challiss, as executor of mr. martin’s estate, and on the day of mr. martin’s death the name of phillip krohn appears as managing editor. krohn occupied that important place until march 29, 1890, when his name appeared for the last time as editor. dr. phillip krohn was a man of brilliant attainments, a fluent writer, and a pleasing public speaker. he was a methodist minister by profession, but, although he occupied the pulpit upon occasions, his name was seldom taken seriously in connection with religious work. from the date of governor martin’s death the paper gradually waned in influence. the paper remained the property of the estate of governor martin, and luther c. challiss was editor and manager, until october 11, 1804, when a. j. felt, an ex-lieutenant governor of kansas, became its editor and proprietor. the paper did not prosper under the management of mr. felt, and four years later a company was organized by charles m. sheldon, a promoter, and mr. sheldon became its editor may 2, 1898. mr. sheldon was an enthusiastic and aggressive individual, who had very little respect for the value of money, which he spent so lavishly that two months later, july 1, 1898, his name appeared for the last time as editor of the champion. on the twentieth of that month the paper was sold to satisfy a mortgage and the property was re-purchased by a. j. felt, who immediately transferred it to the champion linotype printing company, a partnership, composed of edward skinner, george t. housen, charles o. hovatter, james mcnamara and a. j. felt. mr. felt again resumed the editorial management of the paper, and remained in charge until january 1, 1899.
february 3, 1899, henry kuhn, who surveyed the townsite of atchison, returned to the city with his son, james g. kuhn. they made a heroic effort to restore the lost prestige of the champion, but soon became discouraged, and in the latter part of may or early in the june following, they gave up the ghost and silently disappeared. the mortgagees continued the publication of the paper, and july 31, 1899, the name of john a. reynolds appears as business manager. it had no editor until august 23, 1899, when james g. day, jr., a young lawyer, occupying a desk in the office of waggener, horton & orr, became editor and manager. mr. day ran a daily until january 9, 1900, when it was discontinued. the following march he 220published a daily for one week, “as the devil would run it,” a piece of cynicism in reply to an effort the topeka capital made a short time before, when that paper was turned over to rev. charles m. sheldon, the eminent congregational preacher, who ran that paper one week, “as jesus would run it.”
meanwhile, the champion had its ups and downs, but did not die. a daily again appeared april 22, 1901, with ewing herbert, one of the celebrated newspaper men of kansas, as its editor and owner. mr. herbert was at that time the owner of the brown county world, at hiawatha. he conceived the idea that atchison offered an attractive field for a newspaper venture, and he succeeded in interesting some local capital in his enterprise. capt. john seaton was a stockholder, among others, and jay house, the present mayor of topeka (1915) and a brilliant newspaper paragrapher, was city editor. mr. herbert spent only part of his time in atchison, and turned over the management of the champion to mr. house. it looked for a time as if mr. herbert was going to make a success of his venture, but just at the height of his prosperity he was guilty of an editorial indiscretion, which turned some powerful influences against the paper, and on august 17, 1901, mr. herbert gave up his effort as a bad job and turned the plant over to one w. a. robinson, formerly of st. louis, mo. mr. robinson was a follower of henry george, the great single taxer, and conceived it to be his duty to spread the single tax propaganda through the editorial columns of the champion. his efforts in this direction did not prove profitable, and becoming disheartened and discouraged he fled from the city shortly thereafter, a much poorer but wiser man.
the champion next fell into the hands of corman h. young, for many years a successful music merchant, of atchison, who incidentally acquired a small job printing plant, which he operated on north fifth street, and which he subsequently merged with the champion plant, having acquired that by paying off the mortgage which mr. robinson gave ewing herbert at the lime he undertook to acquire the property. mr. young ran a weekly paper for a number of years, until may, 1907, when he employed walt mason, the famous prose poet of the united states, to assume the editorial management of a daily. mr. mason many years before had been a resident of atchison, and ran the globe during the absence of mr. howe in europe. he was not so famous in 1907 as he is in 1915, but he was just as brilliant. he published the daily champion on pink paper and filled it with columns of editorial matter and humorous running comment on current affairs. mr. mason had a wonderful capacity for work and could prepare more “copy” in one 221day than all the other writers on the paper could prepare in a week. during the summer of 1907, sheffield ingalls, having returned from the legislature, where he was a member of the house of representatives, became an editorial writer on the champion. november 20, 1907, mr. young prevailed upon mr. ingalls to give up his other work and become editor of the paper. as mr. ingalls walked into the office, mr. mason walked out, never to return. mr. ingalls remained editor and manager of the champion until october 6, 1909, having been frustrated in plans he had made to acquire the property as his own. mr. young continued to run the paper until july 1, 1911, when mr. ingalls, with the assistance of j. c. killarney, succeeded in organizing a company, which purchased the paper and turned it over to eugene c. pulliam, as editor. mr. pulliam was a young man, who had served his apprenticeship on the kansas city star as a reporter. he was a good writer, but lacked experience and business judgment, and while he made a vigorous effort to run the paper, and had the benefit of strong financial connections, he did not succeed, and september 1, 1914, he turned the paper over to sheffield ingalls as trustee, and it was subsequently sold to a. s. andereck and his brother, a. p. andereck, of kankakee, ill. a few months later a company was organized, composed of the andereck brothers, o. a. simmons, vice-president of the first national bank, wilbur c. hawk and sheffield ingalls, who in 1915 are conducting the paper, and it is enjoying its most prosperous days since the death of its brilliant editor, john a. martin.
in 1877 there came to atchison a young man who subsequently became one of the famous editors of the united states, edgar watson howe. mr. howe was born in wabash county, indiana, may 3, 1854, a son of henry and elizabeth howe. when he was about three years of age his family removed to bethany, harrison county, missouri, where the father, a methodist preacher, published a newspaper of strong abolition sentiments. the younger mr. howe served an apprenticeship at the printer’s trade in his father’s office, and in 1868 started out for himself. he visited various cities, working at the case to earn money to pay his way from one place to another, and at the age of eighteen became the publisher of the weekly globe, at golden, colo. from there he went to falls city, neb., where he published a newspaper, subsequently coming to atchison, and established the daily globe. when mr. howe reached atchison, the champion, under the management of john a. martin, was the most powerful newspaper organ in the northern half of kansas, and the field here was none too promising on this account. however, mr. howe proceeded to publish a paper of an entirely 222different type than that published by mr. martin. it was a small sheet, and was devoted to “gab, gossip and paid locals,” and for over thirty years this policy was successfully maintained by mr. howe. it was unique in the journalistic world, and under the management of mr. howe it acquired a national reputation, chiefly because of the quaint, homely philosophy it contained and the unusual treatment he gave the ordinary incidents of human life. as a reporter of this class of news, mr. howe was perhaps without a peer in the country. for over thirty years he tramped the streets of atchison with note-book and pencil, and to practically every item he turned in he gave a peculiar twist, which reflected a remarkable insight of human nature. with mr. howe were associated miss frances l. garside, ralph (“doc”) tennal, miss nellie webb and j. e. rank. to each of them mr. howe was indebted for much of the success the globe attained. the death of col. john a. martin and the collapse of the champion, that followed, gave mr. howe his opportunity, and for the greater part of his active newspaper career in atchison he had the field to himself. the globe was a great financial success and in one year it has been said that mr. howe cleared close to $24,000 on his property. “doc” tennal was the first one of mr. howe’s faithful associates to break up the globe family. mr. tennal was a remarkable reporter of local news, but being ambitious and realizing the limitations by which he was surrounded, he concluded to acquire a newspaper property of his own, and in pursuance of that plan, he bought the sabetha herald in 1905, subsequently relinquishing it to become editor of the kansas city weekly star. he returned some years later to sabetha, and re-purchased the herald plant, and is now the editor of that prosperous and progressive paper (1915).
j. e. rank left the globe a few years later, and went to bartlesville, okla., where he ran a paper a short time, and then returned to atchison, and his first newspaper love.
miss garside, who was one of the most brilliant newspaper women in the country, went from the globe to the new york journal, and in 1909 mr. howe turned the globe over to his son, eugene howe, who is now (1915) its editor and principal owner. associated with him are mr. rank and miss nellie webb, together with other old globe employes.
miss webb is the society reporter, and in this capacity she has acquired a brilliant reputation among the newspaper women of kansas. the “policy” of the globe remains unchanged, and, while it may not enjoy the same prestige it had during the days of the elder howe, it is still one of the moneymaking 223newspaper plants of kansas. eugene howe is a young man of much promise. he is still young and has spent his life in newspaper work. he has carried the new responsibilities thrust upon him by his father both gracefully and tactfully, and there is every reason to predict a successful future for him.
among the early newspaper enterprises of atchison was the patriot, established by nelson abbott october 25, 1867. in september, 1868, messrs. h. clay park, b. p. waggener and mr. abbott formed a partnership, under the name of h. clay park & company, and purchased the establishment, and in october of the same year, the paper passed into the hands of c. f. and c. p. cochrane, but shortly thereafter reverted to nelson abbott, who remained in control until december, 1875. dr. h. b. horn, for many years a respected and honored citizen of atchison, was connected with the paper as bookkeeper and business manager, and performed much of the editorial work, and when mr. abbott finally relinquished control of the paper, it fell again into the hands of h. clay park, who together with f. l. vandergrift and p. h. peters, assumed control. mr. peters did not remain long in the partnership, and in 1877 he sold his interest to e. w. beall. the paper was democratic, and mr. park, who was very actively identified with the affairs of atchison in the early days, was an able editor. he left atchison twenty-five years later, to become an editorial writer on the st. joseph news and press. f. l. vandergrift is one of the famous newspaper men of kansas, and for many years was the representative in kansas of the kansas city star. he is one of the best loved and best known newspaper writers of the west, and is now (1915) editor of the earth, a publication devoted to the interests of the santa fe railroad.
one of the well known newspaper men of the west connected with the patriot was tom stivers, who was connected with the champion for eight years, and in january, 1879, became a partner with mr. park and mr. vandergrift.
the patriot was an afternoon daily paper, and always stanchly democratic in politics, and for many years was a successful journalistic enterprise. this paper continued to be published either as a weekly or a daily until about october 12, 1895. it was in a precarious condition many years before that date, and had a number of different editors, among them f. m. stambaugh and w. j. montgomery. the atchison morning star and daily patriot was built upon the wreck of the original patriot, its first issue being dated october 13, 1895, and running until february 23, 1896.
the atchison union was a democratic paper, established by gideon o. 224chase, about 1858. it had an office in a frame building at the southwest corner of fifth and commercial streets, subsequently occupied by the champion. mr. chase came from waverly. n. v., and his paper, while democratic, was for the union and against slavery. mr. chase did not remain in charge of the paper very long, and turned it over to w. h. addoms and g. i. stebbins. shortly thereafter stebbins retired, and addoms went to leavenworth, where he started a paper, turning his interest over to a. p. cochrane, who was an employe in the office. cochrane did not run the paper but a short time, when a mr. leland, francis j. marion and franklin g. adams assumed control and ran it a short time, when marion took the plant of plattsburg, mo., and junked it, and for many years what was left of the paper was piled up in the court house at that place.
the atchison church visitor was established in 1906, and was published by the pastors of the following churches: english lutheran, methodist, christian, congregational, presbyterian, baptist.
on january 14, 1911, paul tonsing became its editor and publisher. the paper is printed by mr. tonsing in the office over 500 commercial street, so long occupied as the editorial room of john a. martin, of whom mr. tonsing is a son-in-law. mr. tonsing is a lutheran minister by profession, and for a number of years after his graduation from midland college, he did pastoral work in a number of lutheran churches in nebraska and kansas. mr. tonsing is a reformer, and a man not without courage and ability. his views are looked upon as too extreme by the conservative liberal element of atchison, but all give him credit for being conscientious and honest. he is a hard-working, industrious citizen, and, while he has made inane active enemies in his reform work, he enjoys the personal satisfaction of seeing many of the reforms he has advocated come to pass. he is an avowed foe of the liquor traffic, and has perhaps done more than any other individual in the community to make his views on that question effective. in connection with the publication of the church visitor, mr. tonsing also prints and edits the western chief, a monthly publication devoted to the improved order of redmen.
e. w. howe’s monthly was started by mr. howe in march, 1911. it is published monthly and contains practically all of the present literary efforts of its editor. mr. howe has adopted the use of pink paper for this publication, which is composed of four pages. it contains no advertising matter, but has a large circulation among friends and admirers of mr. howe’s peculiar literary type. mr. howe has popularized this monthly by making 225the price so low that no subscriber can afford not to take it, and when he has reached a circulation large enough, he plans to put it on a profitable basis as an advertising medium.
the effingham new leaf was started about april 12, 1894, with m. c. klingman, editor, and his wife, mrs. ima l. klingman, as associate editor. the new leaf was the successor of the effingham times, founded in 1887, and the effingham graphic, founded in 1891, and the effingham world, founded in 1893. after the death of m. c. klingman, at the missouri baptist sanitarium, at st. louis, mo., may 5, 1899, mrs. klingman took charge as editor and publisher, and employed w. w. cahoon, associate editor. january 4, 1901, j. w. coleman became the editor and publisher, and w. w. cahoon, associate editor. in december, 1903, w. w. cahoon purchased a one-half interest and the firm became coleman & cahoon. mr. coleman re-purchased the paper october 16, 1903, and continued its publication until september 8, 1903, when mr. cahoon and c. e. sells became the editors and publishers. may 4 of the following year mr. cahoon sold his interest to w. h. sells, and august 31, 1906, c. e. and a. j. sells took charge of the paper, and in 1915 were still its publishers.
the effingham new leaf is a successful country newspaper, serving its readers faithfully and satisfactorily.
the muscotah record was founded about october 1, 1884, by f. m. bonham, who ran the paper until about 1886, when on august 18 of that year the miller brothers became its editors and publishers. they sold it to claud martin and coleman martin december 4, 1889, who subsequently sold the plan to m. c. klingman, editor of the effingham new leaf, may, 1890. mr. klingman turned the property over to fred w. badger july 18, 1890, who continued the paper until december 8, 1893, when he disposed of it to john ford. ford published the paper until november 1, 1894, when he sold it to james s. martin and guy l. stotter, the latter assuming entire control march 6, 1896. mr. stotter sold the record to j. w. campbell august 17, 1905, but assumed control of it again november 23, 1905, and remained in control until june 6, 1907, when j. a. shoemaker, who afterwards became county superintendent of atchison county, appeared as its editor and publisher. when mr. shoemaker was elected county superintendent, he turned the property over to a. w. huntis, who on february 3, 1910, sold it to p. j. cortelyon, and march 7, 1912, the property was purchased by r. m. dunlap, who is now (1915) its editor and publisher.
226the huron herald started january 7, 1892, with frank i. white as editor and publisher. on may 16, 1895, messrs. priest & priest took charge and were in control october 18, 1896, when the office was destroyed by fire. the paper was suspended for a few weeks and the next issue was dated november 6, 1896, with w. e. johnson, editor and publisher. the herald suspended publication in february, 1897, and was again resurrected by w. a. huff by the issue of april 9, 1897. mr. huff discontinued the paper in 1900, and went to brown county, where he was active in newspaper work in that county. the huron herald was revived again april 12, 1907, by j. e. smith, who published it until march 12, 1914, and march 19 of that year. j. m. delaney announced that through no fault of his, he was forced to take control of the paper, and had employed herman van. on august 19, 1915, t. a. cur became editor, and on november 11, 1915, orvil l. pancake was in charge.
the potter kansan was originally known as the potter leaf, which started november 22, 1900, by eppie l. barber and norene barber, his wife. mr. barber surrendered control of the paper september 17, 1903, turning it over to his wife, who became its publisher. shortly thereafter, charles b. remsburg, who for many years was a well known newspaper reporter in northeastern kansas, appeared as its editor and publisher, and remained in charge until may 11, 1905, when he turned it over to j. w. thompson and his wife, mrs. j. w. thompson. on august 17, 1905, the thompsons leased the paper to r. j. wilson, but in the following december mr. thompson resumed control again and placed howard c. king in charge as local editor and business manager. on march 22, 1906, w. a. remsburg became proprietor and in the following september, j. e. remsburg purchased the plant, and is now its editor.
the potter kansan is one of the best known country weekly papers in kansas and the contributions from the pen of george j. remsburg, the noted archaeologist and newspaper paragrapher and poet, are frequently quoted by the newspapers of the state.
atchison county, perhaps, has been the graveyard for as many newspapers as any other county in the state. the state historical society has reserved the record, and in many instances, the files, of newspapers, which have been born, and after a brief existence, have died in this county.
the first rival newspaper of the champion, then the squatter sovereign, was the sumner gazette, published at sumner in 1857. it survived only a short time, as also did the western spy, which lived a few months in 1860.
227in 1857 the kansas zeitung was started by kab & sussman, but was moved to leavenworth in 1859.
half a dozen papers sprung up in 1862 and 1863, among which were: the pleifer, the bulletin, the union-banner, the anti-jayhawker, the standard, and die tackle.
in 1873 the anti john a. martin crowd, headed by john m. price, started a republican daily and weekly, called the globe, with a. w. wagnhals, j. b. dutton, rev. e. cooper, t. f. smith and franklin g. adams as the principal writers. it lasted but a few months. wagnhals subsequently changed his name to wagnalls, and moved to new york city, where he became a great publisher as a member of the firm of funk & wagnalls, which published the standard dictionary and a number of other well known publications.
the following list shows the different publications received by the historical society from atchison county at the end of the year 1915:
atchison champion, daily and weekly.
atchison globe, daily and weekly.
the midland, atchison.
the abbey student, atchison.
midland college bulletin, atchison.
st. benedict’s calendar, atchison.
the western chief, atchison.
atchison church visitor.
e. w. howe’s monthly, atchison.
kansas synod lutheran, atchison.
the optimist, atchison.
effingham new leaf.
atchison county high school news, effingham.
muscotah record.
potter kansan.
huron herald.
among the numerous publications that have enjoyed a brief existence in this county, are the following:
kansas churchman, published at atchison from november, 1891, to december, 1892. rev. e. k. brooke was editor. this publication had been published at salina, kan., previously, and from atchison was removed to lawrence.
228arrington argus, started by t. w. gardner, and was suspended after the tenth number.
the american journal of education was published at atchison and st. louis, mo., by messrs. j. b. merwin and i. c. scott, in 1870.
the atchisonian, established march 24, 1877, by the atchison publishing company. this paper was a six column, eight page affair, with a patent inside. the last issue appeared may 26, 1877.
atchison daily times was started february 3, 1887, by john n. reynolds, but after the seventh issue the paper was changed to a weekly, and called the atchison weekly times, from march 19 to july 2, 1887. the next issue was dated july 11, 1887, and was again called the atchison daily times, and ran as such until august 6, 1887, when it suspended. john n. reynolds was in many ways, a unique character. he came to atchison as the organizer and manager of a live stock insurance company. he was at one time a preacher, and his career in atchison was remarkable for its violence and his disregard for both the proprieties and the ethics of the newspaper profession, he was looked upon by many as an irresponsible demagogue, and it was supposed that he ran his paper for blackmailing purposes. the story goes that during his management of the live stock insurance company, he incurred an advertising bill with one of the local papers, and failing to pay the bill, the editor of the local paper, instead of having recourse to the courts, began to heap abuse upon reynolds, and using this as a pretext, reynolds established the times, for the purpose of retaliation. as the result of this episode, reynolds became very violent in his denunciation of many men of established reputations in the community, and during the time that he published his paper there was much excitement of an undesirable character in the city. reynolds finally landed in the kansas state penitentiary, having served a term previously in the missouri state penitentiary. he wrote a book subsequently, relating largely to his treatment in these two institutions, which he entitled “the twin hells.” for a short period he edited his paper from the county jail in atchison, but in 1888 j. a. sunderland took hold of the times, and it was published up to january 31, 1891.
the sunday morning call was started by the call printing company, with frank pearce as editor and publisher, and was first issued in magazine form february 8, 1880. march 28, 1880, barton lowe & company became editors and publishers, enlarging the paper to a five column folio. january 3, 1881, luther l. higby appears as a member of the firm, but with the issue of october 9, 1881, luther l. higby became sole owner. november 6, 1881, c. f. cochrane became one of the editors, and january 18, 1882, 229chris rutt became a partner of mr. higby, and this firm sold the plant to herman j. rodman october 22, 1882, who continued it until november 18, 1883, when the name was changed to the western mercury, with e. j. van deventer and h. j. rodman as publishers, and it was continued until about 1886.
the missouri valley farmer was published by a. j. felt during the time that mr. felt was editor of the champion. the first issue of the farmer was dated january 5, 1893, and it continued until august 18, 1898, at which time it was sold to c. m. sheldon, who also became owner of the champion, and the missouri valley farmer was moved to kansas city.
the new west was a monthly journal of immigration, published by the immigrant union, that was established in atchison in august, 1878. it was issued in magazine form and contained about sixteen pages of reading matter. the earlier numbers of the publication were printed at hannibal, mo., and in 1878 h. h. allen, who was for many years a real estate operator in atchison, became the editor of this paper. mr. allen subsequently sold the property to j. g. p. hilderbrand, who later turned the property over to two men by the names of berry and henry. the last issue appeared about july, 1880.
atchison baptist was a monthly magazine, printed by the city mission publication company, of pittsburgh, pa., in the interests of the first baptist church, of atchison. it lasted about three years, and w. h. park was the local editor.
kansas agriculturist was a weekly publication, which was established july 18, 1898, and probably died about march 20, 1899.
the atchison blade was established july 16, 1892, and published by the blade publishing company, composed of dr. grant brown, natt g. langston, and will harris, three prominent negroes of atchison. it was a four page, six column paper, and was operated, after several changes in the management, until about january 20, 1894. it again resumed publication november 5, 1897, and was run until september 19, 1898, by h. lewis dorsey.
the kansas statesman, atchison, was established february 15, 1901, by g. w. myers & sons, office, 315 commercial street. this paper was absorbed by the atchison champion, after the issue of october 11, 1901.
the trades union, atchison, was founded september 5, 1885, by frank hall, r. tompkins, and james w. reilly. this paper was the official paper of the kansas state assembly of the knights of labor, office, 521 commercial street. the last issue on file is dated november 6, 1886, and the paper moved to topeka after this date.
230the atchison banner was a german paper, and c. f. ruth was editor and publisher. this was a seven column, four page paper, and was founded march 1, 1878. it was enlarged to an eight column paper the same year. it supported the republican state ticket in 1878. the paper was suspended after the issue of july 12, 1879.
the bible investigator was a monthly publication, started about july, 1881, by william kirby and a. d. stevens. it was printed by w. h. haskell & son, who for many years conducted a prosperous printing business in atchison. the editor was william kirby, and a mr. stevens was the manager, both of whom were residents of doniphan, and a notice in the paper asked that communications for either one should be addressed to that place. it was in operation about five months.
atchison’s monthly was published by w. h. haskell & son, and the managing editor was herman j. rodman. it did not last long.
sentinel of the northwest was a monthly publication, of which dr. a. h. lamphear was editor. the only issue of which there is any record was volume 1, no. 1, date january 1, 1883.
sunday morning facts was published by e. w. beal from september 2, 1883, until about february 3, 1884.
der humorist, was as the title indicates, a german publication, with l. willstaedt as its publisher. this paper, or magazine, was also short lived, lasting less than a year.
atchison sunday morning sermon, published by j. w. and j. m. tanner. first issue was june 1, 1884, and the last issue about july 27, 1884.
atchison advance, published by frank hall and dr. h. b. horn. the first issue of the paper was november 5, 1884, and the last issue was january 3, 1885.
the messachorean was started in 1887, and issued about every two months. it was devoted to the interest of midland college, and edited by the faculty. it died about june, 1888.
the atchison daily bee was one of john n. reynolds’ enterprises, which started march 25, 1889, and suspended april 4, 1889.
the tradesman was a monthly publication, devoted to the trade unionism, and was edited by robert tompkins, the veteran editor and publisher.
stebbins & talbot’s real estate record, established in 1869, by c. i. stebbins, w. r. stebbins and j. h. talbot. this was, as its name implies, a publication devoted to booming real estate in atchison county and vicinity.
kansas monthly souvenir was published by fitch rice & company from february, 1873, to sometime in june of the same year.
231gardner’s real estate bulletin was another real estate journal, published monthly, by c. v. gardner in 1873.
the short line advocate was issued by the atchison & denver railroad company in 1879.
der courier was another german publication, published at atchison and topeka, by edward f. fleischer in 1879.
the public ledger was started august 19, 1880, by w. j. granger. it supported the national greenback ticket of that year, and october 30, 1888, granger turned the paper over to e. a. davis & son, who ran it a short time. mr. granger returned to atchison eighteen years later, and became a reporter on the atchison champion, and during the interval published papers in effingham and other places. in 1915 he was the publisher and owner of the nettawaka talk.
the western farm home was a continuation of the new west monthly. its first issue was in january, 1881, with james p. henry and george h. pardee as editors and publishers. it suspended publication in october, 1881.
high school quarterly was published at effingham for the first time january, 1895, with s. j. hunter, editor, and john w. wilson, business manager. this magazine was published in the interests of the atchison high school. it was subsequently changed to the high school bulletin, after which it was issued regularly once a month during the school year. it suspended publication about september, 1902.
the oracle was another effingham publication, started december, 1901, which was conducted by guy hendrickson and the students of the atchison high school, in the interests of that institution. it suspended publication about may, 1902.
the a. c. h. s. newsletter was a monthly publication, started in february, 1901, by john w. wilson, principal of the atchison county high school. there were only three numbers of this paper, which was a monthly.
the atchison county visitor was still another effingham publication, started by w. j. granger march 10, 1905. guy c. hendrickson became business manager june 8, 1906, and the paper suspended during the year 1907.
the potter press, started april 8, 1898, with e. campbell as editor, and jewell & campbell as publishers. it lasted until september 30, 1898, when it was consolidated with the easton (leavenworth county) light. january 27, 1899, it resumed publication, with m. l. and k. lockwood as editors, and 232e. e. campbell as local editor, but again consolidated with the easton light september 1, 1899.
the atchison county recorder was started june 1, 1900, and published by the lockwood printing company, of atchison. its last issue was dated october 26, 1900.
the muscotah news was filed april 5, 1880, by nash & walkup, and lasted about three months.
the weekly journal was started by g. w. messigh in effingham september 2, 1892, who ran it until february 23, 1893, when it died.
the arrington times was started may 28, 1896, by w. a. huff. in september of the same year its name was changed to the atchison county times, and it suspended sometime in 1897.
the prairie press was started in lancaster may 12, 1888, with w. c. adkins as editor and publisher, and it was run until march 7, 1890, when it was succeeded by the huron graphic.
the huron headlight, started march 13, 1884, and died on the same date.
the huron messenger was started july 2, 1884, by j. m. warton, and also died on the same day it was born.
the weekly graphic, which succeeded to all the rights and privileges of the prairie press, of lancaster, was started by w. c. adkins april 5, 1890. mr. adkins ran this paper until march 28, 1891, at which time he sold it to j. a. sunderland, of atchison, who ran it until may 2, 1891, when mr. adkins again took control of the paper and ran it until the following fall.
the huron times was a kind of continuation of the atchison times, and volume 4, no. 1, of this paper, was dated april 4, 1891. there were but four issues of the times, after the plant was moved from atchison to huron, the last issue being dated april 25, 1891. j. a. sunderland was also editor and publisher of this paper, after he moved it from atchison to huron. the huron times was a weekly publication, by g. e. nichols, and was started february 22, 1901, and published seventeen times, when it died.
the effingham enterprise was founded about july 1, 1895, by w. h. bright. it was short lived, and little is known of its history after the date just mentioned.
the peoples’ press was a party organ, started in august, 1883, by the peoples’ press association, and suspended september 15 of the same year.
the new kansas magazine was started by dr. w. h. wynn, for many 233years a much beloved and greatly respected professor of english literature at midland college. dr. wynn conceived the idea that there was a place for a monthly magazine in atchison, to be conducted along the lines of the original kansas magazine, published in 1873, which contained some of the best literature that had ever been produced in kansas. associated with dr. wynn were dr. w. w. campbell, r. m. manley, b. p. waggener, h. m. jackson, h. h. allen, and a. j. harwi. the first issue appeared february 18, 1892, and the last issue appeared september 30, 1893.
midwest moose review was the official organ of the local lodge of the loyal order of moose, published monthly by frank l. danforth, editor. it was founded in 1912, and ran only a few months.
the atchison tribune was started in 1896, but the name of the editor and publisher are unknown.
the western chief is a monthly publication, devoted to the order of redmen, and was founded about april, 1909. paul tonsing is editor and publisher.
benedictine parish monthly, started in atchison, in march, 1907, and published by st. benedict’s college, until january, 1910.
the college review was published monthly in lawrence and atchison, by a. g. coonrod and g. t. smith, from 1891 to 1900. coonrod & smith were the owners of business colleges at atchison and lawrence.
kansas telegraph was a german paper, started by h. von langen december 23, 1880, and was published in atchison until 1881, when it was removed to topeka, where it was published for many years.
atchison journal was another german publication, started by john hoenscheidt in 1880, but was short lived.
the kansas staats-anzeiger was started in topeka in 1879, and published until 1881, when it was moved to atchison. it was also short lived.
plain facts was a weekly publication, started in atchison october 4, 1897, and published by authority of twenty-five atchison populists, who were opposed to the election of george w. glick, the so-called populist candidates for state senator. it lasted three issues.
the atchison journal was the official publication of the trades and labor council of atchison. it started early in the year 1903, by w. j. granger, and discontinued the last of november of the same year.
the atchison morning star was a daily paper, published by j. a. roulston, and started june 14, 1905, lasting until august 30, 1905.
the atchison tribune was a weekly publication, started march 27, 1896, by w. h. higgins, and suspended publication july 16, 1896.
