The Westmoreland Republican was a newspaper published in Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1865.[1][2]
| Owner(s) | John M. Snowden (1799-1808) W. S. Graham (1808-1818) Frederick A. Wise (1818-1830) Joseph Russell (1830-1845) David K. Marchant (1845-1861) Andrew Graham (1861) James F. Campbell & Company (1861-1863) William A. Stokes (1863-1864) W. W. Keenan (1864-1865) |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | John M. Snowden |
| Editor | William McCorkle (first) |
| Founded | 1799 |
| Political alignment | Democratic-Republican Democratic |
| Language | English |
| Ceased publication | 1865 |
| City | Greensburg, Pennsylvania |
| Country | United States |
| OCLC number | 2269504 |
History
editThe Register
editThe newspaper started life in 1799 as The Farmer’s Register, founded by John M. Snowden with William McCorkle as editor. Snowden, a native of Philadelphia struggled with his business ventures and sold the paper to W. S. Graham in 1808 who renamed the paper to The Greensburg and Indiana Register and later the The Westmoreland and Indiana Register and lastly to just The Register in 1812 to save cost on printing the masthead.[3] In 1811 newspaper cost $2.25 for a yearly subscription, and contained columns reporting on news in Europe, Congress, and occasionally printed addresses from the President, such as Thomas Jefferson's address to Alexander Hamilton's death.[3] However, the newspaper struggled to stay afloat, and began selling space to rags to cover costs, allowing almost anyone to write in the paper under a pseudonym for a fee, including then congressmen William Findley.[3]
Democratic-Republican takeover
editIn 1811 the Federalists established a newspaper in Greensburg named the Greensburg Gazette which spurred local Democratic Republicans, led by Frederick A. Wise, to purchase the fledgling Register in 1818 renaming it to the The Westmoreland Republican and Greensburg Register.[4][5][6] Wise treated The Republican as a totally new paper distinct from The Register, printing a volume 1, issue 1, on Saturday, April 25, 1818.[6] In 1825 the newspaper purchased its local rival, the Farmers' Chronicle and became The Westmoreland Republican and Farmers' Chronicle.[7][6] The Wise family would be prominent local supporters of Andrew Jackson and the nascent Democratic Party, with Jacob M. Wise serving in the Pennsylvania State Senate, and John A. Wise in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.[8] The Wise family were part of the committee that first nominated Jackson for president on December 23, 1823, in front of Greensburg courthouse alongside David Marchand and James Clarke.[8] In 1830 Wise sold the paper to one Joseph Russell in partnership with a local printer David K. Marchant, who bought Russell's shares in 1844, and then sold the paper to Andrew Graham in 1861 who quickly sold the paper to the James F. Campbell & Company who renamed the paper to just The Westmoreland Republican before selling the paper to local lawyer William A. Stokes in 1863.[3][6] Stokes had been a longtime contributor to the newspaper, and sold it to W. W. Keenan, the owner of the rival Greensburg Democrat, in 1864, with the two paper merging and being renamed to the The Republican and Democrat in 1865.[3] In 1874 the paper was renamed to The Westmoreland Democrat and would remain in publication until closing in 1945.[9]
References
edit- ^ "Newspapers by County". State Library of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
- ^ "Title: Westmoreland Republican". University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "History of Westmoreland County Volume 1 Chapter 25". pa-roots.com. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
- ^ Hewett, Daniel. "DANIEL HEWETT'S LIST OF NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1828" (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
- ^ "The Westmoreland Republican (Greensburgh [Greensburg], Pa.) 1818-1825". Library of Congress. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
- ^ a b c d "History of Greensburg (Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania) and Greensburg schools". Internet Archive. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
- ^ "The Westmoreland Republican and Farmers' Chronicle (Greensburgh [Greensburg], Pa.) 1825-1864". Library of Congress. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
- ^ a b Phillips, Kim T. "The Pennsylvania Origins of the Jackson Movement". JSTOR. Political Science Quarterly. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
- ^ "The Westmoreland Democrat (Greensburg, Pa.) 1876-1945". Library of Congress. Retrieved 11 November 2024.