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Newspaper St. Charles City Republican Intelligencer (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861 Saint Charles City Republican intelligencer

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About St. Charles City Republican Intelligencer (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861

The St. Charles Republican Intelligencer was the first newspaper published in Floyd County, Iowa. Members of the community awaited the first issue, printed July 31, 1856, with such anticipation that the editors held an auction for the purchase of the first copy. They then stopped the presses to insert an announcement of the winners, local bankers Duncan Ferguson and Gustavus B. Eastman, who paid twenty dollars. The announcement continued, “At the close of the sale a large number of subscriptions were at once handed in, and the demand for extra copies exceeded anything of the kind in our newspaporial experience.”

Azro Benjamin Franklin Hildreth, publisher of the St. Charles Republican Intelligencer, had already built a successful career in the newspaper business with publications in Lowell, Massachusetts; Bradford, Vermont; and Holyoke, Massachusetts. Hildreth arrived in Charles City, Iowa, in the spring of 1856 as one of the town’s early settlers, and he soon partnered with DeRuyter DeWitt Carver to fill the new community’s need for a local newspaper. The front page of the Intelligencer often featured poetry or fiction as well as news about politics or government affairs. The remaining pages included columns on various agricultural, scientific, religious, or general interest topics, as well as ads for local businesses. The Intelligencer also featured news from across the country, with correspondents in Washington, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago. The title changed to the St. Charles City Republican Intelligencer in October 1857.

In August 1859, Carver left the paper amid financial difficulties. Hildreth’s personal resources provided him the means to sustain the business, and he bought out Carver’s share to become the sole editor and proprietor. Two years later, the title changed to the Charles City Republican Intelligencer to reflect the change in the city’s name. The title changed again in 1864 to the Charles City Intelligencer, and in 1866, it became Hildreth’s Charles City Intelligencer. Aside from journalism, Hildreth had an extensive public service career, serving on the State Board of Education, winning election to the Iowa General Assembly, and being appointed the draft commissioner for Floyd County during the Civil War.

Hildreth’s tenure at the Intelligencer came to an end in October 1870, when he sold the business to Eugene B. Dyke and the paper’s title changed back to the Charles City Intelligencer. By 1872, Dyke’s brother, Cornelius L. Dyke, joined him in the business. Cornelius served as business manager while Eugene edited the paper. The Dyke brothers continued to run the paper through 1901, with the exception of 1874-1875, which they spent in California. The Intelligencer continued under various publishers and editors for two more decades, before ceasing publication in 1920.

Provided By: State Historical Society of Iowa

About this Newspaper

Title

  • St. Charles City Republican Intelligencer (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861

Other Title

  • Saint Charles City Republican intelligencer

Dates of Publication

  • 1857-1861

Created / Published

  • St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa : Hildreth & Carver, 1857-1861.

Headings

  • -  Charles City (Iowa)--Newspapers
  • -  Iowa--Charles City
  • -  United States--Iowa--Floyd--Charles City
  • -  United States--Iowa--Floyd--Saint Charles City

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 2, no. 3 (Oct. 8, 1857)-v. 5, no. 38 (Sept. 19, 1861).
  • -  "Republican.
  • -  Publisher varies.
  • -  St. Charles City, Iowa through Sept. 5, 1851, later called Charles City, Iowa.
  • -  Also issued on microfilm from the Library of Congress Photoduplication Service.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Charles City Republican intelligencer 2577-9524 (DLC)sn 82014140 (OCoLC)8784291

Medium

  • 4 volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn82014141

OCLC Number

  • 8784337

ISSN Number

  • 2577-9494

Preceding Titles

Succeeding Titles

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Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

St. Charles City Republican Intelligencer St. Charles City Charles City, Iowa -1861. (Charles City, IA), Jan. 1 1857. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82014141/.

APA citation style:

(1857, January 1) St. Charles City Republican Intelligencer St. Charles City Charles City, Iowa -1861. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82014141/.

MLA citation style:

St. Charles City Republican Intelligencer St. Charles City Charles City, Iowa -1861. (Charles City, IA) 1 Jan. 1857. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn82014141/.