Top of page

Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities
BETA

Newspaper The Weekly Democratic Statesman (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883 Weekly statesman

About The Weekly Democratic Statesman (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883

At the Democratic State Convention in January 1871, delegates decided that Austin needed a Democratic newspaper to compete with the two Republican papers already in circulation. A committee, led by Alexander Stuart Walker, was tasked with working out details for a Democratic paper. Walker arranged for the Statesman Publishing Company to print the new paper. They found their editor in John Cardwell, a lawyer who had recently moved to Austin.

The Austin Democratic Statesman debuted on July 26, 1871 as a tri-weekly published on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The first issue stated, “This paper is established in support of the principles of Democracy as set forth in [the Democratic State Convention] platform.” In August 1871, the Statesman Publishing Company introduced a Tuesday weekly, the Weekly Democratic Statesman, which gained immediate success. Cardwell served as editor for both papers. In 1873, a subscription to the Weekly Democratic Statesman cost two dollars and fifty cents. That same year the Democratic Statesman abandoned the tri-weekly format and became a daily. The paper, four pages long and with a size of 29 x 43 inches, had a circulation of 1,800.

The Statesman printed international and national news, local news, correspondence from reporters based in Washington, D.C., and announcements of state government events. Columns were reserved for brief news telegrams from reporters stationed throughout Texas and editorials representing the paper’s Democratic principles. The paper also reported on the growth of state and city services, ethnic and racial conflicts in the Austin area, and economic strategies for local businesses. Considered a family paper, the Statesman ran articles on farming, animal husbandry, medicinal home remedies, fashion, childcare, and household management.

Col. L. J. Dupre was hired as assistant editor in 1873. Caldwell and Dupre worked together in promoting the political aims of the paper, both having reputations as outspoken Democrats. In 1883 Cardwell retired from the paper, with Dupre leaving soon after. The paper subsequently adopted a more passive political voice, which caused the Statesman’s circulation to decrease. This trend continued until 1887, when a group of local businessmen took control of the paper.

In 1883, the Weekly Democratic Statesman changed its name to the Austin Weekly Statesman, and in 1898, the name changed again to the Austin Weekly Statesman and Diversified Farmer, which ceased publication in 1906. The daily edition continued in many different formats until joining with the Austin American in 1973. As of 2012, the Austin American-Statesman remains the preeminent paper servicing Austin and Central Texas.

Provided By: University of North Texas; Denton, TX

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Weekly Democratic Statesman (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883

Other Title

  • Weekly statesman

Dates of Publication

  • 1871-1883

Created / Published

  • Austin, Tex. : Statesman Pub. Co., 1871-1883.

Headings

  • -  Austin (Tex.)--Newspapers
  • -  Texas--Austin
  • -  United States--Texas--Travis--Austin

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (Aug. 1, 1871)-v. 12, no. 42 (June 28, 1883).
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Daily edition: Democratic statesman (Austin, Tex. : 1871), 1871-187u; Daily democratic statesman (Austin, Tex. : 1873), 1873-1880; Austin daily statesman (Austin, Tex. : 1880), 1880-1883.
  • -  Austin weekly statesman 2331-6519 (DLC)sn 86088296 (OCoLC)13958767

Medium

  • 12 volumes : illustrations ; 70 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn83021327

OCLC Number

  • 10125278

ISSN Number

  • 2331-3242

Succeeding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

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.

The NEH awardee responsible for producing each digital object is presented in the Chronicling America page display, below the page image – e.g. Image produced by the Library of Congress. For more information on current NDNP awardees, see https://www.loc.gov/ndnp/listawardees.html.

For more information on Library of Congress policies and disclaimers regarding rights and reproductions, see https://www.loc.gov/homepage/legal.html

Cite This Item

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

Chicago citation style:

The Weekly Democratic Statesman Austin, Tex. -1883. (Austin, TX), Jan. 1 1871. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83021327/.

APA citation style:

(1871, January 1) The Weekly Democratic Statesman Austin, Tex. -1883. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83021327/.

MLA citation style:

The Weekly Democratic Statesman Austin, Tex. -1883. (Austin, TX) 1 Jan. 1871. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn83021327/.