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Newspaper The New South (Port Royal, S.C.) 1862-1867

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About The New South (Port Royal, S.C.) 1862-1867

The Port Royal New South (1862-67) holds the distinction of being one of the first occupation newspapers published in the Confederacy during the Civil War. Unlike many of its successors, however, the New South not only outlasted the war but served as a witness to the political and social changes transforming Beaufort County, South Carolina, in its aftermath.

Union Army postmaster Joseph Henry Sears launched the New South on March 15, 1862. Recognizing the historical importance of his endeavor, he remarked, “Not often has a newspaper occupied so singular a position as that filled to-day … Issued in a military command, addressed mostly to soldiers at the seat of war, its audience is yet not purely military.” Within two weeks’ time, Sears was forced to suspend publication as a concession to the supply needs of Union Army troops under the command of General David Hunter. The New South returned on August 23, 1862, and it remained a reliable news source for the duration of the war. Newspapers as far-flung as the  Daily Evansville (Indiana) Journal,  Daily Green Mountain Freeman (Montpelier, Vermont),  and Brownville Nebraska Advertiser picked up and carried its reports on the whereabouts of military companies and ships.  By September 1863, circulation rates for the New South approached 10,000 copies.

Several of the men who worked for the New South went on to distinguished careers. In addition to serving as editor, Union Army General Adam Badeau also served on General William T. Sherman’s staff. He later published a number of historical works, including Military History of Ulysses S. Grant (1881) and Grant in Peace (1887). Badeau’s successor, Henry Jacob Winser, went on to serve as United States Consul General at the Court of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1869-81), chief of the information bureau of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, assistant editor for the New-York Commercial Advertiser, and managing editor for the Newark (New Jersey) Daily Advertiser.

The details on the final days of the New South are scarce and contradictory, due to gaps in the newspaper record. The newspaper apparently changed hands sometime in 1865, the same year it was moved from Port Royal to Beaufort. As late as August 1866, the Charleston (South Carolina) Daily News named Joseph Sears as an agent for the New South, but the few surviving issues from that period only identify Lewis Thompson, the former publisher for the Anti-Slavery Society of Philadelphia, as proprietor. Contemporary scholarly sources have since surmised that the New South ceased in 1866, but an account of a destructive fire in Beaufort appearing in the Columbia (South Carolina) Daily Phoenix on March 9, 1867, indicates the New South was still a viable concern. The latest issue known to exist is dated September 29, 1866.

Provided By: University of South Carolina; Columbia, SC

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The New South (Port Royal, S.C.) 1862-1867

Dates of Publication

  • 1862-1867

Created / Published

  • Port Royal, S.C. : Jos. H. Sears, 1862-

Headings

  • -  Port Royal (S.C.)--Newspapers
  • -  Beaufort (S.C.)--Newspapers
  • -  Beaufort County (S.C.)--Newspapers
  • -  South Carolina--Beaufort
  • -  South Carolina--Beaufort County
  • -  South Carolina--Port Royal
  • -  United States--South Carolina--Beaufort--Beaufort
  • -  United States--South Carolina--Beaufort--Port Royal

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (Mar. 15, 1862)-
  • -  Ceased in Mar. 1867. Cf. Moore, South Carolina newspapers.
  • -  Published at Beaufort, S.C., .
  • -  Publisher: L. Thompson, <1866>.
  • -  Editors: Adam Badeau, <1862>; Joseph H. Sears, <1863-1865>.
  • -  Issues for Nov. 14, 1863- called also whole no. 60-<177>.
  • -  Suspended Mar. 29-Aug. 16, 1862.
  • -  Volume and issue numbering irregular.
  • -  Available on microfilm from The University of South Carolina.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Latest issue consulted: Vol. 5, no. 48 (Sept. 29, 1866).

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn83025760

OCLC Number

  • 9776913

ISSN Number

  • 2472-906x

Additional Metadata Formats

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:

The New South Port Royal, S.C. 1862 to 1867. (Beaufort, SC), Jan. 1 1862. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83025760/.

APA citation style:

(1862, January 1) The New South Port Royal, S.C. 1862 to 1867. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83025760/.

MLA citation style:

The New South Port Royal, S.C. 1862 to 1867. (Beaufort, SC) 1 Jan. 1862. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn83025760/.