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Newspaper Democratic Northwest (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894

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About Democratic Northwest (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894

On September 8, 1852, the inaugural issue of the North-West  was published by Alpheas M. Hollabaugh in Napoleon, Ohio, the seat of Henry County.  It was the first persistent newspaper in the county and supported Democratic interests and candidates.  During its first years, the paper was small, printed few advertisements, and had a low circulation.  After John M. Haag became publisher and editor in 1864, however, the Northwest started to become more influential.  After Haag left the paper, then known as the Weekly Northwest, in 1869, E.W. Trift published it for about a month then sold it to Thomas Coughlin and William H. Hubbard.  They changed the name to the Democratic Northwest and enlarged the paper twice during their tenure.  Soon after Hubbard died in 1872, Coughlin sold the paper to Luther L. Orwig, who published and edited it for the next several decades.

Despite multiple changes in ownership and meek beginnings, the Northwest was considered “one of the leading country journals in the State, and an accredited mouthpiece of its party.”  It provided direction for Democratic Party policies in northwest Ohio, printing political editorials and articles.  The paper published a variety of other content as well, giving it mass appeal.  Among some of the items that readers could find were local, state, and national news; business advertisements; birth, death, probate court, and market notices; social announcements organized by town name; sermons; poetry; and serialized fiction.

The Northwest also boasted one of the best-equipped printing offices in the state.  Two fires that destroyed the newspaper office, one in 1859 and one in 1869, allowed for improvements to be made in the newly built offices and the introduction of printing technologies that led to increased efficiency and improved quality.  After the first fire, Haag incorporated the use of the first small “Alligator” press and, later, a full-size “Gordon” press.  The old Smith press was melted down and cast into a cannon that was used at campaign and Fourth of July events until 1872 when it exploded at a political meeting.  Coughlin and Hubbard purchased a Potter cylinder after the second fire, and Orwig later added steam power and stereotyping.

In 1894, the Northwest changed its name to the Democratic Northwest and Henry County News, the result of Orwig’s purchase of the Henry County News.  This name stayed in place for the next ten years until 1905, when it was simplified to the Napoleon Northwest-News.  In 1959, the paper dropped “Napoleon” from the title to become the Northwest News.  The next year, it merged with its long-running Republican competitor, the Henry County Signal to form the Northwest-Signal, which still serves the citizens of Napoleon and Henry County today.

Provided By: Ohio History Connection, Columbus, OH

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Democratic Northwest (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894

Dates of Publication

  • 1869-1894

Created / Published

  • Napoleon, Ohio : Coughlin & Hubbard, 1869-1894.

Headings

  • -  Napoleon (Ohio)--Newspapers
  • -  Henry County (Ohio)--Newspapers
  • -  Ohio--Henry County
  • -  Ohio--Napoleon
  • -  United States--Ohio--Henry--Napoleon

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 17, no. 12 (May 8, 1869)-v. 41, no. 48 (Jan. 11, 1894).
  • -  Editor: William Hubbard, <1869>.
  • -  Publishers: Coughlin & Hubbard, 1869-1872; T. & M. Coughlin, 1872; L.L. Orwig & Co., 1872-1873; Orwig & Wisler, 1873-1875; L.L. Orwig, 1875-1894.
  • -  "Democratic, <1873>."
  • -  "Official paper of Henry County," <1873>.
  • -  Available on microfilm from The Microfilm Corp.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 17, no. 12 (May 8, 1869).
  • -  Latest issue consulted: Vol. 18, no. 30 (Sept. 15, 1870).
  • -  Democratic Northwest and Henry County news 2376-0435 (DLC)sn 84028297 (OCoLC)10921403

Medium

  • 25 volumes : illustrations ; 53-56 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper
  • AN

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84028296

OCLC Number

  • 10920206

ISSN Number

  • 2376-1288

Preceding Titles

Succeeding Titles

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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:

Democratic Northwest Napoleon, Ohio -1894. (Napoleon, OH), Jan. 1 1869. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84028296/.

APA citation style:

(1869, January 1) Democratic Northwest Napoleon, Ohio -1894. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84028296/.

MLA citation style:

Democratic Northwest Napoleon, Ohio -1894. (Napoleon, OH) 1 Jan. 1869. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn84028296/.