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Newspaper Wheeling Times and Advertiser (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1839-1849 Daily Wheeling times

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About Wheeling Times and Advertiser (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1839-1849

The Wheeling Times & Advertiser was the product of James Edwin Wharton. Born Jonathan Whitcomb, Jr., he learned the printing trade in the offices of the Fitchburg Gazette in Massachusetts. Yet political differences led to a bitter fallout with his father and a name change to James Wharton. Around 1835, Whitcomb-turned-Wharton moved to Wheeling, Virginia, and soon became co-editor of the Wheeling Tri-Weekly Times and Advertiser alongside E. W. Newton. Wharton also oversaw the publication of a weekly iteration of the paper known as the Western Virginia Times. When Newton left the printing business, Wharton became the sole proprietor and editor for both the weekly Western Virginia Times and the tri-weekly Wheeling Times and Advertiser (dropping the tri-weekly from the title).

Headquartered on Union Street, the first floor of the Advertiser‘s offices constituted a reading room, stocked with books and a variety of magazines and newspapers which readers could peruse for a small fee. A strong supporter of education and literacy, Wharton’s reading room proved popular in a town without a library. It was undoubtedly also a clever way to attract new subscribers.

Those interested in the Advertiser could subscribe for five dollars annually. The four-page Advertiser offered Wheeling’s residents a variety of news. Local affairs, such as city elections, temperance meetings, business advertisements, the arrival of merchant goods, stagecoach and mail schedules, and more lined the paper’s pages. The Advertiser likewise attended to regional and national news, including coverage of the Mexican-American War. Although initially published tri-weekly, beginning in 1843 the Advertiser was published daily except Sundays (the Western Virginia Times ceased publication around the time the Advertiser went daily).

Though a former Democrat, Wharton turned to the rising Whig Party in the 1840s, and the Advertiser reflected its proprietor’s politics. The paper echoed the Whig platform: decrying the growing influence of the executive branch, opposing wars of conquest (like that in Mexico), supporting infrastructure improvements across the US, and demanding economic protection against European competitors. The paper faithfully supported the candidacies of Whig presidential hopefuls including William Harrison, Henry Clay, and Zachary Taylor. Its Whiggish outlook led to feuds with local competitors the Wheeling Gazette and Wheeling Argus.

In 1848, James Wharton ceased publication of the Wheeling Times & Advertiser. Yet he quickly resumed editorial duties of The Wheeling Times and Gazette alongside Enos R. Bartleson from 1850 to 1853. During this time, Wharton embraced the emerging Republican Party. Just prior to the Civil War, Wharton moved to Wood County, where he edited numerous local papers over the next decade including The Parkersburg Gazette, Parkersburg Daily Times, and the short-lived The West Virginia Journal.

In the Reconstruction era, Wharton at times found himself at odds with the Radical Republican faction in West Virginia, particularly over registration boards to determine citizens’ loyalty and eligibility to vote. In 1871, Wharton moved to Mansfield, Ohio, then eventually to Portsmouth, Ohio, where he established the town’s first library. He remained attuned to Wheeling affairs and politics until his death in 1881.

Provided By: West Virginia University

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Wheeling Times and Advertiser (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1839-1849

Other Title

  • Daily Wheeling times

Dates of Publication

  • 1839-1849

Created / Published

  • Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.] : James E. Wharton, 1839-1849.

Headings

  • -  Wheeling (W. Va.)--Newspapers
  • -  West Virginia--Wheeling
  • -  United States--West Virginia--Ohio--Wheeling

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Daily, 1842-1849
  • -  Vol. 6, no. 51 (Apr. 27, 1839)-v. 16, no. 21 (Jan. 27, 1849).
  • -  Editor: James E. Thorpe, <1839-1843>.
  • -  Available on microfilm from Bell & Howell.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Issued also in weekly editions: Western Virginia times, and: Wheeling gazette (Wheeling, Va. : 1846).
  • -  Daily Wheeling gazette (DLC)sn 86092492 (OCoLC)13474839

Medium

  • 11 volumes ; 54-62 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84038585

OCLC Number

  • 11348952

ISSN Number

  • 2768-4377

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:

Wheeling Times and Advertiser Wheeling, Va. W. Va. -1849. (Wheeling, WV), Jan. 1 1839. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84038585/.

APA citation style:

(1839, January 1) Wheeling Times and Advertiser Wheeling, Va. W. Va. -1849. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84038585/.

MLA citation style:

Wheeling Times and Advertiser Wheeling, Va. W. Va. -1849. (Wheeling, WV) 1 Jan. 1839. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn84038585/.