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Chronicling America
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Newspaper Meigs County Times (Pomeroy, Ohio) 1843-1848

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About Meigs County Times (Pomeroy, Ohio) 1843-1848

On November 1, 1843, the Meigs County Times published its first issue, making it the first newspaper in this southeastern Ohio county. It was established by Zaccheus Beatty at the county seat, Pomeroy, to support the interests of the Whig Party. Orlando B. Chapman and Robert T. Van Horn soon joined the paper. Chapman was known for writing editorials that reflected his strong convictions. His wit and sarcasm “inflicted upon his opponents wounds not easily healed” [Hardesty’s Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia (1883)]. After leaving the Telegraph, he went on to publish a number of other papers in Ohio, including the short-lived Civil-War era Columbus Union League. 

Throughout its existence, the Telegraph suffered from a lack of financial support and experienced a number of changes in both editorship and ownership but was still considered influential. In 1848, the paper’s name was changed to the Meigs County Telegraph. It bore the motto “One Country—One Constitution—One Destiny.” Following the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the dissolution of the Whig Party in 1854, the Telegraph began to support Republican interests. It was particularly committed to the abolition of slavery, stating in its March 21, 1854 issue that “the Congress of the United States, by the passage of the Nebraska bill, would commit ‘a great outrage upon the rights of others’ and ‘disgrace the country.’” Alfred Thomson, who had purchased the paper from Van Horn in 1852, changed the motto in 1856 to “Independent in all things—Neutral in nothing.” The Telegraph was “Devoted to Politics, Literature, Agriculture, Commerce, Markets and General Intelligence,” printing items of state and local political news, poetry, letters to the editor, and advertisements.

Tobias S. Plants became editor of the Telegraph in 1858 “with diffidence, having had no experience in journalism.” Under his leadership, the paper continued its commitment to Republican Party principles and its name was changed to the Pomeroy Weekly Telegraph in 1860. A few years later, in 1867, Chapman returned to Pomeroy and the paper, once again published as the Meigs County Telegraph, only to leave in 1874 to serve as a representative to the Ohio State Legislature. His successor was Elmer S. Trussell whose efforts increased the paper’s popularity. Subscriptions more than doubled, and the Telegraph became one of the top ranking weekly country papers in the state, alongside two other southeastern Ohio papers, the Marietta Register and the Ironton Register.

In 1894, the Union Printing Company was formed when the Telegraph merged with the Racine Tribune to form the Tribune-Telegraph. The paper merged with the Middleport Republican in 1918, consolidating the number of newspapers that served the residents of Meigs County. From 1927 to 1941, it was also published as the Daily Tribune. The paper ceased publication in 1943. 

Provided By: Ohio History Connection, Columbus, OH

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Meigs County Times (Pomeroy, Ohio) 1843-1848

Names

  • Beatty, Z.
  • Chapman, O. B.

Dates of Publication

  • 1843-1848

Created / Published

  • Pomeroy, Ohio : Z. Beatty

Headings

  • -  Pomeroy (Ohio)--Newspapers
  • -  Ohio--Pomeroy
  • -  United States--Ohio--Meigs--Pomeroy

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began with Nov. 1, 1843 issue; ceased in Nov 1848? Cf. Gutgesell, S. Guide to Ohio newspapers, 1974.
  • -  Published on Wednesday.
  • -  Publishers: Z. Beatty, 1843-<1844>; O.B. Chapman, <1848>.
  • -  "Whig." Cf. Gutgesell, S. Guide to Ohio newspapers, 1974.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 1, no. 3 (Nov. 15, 1843).

Medium

  • volumes ; 56 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn85038189

OCLC Number

  • 11890479

ISSN Number

  • 2373-2261

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:

Meigs County Times Pomeroy, Ohio -1848. (Pomeroy, OH), Jan. 1 1843. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85038189/.

APA citation style:

(1843, January 1) Meigs County Times Pomeroy, Ohio -1848. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85038189/.

MLA citation style:

Meigs County Times Pomeroy, Ohio -1848. (Pomeroy, OH) 1 Jan. 1843. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn85038189/.