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Newspaper The Daily Evansville Journal (Evansville, Ind.) 1862-1863

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About The Daily Evansville Journal (Evansville, Ind.) 1862-1863

The Evansville Daily Journal was established in 1834 by William Town but did not appear as a daily until 1848, a year after Evansville officially became a city of Indiana. Town had relocated to Evansville from the East and worked as both a grammar school teacher and printer. In March 1834, he disseminated the first issue of the Evansville Journal and General Advertiser, which was a pro-Whig (later Republican) paper. Town remained the newspaper’s owner until his death in 1839.

William H. and John J. Chandler became the joint owners and editors of the paper in 1839. Under their management, the title was eventually shortened to the Evansville Journal. A year later, John left the paper and his brother William became the sole owner. William Chandler debuted the Evansville Daily Journal in 1848.

In 1848, Addison H. Sanders purchased the Journal from William Chandler. Sanders focused on improving the city department portion of the newspaper. The expansion of the paper paralleled the economic growth of Evansville during the 1850s, when its population grew to 4,700 as newcomers were attracted to jobs with railroad firms, saw mills, and factories.

In October 1856, the Journal passed to Francis Y. Carlile. By April 30, 1858, Carlile had partnered with Indiana printers Frank M. Thayer and John Henderson McNeely to form the Evansville Journal Company (later Evansville Journal-News Company). Among the improvements the new proprietors made to the newspaper office was the installation of a steam engine and power press.

Carlile left the Journal in November 1859, selling his interests to James H. McNeely. By 1860, Evansville was the third largest city in Indiana behind Indianapolis and New Albany with a population of 11,484. Under the leadership of Thayer and the McNeely brothers, the Journal advocated for the Union side during the Civil War. A former city editor at the Journal during the 1880s characterized the paper as “a power in the republican party of the state” that supported the elections of several Republican politicians including Senator Charles Warren Fairbanks and President Benjamin Harrison.

The McNeely brothers became the joint proprietors and editors of the Journal in March 1885. During the McNeelys’ management of the Evansville Journal-News Company the circulation of the Journal grew to 9,844 for 8-page dailies and 16-page Sunday issues by 1900. That was more than for the Evansville Courier, the Journal‘s pro-Democratic competitor, which had a circulation of 8,555 for the daily (10-20 pages) and the Sunday (24-36 pages) edition. By 1920, the Evansville Journal had a circulation of 15,765 for week days and 12,232 for Sunday issues. The Evansville Courier surpassed the Journal that year with a circulation of 23,893 for daily and 20,978 for Sunday issues.

In 1923, the McNeelys sold the Journal to the Evansville Courier Company. The Courier published its Sunday edition together with the Evansville Journal as the Sunday Courier and Journal beginning on June 24, 1923. The Evansville Courier Company suspended production of the Evansville Journal in November 1936.

Provided By: Indiana State Library

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Daily Evansville Journal (Evansville, Ind.) 1862-1863

Dates of Publication

  • 1862-1863

Created / Published

  • Evansville, Ind. : Evansville Journal Co., 1862-1863.

Headings

  • -  United States--Indiana--Vanderburgh--Evansville

Notes

  • -  Daily (except Sunday)
  • -  Vol. 14, no. 200 (May 21, 1862)-v. 15, no. 297 (Sept. 19, 1863).
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Evansville daily journal (Evansville, Ind. : 1863) (DLC)sn 86059181 (OCoLC)14874525

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn86059058

OCLC Number

  • 14867848

ISSN Number

  • 2381-3253

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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:

The Daily Evansville Journal Evansville, Ind. -1863. (Evansville, IN), Jan. 1 1862. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn86059058/.

APA citation style:

(1862, January 1) The Daily Evansville Journal Evansville, Ind. -1863. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn86059058/.

MLA citation style:

The Daily Evansville Journal Evansville, Ind. -1863. (Evansville, IN) 1 Jan. 1862. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn86059058/.