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Newspaper Walla Walla Statesman (Walla Walla, Wash. Terr.) 1864-19??

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About Walla Walla Statesman (Walla Walla, Wash. Terr.) 1864-19??

The first newspaper in Walla Walla County was the Washington Statesman, founded in 1861 as an independent weekly. Two pairs of newspaper entrepreneurs had separately obtained presses in order to begin a newspaper in the Walla Walla region. Brothers William and R.B. Smith had purchased a used press from The Oregon Statesman. Around the same time, Nemiah Northrop and Raymond Rees bought an old press from The Oregonian. Once the partners realized the existence of the others, they decided to consolidate their efforts to publish the first issue of the Washington Statesman on November 29, 1861. In 1878, the Statesman became the Inland Empire’s first daily newspaper, although daily editions were not published continuously until 1880. The title fluctuated through the years to include: the Walla Walla Statesman, The Statesman, and finally, The Evening Statesman from 1903 to 1910. During this time, the paper was deeply involved in Democratic Party politics.

Of the original owners, R.B. Smith, Northrop, and Rees, Smith retired in January 1862 and Northrop died in 1863, leaving the newspaper to Rees and his brother, S.G. Rees. When William H. Newell became proprietor in 1865, the paper showed its Democratic beginnings by ardently supporting President Andrew Johnson. In 1878, Newell tried to make the Statesman a daily, but it was discontinued after his death later that year. Newell’s son-in-law, Frank J. Parker, took over the paper, and in 1880, daily editions were tried again, this time with lasting success. In 1900, the ownership of the paper was transferred to the Statesman Publishing Co., owned by Dr. E.E. Fall. In 1907, the Statesman was consolidated with the Walla Walla Union, with the Union as a morning paper, the Statesman remaining an evening paper, and a joint Sunday edition titled the Sunday Union-Statesman appearing as well. In 1910, The Evening Statesman was discontinued.

Percy Holland, who managed the Statesman in the early 1900s, was a volatile character, and other newspapers published columns criticizing his actions. The Seattle Daily Times reported several libel lawsuits against Holland and the Statesman in 1905 and 1906 and noted that Holland did not get along with Arthur Green, the manager of the Union, owned at the time by Republican Senator Levi Ankeny. During Holland’s tenure, the tone of the Statesman was sensationalistic. The December 14, 1906 issue reported that one Adele Evans was upset about the way another newspaper had reported on a fire at her house. The headline read: “Mrs. Adele Evans Returns to Bring Suit Against the ‘Bunc’/Woman Accused by Irresponsible Paper of Setting Fire to House in Greens Annex to Collect Insurance Declares She Will Prosecute Her Defamers.” The “irresponsible paper” was a rival to the Statesman, the Walla Walla  The Evening Bulletin.

Provided By: Washington State Library; Olympia, WA

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Walla Walla Statesman (Walla Walla, Wash. Terr.) 1864-19??

Dates of Publication

  • 1864-19??

Created / Published

  • Walla Walla, Wash. Terr. : R.R. and S.G. Rees

Headings

  • -  Walla Walla (Wash.)--Newspapers
  • -  Washington (State)--Walla Walla
  • -  United States--Washington--Walla Walla--Walla Walla

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 3, no. 38 (Sept. 2, 1864)-
  • -  Includes occasional supplements.
  • -  Also issued on microfilm from University of California; Bell & Howell, Micro Photo Div.; Washington State Library.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Weekly statesman (DLC)sn 88085427 (OCoLC)17397681

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper
  • AN2 .W38

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn86072040

OCLC Number

  • 14402111

ISSN Number

  • 2768-1742

Preceding Titles

Succeeding Titles

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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:

Walla Walla Statesman Walla Walla, Wash. Terr. -19??. (Walla Walla, WA), Jan. 1 1864. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn86072040/.

APA citation style:

(1864, January 1) Walla Walla Statesman Walla Walla, Wash. Terr. -19??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn86072040/.

MLA citation style:

Walla Walla Statesman Walla Walla, Wash. Terr. -19??. (Walla Walla, WA) 1 Jan. 1864. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn86072040/.