Top of page

Notice
Special holiday hours in effect, December 2025 through January 2026. More information.
Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Colfax Chronicle (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981

View All Front Pages

About The Colfax Chronicle (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981

In 1876, the Colfax Chronicle was established as a four-page, independent weekly, serving as the official journal of Grant Parish, Louisiana. Divided from neighboring parishes in 1869 to give Radical Republicans greater power in the state legislature, Grant Parish and its seat, Colfax, were named after Republican President Ulysses S. Grant and Vice President Schuyler Colfax. The cotton-producing parishes of north Louisiana had been devastated economically by the Civil War. In the 1870s, economic upheaval led to political tensions both within Grant Parish and with neighboring parishes, culminating in the 1873 Colfax Massacre, one of the worst instances of Reconstruction-era political and racial violence, in which at least 125 African Americans were killed.

James M. Sweeney, the Colfax Chronicle’s first editor and proprietor, advertised the paper as “An Independent Journal, devoted to Local and General News, Literature, Science, Agriculture, etc.” Political reporting covered both the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as the repercussions of the Colfax Massacre. A weekly letter from New York reported on miscellaneous political subjects, including “Boss” Tweed and New York’s Democratic machine. Considerable space was devoted to General George Armstrong Custer and the Great Sioux War of 1876-77.

Publication was suspended in January 1877 due to a paper shortage, and from February through April, the journal was issued in two pages. Sweeney appears to have been unpopular in Colfax, and in November 1877, he sold the enterprise to Howard Garrett Goodwyn (1850-1920), a native of St. Mary Parish who had previously worked on various newspapers in Louisiana and Arkansas. Goodwyn emphasized that under his management, the Colfax Chronicle would be “a new paper with an old name.” It threw its support behind the Democratic Party, and, to emphasize its change in ownership, reset its numbering system.

Goodwyn’s reporting was progressive, especially in the twentieth century. He regularly printed articles on new farming techniques, agricultural organizations such as corn clubs, the Good Roads movement, and the activities of Louisiana reformer and one-time Populist leader Hardy L. Brian. Efforts to diversify local agriculture and move away from a strictly cotton-based economy were also discussed, together with the growth of the timber industry in Grant Parish.

Upon Goodwyn’s death in 1920, his son Alfred Merrill Goodwyn (1883-1930) took over the Colfax Chronicle. It remained in the Goodwyn family until 1942. In 1981, the paper was renamed the Chronicle. It is still in publication as of 2011.

Provided By: Louisiana State University; Baton Rouge, LA

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Colfax Chronicle (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981

Dates of Publication

  • 1877-1981

Created / Published

  • Colfax, Grant Parish, La. : H.G. Goodwyn, 1877-1981.

Headings

  • -  Colfax (La.)--Newspapers
  • -  Grant Parish (La.)--Newspapers
  • -  Louisiana--Colfax
  • -  Louisiana--Grant Parish
  • -  United States--Louisiana--Grant--Colfax

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (Nov. 12, 1877)-v. 105, no. 24 (June 11, 1981).
  • -  " ... a new newspaper with an old title ..."
  • -  Issue for Nov. 9, 1877 called "Extra to the Chronicle."
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Chronicle (Colfax, La.) (DLC)sn 88064177 (OCoLC)17527541

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn88064176

OCLC Number

  • 17527527

ISSN Number

  • 2163-6370

Succeeding Titles

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.

The NEH awardee responsible for producing each digital object is presented in the Chronicling America page display, below the page image – e.g. Image produced by the Library of Congress. For more information on current NDNP awardees, see https://www.loc.gov/ndnp/listawardees.html.

For more information on Library of Congress policies and disclaimers regarding rights and reproductions, see https://www.loc.gov/homepage/legal.html

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Colfax Chronicle Colfax, Grant Parish, La. -1981. (Colfax, LA), Jan. 1 1877. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn88064176/.

APA citation style:

(1877, January 1) The Colfax Chronicle Colfax, Grant Parish, La. -1981. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn88064176/.

MLA citation style:

The Colfax Chronicle Colfax, Grant Parish, La. -1981. (Colfax, LA) 1 Jan. 1877. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn88064176/.