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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Green Forest Tribune (Green Forest, Ark.) 1890-1971

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About The Green Forest Tribune (Green Forest, Ark.) 1890-1971

Green Forest, in Carroll County, is in northwest Arkansas along the border with Missouri. By the 1920s, industries in the area included farming, dairy, canning, timber mills, and marble and granite works.

In 1889, Herbert Spencer Holden purchased the Arkansas Tomahawk (1888-1889) newspaper plant in Green Forest and used the equipment to establish The Green Forest Tribune in 1890. Holden published the eight-page paper on Thursdays with no stated political affiliation. In 1891, the paper changed hands to Bertie B. Eslinger and George Camp, who labeled the paper as politically independent. Later that year, Willis Caswell Russell and his son Jesse Lewis Russell took over the paper, beginning the Russell family’s long tenure at the Tribune.

The Russells continued the Tribune as a paper with an independent political stance, but they changed it to four-page issues. In 1895, Andrew Jackson Russell, brother of Jesse Russel, took over as editor for their father. Though the Tribune was listed in the newspaper directory as an independent publication, other Arkansas newspapers called the Tribune the leading Republican paper. From 1899 to 1900, Martin Butler Russell, brother of Andrew and Jesse Russell, wrote letters back to his brothers about his service in the Philippine-American War, which they published in the Tribune.

In 1905, the Russells sold the paper to Edward Clarence Cooper, who began publishing the Tribune on Saturdays with a Democratic slant. In 1907, Cooper sold the Tribune back to Jesse Russell, who returned the paper to being politically non-partisan. In 1911, Martin Russell took charge of the paper while Jesse was away temporarily. In a newspaper interview, Martin reminisced about the old newspaper days when there were prolific crimes to write about, such as stagecoach robberies, shootouts, and moonshiners coming to town with barrels of “shine.” While in charge of the paper, Martin changed the publication day to Fridays.

Jesse Russell returned to the paper and continued as editor until 1914. When he retired, the Arkansas Democrat (1878-1991) wrote that he was regarded as one of the best newspaper men in the state and the oldest Republican editor.

In 1914, the Tribune was consolidated with the Green Forest Sentinel (1914-1914), after Sentinel owner Charles C. Reed bought the Tribune. The paper continued to publish under the Tribune title, since the Sentinel was just a few months old and did not have a following like the Tribune. The next year, Reed sold the Tribune to Lee Hewitt Smith and Margaret Elizabeth “Margie” Russell Smith, sister of the Russell brothers. Margie Smith continued the family tradition of running the Tribune.

In 1919, the Smith’s sold the paper to Ertie Otis Allred, who had J.C. Pinkerton act as editor. This ended the Russell family’s reign over the Green Forest Tribune. Allred held the paper for over ten years, and sold it in 1933 to William King Wharton, who continued to publish the paper for decades.

Provided By: Arkansas State Archives

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Green Forest Tribune (Green Forest, Ark.) 1890-1971

Dates of Publication

  • 1890-1971

Created / Published

  • Green Forest, Ark. : Green Forest Tribune Co.

Headings

  • -  Green Forest (Ark.)--Newspapers
  • -  United States--Arkansas--Carroll--Green Forest

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in 1890?
  • -  -83rd year, no. 6 (Oct. 21, 1971).
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 1, no. 47 (Jan. 22, 1891).
  • -  Tribune (Green Forest, Ark. : 1971) (DLC)sn 89051299 (OCoLC)20118991

Medium

  • v.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn89051294

OCLC Number

  • 20118912

ISSN Number

  • 2833-2113

Preceding Titles

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.

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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 Green Forest Tribune Green Forest, Ark. -1971. (Green Forest, AR), Jan. 1 1890. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn89051294/.

APA citation style:

(1890, January 1) The Green Forest Tribune Green Forest, Ark. -1971. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn89051294/.

MLA citation style:

The Green Forest Tribune Green Forest, Ark. -1971. (Green Forest, AR) 1 Jan. 1890. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn89051294/.