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Chronicling America
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Newspaper The Bon Homme County Independent (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913 Bon Homme independent / Tabor independent

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About The Bon Homme County Independent (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913

The Bon Homme County Independent (aka The Independent) started its newspaper life October 6, 1904 in Tabor, Bon Homme County, South Dakota. W. A Glasner, the managing editor and publisher, created the six-column, eight-page, weekly paper, published every Thursday. The first issue’s front page stated, “This is the Bon Homme County Independent. It has come to stay; it speaks for itself and we leave the rest to you.”

The paper’s first print run of 1,000 copies was distributed with a notation that an annual subscription would cost $1.50. The paper was shared with surrounding communities, encouraging others to visit the fertile agricultural area with a high percentage of tillable land near the Missouri River.

Tabor’s central location in Bon Homme County was easily accessed by the Platte branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul railroads. The tracks had been set six years after the town of Tabor organized in April 1872. Most of the settlers reaching Tabor were of southern Bohemian (Czech) or Slovakian descent. The Independent referred to the Czech residents as being sturdy, honest, intellectual, and moral people. With Catholicism being the chief religion of this immigrant community, many events revolved around church-related activities. The church constructed the St Wenceslau’s Academy, a day school and boarding school that provided education and dormitory facilities to students from kindergarten through grade 12.

When The Independent originated, South Dakota had already become a state with Pierre as its temporary capital. Several other cities challenged Pierre’s location, including Huron and Mitchell. Mr. Glasner chose to support Mitchell in this cause and to rebuke Pierre’s potential as a state capital location. In November 1904, an election was held to determine the capital location. All nearby bets were for Mitchell to win by a landslide, however, Pierre remained the permanent capital. The Independent did not report the results until two weeks later with a short note on page six.

The Bon Homme County Independent was turned over to Joseph Anton Dvorak February 23, 1905. He served as the editor, publisher, and proprietor. The paper layout remained eight pages by six columns. The annual cost of $1.50 continued until January 3, 1918 when it was increased to $2.00.

At least two pages were syndicated stories and columns with patent medicine advertising. Local and surrounding business advertisements were primarily featured. These ads included services for physician/surgeon, hotel, blacksmith, contractor, plasterer/mason, general store, hardware store, implement dealer, meat market, barber/hairdresser, harness maker, photographer, real estate agent, bank, livery, drug store, furniture store, restaurant, bakery, and nursery. There were also many ads for brewing companies and saloons with at least three being featured each week.

Starting in March 1905, Dvorak began printing two pages in his native Czech language. This section was titled České Oddělení, which translates as Czech Department. These pages included around the town hospitality news (České Zprávy) as well as short articles and want ads. Occasionally, a local obituary was included. A few of the advertisements on these pages were also in Czech. Most of the same information was included in the English portion of the paper.

On February 6, 1913, the paper became known as the Tabor Independent. J. A. Dvorak continued as its editor and publisher for many more years. While the paper reported on national and international people and events, its focus was always on serving Tabor and the surrounding Bon Homme County communities.

Provided By: South Dakota State Historical Society – State Archives

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Bon Homme County Independent (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913

Other Title

  • Bon Homme independent
  • Tabor independent

Dates of Publication

  • 1904-1913

Created / Published

  • Tabor, S.D. : Independent Pub. Co., 1904-1913.

Headings

  • -  Czech American newspapers
  • -  Czech Americans--Newspapers
  • -  Czechs--South Dakota--Newspapers
  • -  Tabor (S.D.)--Newspapers
  • -  Bon Homme County (S.D.)--Newspapers
  • -  Czech-American newspapers
  • -  Czech Americans
  • -  Czechs
  • -  South Dakota
  • -  South Dakota--Bon Homme County
  • -  South Dakota--Tabor
  • -  United States--South Dakota--Bon Homme--Tabor

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (Oct. 6, 1904)-v. 9, no. 17 (Jan. 30, 1913).
  • -  Available on microfilm from: State Archives, South Dakota State Historical Society.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Chiefly in English with some Czech text.
  • -  Tabor independent 2770-3029 (DLC)sn 99062018 (OCoLC)42200866

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn99062017

OCLC Number

  • 42200738

ISSN Number

  • 2770-3002

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 Bon Homme County Independent Tabor, S.D. -1913. (Tabor, SD), Jan. 1 1904. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn99062017/.

APA citation style:

(1904, January 1) The Bon Homme County Independent Tabor, S.D. -1913. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn99062017/.

MLA citation style:

The Bon Homme County Independent Tabor, S.D. -1913. (Tabor, SD) 1 Jan. 1904. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn99062017/.