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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Lansing State Republican (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1875 State Republican / Lansing Republican

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About The Lansing State Republican (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1875

Henry Barnes, editor of the Detroit Tribune and a founding member of the Michigan Republican Party, travelled from Detroit to Lansing to found a newspaper. Barnes established the Lansing State Republican in Michigan’s capitol to answer the Democratic Michigan State Journal. The first issue of the Republican appeared on April 28, 1855.

Back in 1854, Michigan had elected its first Republican governor, and Republicans would control the governorship most of the remaining years of the 19th century. The Lansing State Republican was intimately connected to elected Republican officials, and its owners and editors frequently served in key party positions and also obtained important state contracts, most often that of state printer. In its first years, the newspaper was housed in the building that served as the office for the Republican Party.

Barnes appears to have come to Lansing simply set up the newspaper, for after only a few weeks, he returned to Detroit, selling the Republican and its printing press to Herman E. Haskell. Although he had hoped to become state printer, Haskell did not receive the appointment, and soon after he sold the paper to Rufus Hosmer and George A. Fitch. A series of at least eight combinations of owners, co-owners, and editors of the Republican followed over the next several years, sometimes with the same names coming, going, and then returning. The environment resembled that of a revolving door, which in many ways also reflected the comings and goings of various individuals who stitched together the dominant but still coalescing Republican Party.

Representing both the fluctuating personnel and the paper’s ties to the Republican Party was the career of Stephen D. Bingham, who served as editor of the Lansing State Republican on three different occasions, the longest from 1868 to 1873. Bingham also served three terms as chair of the Michigan Republican State Central Committee and was Lansing’s postmaster for a time. The frequent changes in ownership caused inconsistencies in the paper’s name. At one point, the masthead included the words “Lansing Republican” in large type, with the word “State” placed between them in smaller type and appearing underneath the state seal. Thus the paper was often called the “Lansing Republican.”

In June 1872, the Republican became the Lansing’s first daily paper. The experiment, however, was short lived, and the paper quickly resumed its weekly publication schedule. Beginning in January 1875, the Republican appeared twice, and after 1880, three times each week.

In 1886, Thorp & Godfrey purchased the Republican and successfully published it as a daily. The last edition of the Lansing State Republican appeared on January 21, 1911. Afterward, the Republican was merged with another newspaper and reappeared as the Lansing Journal Republican, later renamed the Lansing State Journal.

Provided By: Central Michigan University, Clark Historical Library

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Lansing State Republican (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1875

Other Title

  • State Republican
  • Lansing Republican

Dates of Publication

  • 1855-1875

Created / Published

  • Lansing, Mich. : Hosmer & Fitch

Headings

  • -  Lansing (Mich.)--Newspapers
  • -  Ingham County (Mich.)--Newspapers
  • -  Michigan--Ingham County
  • -  Michigan--Lansing
  • -  United States--Michigan--Ingham--Lansing

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 10 (July 3, 1855)-v. 20, no. 39 (Jan. 1, 1875) = whole no. 1027.
  • -  "State" appears above title ornament, July 31, 1855-Dec. 28, 1858 and July 20, 1864-Jan. 1, 1875.
  • -  Publishers: Hosmer & Kerr, <1857>; John A. Kerr & Co., <1866>; W.S. George & Co., <1873>-1874.
  • -  Republican. Cf. Ayer, 1874.
  • -  Editor: Cortland B. Stebbins, <1857>.
  • -  Whole number designation added: Vol. 1 [i.e. ,2], no. 1 (Apr. 29, 1856) = whole no. 53.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Daily ed.: Lansing daily Republican, July 30, 1872-Aug. 12, 1872.
  • -  Lansing semi-weekly Republican (DLC)sn 86053942 (OCoLC)14907559

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn83016318

OCLC Number

  • 9715679

ISSN Number

  • 2472-0194

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 Lansing State Republican Lansing, Mich. -1875. (Lansing, MI), Jan. 1 1855. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn83016318/.

APA citation style:

(1855, January 1) The Lansing State Republican Lansing, Mich. -1875. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn83016318/.

MLA citation style:

The Lansing State Republican Lansing, Mich. -1875. (Lansing, MI) 1 Jan. 1855. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn83016318/.