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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper Tolland County Press (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 18??-1883

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About Tolland County Press (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 18??-1883

The Stafford Springs Press proudly traced its lineage from the first paper published in Tolland County, Connecticut. In 1883, publisher James McLaughlin described its mission as serving Stafford so that it could be rated “well up in the list of great and wealthy towns of the state.” “[F]oul excrescences … will crop out in any community,” he said, “but will flourish best when there is no paper to war against them.” The compiler of the Stafford Illustrated, an 1895 sketch of the town, described McLaughlin as a person unwilling “to attract readers by lurid appeals to morbid tastes.” Instead, the Press provided a “virtually complete” compendium of and town and county news and produced editorials on all public questions written in “the spirit of justice and fairness.” It offered commentary on issues such as tariffs, the homeless, high-profile criminal cases, claims of starving textile workers, corruption scandals, Fourth of July rowdiness, and the placement of railroad lines to the advantage of certain industries and towns.

Special features included “Forty Years Ago,” a column of great value to local historians; “Legislative Notes” which covered state lawmaking; and occasional supplements devoted to local industry. In addition, a reader of the Press could expect to find social and political news from the nearby towns of Tolland and Ellington and Hampden, Massachusetts. Large advertisements from department stores in Springfield, Massachusetts, made shopping seem like a visit to a museum or art gallery.

On April 5, 1883, James McLaughlin (who was soon joined in the company by his son Lewis) ruminated on the first quarter century of the newspaper’s life. He noted that “The Press by reason of its age may well regard itself now as an established journal.” Reflecting on the origins of the newspaper, McLaughlin remarked that in 1858 he had originally worked as a “devil” in the office of the Palmer Journal in Massachusetts, and had inked the first issue of the Stafford News Letter (also based in Palmer), the title under which the sheet was first issued. In November 1866, the paper moved to Stafford, Connecticut. At that time there was no other paper printed in Tolland County, “though several had been established and died.” Soon thereafter, the Stafford News Letter was succeeded by the Tolland County Press and Stafford News Letter ; it was later renamed the Tolland County Press. In order to distinguish the newspaper from several others with “Tolland County” on the masthead, the title was changed for the April 5, 1883 issue to The Press. In 1936, The Press was succeeded by the Stafford Press. The last known issue was published on March 4, 1976.

Provided By: Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Tolland County Press (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 18??-1883

Dates of Publication

  • 18??-1883

Created / Published

  • Stafford Springs, Conn. : J. & H.C. McLaughlin, -1883.

Headings

  • -  Stafford Springs (Conn.)--Newspapers
  • -  Stafford (Conn.)--Newspapers
  • -  Tolland County (Conn.)--Newspapers
  • -  Connecticut--Stafford
  • -  Connecticut--Stafford Springs
  • -  Connecticut--Tolland County
  • -  United States--Connecticut--Tolland--Stafford Springs

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  -v. 25, no. 52 (Mar. 29, 1883).
  • -  Independent, <1868-1871>; Republican, <1871-1876>. Cf. Rowell, 1869-1875, 1877.
  • -  Editors: J. McLaughlin, H.C. McLaughlin <1868-1871>; J. McLaughlin, <1872-1876>.
  • -  Publishers: J. & H.C. McLaughlin, <1868-1871>; James McLaughlin, -March 29, 1883.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 14, no. 9 (May 4, 1871).
  • -  Press (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 2643-5039 (DLC)sn 92051501 (OCoLC)26892046

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations (chiefly advertisements) ; 62 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84022401

OCLC Number

  • 10387466

ISSN Number

  • 2643-5276

Preceding Titles

Succeeding Titles

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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://aj.sunback.homes/ndnp/listawardees.html.

For more information on Library of Congress policies and disclaimers regarding rights and reproductions, see https://aj.sunback.homes/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:

Tolland County Press Stafford Springs, Conn. 18??. (Stafford Springs, CT), 18??. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84022401/.

APA citation style:

(18??) Tolland County Press Stafford Springs, Conn. 18??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84022401/.

MLA citation style:

Tolland County Press Stafford Springs, Conn. 18??. (Stafford Springs, CT) 18??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84022401/.