Top of page

Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper Indiana American (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861 Weekly Indiana American

View All Front Pages

About Indiana American (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861

In 1830, 19-year-old Coker F. Clarkson leased the Lawrenceburg (IN) Western Statesman.  In 1833, he sold the paper and relocated to Brookville, Indiana.  Located on the Whitewater River, 41 miles northwest of Cincinnati, Brookville was a political nexus where the fourth, fifth, and sixth governors of Indiana once lived.  Clarkson purchased the Brookville Enquirer in July 1833.  He changed the paper’s name to the Indiana American, and operated the four-page weekly as a Whig organ for the next 20 years.

Clarkson sold the American to Reverend Thomas A. Goodwin in October 1853.  While purporting to be an independent paper, “Led by No Party’s Arbitrary Sway,” Goodwin espoused views similar to that of the emerging Know Nothing Party.  Specifically, Goodwin often railed against the influence of Catholics and advocated temperance.  In addition to publishing the American,Goodwin also produced the Temperance Spontoon  in Brookville, which produced thirty-six issues beginning October 3, 1854.  At the 1854 midterm elections, Goodwin’s American endorsed the “Freeman’s Ticket,” which was composed of proto-Republicans and Know Nothings.  In the 1856 election, he approved the “People’s Ticket,” which later became the basis for the Republican Party in Indiana.

In mid-April 1857, Goodwin, citing financial reasons, suddenly left Brookville for Indianapolis, taking the Indiana American with him.  Goodwin introduced himself to his Indianapolis audience by stating his political independence, but he continued to support the causes for which he was well known:  temperance, antislavery, and anti-Catholicism.  Regarding the latter, Goodwin wrote, “We are uncompromisingly opposed to allowing aliens to dictate to Americans what they may or may not do.”

Goodwin expanded the weekly to a semiweekly in January 1861, and later that year to a daily.  In December 1862, Goodwin sold the American to Johnson H. Jordan and J. C. Burnett, and Company.  The new owners re-titled the paper the Indianapolis Daily Gazette with its first issue appearing on December 29, 1862.  Jordan purchased Burnett’s share and introduced a weekly edition in 1864 titled the Indiana Weekly State Gazette and an evening edition, the Indianapolis Daily Evening Gazette in 1866.  Jordan sold the paper later that year.  The Gazette changed hands several more times before ending publication in 1867.

Provided By: Indiana State Library

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Indiana American (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861

Other Title

  • Weekly Indiana American

Dates of Publication

  • 1833-1861

Created / Published

  • Brookville, Ind. : C.F. Clarkson, 1833-1861.

Headings

  • -  Brookville (Ind.)--Newspapers
  • -  Indianapolis (Ind.)--Newspapers
  • -  Marion County (Ind.)--Newspapers
  • -  Indiana--Marion County
  • -  Indiana--Brookville
  • -  Indiana--Indianapolis
  • -  United States--Indiana--Franklin--Brookville
  • -  United States--Indiana--Marion--Indianapolis

Genre

  • Newspapers
  • Anti-slavery newspapers

Notes

  • -  Semiweekly (twice a week), Jan. 1861-
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 29 (July 19, 1833)-
  • -  Ceased in early 1861.
  • -  Imprint varies: Published in Brookville, July 19, 1833-Apr. 10, 1857 and in Indianapolis, Apr. 17, 1857-1861.
  • -  Publisher varies: C.F. Clarkson, <1833-1853>; Thomas A. Goodwin, <1853-1858>; J.F. Bunner, <1858>-Feb. 18, 1859; Thomas A. Goodwin, Feb. 25, 1859-Nov. 1859; Jas. H. Smith, Dec. 1859-Jan. 4, 1860; J.P. Trimble, Jan. 11, 1860-1861.
  • -  "Whig," <1833>; "Abolitionist, " <1853>. Cf. Miller, J.W. Ind. newspaper bibliography.
  • -  Also issued on microfilm by Bell & Howell.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Indianapolis daily American (DLC)sn 87056532 (OCoLC)16310148

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations ; 52-66 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84023881

OCLC Number

  • 11052668

ISSN Number

  • 2372-5230

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.

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:

Indiana American Brookville, Ind. -1861. (Brookville, IN), Jan. 1 1833. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84023881/.

APA citation style:

(1833, January 1) Indiana American Brookville, Ind. -1861. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84023881/.

MLA citation style:

Indiana American Brookville, Ind. -1861. (Brookville, IN) 1 Jan. 1833. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84023881/.