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Newspaper The Weekly Register (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909

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About The Weekly Register (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909

The Point Pleasant Weekly Register premiered on March 6, 1862, in Point Pleasant, Mason County, Virginia (now West Virginia). George Ways Tippett, a printer from Maryland who had been working in Point Pleasant as a compositor since 1855, served as sole publisher and proprietor from 1862 until his death in 1902. The Register published four pages per week and played an important role in regional political discourse. The newspaper initially supported the preservation of the Union, though not the abolition of slavery. It favored the Republican Presidential ticket of Lincoln-Johnson in 1864 and advocated radical reconstruction following the Civil War.  Its editorials were often antagonistic, and on October 23, 1862, Lewis Wetzel, the newspaper’s editor, was murdered for a bold editorial criticizing the local military.  His killer, John Hall, a prominent Republican politician, was convicted of manslaughter and heavily fined.  Following brief tenures by two subsequent editors, Tippett took over that role by August 1867.

The newspaper’s viewpoint shifted, apparently with prevailing political winds, to support for the Democratic Party in 1871, the year after Democrats swept both houses of the West Virginia legislature and the governorship. Tippet contended that the Register represented a Democratic county and should serve its patrons, and that he would always oppose John Hall.  However, the newspaper’s contents suggest that Tippett had in fact lost faith in Republican rule, and he remained a loyal Democrat thereafter.  Although he held a variety of local and state political posts from the 1870s to 1890s, Tippett eventually determined he could better serve the party as editor of the Register.  His chief Republican rival was the State Gazette, published and edited by Livia Nye Simpson Poffenbarger.

The newspaper operated under constant fiscal strain during the late 19th century, but Tippett navigated financial difficulties more successfully than most of his contemporaries.  He employed a variety of strategies to keep the Register viable, such as increasing both local and national news coverage, expanding into other markets, admonishing local businesses and local Democrats that their support would be in their own best interests, distributing free papers, and offering discounts for advance payment. The Register even printed St. Patrick’s Day issues on green paper.  Like many editors in the era, Tippett compromised on moral positions to run advertisements necessary to maintain profits. For example, the Register published advertisements for alcohol and tobacco, at times juxtaposed with editorials propounding the virtues of temperance and dangers of tobacco use. The newspaper reached a degree of fiscal stability that sustained it through the 1884 Ohio River Flood that destroyed the Register’s office and much of Tippett’s personal property. Tippett’s success provided the capital to begin another Point Pleasant newspaper in 1895, the Daily Register.  Tippett’s family added to his legacy; five of his six sons became printers.

From December 11, 1889, Tippett employed his son Frank Burner Tippett as the Register’s city editor. The younger Tippett held that position until the elder Tippett’s death on May 19, 1902.  At that time, the son assumed the positions of proprietor, publisher, and editor, roles he performed until January 1909 when the Register Publishing Company purchased the newspaper, changed its name to the Point Pleasant Register, expanded to eight pages, and continued its strong Democratic viewpoint.

Provided By: West Virginia University

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Weekly Register (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909

Dates of Publication

  • 1862-1909

Created / Published

  • Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.] : George W. Tippett, 1862-

Headings

  • -  Point Pleasant (W. Va.)--Newspapers
  • -  Mason County (W. Va.)--Newspapers
  • -  West Virginia--Mason County
  • -  West Virginia--Point Pleasant
  • -  United States--West Virginia--Mason--Point Pleasant

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (Mar. 6, 1862)-
  • -  Ceased in 1909.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Point Pleasant register (Point Pleasant, W. Va. : 1909) (DLC)sn 86092106

Medium

  • volumes ; 56-63 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84026817

OCLC Number

  • 10688424

ISSN Number

  • 2372-6695

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 Weekly Register Point Pleasant, Va. W. Va. -1909. (Point Pleasant, WV), Jan. 1 1862. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84026817/.

APA citation style:

(1862, January 1) The Weekly Register Point Pleasant, Va. W. Va. -1909. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84026817/.

MLA citation style:

The Weekly Register Point Pleasant, Va. W. Va. -1909. (Point Pleasant, WV) 1 Jan. 1862. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84026817/.