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Chronicling America
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Newspaper Connecticut Western News (Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn.) 1871-1970 Connecticut news / Issues for Jan. 3-17,1873 published as: Connecticut news

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About Connecticut Western News (Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn.) 1871-1970

All accounts of the birth of the Connecticut Western News note that its printing press arrived in the small Litchfield County town of Salisbury on the very same day, “and almost the same hour,” that a locomotive of the Connecticut Western Railroad inched forward into the village on just-laid track. Editor and owner Joseph L. Pease wrote in the first issue of July 14, 1871: “Thus, the two engines of civilization keep pace with each other.” The arrival of the railroad and the press were both expected to dramatically increase the economic well-being of the state’s northwest corner. A “salutatory” in issue No. 1 explained that those who had invested in the publishing enterprise were motivated by the “almost entire absence of a practical means of advertising through this region” and a reliance on posters and circulars. The earliest commercial pages of the Western News were filled with notices of goods and services aimed at persons employed by the native iron industry, in rail car wheel manufacturing, or farming. Newspaper readers could find here purveyors of clothing, groceries, banks, watches, organs, sewing machines, and lumber, as well as carpentry, tailoring, and baking. Other ads tried to entice Connecticut farmers and mechanics to try their hand in the West. Striving first and foremost to satisfy its advertisers, the Western News promised to “stand aloof” from all political parties and to appear at all times as a “respectable family newspaper.”

Potential advertisers were attracted by the claims that the Western News “contain[ed] more local news than any other paper in a radius of a hundred miles” and enjoyed a circulation “more than fifty percent larger than the average of country journals . .” In fact, the Western News‘s circulation hovered just above 1000 subscribers. Correspondents sent in regular stories, often clever or humorous, from nearby population centers such as Cornwall Bridge, Huntsville, Sharon, Ore Hill, Cornwall, West Cornwall, Lakeville, Kent, Falls Village, Amesville, Sheffield, New Milford, Collinsville, Millerton, Lime Rock, Ellsworth, and Norfolk. The reporters told of new construction, social affairs, deaths, business events, accidents, weather anomalies, church doings, and, occasionally, the appearance of a spiritualist, a dramatic performance, mysterious natural phenomena, or the awarding of a ribbon for a prize bull or horse.

In 1876, the newspaper’s print shop was moved to the nearby village of Canaan, and was from then on published there or in North Canaan. At the death of Editor Pease in 1878, his estate was administered by Judge Alberto T. Roraback, a noted Republican Party leader. Roraback formed a publishing company for the Western News headed by Jacob B. Hardenbergh. The latter sold the paper in 1883 to Samuel C. Beckley, who, in turn, founded the Canaan Publishing Company. Numerous important local figures served as editor or business manager for the Western News. These included Harry M. Doty, Charles H. Pease, John Rodemeyer, A. W. Krouse, and G. Willis Parsons. Legendary Connecticut Republican Party boss John Henry Roraback served as company president in 1921. A 50th anniversary history of the newspaper appeared in the June 30, 1921 issue. The Connecticut Western News continued to publish until September 24, 1970, when it was succeed first by the Connecticut Western (1970-73) and then by the North Canaan Western (1973-79).

Provided By: Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Connecticut Western News (Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn.) 1871-1970

Other Title

  • Connecticut news
  • Issues for Jan. 3-17,1873 published as: Connecticut news

Dates of Publication

  • 1871-1970

Created / Published

  • Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn. : J.L. Pease, 1871-1970.

Headings

  • -  Salisbury (Conn.)--Newspapers
  • -  Canaan (Conn.)--Newspapers
  • -  North Canaan (Conn.)--Newspapers
  • -  Litchfield County (Conn.)--Newspapers
  • -  Berkshire County (Mass.)--Newspapers
  • -  Connecticut--Canaan
  • -  Connecticut--Litchfield County
  • -  Connecticut--North Canaan
  • -  Connecticut--Salisbury
  • -  Massachusetts--Berkshire County
  • -  United States--Connecticut--Litchfield--North Canaan
  • -  United States--Connecticut--Litchfield--Salisbury
  • -  United States--Connecticut--Litchfield--Canaan

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (July 14, 1871)-v. 99, no. 15 (Sept. 24, 1970).
  • -  Published in Canaan, CT, , and, -June 22, 1922, and in North Canaan, CT, , and, June 29, 1922-1970.
  • -  Publisher: The Canaan Printing Co., .
  • -  "Vestigia nulla retrorsum."
  • -  Also issued on microfilm from Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Connecticut western (DLC)sn 93053897 (OCoLC)27846033

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84027718

OCLC Number

  • 11479209

ISSN Number

  • 2642-7362

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:

Connecticut Western News Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn. -1970. (North Canaan, CT), Jan. 1 1871. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84027718/.

APA citation style:

(1871, January 1) Connecticut Western News Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn. -1970. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84027718/.

MLA citation style:

Connecticut Western News Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn. -1970. (North Canaan, CT) 1 Jan. 1871. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84027718/.