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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Clarksburg Telegram (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926

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About The Clarksburg Telegram (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926

The Clarksburg [West Virginia] Telegram traced its roots back to the tumultuous days of the Civil War. The weekly Telegram was founded in Clarksburg in 1874 by Robert S. Northcott, a Unionist and Republican who had spent time in the Confederate Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. Northcott eventually turned the reins of the Telegram over to Wilbur F. Richards and Nathan Goff, Jr., a United States Senator. In 1891, a consortium of men purchased the paper from the Richards and produced a weekly iteration of the Clarksburg Telegram, with Stuart Reed serving as the initial editor.

The Clarksburg Telegram boasted a healthy circulation throughout central West Virginia. Usually eight pages in length, the paper covered a wide variety of topics, including national and international news, Republican politics and elections, labor issues, and local affairs. Local news always received extensive coverage; updates from civic organizations such as the Elks and Knights of Pythias usually graced the Telegram‘s pages, as did news from the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. Coverage of labor conflict appeared much less, likely reflecting the Telegram’s Republican leanings. Important world affairs–such as the Russo-Japanese War–occasionally found their way into the newspaper’s columns.

Local and national politics, however, dominated the Clarksburg Telegram, and the Telegram served as the local organ for the Republican Party. Stuart F. Reed, the editor of the weekly Telegram for its first eight years, was a prominent local Republican. During his time as editor, he served as in the West Virginia Senate and went on to become West Virginia’s Secretary of State and finally a member of the United States House of Representatives. The Republican views held by Stuart were reflected in the pages of the Telegram, which lambasted Democratic politicians and rejoiced in Republican victories–especially those of McKinley and Roosevelt–at the polls. In 1899, Wilbur Morrison replaced Reed as editor of the paper.

In 1902, several owners of the Clarksburg Telegram purchased the Clarksburg Daily Post and renamed the publication the Daily Telegram. The latter was published alongside the weekly Clarksburg Telegram for ten years, until 1912 when the two publications joined to form a single newspaper named the Clarksburg Telegram. The now daily Telegram enjoyed continued success and growth over the next decade, reaching a circulation of over 20,000 by 1926.

Provided By: West Virginia University

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Clarksburg Telegram (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926

Dates of Publication

  • 1874-1926

Created / Published

  • Clarksburg, W. Va. : W.F. Williams

Headings

  • -  Clarksburg (W. Va.)--Newspapers
  • -  West Virginia--Clarksburg
  • -  United States--West Virginia--Harrison--Clarksburg

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began with Oct. 21, 1874 issue. Cf. NIM, U.S., 1948-1983.
  • -  Ceased in 1926?
  • -  "Republican." Cf. Ayer, 1926.
  • -  Editor: W.F. Richards, <1875->.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Issued also in daily eds. entitled: Daily telegram; Clarksburg telegram (Clarksburg, W. Va. : Daily).
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 13, no. 46 (Aug. 28, 1875) = Whole no. 670.

Medium

  • volumes ; 56 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84037844

OCLC Number

  • 11075514

ISSN Number

  • 2473-4861

Preceding Titles

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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 Clarksburg Telegram Clarksburg, W. Va. -1926. (Clarksburg, WV), Jan. 1 1874. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84037844/.

APA citation style:

(1874, January 1) The Clarksburg Telegram Clarksburg, W. Va. -1926. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84037844/.

MLA citation style:

The Clarksburg Telegram Clarksburg, W. Va. -1926. (Clarksburg, WV) 1 Jan. 1874. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84037844/.