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Newspaper The National Republican (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870

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About The National Republican (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870

When it began publication on November 26, 1860, the National Republican was the only Republican newspaper in Washington, D.C.  Its primary goals were to support Abraham Lincoln and the Republican candidates who followed him, to educate the public about the Republican platform, and to record the proceedings of Congress.  As a result, its pages were rich with details about the goings-on in the nation’s capital as well as nationwide political news related to the party.

Also known as the Daily National Republican  the newspaper represented the Republican philosophy of its publishers, William J. Murtaugh, Louis Clephane, Martin Beull, and William Blanchard, who established it as a daily in a city with four other daily newspapers.  In its early years, considerable space was devoted to Civil War coverage.  In addition, it featured articles on President Lincoln, including numerous excerpts from his speeches and interviews. The National Republican served as a mouthpiece for the then fledging Republican Party.  Although writers and publishers denied that they were a party organ, an early prospectus of the paper stated that it was created in part to “advocate and defend the principles of the Republican Party, and endeavor to disabuse the public mind of groundless prejudices which have been engendered against it, by the false accusations of its enemies.”  The publishers notably took a strong stance against Bourbon Democrats—highly conservative members of the Democratic Party and supported the administration of embattled President Andrew Johnson.

Notable events in the paper’s history included the shooting death of Antonio M. Soteldo, a clerk on the Senate’s Committee on Railroads, and a fire that ruined the newspaper building.  On February 9, 1882, Soteldo visited the newspaper’s headquarters to complain to Clarence M. Barton, the news editor at the time, about what he perceived as negative coverage.  Gunfire was apparently exchanged, wounding Barton and killing Soteldo.  Then on July 16, 1885, a fire at the newspaper’s headquarters at Tenth and D Street, N.W., destroyed both the facilities and the printing press.  The fire also caused significant damage to facilities of the Washington Daily Post, the Washington Critic, and the Sunday Gazette   housed in the same building.  The National Republican and the Washington Daily Post temporarily took advantage of the Evening Star’s  offer to share its facilities, publishing editions even before the fire was extinguished.  Due primarily to its financial difficulties after a company under the ownership of Elias W. Fox took control of the newspaper in 1885, the National Republican ceased publication in June 1888.

At its inception, the National Republican sold for six cents per week for subscribers within the city and $3.50 per year for mail subscribers.  The paper appeared daily, excluding Sundays, until February 1888, when it began to publish a Sunday edition. Although the size of the daily edition varied throughout its history, it generally ran between four and eight pages, depending on the addition of a supplement.

Provided By: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The National Republican (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870

Dates of Publication

  • 1866-1870

Created / Published

  • Washington City [D.C.] : W.J. Murtagh & Co.

Headings

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Daily (except Sunday)
  • -  Vol. 6, no. 107 (Apr. 2, 1866)-v. 11, no. 41 (Jan. 13, 1870).
  • -  Publishers: W.J. Murtagh & Co., 1866-1867; W.J. Murtagh, 1867-1870.
  • -  Editor: S.P. Hanscom, 1866-1867.
  • -  Also issued on microfilm from the Library of Congress, Photoduplication Service.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Daily national Republican (Washington, D.C. : 1870) 2158-2858 (DLC)sn 86053572 (OCoLC)13888533

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper 7376

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn86053571

OCLC Number

  • 13880324

ISSN Number

  • 2159-3841

Preceding Titles

Succeeding 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.

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:

The National Republican Washington City D.C. 1866 to 1870. (Washington, DC), Jan. 1 1866. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn86053571/.

APA citation style:

(1866, January 1) The National Republican Washington City D.C. 1866 to 1870. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn86053571/.

MLA citation style:

The National Republican Washington City D.C. 1866 to 1870. (Washington, DC) 1 Jan. 1866. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn86053571/.