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Chronicling America
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Newspaper Tucker Democrat (Parsons, W. Va.) 1906-1936

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About Tucker Democrat (Parsons, W. Va.) 1906-1936

The original iteration of the Tucker Democrat began publication in St. George, the then-county seat of Tucker County, West Virginia, in August of 1880. Over the course of nearly 75 years, the Democrat changed hands and names many times, even temporarily ceasing publication on more than one occasion. However, Homer Floyd Fansler’s 1962 History of Tucker County, West Virginia indicates that across that entire span, despite those transformations, it was understood that the paper remained a continuous entity. This is all the more impressive given the extent to which other newspapers that mentioned the Democrat referred to it by a name or names inconsistent with whatever name was appearing on its own title page at the time. Over its first decade, the Democrat‘s slogan was “The Love of Country Guides,” and its page count held steady at four, as did its weekly, Friday release schedule. Its price increased from $1 per year in 1883 to $1.50 by 1890, with subscribers outside of Tucker County paying an extra 15 cents.

Records are spotty and inconsistent in terms of the Democrat‘s editors and publishers over the years. Lloyd Hansford and Lorenzo S. Anvil appear to be among its first, circa 1880-1881, followed by William M. Cayton until 1886, when J.P. Scott took over. Scott lasted for about 3 years, selling the Democrat to D.W. Ryan in July 1889 according to the Spirit of Jefferson, which, in an example of the aforementioned phenomenon, called the paper the St. George Democrat. To characterize these men briefly, the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer reported in March 1888 that Scott and Ryan were President and Secretary pro tem, respectively, of the Tucker County Auxiliary of the West Virginia State Immigration Society, an organization devoted to getting people to move to the state; Hansford and Anvil were also members. Throughout the 1880s, Scott, among others associated with the paper, traveled as delegates to the Democratic Party’s national conventions.

By September of 1892, the paper had undergone a name change, becoming the Tucker County Democrat under the editorship of John S. Lawrence. Its price dropped back down to $1.00 per year, and for several months, it adopted a dual numbering system, presenting volume and issue numbers under both an “Old Series” (O.S.) and “New Series” (N.S.) rubric. The “O.S.” retained the paper’s original 1880 numbering, while the “N.S.” restarted at Volume 1, Issue 1. By November 18, 1892, or Vol I No 17 of the “N.S.”, “O.S.” was dropped from the title page, though the paper, still four pages, continued to be published weekly on Fridays.

 According to the Shepherdstown Register, in March of 1893 A.L. Lipscomb purchased the paper. By then it was either already published in Parsons or Lipscomb bought it with the intention of moving it there. This was several months before Parsons secured its position as Tucker County’s new seat, a several-year process that historians have dubbed the “Tucker County War.” Regardless, the paper once more became the Tucker Democrat and would remain so until 1900. From 1900 until 1906, the Democrat existed as the non-extant Tucker County Herald after having been purchased by J. Ed. Kildow, who subsequently retired from the publishing business later that year according to the West Virginia Argus.

George A. Dean was the paper’s editor by April 1906. The Argus claimed that at the time the Democrat was called the Tucker County (or Parsons) Clipper. The period between 1907 and 1918 was one of the paper’s most stable, with John T. Reger at the reins all 11 years, reverting the paper’s name back to the Tucker Democrat yet again. Merging with the Davis News in 1936, the paper was titled the Tucker Democrat and Davis News until 1943. In its final stretch as the Tucker Democrat, it persisted through the end of 1954, when it was finally absorbed by the Parsons Advocate.

Provided By: West Virginia University

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Tucker Democrat (Parsons, W. Va.) 1906-1936

Dates of Publication

  • 1906-1936

Created / Published

  • Parsons, W. Va. : John T. Reger, -1936.

Headings

  • -  Parsons (W. Va.)--Newspapers
  • -  Tucker County (W. Va.)--Newspapers
  • -  United States--West Virginia--Tucker--Parsons

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in 1906? Cf. W. Va. State Gazetteers.
  • -  -v. 55, no. 32 (Apr. 2, 1936).
  • -  Publishers: George A. Dean, 1906-1908; John T. Reger, 1908-?
  • -  Preceded by: Tucker County herald (non-extant), which was previously: Tucker democrat (Parson, W. Va. : 1894).
  • -  Merged with Davis News to form Tucker Democrat and the Davis news.
  • -  Vol. 30, no. 43 (Nov. 10, 1910).
  • -  Vol. 44, no. 11 (Nov. 18, 1926) (Surrogate).
  • -  Davis news (DLC)sn 86092342 (OCoLC)13241282
  • -  Tucker democrat and the Davis news (DLC)sn 86092320 (OCoLC)13261394

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • ISSN RECORD

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn86092319

OCLC Number

  • 13261349

ISSN Number

  • 3067-1116

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:

Tucker Democrat Parsons, W. Va. -1936. (Parsons, WV), Jan. 1 1906. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn86092319/.

APA citation style:

(1906, January 1) Tucker Democrat Parsons, W. Va. -1936. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn86092319/.

MLA citation style:

Tucker Democrat Parsons, W. Va. -1936. (Parsons, WV) 1 Jan. 1906. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn86092319/.