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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Pearl River Banner (Monticello, Miss.) 1837-18??

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About The Pearl River Banner (Monticello, Miss.) 1837-18??

Located in southwest Mississippi, one of the earliest parts of the state settled by Europeans, Lawrence was one of the 14 counties created before statehood in 1817. Established about 1812, Monticello, its county seat, was located at the intersection of the Pearl River and St. Stephens Road, which connected Fort St. Stephens in Alabama to the territorial capital, Natchez, on the Mississippi River. Prosperous from the start, Monticello narrowly missed being named the state capital by the 1821 legislature. Cotton, and later yellow pine timber, were two major commodities produced in the region. Hiram G. Runnels, son of Monticello’s founder, was Mississippi’s ninth Governor (1833-35), followed shortly thereafter by another Monticellan, the state’s eleventh Governor Charles Lynch (1836-38).

There were several newspapers in Monticello prior to 1840, but the four-page weekly Pearl River Banner (1837-39) may have been the sole Whig publication in a strongly Democratic county. Publishers and editors Donald Cameron and George J. Cohea often struggled to distribute the paper in a timely manner; at first, there were few advertisers. In addition to supporting the Whig Party, the publishers were adherents of states’ rights, as explained in the prospectus: “. . . all powers not granted to the Federal Government, are reserved to the States or to the People . . . .” The purpose of the Banner was to provide news of interest to patrons, such as agricultural information and articles promoting “sound moral principles . . . [and] intellectual improvement.” The newspaper apparently did not last long after Cohea’s departure sometime in April 1839, for no known issues exist after April 27, 1839.

With the nation in the midst of a recession when the Pearl River Banner began operation, the banking and financial crises were topics of many editorials. International news focused on the 1837-38 rebellions in Canada and the border conflict between Mexico and the Republic of Texas. Political news included the Whig ticket for state offices, reports on Whig meetings, election results, and a regular column entitled “Doings of the Miss. Legislature.” Numerous articles and news bullets commented on the vital steamboat traffic on the Pearl River, which provided a route to New Orleans via lakes Pontchartrain and Borgne. City ordinances and Board of Police notices discussed issues like the sale of “spirituous liquors’ and the construction of a new courthouse. Entertainments publicized were balls, plays, and orations. Other content included general interest stories, poetry, witticisms, newspaper prospectuses, legal notices, and the occasional obituary and marriage announcement.

Provided By: Mississippi Department of Archives and History

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Pearl River Banner (Monticello, Miss.) 1837-18??

Dates of Publication

  • 1837-18??

Created / Published

  • Monticello, Miss. : Donald Cameron

Headings

  • -  Monticello (Miss.)--Newspapers
  • -  Mississippi--Monticello
  • -  United States--Mississippi--Lawrence--Monticello

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in 1837.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 1, no. 11 (Dec. 16, 1837).

Medium

  • v.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn87065417

OCLC Number

  • 15722628

ISSN Number

  • 2469-9217

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.

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 Pearl River Banner Monticello, Miss. -18??. (Monticello, MS), Jan. 1 1837. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn87065417/.

APA citation style:

(1837, January 1) The Pearl River Banner Monticello, Miss. -18??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn87065417/.

MLA citation style:

The Pearl River Banner Monticello, Miss. -18??. (Monticello, MS) 1 Jan. 1837. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn87065417/.