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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Southern Journal (Monticello, Miss.) 184?-18??

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About The Southern Journal (Monticello, Miss.) 184?-18??

Located in the hilly, yellow pine woods of south-central Mississippi, Lawrence County was established in 1814 when the region was still part of the Mississippi Territory. Cotton, and later yellow pine timber, were major commodities produced in the area. The county seat, Monticello,became a prosperous steamboat stop on the Pearl River. Prominent town resident, Charles Lynch, served a full term as the state’s eleventh governor (1836-38).

The first edition of the Southern Journal was published in 1841 in Monticello. By 1845, the newspaper was co-edited by George Cohea and Charles Gouveneaux. Cohea had been co-editor of The Pearl River Banner, (1837-39), a Whig paper; however, The Southern Journal unequivocally supported the Democratic Party. Perhaps in response to the United States’ tensions with Mexico, a motto appeared in March 1846, “Unswayed by Power, we Battle in our Country’s Cause.” Lawyer Squire W. Dale served as the Journal‘s editor in the 1860s; it is during his tenure that the Journal became the “Official Paper of Lawrence County.” Dale later served as editor of the Monticello Advocate (1872-182?), until his death in April 1882 when a tornado, which devastated much of the town, killed him. No known issues of the Southern Journal exist after April 1866.

Four pages long and printed weekly, each issue usually contained general intelligence articles, editorials, moral lessons, poetry, letters, announcements, advertisements, and current news. The Journal published legal notices including one that ran for several weeks in Fall 1845, for the sale of land belonging to recently deceased Harmon Runnels. Runnels was one of Monticello’s founders and father of Mississippi’s ninth governor, Hiram G. Runnels (1833-35). An example of local news, Monticello’s town ordinance appeared in the May 9, 1846 issue which included rule 20, “…that if any person or persons shall, within the Corporation, ride a horse or mule faster than an ordinary gallop, [they] shall be liable to a fine of one dollar ….” Reports on improvements to navigation on the Pearl River was another topic of local concern covered in the paper. On a national level, the Journal was full of news about the admission of Texas into the Union and the ensuing Mexican-American War (1846-48).

Provided By: Mississippi Department of Archives and History

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Southern Journal (Monticello, Miss.) 184?-18??

Dates of Publication

  • 184?-18??

Created / Published

  • Monticello, Miss. : Cohea & Gouveneaux

Headings

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

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 6, no. 48 (June 13, 1846).

Medium

  • v.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn87090125

OCLC Number

  • 15152063

ISSN Number

  • 2766-0869

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:

The Southern Journal Monticello, Miss. 184?-18??. (Monticello, MS), 184?. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn87090125/.

APA citation style:

(184?) The Southern Journal Monticello, Miss. 184?-18??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn87090125/.

MLA citation style:

The Southern Journal Monticello, Miss. 184?-18??. (Monticello, MS) 184?. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn87090125/.