Lee County IAGenWeb - Lee County Newspaper Prior to Civil War

Western Adventurer, Montrose, 1837-1838. Established June 28, 1837, by Dr. Isaac Galland with Thomas Gregg editor. It was suspended in 1838.

Fort Madison Patriot, 1838. Whig. Established March 24, 1838, by James G. Edwards. In December, 1838, he removed the material to Burlington and about six months later it was used in establishing what afterward was called the Burlington Hawk-Eye.

Fort Madison Courier, 1841-1897. Neutral. Established July 24, 1841, by R. Wilson Albright. In December, 1841, an interest was purchased by William E. Mason, nephew of Judge Charles Mason, and the name of the paper was changed to the:

Lee County Democrat and it became Democratic. In April, 1842, Mason sold his interest to O. S. X. Peck. The following June, Albright again became sole owner. W. C. Stripe was employed as editor for a time, succeeded by T. C. Espy. In 1847 Albright sold the paper to George H. Williams, and he changed its name to:

Iowa Stateman. It was soon sold by Williams to J. D. Spaulding, and in February, 1852, he sold to Lewis V. Taft and others and the name was changed to:

Plain Dealer. In 1856 it was sold to J. D. Storms, A. Stoddard, and B. Grosman. The first two soon dropped out, leaving Grosman alone. In July, 1859, W. P. Staub purchased it and James D. Eads acted as editor for a time, followed by Dr. A. C. Roberts, but from May 3, 1861, J. M. Casey was the editor. In July, 1863, the paper was sold to William Caffrey, and on the following August it changed to Republican. In May, 1864, J. G. Wilson became owner and editor and in July, 1865, R. G. Raswick purchased an interest, which partnership continued to May, 1876, when W. D. Pratt bought Wilson's interest. In February, 1877, Pratt sold to H. D. Dodd, and in November, 1878, Dawley & Tremaine purchased the plant. It began the publication of a daily edition in addition to the weekly in 1882. J. H. Duffus was editor and publisher for some ten years, followed by A. E. Smith. In 1897 it was suspended.

Iowa Morning Star and Keokuk Commercial Advertiser, 1845. Whig. Established April 24, 1845, by Thomas Gregg. It seems to have run only a few weeks.

Iowa Argus, Keokuk, 1846. Democratic. Established in January, 1846, by William Pattee. It soon suspended.

Keokuk Register, 1847-1849. Whig. Established May 26, 1847, by J. W. and R. B. Ogden. In March, 1849, they sold to Howell & Cowles of the Des Moines Valley Whig.

Iowa Advocate and Half-Breed Journal, Montrose, 1847. Independent. Semi-monthly. Established August 16, 1847, by Isaac Galland. We have no knowledge of its existence later than in December, 1847.

Keokuk Dispatch, 1848-1860. Democratic. Established May 20, 1848, by John B. Russell and Reuben L. Doyle. In 1849 Russell sold his interest to Doyle. In July, 1850, S. W. Halsey became part owner, but in 1851 sold to George Green and T. B. Cuming took editorial charge. In 1852 Cuming and G. W. Armstrong became the proprietors, but the same year W. A. Hornish bought Armstrong's interest, but by 1853 Cuming became sole proprietor. In 1854 H. W. Beers obtained ownership, then sold it to D. Reddington who in October, 1854, changed the paper's name to:

Saturday Post. In January, 1858, he sold it to William Rees, Sr., & Sons, who, in 1860, discontinued it and removed the plant to Doniphan, Kansas.

Des Moines Valley Whig and Keokuk Register, Keokuk, 1849-1927+. Whig. Established in March, 1849, by James B. Howell and James H. Cowles. March 3, 1854, they began publishing the Daily Whig, but a year later the name of the paper was changed to the:

Gate City. Howell was editor until 1870. There were associated with him at different times J. H. Cowles, J. R. Briggs, William Richards, and Sam M. Clark. Clark had been associate editor for some five years when, on Howell's election to the United States Senate in 1870, he became joint owner and assumed the editorship, which he retained until soon after his election to Congress in 1894 when Dr. S. W. Moorhead assumed active editorial charge, which he continued most of the time until 1914. In August, 1905, C. F. Skirvin became principal owner. In April, 1916, the Constitution-Democrat was taken over by the Gate City and the paper became independent in politics. Edward S. Carter followed Dr. Moorhead as editorial writer. In 1922 S. E. Carrell became principal owner and Edward S. Carter, editor.

Nip-And-Tuck, Keokuk, 1855-1916. Democratic. Established as a daily January 1, 1855, by D. Reddington. In February, 1855, the name was changed to:

Morning Glory. In September, 1855, he sold to A. T. Walling and Dr. G. St. Clair Hussey who merged it into the:

Daily Evening Times. Walling and Hussey sold to Charles D. Kirk who, on November 23, 1857, changed the name to the:

Keokuk Daily Journal. The paper was sold by Kirk to Newton, Hussey & Givin, and in May, 1859, by them to Charles Smith who conducted it until December, 1861, when he sold it to Thomas W. Claggett. He changed the name to the:

Constitution. Charles Smith acted as associate editor during nearly all of Claggett's ownership. Judge Claggett died April 14, 1876, after which his daughter, Sue Horry Claggett, conducted the paper until the following July 17 when it was sold to the John Gibbons Co., Gibbons having editorial charge. In April, 1877, Gibbons sold his interest to his partners, H. W. Clendenin, George Smith, and Thomas Rees, the first named becoming editor. June 11, 1881, they sold to a company of which Dr. W. A. George was chief owner, and editor of the paper. C. A. Warmick and R. S. Ranson purchased it March 26, 1888, and consolidated it with the Keokuk Daily Democrat, and named it the:

Constitution-Democrat. February, 1891, Warmick purchased his partner's interest. In September, 1892, he acquired the Daily Chief and merged it into the Constitution-Democrat. Mr. Warmick's death occurred in April, 1906, after which the ownership and management was taken over by Mrs. F. A. Warmick, followed by her son, C. E. Warmick, which continued until its absorption by the Gate City in April, 1916.

Western Observer, Keokuk, 1855-1880. German. Independent Democratic. Established in 1855 by William Kopp. In 1857 Leopold Mader became proprietor, followed in 1858 by Christopher Mueller, and he in succession by Judge Jaeger, and by Rottick, (Jacob) Wohlwend & Serth, who acquired it in 1862. The latter sold to Rinker & Althaus, but in 1865 the firm became Wohlwend & Althaus. Previous to this the paper's name had been changed to the:

Keokuk Deutsche Zeitung, and later to the:

Keokuk Telegraph. In 1869 Emil Bischof purchased it, and changed the name to:

Die Post. In 1874 it came into the hands of Charles Norman, who sold it to Adolph Wulff in 1877. It seems to have been suspended in about 1880.