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Title:
Woodville Republican. : (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current
Place of publication:
Woodville, Miss.
Geographic coverage:
  • Woodville, Wilkinson, Mississippi  |  View more titles from this: City County, State
Publisher:
J.A. Kelly
Dates of publication:
185?-current
Frequency:
Weekly
Language:
  • English
Subjects:
  • Mississippi--Woodville.--fast--(OCoLC)fst01256176
  • Woodville (Miss.)--Newspapers.
Notes:
  • Also available on microfilm from UMI.
  • Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • Description based on: new ser., v. 2, no. 3 (Aug. 18, 1858) = v. 35, no. 3.
  • Editors: W.H. Noble and J.H. Jones, <1874>
  • Latest issue consulted: Vol. 88, no. 8 (July 13, 1912).
  • Publisher: John W. Bryant, <1874>.
LCCN:
sn 87065677
OCLC:
16582724
ISSN:
2378-3486
Preceding Titles:
Related Links:
Holdings:
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Woodville Republican. October 18, 1853 , Image 1

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Southern Planter, Woodville Republican, The Republican, The Woodville Republican, The Woodville Republican, and Wilkinson Advertiser and Woodville Republican

The Woodville Republican, the longest running newspaper in Mississippi and possibly the state's oldest continuously operated business, was published in Wilkinson County in the southwest corner of the state. Situated on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, Wilkinson County was created in 1802 from part of the Old Natchez Cession, the first area occupied by Europeans. Woodville, the county seat and one of the oldest towns in the state, was home to several prominent Mississippians including President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis, whose boyhood home was nearby Rosemont Plantation.

The founding editor/proprietor of the Woodville Republican, Missourian William A. A. Chisholm, moved to Woodville in fall 1823 and published the first issue on December 11, 1823. Chisholm published and/or edited the four-page, weekly paper until at least 1836. Variations in name and changes of management were frequent throughout the paper's early years: Woodville Republican (1823-26); the Republican, and Wilkinson Weekly Advertiser (1826); Woodville Republican, and Wilkinson Weekly Advertiser (1827-30); the Mississippi Democrat (1831); the Southern Planter (1832); Woodville Republican (1833-44); the Republican (1844-47); the Woodville Republican (1847-53); and the Woodville Republican, and Wilkinson Advertiser (1853-55). Around 1858, the name of the newspaper reverted to the Woodville Republican for the fourth and final time. "Republican" referred to our nation's form of government; the paper always supported the Democratic Party except from 1869 to 1874 when William H. Nobles, a Republican and for a few years county sheriff, ran the paper. In 1879 former Confederate Captain John South Lewis, joined the paper and later became sole proprietor/editor. Subsequently, the Republican passed from father to son through four generations, and as of 2014 was owned and operated by Andrew Lewis, John S. Lewis's great-grandson.

The content and organization of the Woodville Republican reflected the changing times. During the 19th century, the paper was a mix of national, state, and local news; poetry, general interest items, letters and addresses of notable Southerners, and local advertisements. In the 1850s, political news of interest to citizens filled the anti-Whig paper. For example, the Nashville Convention, an 1850 meeting of nine Southern states considering secession, was a recurring topic, and in 1851 the paper focused on Mississippi's gubernatorial race. Beginning in the early 20th century, state and local news and social announcements were more dominant. By 1902, "Mississippi State News" was a regular front-page column, and the Republican declared itself the "Official Journal of Wilkinson County." Columns and editorials reflected prevailing attitudes of white conservative Democrats. News of the day included the new state capitol building in Jackson and President Theodore Roosevelt's November 1902 bear hunt in Sharkey County, Mississippi, from which evolved the "teddy" bear.

Provided by: Mississippi Department of Archives and History