About Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891
Independence, Iowa (1869-1891)

Quasqueton Guardian, Buchanan County Guardian, Buchanan County Bulletin and Guardian, and Buchanan County Bulletin

The Quasqueton Guardian was the second newspaper in Buchanan County, established by Jacob Rich and George C. Jordan in December 1856. Rich served as editor, declaring in the first issue, "The paper will be devoted to the interests of the Republican Party, the town and county, and will contain all matters of local and general importance or interest." The Guardian represented a political contrast with Buchanan County's first newspaper, a Democratic publication called the Independence Civilian, established a year earlier.

Rich and Jordan moved the paper to Independence in 1858 and changed the title to the Buchanan County Guardian, motivated by better business prospects in the county seat. A typical issue of the Guardian included local and state news, poetry and serial fiction, market reports, political news, and advertisements for local businesses. However, after the attack on Fort Sumter and the start of the Civil War, Rich announced in his editorial on April 23, 1861, "We devote our paper, to the exclusion of everything else, to the details of the War news." The following week's issue included a "call for the formation of a company of volunteers" to join the Union army.

Jordan was among those to answer this call and served as a lieutenant in Company E of the 5^th Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He died of illness in late March 1862. The April 1, 1862 issue of the Guardian devoted many columns to testimonials honoring his life, military service, and patriotic spirit. Rich wrote that Jordan "died as he always wanted to die, with the harness of the faithful soldier on his back, and the booming of the deep-mouthed cannon, and the crash of shells sounding in his ear."

After his death, Jordan's widow retained his interest in the Guardian until she and Rich sold the business to S.B. Goodenow in May 1864. Goodenow changed the title to the Guardian of Independence and published the paper for two years, before selling to J.L. Loomis in 1866. Loomis consolidated the Guardian with the Buchanan County Bulletin, which he had established the previous year, to form the Buchanan County Bulletin and Guardian. In 1869, Loomis sold the paper to William Toman, who changed its title back to the Buchanan County Bulletin.

The Bulletin merged with the Buchanan County Journal in 1891, and it became the Bulletin-Journal. The title changed again in 1973 to the Independence Bulletin-Journal, and the paper continues to publish today under this name.

Provided by: State Historical Society of Iowa