About Charles City intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa) 1864-1866
Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa (1864-1866)

St. Charles Republican Intelligencer, St. Charles City Republican Intelligencer, Charles City Republican Intelligencer, and Charles City Intelligencer

The St. Charles Republican Intelligencer was the first newspaper published in Floyd County, Iowa. Members of the community awaited the first issue, printed July 31, 1856, with such anticipation that the editors held an auction for the purchase of the first copy. They then stopped the presses to insert an announcement of the winners, local bankers Duncan Ferguson and Gustavus B. Eastman, who paid twenty dollars. The announcement continued, "At the close of the sale a large number of subscriptions were at once handed in, and the demand for extra copies exceeded anything of the kind in our newspaporial experience."

Azro Benjamin Franklin Hildreth, publisher of the St. Charles Republican Intelligencer, had already built a successful career in the newspaper business with publications in Lowell, Massachusetts; Bradford, Vermont; and Holyoke, Massachusetts. Hildreth arrived in Charles City, Iowa, in the spring of 1856 as one of the town's early settlers, and he soon partnered with DeRuyter DeWitt Carver to fill the new community's need for a local newspaper. The front page of the Intelligencer often featured poetry or fiction as well as news about politics or government affairs. The remaining pages included columns on various agricultural, scientific, religious, or general interest topics, as well as ads for local businesses. The Intelligencer also featured news from across the country, with correspondents in Washington, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago. The title changed to the St. Charles City Republican Intelligencer in October 1857.

In August 1859, Carver left the paper amid financial difficulties. Hildreth's personal resources provided him the means to sustain the business, and he bought out Carver's share to become the sole editor and proprietor. Two years later, the title changed to the Charles City Republican Intelligencer to reflect the change in the city's name. The title changed again in 1864 to the Charles City Intelligencer, and in 1866, it became Hildreth's Charles City Intelligencer. Aside from journalism, Hildreth had an extensive public service career, serving on the State Board of Education, winning election to the Iowa General Assembly, and being appointed the draft commissioner for Floyd County during the Civil War.

Hildreth's tenure at the Intelligencer came to an end in October 1870, when he sold the business to Eugene B. Dyke and the paper's title changed back to the Charles City Intelligencer. By 1872, Dyke's brother, Cornelius L. Dyke, joined him in the business. Cornelius served as business manager while Eugene edited the paper. The Dyke brothers continued to run the paper through 1901, with the exception of 1874-1875, which they spent in California. The Intelligencer continued under various publishers and editors for two more decades, before ceasing publication in 1920.

Provided by: State Historical Society of Iowa