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About The Charleston advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1894-189?
Charleston, W. Va. (1894-189?)

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Title:
The Charleston advocate. [volume] : (Charleston, W. Va.) 1894-189?
Place of publication:
Charleston, W. Va.
Geographic coverage:
  • Charleston, Kanawha, West Virginia  |  View more titles from this: City County, State
Publisher:
Herald Pub. Co.
Dates of publication:
1894-189?
Description:
  • Began in 1894.
Frequency:
Weekly
Language:
  • English
Subjects:
  • Charleston (W. Va.)--Newspapers.
  • West Virginia--Charleston.--fast--(OCoLC)fst01213401
Notes:
  • "A religious journal."
  • Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • Description based on: Vol. 2, no. 4 (Jan. 1895).
  • Editor: Rev. C.B. Graham.
  • Members of the Methodist-Episcopal Church.
LCCN:
sn 85059815
OCLC:
12920587
ISSN:
2640-1851
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The Charleston advocate. [volume] July 1, 1894 , Image 1

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Charleston Advocate

An eight-page monthly journal, the Charleston Advocate served the Methodist communities of Charleston and of West Virginia more broadly during its brief tenure. The few extant issues of the Advocate provide a window into West Virginia Methodism during the 1880s.

The Advocate represented the labors of Reverend Christopher Bream Graham, the Presiding Elder of the Charleston District of the Methodist-Episcopal Church. Graham hailed from a diverse professional background, having grown up in coal mines, supplemented by stints as a merchant and a schoolteacher. In 1879, Graham entered the ministry and gained admittance to the West Virginia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Responding to popular calls for a church paper, Graham spearheaded the creation of the monthly Charleston Advocate in July 1884. Church pastors served as agents of the paper and took subscriptions from around the state. As a "religious journal," the Charleston Advocate offered its readership the latest news regarding the activities of the Methodist Episcopal Church, both locally and around the state. District reports from church reverends detailed recent conversions, special services, Sunday schools, church improvements, new appointments, and more. Of course, the paper also offered religious and spiritual reflections, poetry, and prudent household advice. The paper seems to have avoided most political topics, although a preference for temperance and an editorial on the impropriety of public dancing at a "state ball" honoring the West Virginia Legislature hint at the Advocate's conservative moral tone.

Sponsored by the Charleston District of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the paper was initially published on a three-month trial basis, but it continued publication for some months, apparently ceasing publication in 1885. Graham continued serving the West Virginia Methodist community later in life, remaining deeply involved in the state conference, serving on the first Board of Trustees for West Virginia Wesleyan University, and eventually settling down to oversee a Methodist church in Wheeling.

Provided by: West Virginia University