About The gazette. (Fayette, Miss.) 1861-1862
Fayette, Miss. (1861-1862)

The Gazette

Located in southwestern Mississippi, the oldest cotton-producing region in the state, Jefferson, first known as Pickering, was one of two original Mississippi counties. It was created in 1799 towards the beginning of Mississippi's territorial period (1798-1817) from what was once the colonial Natchez District. In 1825, Fayette replaced Greenville as the county seat.

Among the early newspapers in Fayette was the Gazette. Established in May 1861 by Arthur M. Greene, possibly as the Southern Gazette or theSouthern Weekly Gazette, by June 1862 Andrew Marschalk, Jr. was the editor and proprietor. Obviously pro-Southern in its sentiments, editorials in the newspaper supported the Confederate cause and were critical of the Republican President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. As with many other Southern newspapers of this era, the Gazette was two pages instead of the typical four due to a shortage of paper. The latest extant issue of the Gazette was published on November 14, 1862.

The Gazette's second owner, Andrew Marschalk, Jr., was a member of a printing dynasty established by his father Andrew Marschalk, Sr. An officer in the United States Army and a printer by trade, the senior Marschalk had published the first laws of the Mississippi Territory in 1799 and several early 19^th-century newspapers in the Natchez area; in 1818 he was the state's first public printer. Andrew Marschalk, Jr. sequentially owned and edited at least four newspapers in eastern and southwestern Mississippi, plus journals in Texas and Louisiana. In adjacent Claiborne County, his son Francis Marschalk published the Weekly Standard (1865-67) and the succeeding Port Gibson Standard (1867-75). From 1866 to 1869 another son, William Marschalk, published the Fayette Chronicle, which is still in business in 2017.

The Civil War was obviously the most significant event covered by the Gazette. The August 22, 1862 issue of the newspaper reported on fighting throughout the South including the evacuation of Richmond, Virginia, and action in Louisiana at Baton Rouge and Bayou Sara. Mississippi war news included an estimate of Union military strength near Corinth and the naval bombardment of Vicksburg. The same issue noted how quiet Fayette was after the departure of Confederate Brigadier General William Beall and his staff. For most of its existence, the Gazette was contracted to print Jefferson County's Board of Police proceedings. Even during war time, routine local reporting continued such as weather reports, announcements for political candidates, obituaries, professional cards, and notices of captured slaves. There were a few advertisements and legal notices and occasionally a poem.

Provided by: Mississippi Department of Archives and History