About Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current
Leakesville, Miss. (1898-current)

Greene County herald

In the Piney Woods of southeastern Mississippi, next to the Alabama border, sits Greene County. Established in 1811, Greene is one of the oldest counties in the state. The sandy soil of the sparsely populated region supported long leaf pine forests, but was not conducive to growing cotton, corn, and other crops in commercial quantities. At the turn of the 20^th century, yeoman farming was supplemented by industrial jobs as the timber boom created a new source of income for many residents.

The Greene County Herald began publication on September 1, 1898 in the county seat, Leakesville, on the Chickasawhay River; the owners were George Guy Faulk and E. J. Adam. With the February 2, 1899 edition, James Faulk replaced his older brother George as editor of the weekly. When James became sole proprietor in late August the same year, he immediately moved the day of publication from Thursday to Friday, where it remained for the 24 years he ran the newspaper. Normally four pages during his tenure, for five years (1911-16) he expanded the length to eight pages. Faulk had a distinguished journalism career, serving as president of the Mississippi Press Association (1916), joining a long list of influential editors who held that office. At the time of the sale of the Herald in November 1922 to G. S. Harmon and Leopold Locke of Poplarville, Faulk was the state Vice President for Mississippi for the National Editorial Association. In 2020, the newspaper is still being published as a weekly.

Throughout its first quarter century, the Greene County Herald was known for being a great source of local and state news. The newspaper's original motto "Devoted to the development of Greene County" left no doubt about its purpose; it served as the official journal of the county. While the first two pages typically featured foreign and national news in addition to general interest articles and fictional stories, the later pages had Leakesville and county news, including the monthly proceedings of the Board of Supervisors. Subjects tackled by the Board included the erection of a new courthouse in 1898 and the reoccurring issue of building and maintaining a bridge across the Chickasawhay River. Faulk was a Democrat and vowed to support all Democratic candidates. From the last "Redeemer" governor, Andrew H. Longino (1900-04), through the progressive reforms of James K. Vardaman (1904-08), Edmond F. Noel (1908-12), Earl L. Brewer (1912-16), and Theodore G. Bilbo (1916-20), the Free Press supported them all. The social, educational, and economic reforms of the progressive governors were aimed at aiding poor white farmers and workers, but not the African American citizens of the state; Vardaman and Bilbo in particular were known for their racist rhetoric.

Provided by: Mississippi Department of Archives and History