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Title:
Daily southern reveille. : (Port Gibson, Miss.) 1858-18??
Place of publication:
Port Gibson, Miss.
Geographic coverage:
  • Port Gibson, Claiborne, Mississippi  |  View more titles from this: City County, State
Publisher:
James S. Mason
Dates of publication:
1858-18??
Description:
  • Vol. 1, no. 1 (Sept. 11, 1858)-
Frequency:
Daily (except Sun.)
Language:
  • English
Subjects:
  • Mississippi--Port Gibson.--fast--(OCoLC)fst01219474
  • Port Gibson (Miss.)--Newspapers.
Notes:
  • Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • Issued also in a weekly ed. called: Southern reveille.
LCCN:
sn 87090150
OCLC:
15152092
ISSN:
2575-7318
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Daily southern reveille. September 13, 1858 , Image 1

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The Southern Reveille, The Port Gibson Reveille and Daily Southern Reveille

When lawyer Lemuel O. Bridewell began the weekly, Democratic, four-page Southern Reveille in August 1851, he declared that the Port Gibson, Mississippi newspaper would be " ... devoted to Politics, General Literature, Arts, Morality and News - Agricultural, Mechanical, and Commercial." Bridewell unabashedly supported state rights as evident in the newspaper's prospectus and its editorials. After a five-year run as the Port Gibson Reveille (1853?-57), the title reverted to its original name. It was during this second manifestation as the Southern Reveille that one-time Democratic Unionist, James Stayton Mason, became associated with the newspaper. In addition to the weekly version, Mason published the Daily Southern Reveille (1858-59?) and the Tri-weekly Southern Reveille (1859?-60?). The Reveille ceased in 1861 probably due to Mason's service in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Throughout the 1850s local coverage included news pertaining to southwest Mississippi, some marriage and death announcements, a few legal notices, and plenty of advertisements. Political commentary often focused on the increasing tension between the Northern and Southern states.

The Southern Reveille was not revived immediately after hostilities ceased; instead James Mason went to work for Francis Marschalk as editor of the Democratic Weekly Standard (1865-67). Shortly after the Weekly Standard became the Port Gibson Standard (1867-75), Mason left Marschalk's employ. By 1876, there were no Democratic newspapers left in Port Gibson, the Claiborne County seat. Mason filled the void by reviving the Southern Reveille as proprietor and editor. Three years after Mason's death in 1887, the title changed to the Port Gibson Reveille. In 1898, one of the Reveille's co-owners, Henry H. Crisler bought out his partners, and the paper has been managed by the Crisler family ever since. The Port Gibson Reveille is still published in 2017 as a weekly.

During the early 20th century, the Port Gibson Reveille continued to disseminate national and state news of the day from a Southern Democrat perspective. The Reveille often reported on the pros and cons of prohibition and the women's suffrage movement, both important topics of the time. It also discussed the local impact of worldwide and national events such as the United States involvement in World War I and the 1918 Spanish influenza epidemic. The boll weevil threat to the South's cotton crop was of great concern; the beetle first appeared in Mississippi in the southwest region where Claiborne County is located. Throughout most of this period the Reveille was typically eight pages; content was similar, but better organized than in the early days of the newspaper.

The Reveille also contained a great deal of local coverage. For example, news concerning the Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College, first established as Alcorn University in 1871 on the former grounds of Oakland College, appeared regularly. The college was the first land-grant institution in the country for African Americans; it is now known as Alcorn State University. Another example of local interest was news about Wolcott's Rabbit Foot Minstrels travelling show. Founded by African American entrepreneur Pat Chappelle, the Rabbit Foot Company was purchased after his death in 1911 by white businessman Fred Swift Wolcott. The show's headquarters moved to Mississippi in 1918 when Wolcott bought the Glen Sade plantation north of Port Gibson. Throughout the early 20th century, announcements, advertisements and articles about the company's owner and the African American entertainers were found in the Port Gibson Reveille.

Provided by: Mississippi Department of Archives and History