About Carthage courier. (Carthage, Tenn.) 1913-current
Carthage, Tenn. (1913-current)

Carthage Courier

On July 3, 1913, Jere Gardenhire established the Carthage Courier in Smith County, Tennessee, an agricultural area known for its production of grain and tobacco, with a population of about 18,500 residents. Located 20 miles northeast of Lebanon, Tennessee, on the Cumberland River, the town of Carthage with its 900 residents was served by a steamboat service, a tobacco factory, and the Joseph W. Allen College. The Courier was formed after the closure of the Smith County Democrat, which had been established in 1909 by editor and publisher Ernest E. Fitzpatrick, and the Smith County News, which had been established in 1907 by editor and publisher Samuel J. Stockard.

Gardenhire, with longtime friend and business associate, Fred Myers, published the Courier, a Democratic paper, each Thursday at an annual subscription rate of $1.00. In 1917, Gardenhire constructed the Courier Building in Carthage as a home office for the weekly. Under Gardenhire's leadership, the Courier included mostly local news and advertising. The paper published partisan political news, agricultural news, church notices, and obituaries. Social events and engagements also appeared, including those of prominent residents such as Cordell Hull, and later, Albert Gore, Sr. The Courier also printed ads in the form of advertorials. For instance, on January 14, 1915, readers were informed of higher than normal prices for horses and mules with the outbreak of the First World War; owners were encouraged to insure their horses by contacting local insurance salesman H. B. Highers.

Gardenhire and Myers published the Courier until August 1939 when Sam K. Neal and Florian E. (Sandy) Wood took over. With more than 25 years of newspaper experience between them, Neal and Wood were determined to continue producing a quality community weekly, promising readers in their inaugural editorial: "We want to keep it your newspaper." In April 1946, Andy Reid became a partner, and the Courier remained under the ownership of all three men for the next 23 years. The Carthage Courier continues to be published weekly in print and, since 2007, online at www.carthagecourier.com.

An unusual addition to issues of the Carthage Courier digitized for Chronicling America are handwritten notes showing how the advertising space and revenue were calculated. The notes sometimes include word counts and cost, and occasionally the total advertising revenue is noted on the front page.

Provided by: University of Tennessee