About The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926
Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo. (1905-1926)

The Farmington Times, The St. Francois Herald, The Farmington Times and Herald, The Farmington Times and The Farmington News

The Farmington Times of Farmington, Missouri, began in 1874 under the direction of Charles E. Ware and Isaac Harrison Rodehaver. Ware sold out his half of the newspaper in 1875 to Richard H. Sylvester. In 1879, Theodore D. Fisher became editor and, in 1881, bought out the entire paper. Fisher would serve as editor of the Farmington Times for the next 30 years. The Times was a four-page weekly paper published each Thursday. It focused on Democratic politics and covered local and national news of interest to the citizens of Farmington and St. Francois County.

Fisher was considered to be an editor of unusual gifts and was well respected in the world of business in Farmington. He owned the paper until 1902, when theTimes consolidated with another paper in town, the St. Francois Herald. The new corporation was known as Farmington Times Printing Company, and for a short while, the two papers agreed to share the combined title of the Farmington Times & Herald. However, it did not take long for the owners to decide that the Farmington Times, being one of the oldest papers in the area, should carry that name alone. So, in 1905 the paper went back to being called the Farmington Times.

Theodore Fisher's wife, Susie, helped in the editing and publishing of the newspaper throughout his career. Shortly after Theodore bought the Times, in 1881, Susie Fisher gave an address to the Missouri Press Association calling for women to participate in the full range of activities related to of running and editing newspapers. She agreed that women were ideal reporters on the topics of fashion and society, but she found it stifling for any woman journalist interested in expressing her talents to only be assigned those columns. Susie Fisher believed women could and should take charge of any department in a newspaper office, and she put all of her energy into that task. She ended her address to the Press Association with the statement "Woman can accomplish what she wills to do."

The Fishers continued working on the paper together under the ownership of the Farmington Times Printing Company. Theodore served as editor until 1913, when he retired at the age of 70. He believed he was becoming out of touch with the younger generation, and so he handed over the reins of the Times to a young, country editor named Robert C. Moore. Despite his eagerness and ambition in the field of journalism, Moore did not last long in this position. Without Theodore Fisher's guidance, the Times seemed to flounder under a string of editors until 1916, when Andrew W. Bradshaw took up the editorship. Bradshaw continued Fisher's focus on local news items, going so far as to print in the June 9, 1916 issue a list of all 567 car owners in St. Francois County, along with their place of residence and the make and model of their automobiles. An active journalist, Bradshaw was elected to serve as vice-president of the Southeastern Missouri Press Association in 1919. Bradshaw remained editor of the Times until 1926, when the Farmington Times Publishing Company sold the paper to the Farmington News.

Provided by: State Historical Society of Missouri; Columbia, MO