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From Rule's Standard History of Knoxville, Tennessee, with Full Outline of the Natural Advantages, Early Settlement, Territorial Government, Indian Troubles and General and Particular History of the City Down to the Present Time. Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1900.
The Gazette, Knoxville's First Newspaper -- The Register and Its Long Life -- The Plebeian, Knoxville's First Daily -- Brownlow's Whig and Its Remarkable Career -- Recent Ventures in Knoxville Journalism -- The Chronicle -- The Press and Herald -- The Tribune -- The Journal and Tribune -- The Afternoon Sentinel -- The Church Newspapers.
[ Return to Part 1 of this history ]
In 1855, 1856, and 1857, The Southern Journal of Medical and Physical Sciences was published by Kinsloe & Rice and edited by Dr. Richard O. Currey, a man of much ability. The publication ceased with December, 1857. It was a monthly, and in the latter years was the organ of the East Tennessee Medical Society.
In 1857 The Southern Citizen was published in Knoxville for about a year. Its editor was the "Irish Patriot," John Mitchell, whose name was familiar, in his time, to all English-speaking people. He was born at Dungiven, County Derry, Ireland, and was the son of a Unitarian clergyman. He was well educated and began life as a practicing lawyer in Dublin. Afterwards he became the editor of The Nation, Dublin, and soon got himself into serious trouble by writing revolutionary articles for his paper and publishing them, for which he was prosecuted and his paper suppressed. Mitchell was sentenced to expatriation for fourteen years. He was deported to Australia, where he remained on parole until 1854, about six years, when he resigned his parole and, escaping from the colony, sailed for New York, landing there on the 29th day of November, 1854. Shortly after his arrival there he founded The Citizen, a weekly journal, which he continued until failing eye-sight induced him to give it up and seek a more congenial climate. It was then that he came to Knoxville, where he associated himself with William G. Swan, then a leading member of the Knoxville bar.
Swan was an extreme man, fond of controversy, and it was probably through his influence that Mitchell came to Knoxville. Mr. Swan, besides being extreme was an able and scholarly man, who wielded much influence over his associates and friends. These two started The Southern Citizen in Knoxville, which was a very extreme paper, and soon got its editor into some warm controversies. Among other things advocated by The Southern Citizen was the reopening of the African slave trade. It is a mystery why a paper advocating so extreme a policy in that day should have been published in Knoxville, for there was not a town in the whole South, or a section, where such a policy had fewer sympathizers than in Knoxville, in Eastern Tennessee. There were comparatively few slave-holders in this part of the state, and there were many who were opposed to slavery.
Mr. Mitchell went from Knoxville to Richmond, where, during the Civil war, he was editor of The Richmond Examiner. After the war he removed to New York and settled there, where he did some literary work. He visited Ireland in 1874, was elected to parliament for Tipperary in 1875, though disqualified for a seat. Soon afterwards he died in Ireland. He was an able and fluent writer, his editorials combining force, choice English and often great bitterness. They were read eagerly by his enemies as well as by his friends and his journals always attracted widespread attention, both those printed in Ireland and in the United States.
John Miller McKee, whose name has already been mentioned in connection with The Knoxville Register, founded a paper about 1846 called The Tribune, which was published about four years, and was then sold out to the owners of The Knoxville Register and was absorbed by that paper, Mr. McKee becoming the editor of The Register. He is still living in Nashville, where he did many years of active newspaper work and was noted for the painstaking methods and for the completeness and accuracy of his contributions.
The Knoxville Argus was published in this city for some time by E. G. Eastman, who was a prominent man in his day. He went from Knoxville to Nashville and spent several years in that city in newspaper work.
It was about the year 1854 that John E. Helms founded a Democratic weekly newspaper called The Knoxville Mercury. It was a neat-appearing sheet and a good newspaper, but it suspended after a life of about two years.
In February, 1862, Hon. John Baxter, a leading and able lawyer of Knoxville, who was afterwards appointed a United States Circuit judge by President Hayes, determined to publish a daily paper in the office in which Brownlow's Knoxville Whig had been printed previous to its suspension. It was called The East Tennesseean. It was a neat paper, but it suspended with its first number. While it was not intended to oppose the Confederate government, its purpose was to defend the Union people of East Tennessee, and to be such a paper as they might read and feel that it was their friend. The paper was started soon after the disastrous defeat of the Confederate forces at Fishing Creek, just beyond the Kentucky border, where the Confederate General Zollicoffer was killed, and its projectors may have anticipated a time coming when they could publish a Union paper. But after mature deliberation it was probably seen that the publication of such a paper as they contemplated would be impracticable and it was at once abandoned. Colonel Baxter remained in Knoxville until the advent of General Burnside and then successfully practiced his profession until in 1877, when he was made United States Circuit judge of the Sixth judicial Circuit, composed of the states of Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, which position he held to the date of his death, which occurred in 1886, at Hot Springs, Arkansas.
The Southern Chronicle was started in 1862, but lived only about a year, suspending publication when General Burnside came to Knoxville in September, 1863. It was conducted with ability, but was not sensational enough to suit the public appetite in such eventful times.
In January, 1865, the end of the Civil war being apparently near at hand, J. W. Patterson, an Ohio man, came to Knoxville and founded The Daily Commercial, which he continued to publish for something more than a year. It was a paper of merit, sprightly and newsy; but the political policy of its editor, Mr. Patterson, was in opposition to the sentiments of a majority of the people residing in the section in which it was published. It was at a time when the virtue of toleration was a scarce article and The Daily Commercial occasionally found its course a stormy one. For this reason, and for the additional reason, perhaps, that the outlook for reasonable remuneration was not inviting, its publication was abandoned in the year 1866.
The Knoxville Whig having changed its politics under its changed management, there was no Republican paper in Knoxville, and as an overwhelming majority of the voters of Knox county and East Tennessee were Republicans, Wm. Rule and Henry C. Tarwater determined early in the year 1870 to establish a Republican weekly newspaper in the city. An order was made for the necessary material and a press was bought. The old building on South Gay street, opposite the court-house, which had been the office of The Knoxville Whig when it suspended in October, 1861, was secured as the office of publication. The new venture was called The Chronicle, and it met with much favor from the beginning. Mr. Rule had had some experience in the business, had spent something more than a year as an employee in Brownlow's Whig office before the Civil war, in 1860-61, and had served on the reportorial staff of that paper about three years after the war. The first number of The Chronicle weekly appeared in April, 1870, and a month later a daily edition was printed. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Tarwater sold his half interest in the paper to A. J. Ricks, who had been connected with the editorial department, and the firm became Rule & Ricks. By them it was published successfully until in 1875, when Mr. Ricks sold his interest to Senator William G. Brownlow, whose term in the United States senate was about to expire.
Mr. Ricks soon afterwards removed to Ohio, where he engaged in the practice of his profession, the law. In 1878 he was appointed by judge John Baxter, clerk of the United States circuit court at Cleveland, Ohio. He is now United States district judge for the Northern district of Ohio, having been appointed to that position by President Harrison. It may be said of Judge Ricks that as an editor he was a fluent and vigorous writer and that his knowledge of affairs in general enabled him to write on a wide range of subjects.
Senator Brownlow came in as editor-in-chief in 1875, with Wm. Rule as his associate, and they two published the paper, the name of the weekly edition having been changed to the Whig and Chronicle to the date of Mr. Brownlow's death, which occurred on the 29th day of April, 1877. After Senator Brownlow's death his interest in the paper was sold by the administrator of his estate, R. A. Brown becoming the purchaser. Mr. Brown had been connected with The Chronicle from the beginning and at the time he purchased this half interest was in charge of the local news department. He then became business manager, and Mr. Rule had charge of the editorial department. In the month of November, 1882, they sold the paper to a stock company, and this company published the paper nearly four years.
The first editor under the new management was Hon. Henry R. Gibson, present representative in congress from the Knoxville district, who had previously published and edited the Knoxville Republican. The name of the weekly was again changed, to the Republican-Chronicle. Judge Gibson was succeeded by George W. Drake, who had been for some time editor of the Chattanooga Commercial. Hon. L. C. Houk, at that time a representative in congress, served as editor for some months. In the spring of 1886, the paper having become involved financially, went into the hands of a receiver, and in the month of July, 1886, was sold at public sale, and was bid off for Major E. B. Stahlman of Nashville, who was one of its largest creditors. John J. Littleton, afterwards killed in Nashville, edited it a short time, when the establishment, with its good will and franchises, was sold to Wm. Rule and Samuel Marfield, they then being the publishers of the Knoxville Journal. The Chronicle being thus merged with The Journal lost its name, after having been published as a daily and weekly for a little more than sixteen years.
In 1879 Henry R. Gibson started The Knoxville Republican, a weekly, and continued its publication until 1882, when he, with others, purchased The Chronicle and he became its editor.
In June, 1867, a daily paper called The Knoxville Press was started, with John M. Fleming as editor. In politics it was Democratic and its purpose was to support the administration of President Andrew Johnson, who was then engaged in a controversy with congress over the question of the reconstruction of the states in the South that had attempted secession. Mr. Fleming had had some previous newspaper experience and was a graceful and vigorous writer. On the 27th of October, 1867, another Democratic daily, The Herald, made its appearance -- Wm. J. Ramage, publisher, and Major Thos. B. Kirby, an ex-Union officer, editor. Soon afterwards, Mr. Ramage purchased from M. J. Hughes a weekly paper called The Messenger. In January, 1868, these papers were consolidated, the daily becoming The Knoxville Press and Herald and the weekly The Press and Messenger. In the spring of 1868, Samuel C. Ramage, a brother of William J., came to Knoxville and became associated with Wm. J. Ramage. The services of Col. John M. Fleming were retained as editor of the consolidated paper, and Major Kirby was assistant editor. Afterwards Major Kirby went to Chattanooga, where he started the Daily Times, in that city, in December, 1869. The Press and Herald continued to be successfully published under the same management until 1876, when it was sold by Mr. Ramage to John M. Fleming and Samuel McKinney, who had just started another Democratic daily called The Knoxville Tribune, and the name Press and Herald disappeared.
William J. Ramage, besides being a good business manager, is a practical printer. He is a native of Philadelphia and learned the printer's trade in the old Johnson type foundry in that city. When a young man he went to Chicago, and was employed as a journeyman printer in the office of The Chicago Democrat, "Long John" Wentworth's paper. He was there at the beginning of the Civil war and enlisted at the beginning in the Nineteenth Illinois infantry volunteers, in which he served three years and was mustered out in July, 1864. In the fall of 1864 he went to Chattanooga, where he worked as a printer in the office of The Chattanooga Gazette for a time, and then started a news stand business. Some Northern gentlemen, about that time endowed with great expectations of Chattanooga's immediate future, had purchased an outfit, expensive and complete enough to run a great metropolitan paper. Their paper was called The American Union. Finding that they had an elephant on their hands, they induced Mr. Ramage to come to their relief. He took hold of the paper, reduced its expenses and continued to publish it until in the fall of 1867, when he came to Knoxville, as above stated, and founded the Herald, acquired The Press and then continued to publish The Press and Herald and The Press and Messenger until he sold out to The Tribune, as before stated, in 1876. Since he retired from the newspaper business he has established a thriving book and stationery business in Knoxville, in which he is still engaged.
Soon after the close of the Civil war, M. J. Hughes founded a Democratic weekly called The Messenger, which he published until in the latter part of the year 1867, when he sold out to William J. Ramage, the proprietor of The Daily Herald. It was continued as The Messenger until in January, 1868, at which time Mr. Ramage became the owner also of The Press, and the weekly was continued as The Press and Messenger until in 1876, when it was absorbed by The Tribune.
In December, 1884, Wm. Rule and Samuel Marfield, then a citizen of Circleville, Ohio, determined to publish a daily and weekly paper to be, called The Knoxville Journal. Being denied the Associated Press news service, Mr. Rule went to New York and made arrangements for a news service with W. P. Phillips, then with the United Press, and with Mr. Somerville, manager of the press department of the Western Union Telegraph Company, by which a news service was obtained. The service was to be edited and sent out from the Washington office of the United Press, then in charge of two young men, P. V. DeGraw and John Boyle. Mr. Rule visited them, explained the competition he would have to meet and the character of dispatches he wanted. They promised to make the service the best possible under the circumstances and they did, making up in quality very largely for what was lacking in quantity. The first issue appeared on the 26th day of February, 1885. A little later, on the 4th of March, 1885, when Grover Cleveland was inaugurated for a first term, as President, its proprietors convinced the public that The Journal was going to be a newspaper. Mr. Marfield took charge of the business, and Mr. Rule of the editorial department of the paper. In June, 1886, The Knoxville Chronicle was sold at public sale and was bid off by one of its creditors, who, after running the paper for a short time, sold it with its good will and franchises, to Rule & Marfield, the proprietors of The Knoxville Journal, after which the combined papers were published under that name. In 1889 Mr. Rule purchased the interest of Mr. Marfield in the paper, and about the same time organized a joint stock company under a charter from the state.
This company was organized with a board of directors, and Mr. Rule was made president and general manager; Henry T. Cooper, vice-president, and James F. Rule, secretary. The paper was then, as The Chronicle had also been for many years, the only daily Republican paper published in the eleven states that seceded and joined the Southern Confederacy. The paper continued under this management for eight years, when, on the 30th day of June, 1898, it was sold at public sale, by a trustee, and E. J. Sanford became the purchaser. In these eight years a Web perfecting press and Mergenthaler Linotype machines had been added to the outfit of the office. On the same day that Mr. Sanford purchased The Journal, he also purchased the good will and franchises of The Knoxville Daily Tribune.
A joint stock company was organized at the same time and the two papers were combined under the name of The Knoxville Journal and Tribune, and it is still so published. The new company was organized with Alfred F. Sanford, president; Edward W. Ogden, secretary, and Samuel L. Slover, business manager. The editorial department of The Journal remained the same as that of The Journal -- Wm. Rule, editor; George W. Denney, managing editor. The Knoxville Journal and Tribune is a seven-column, eight-page paper, published seven days in the week, its Sunday issues covering from sixteen to twenty-eight pages, sometimes more. It has a circulation larger than has ever before been reached by any seven-days-in-the-week newspaper published in the city.
The editor, William Rule, has been continuously, with an interim of two years and four months, from the date of selling The Chronicle to that of founding The Journal, connected with the Knoxville daily press for more than twenty-nine years. The Journal and Tribune is now the only daily morning Republican paper published in the eleven seceding states. While a political paper, it is thoroughly devoted and loyal to the agricultural, industrial, commercial and educational interests of Knoxville and of the country tributary to, Knoxville. It will be seen that it is the legitimate successor to The Knoxville Tribune, established in 1876; The Knoxville Chronicle, established in 1870, and The Knoxville Whig, established in 1839.
The Knoxville Tribune, daily and weekly, began to be published in March, 1876. Its founders were Col. John M. Fleming, who had been editor of The Press and Herald, and Samuel McKinney. It started with an excellent outfit and presented a fine typographical appearance. It was Democratic in politics. It was published for about two years by Fleming and McKinney, when it passed into the hands of Col. Moses White and Frank A. Moses, a son of James C. Moses, who some forty years previous to that time had published The Knoxville Register. Colonel White had charge of the editorial and Mr. Moses of the business department. The paper was continued under their management until 1880, when it suspended for a short time, and was then sold to Joseph H. Bean, James W. Wallace and Alexander Summers, who revived The Tribune. Mr. Bean is a practical printer, and four years previous to this date had been publishing a weekly paper at Sweetwater called The Monroe Democrat.
In 1888 Mr. Wallace retired from The Tribune and the publication of the paper was continued by the remaining partners until, in 1891, it was sold to a stock company and W. C. Tatom became its editor. He continued in that position until in the summer of 1898, when he resigned to accept a commission as major in the Fourth Tennessee volunteers. He is a writer of rare ability and established an enviable reputation as an editor. In June, 1895, the paper was sold to J. B. Pound and R. H. Hart, who, after publishing it for three years, sold its good will and franchises to Col. E. J. Sanford, and it was consolidated with The Knoxville Journal on the 1st day of July, 1898. The consolidated paper, The Journal and Tribune, is still being published.
Rev. Charles W. Charlton was at different times connected with the press of Knoxville, including two afternoon dailies, since the Civil war, The Age and afterwards The Dispatch, neither of which were successful, though both were edited with ability. Mr. Charlton was a man of energy and a writer of note on agricultural and industrial topics. His papers were devoted also to politics, he being an ardent champion of the Democratic party. But he never was able to enlist sufficient capital to assure the success of his enterprises.
The Knoxville Sentinel, an afternoon daily, was established in 1886 by Mr. John T. Hearn, a native of Kentucky, who had some experience in newspaper business before coming to Knoxville. He brought the first Web press to Knoxville. The Sentinel was not a success under Mr. Hearn's management, and the paper was sold to J. B. Pound of The Chattanooga News, in 1892. Mr. R. H. Hart was put in charge of the paper and remains with it yet, being in charge of the business department. Messrs. Pound and Hart secured control of The Knoxville Tribune in 1894 and from that time to July 1, 1898, The Sentinel and The Tribune were published from the same office, a Web perfecting press and Mergenthaler Linotype machines being added to their outfit. After selling The Tribune, July 1, 1898, Mr. Pound returned to Chattanooga, though he still retains his interest in The Sentinel.
George F. Milton became editor of The Sentinel in 1895, and continued in that position until in the summer of 1898, when he resigned to accept a commission as first lieutenant in the Sixth United States volunteers, in the war with Spain. In the fall following he resigned his commission in the army and returning to Knoxville again became the editor of The Sentinel. In February, 1899, Mr. Milton having acquired a controlling interest in the paper, a reorganization was effected, and its present managers are: George F. Milton, president; J. B. Pound, vice-president, and R. H. Hart, secretary and treasurer. In the thirteen years of its life, The Sentinel has made many substantial improvements and ranks well among the afternoon papers of this section.
The Holston Methodist, published in the interest of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, was first printed at Morristown in 1871. It was founded by Rev. Richard N. Price, a man of learning and ability. Associated with him was Rev. T. P. Thomas. In the fall of 1873 the paper was moved to Knoxville. Among others concerned in its publication here, at different times, were Rev. J. R. Payne, W. W. Gibson, Thos. A. Lewis, J. H. Bean and Rev. W. L. Richardson. In 1881 the paper was moved to Bristol, and Rev. Frank Richardson became its editor, John Slack being its publisher. In 1885 it came back to Knoxville, and again Rev. R. N. Price became its editor. He was the editor of the paper in 1898, and Owen W. Patton was in charge of the business department, having purchased a half interest in the paper in 1890 from John W. Paulett and W. L. Richardson. In March, 1898, the paper was removed to Nashville, where it is now published as The Midland Methodist.
In March, 1898, another paper was started, called The Holston Epworth Methodist, the name of which has been since changed, and it is now The Holston Christian Advocate. It is published by The Holston Company and edited by Rev. James I. Cash of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. It is well on in the second year, is vigorously edited and quite popular.
The Methodist Advocate-Journal is the successor of a paper published first, in Atlanta, Georgia, more than a quarter of a century ago. It was published in Chattanooga for a number of years and removed to Knoxville in 1898. It is the organ of a number of Southern conferences of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is recognized as one of the official papers by the general conference of that church. It is edited by Rev. R. J. Cooke, an able scholar and divine. The business department is managed by Rev. John S. Petty.
Knoxville was the center, during the first half of the present century, of two separate seasons of religious controversy, remarkable for their fierceness and for the substantial ability of some of those who led in them, all of whom have long since been gathered with the fathers. These controversies led to the establishment of church periodicals, the editorial departments of which were conducted by men of marked strength. The first of these was The Holston Messenger, a monthly, of which Rev. Thomas Stringfield was the editor and publisher. He had previously published a church paper at Huntsville, Ala., called The Western Armenian and Christian Instructor. He had no other motive in the publication of these journals than the defense of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was a member, being at the time an active pastor, for the expense of the publications was borne by himself and little income resulted. He was a man of large ability, good education and wonderful powers of endurance. He was involved in an unusually vigorous controversy, and met it from the pulpit and through his publications. It seems to have been kept up for ten years, though the publication of the Holston Messenger was not continued so long. Mr. Stringfield had for antagonists foemen worthy of his steel, in the persons of three able Presbyterian clergymen, Messrs. Gallaher and Ross, and Dr. Nelson. He acquitted himself to the entire satisfaction of his church and his partisans. Of Mr. Stringfield, Rev. David R. McAnally, for many years editor of The St. Louis Advocate, said in 1859:
"In this struggle for the very existence of the church of his choice, Mr. Stringfield spent not only his time and mental labor, but hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of his worldly means, for which he will never, in this world, be recompensed. Yet, by these labors and sacrifices, he gave an impulse to Methodism, the result of which may be distinctly traced all along her history there, from that day to the present."
Mr. Stringfield was present at Knoxville in 1824, November 27, and participated in the organization of the Holston conference of the Methodist Episcopal church and was that year appointed presiding elder of the Knoxville district, in which capacity he labored for many years afterwards. In 1836 the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal church established the Southwestern Christian Advocate at Nashville, and elected Thos. Stringfield editor, in which position he served four years.
The other period of controversy mentioned was along in the '40s, and a weekly paper called The Methodist Episcopalian was published. The project of starting this paper originated with Rev. Thos. Stringfield and Rev. D. R. McAnally. Estimates were made of the cost and submitted to a number of Methodist preachers in Knoxville who were on their way to attend an annual conference that was held at Athens in the fall of 1845. The plans were approved, a publishing committee was appointed by the conference, at Athens, proposals were circulated and subscribers obtained. The first number of the paper appeared on the 5th day of May, 1846, with Rev. Samuel Patton as editor. He continued to be the editor of the paper, the name of which was changed in 1850 to The Holston Christian Advocate, to the date of his death, which occurred at the home of his friend, William G. Brownlow, on the 24th day of August, 1854. Soon after his death the paper was discontinued, or merged with the Nashville Christian Advocate.
The Methodist Episcopalian and The Holston Christian Advocate were devoted to a defense of the doctrines and polity of the Methodist church, and was intended to meet and supply the necessity of such a periodical suited to the wants of the mountainous, and then isolated position of the Holston conference of the church. The paper was conducted with singular ability by Dr. Patton. Its tone was elevating and its editorials evinced an the part of their writer a very high degree of ability. He lived at a time when controversy was rife, and while such polemics were probably distasteful to him, he did not shrink from them. The income of the paper was not large enough to remunerate sufficient help to get out and mail its issues. As a consequence the editor had to do much of the drudgery of the office, including work to which he had never been accustomed. This told on his health and physical strength, and doubtless hastened his death, which occurred at the, home of W. G. Brownlow in 1854. Dr. Patton was a native of South Carolina, born in Lancaster district, on the 27th of January, 1797. In eulogy of him, immediately after his death, William G. Brownlow said in his Knoxville Whig:
"He was the ablest divine in the Holston conference and a man of the greatest variety. He fervently sought the spirituality of those who attended his ministry, and burned with a holy zeal for his Master's glory. These were the uniform, unvaried objects of his preaching, and, to promote these ends, he was prepared to sacrifice his ease, his health and even his life."
Samuel Patton and William G. Brownlow, both able men, both distinguished as newspaper editors, in their spheres, were very unlike in some respects, but they were lifelong devoted friends, and when Dr. Patton died Mr. Brownlow sincerely mourned his departure as if he had been his own brother. Dr. Patton began the publication of his is paper when there were no railroads to carry his mails, and before the modern improvements that have rendered the publication of newspapers less difficult in some respects; the smallness of the revenues coming to him made his remuneration wholly inadequate, but now since nearly a half-century after his death, it may be said of him that a greater man than he has not been connected with the religious press of Tennessee.
A paper was published in Knoxville in 1819, called The Western Monitor. The writer of this chapter has not been able to secure data as to its publisher or editor or to fix its exact character; but through its columns the Presbyterian clergymen reached the public to give information concerning the state of the church in this section.
About the last of the year 1850 or the first part of the year 1851, a weekly church paper was established, called The Presbyterian Witness. It was published by J. B. G. Kinsloe and Charles A. Rice, and edited by an able young man, Rev. Andrew Blackburn. He was born in Jefferson county in 1828, And was consequently less than 23 years old when he accepted this responsible position. The purpose for which The Presbyterian Witness was started was to advocate the doctrines and advance the interests of the church, which it did, with signal ability. It was published at a time when there was much controversy over denominational differences and The Witness, with its able young editor and its able contributors, represented their side of the controversy to the satisfaction of their people. It was a paper dignified in bearing and admirable in spirit, commanding the respect of even those whom it failed to convince.
Mr. Blackburn's health failed, but the paper continued to be published under his editorial supervision until a short time before his death, which occurred at Maryville in 1859. He was in charge of a church at Bristol, but still the editor of the paper. While in the pulpit of his church at that place, delivering a sermon, his voice suddenly dropped to a whisper, and he never regained it. He removed to Maryville, for treatment and care, where he died about six months afterward and was buried near the place of his birth, at Westminster Church, in Jefferson county, Tennessee. He studied theology with Rev. Wm. Minnis of New Market, Tennessee, who visited him a short time before his death and when taking his leave said to Mr. Blackburn: "My son Andrew (he called him son), you are about to be cut down in your young manhood, but you have a consolation and comfort to know that you have already accomplished more good than many of us who have been in the ministry for forty, years and more."
This was a tribute from a high source to Mr. Blackburn's worth in the Gospel ministry, and as an editor. He was only about 31 years old at the time of his death, but had conducted an able and influential paper for eight years, besides establishing a solid reputation as a minister of the Gospel. When quite young he was married to Miss Ann E. Gillespy of Blount county, who is still living and resides at Maryville. He was a son of Col. Alexander Blackburn, who was for a long term of years a ruling elder in old Westminster Church in Jefferson county, and a grandson of Rev. Gideon Blackburn, one of the pioneers in the early settlement of the country. While Mr. Blackburn and William G. Brownlow were wide apart in their theological views, their papers were for a time printed on the same press and they were warm personal friends.
In 1893 George W. Ford began the publication of The Knoxville Independent and is still publishing it. It is a weekly and is devoted chiefly to the interests of organized labor.
The latest venture in Knoxville journalism is The Chilhowee Echo. It is the first and only paper ever published in the city by women, devoted to the interests of women. It began publication in October, 1899. Its editors and proprietors are Mrs. Samuel McKinney and Mrs. W. C. Tatom.
It is a handsome weekly, ably edited and has been received with substantial evidence of public favor.
In closing this chapter, the author acknowledges indebtedness to Col. Moses White for much of the information pertaining to the earlier papers published in Knoxville. Colonel White, a number of years ago, delivered an able address before the State Press Association, in which he related much valuable history, which address has been drawn upon for much of the information contained in this chapter concerning the earlier newspapers.
The papers now published in Knoxville
are The Journal and Tribune, morning, daily and weekly, Republican
in politics; The Sentinel, afternoon, daily except Sunday, and weekly;
and The Holston Christian Advocate, Methodist Advocate-Journal,
The Independent, and The Chilhowee Echo, all weekly issues.
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