Clarke County GaArchives History - Books .....Newspapers Of Athens 1923
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 April 1, 2005, 10:46 pm

Book Title: History Of Athens And Clarke County

The Newspapers of Athens

By T. L. GANNT.


   SO far as my information goes, the first newspaper published in Athens was
"The Athenian," a small four-page sheet of five colums to the page. This was in
the early part of the past century. When I bought The Athens Banner, some fifty
years ago, I found in the office a bound volume of The Athenian, covering some
six months' publication. My recollection is that its contents were mostly of a
literary character and it was probably a college publication.

   I have always been told that The Athens Banner was the third oldest paper in
Georgia, The Milledgeville Recorder and The Augusta Chronicle being established
before The Banner, but the Augusta paper had not many years the advantage in
age. If any other paper was published in Athens between the suspension of The
Athenian and the establishment of The Banner I have never heard of its existence.

   So far as I can trace back the ownership of The Banner preceding the War
between the States and for a couple of years after the surrender, The Banner was
owned and edited by Mr. James A. Sledge. Mr. Sledge, after his retirement from
journalism, sold The Banner to a man named Atkinson, who ran it for several
years. But it seems that Mr. Atkinson did not have much capital. Athens was then
a college town of less than 4,000 inhabitants and the home merchants did little
advertising. The Banner suspended and passed into the hands of Mr. R. L. Moss,
who at that time owned the Pioneer Paper Mill and held a claim of some $1,500
against The Banner.

   I do not remember the date, but some fifty years ago I came over, a youth
from Elbert county, and bought The Banner of Mr. Moss on credit. The Athens
papers depended on Augusta merchants for their main advertising patronage, and
The Banner was filled with Augusta advertisers but they did not average three
cents an inch and most of them were paid for in goods. There were two weekly
papers in Athens for many years: The Banner and The Southern Watchman, the
latter paper published by Col. John Christy, a prominent citizen of his day, and
who was elected after the surrender, to Congress from this district, but the
Republicans refused to let him take his seat. Col. Christy was a much better
known and more popular editor than Atkinson, and had the bulk of the patronage.
The subscription price of both papers was $3.00 a year, but it was on credit and
few subscribers paid. The Athens papers controlled the legal advertising of all
the counties east, west and north to the Carolina line, but this work was on
credit and the officers seldom paid the papers. When I bought The Banner the
only county it had was Franklin. After purchasing The Banner, Judge A. S. Erwin,
a staunch friend, advised, that I change the name of The Banner to The Northeast
Georgian, as Atkinson, by antagonizing the organized Democrats, had rendered the
paper very unpopular. This I did. After publishing The Northeast Georgian about
a year and finding that the receipts would never pay the debt, I sold out to Dr.
H. H. Carlton, who had decided to enter politics.

   After a time, Dr. Carlton sold the paper to John T. Waterman, a well known
editor and experienced journalist from LaGrange, Ga. Mr. Waterman changed the
name of the paper back to The Banner, and being very optimistic, started a small
daily. But Mr. Waterman did not succeed with the paper and offered it for sale.
I had been publishing The Oglethorpe Echo, and received a request from the
organized Democrats of Athens to buy out The Banner and they would back me. I
found Captain G. H. Yancey and Horace L. Cranford operating a job printing
office in Athens and uniting with them we bought The Banner. Col. Christy had
recently died and The Southern Watchman was also for sale, so our party bought
both The Banner and The Watchman, and continued the daily under the name of The
Banner-Watchman. This paper led the fight for Candler against Emory Speer, and
the victory gave it prestige. But the paper never paid and was too small a
business for three men to divide. I then bought out Yancey and Cranford and
continued the paper for several years. It was a success and paid me an income of
from $5,000 to $7,000 a year. I sold out a half interest in The Banner-Watchman
to Mr. P. A. Stovall, a recent graduate from college, and we published the paper
for about a year; and just here let me State that I was never associated with a
finer and more pleasing gentleman than Pleas Stovall. But my health failing, I
sold out my half interest to Mr. Mark Cooper Pope, of Washington, Ga. Soon Mr.
Stovall disposed also of his interest to Mr. Pope, who published the paper. But
knowing absolutely nothing about the newspaper business he lost money heavily
and I bought back the paper again.

   Another weekly had been established in Athens, The Chronicle, by Rev. Ellison
D. Stone and his sons. It was a non-political paper, but Mr. Stone being one of
the best beloved men in Georgia and having the confidence and friendship of
every one, he built up a nice business. Mr. Harry Phinizy was then a young man
and bought The Chronicle as a plaything. He was a brilliant and strong writer
and being fearlessly independent, criticized every one, high and low, that he
differed with. Harry in time got tired of his plaything and sold The Chronicle
back to Mr. Stone.

   When I had again taken charge of The Banner, it was decided to consolidate
the paper with. The Chronicle and organize a stock company. This was done, with
Mr. C. D. Flanigen as business manager. But the paper could not be made to pay
expenses, and after a varied experience it again changed hands, eventually
passing into the ownership of Mr. Hugh J. Howe, who built up the business it has
attained today.

  Athens has had several rival papers but after a brief existence and
considerable loss to their promoters, they suspended. An afternoon daily was
established in the city, called The Ledger, by Judge R. B. Russell and Horace L.
Cranford, but it did not live long. When Col. James M. Smith was making the race
for governor I established a weekly named The Southern Field, but the paper was
simply a campaign organ for Col. Smith and so recognized. I afterwards turned it
into an afternoon daily named The Evening Call, but it lost money from the start
and I sold its name and list to Mr. Rowe. The establishment of The Evening
Herald and Athens Daily News are of too recent date to be history.

   The Southern Cultivator, the oldest agricultural journal in Georgia, or if
not in the South, was established in Athens and when I first moved to the city
it was edited by Dr. W. L. Jones.

   The above covers the journalistic history of Athens so far as my memory runs
back.


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