Newspaper, LaSalle Parish, La. Copied from The Jena Times Olla-Tullos Signal, Wednesday, January 6, 1999, Page 7A. Copied by Tia Morris Masters; Submitted by Kathy LeMay Kelly, P.O. Box 219 Trout, La. 71371 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** TIPS FOR SEARCHING RECORDS ON THE INTERNET Netscape & Ms Explorer users: If you are searching for a particular surname, locality or date while going through the records in the archives or anywhere....try these few steps: 1. Go to the top of the report you are searching. 2. Click on EDIT at the top of your screen 3. Next click on FIND in the edit menu. 4. When the square pops up, enter what you are looking for in the FIND WHAT ___________blank. 5. Click on DIRECTION __DOWN. 6. And last click on FIND NEXT and continue to click on FIND NEXT until you reach the end of the report. This should highlight the item that you indicated in "find what" every place it appears in the report. You must continue to click on FIND NEXT till you reach the end of the report to see all of the locations of the item indicated. The Jena Times Olla-Tullos Signal, your parish newspaper, begins its 94th year of operation with this issue, thus being the oldest continuously operated business within the parish. Established in 1905, some five years before LaSalle Parish was created from part of Catahoula Parish on January 1, 1910, the newspaper has now completed 93 years of service to residents of LaSalle and surrounding parishes. Providing that no weeks of publication were missed during those 93 years, this week's edition represents the 4,874th edition since 1905. The present editor and publisher, Sammy J. Franklin, begins his 32nd year in that capacity and has actually edited 1,621 editions of the paper since January 1, 1968. This represents one-third (33 percent) of all editions published since 1905. Franklin was the youngest publisher in the state at age 27 when he purchased the paper in 1968, however, a recap of previous owners and editors of the paper back through the years revealed that Franklin was not the youngest owner of the paper. Lee Brooks, father of Rev. K. G. Brooks of Jena and several other well-known Brooks children, first formed The Jena Times back in 1905 at the age of 23. He operated the paper for about a year, then his father, J. M. Brooks took over the operation until 1908 when the paper was sold to A. S. Harrell. Proceeding him in 1904, Walter White started The Jena Tribune which operated about eight months. At that time, the newspaper was located in an office located on the corner where KJNA Radio now maintains offices and studios. In 1914, Harrell purchased a site on Second Street, next to the Jena Town Hall, from W. W. Adams. In early 1979, the newspaper offices were moved to their present location at the corner of Third and Elm Street as the old building and site was purchased by the LaSalle State Bank (now Southern Heritage Bank) for expansion purposes. Harrell operated the paper by himself from 1907 until 1916 when H. Street Hudspeth came to Jena and purchased half interest in the paper. It is not clear what happened to Harrell after that time, but Hudspeth owned the paper until his death in 1926, when it reverted to his widow and son, Street Jr. In 1928, Q. R. Hudson, Clerk of Court at that time, and J. Paul Wade Purchased the paper and Wade served as editor for a couple of years and alter the partnership was dissolved in 1933. A corporation with C. I. Humphries as president was formed and the group purchased the paper. After several unsuccessful years during the height of the Great Depression, the corporation was dissolved and the paper went back to Mrs. Hudspeth. She managed to get Wade back as editor, a position he held until his death in the mid-30s. After that, Edwin Rice operated the paper for Mrs. Hudspeth. During the first year of World War II, Mrs. Hudspeth had trouble finding someone to operate the paper and it operated at a handicap. It was in 1943 that the late R. W. Wagners leased the paper and operated it as a team. Later in 1946, the Wagners purchased the paper from Mrs. Hudspeth and heirs. The Wagners continued to operate the paper for a quarter of a century, from 1943 to 1968 when it was sold to Franklin. It was under the Wagners that the paper purchased its first web (roll) fed newspaper press. Type was set on linotypes and other hot typesetting equipment for printing. In 1969, a year and a half after Franklin had acquired the newspaper, the first real change came when the paper was converted from letterpress to offset printing which has continued and allowed the paper to grow with a growing parish. During the past 31 years, the paper has grown and now ranks as one of the largest weekly newspapers serving a trade territory of its size. It has also been an award winning newspaper during these years, with numerous plaques and other awards lining the walls of the office in recognition of outstanding service. The newspaper adopted a slogan, "Dedicated to the progress and Growth of LaSalle Parish," in 1968, and it remains loyal to that slogan today as it begins its 94th year of operation. It remains only six years away from celebrating its Centennial Anniversary. Thus older than the parish it serves, The Jena Times Olla-Tullos Signal celebrated another birthday and begins its 94th year of operation...thanks to the support from LaSalle businesses and citizens. Plans are being laid at this time for the Centennial observance of the paper in the year 2005.