Montgomery County TN Archives History - Books .....The Daily Leaf Chronicle 1913
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Book Title: A History Of Tennessee And Tennesseans

   THE DAILY LEAF CHRONICLE. The history of the Daily Leaf Chronicle, now in the

one hundred and sixth year of its existence (1808-1913) and the oldest newspaper

in the state, is one that is most interesting to contemplate, and anything like

an adequate record of the fortunes of the paper involves more or less detail

with relation to the men who have had charge of its publication with the passing

years. The paper was founded in 1808 by one Francis Richardson, concerning whom

but little is known definitely beyond the salient facts that he was a man of the

strictest integrity, systematic and painstaking in all he did in the course of

his life, and altogether a most suitable character to train the boy who

eventually became his successor in the publication of the Chronicle. That boy

was Ewing P. McGinty, a youth of Scotch-Irish descent and ancestry, and a native

of Palmyra, Montgomery county, Tennessee. His father died when he was a lad and

he thereafter bore the burden of the support of his widowed mother. He entered

the office of the Chronicle at an early age, and served a thorough

apprenticeship to the printing trade. He was yet a young man when he became the

editor of the paper, and his connection with it was always a most successful

one. His education was secured in the print shop, and he reached a noble and

useful manhood, despite the fact that he was reared under untoward circumstances

in a time when dissipation among the youth of the land had many devotees.



   In 1848 Ewing McGinty was elected by the Whig party to the state legislature,

and he served his district with honor and distinction. It was in that year that

he established the Tri-Weekly Chronicle, but the venture was not a success and

after sis months he disposed of the paper, suffering something of a pecuniary

loss in the doing, and R. W. Thomas, then editor of the Green River Whig of

Hopkinsville, Kentucky, took over the Chronicle. It was about that time that Mr.

McGinty married Miss Mary McGavock, soon after which he was tendered an offer of

the editorship of the True Whig, one of the leading political dailies of

Nashville, with which he continued to be long identified.



   Robert Warner Thomas, who became the owner of the Chronicle, was born near

Charlottesville, Virginia, on March 21,1808. He was ever a diligent student and

was considered a ripe scholar in his early manhood. He became editor of the

Green River Whig in 1835, and assumed the ownership of the Chronicle in 1849, as

stated in a previous paragraph. He continued in its ownership from then until

1857, and he was known as one of the ablest political editorial writers in the

state, many of his editorials being used by contemporaries throughout the land.

In 1857 he sold out to Neblett & Grant, but continued to hold the position of

political editor with the paper, serving in that capacity until the outbreak of

the Civil war, and again resumed the duties of that position following the

cessation of hostilities, continuing therein until death claimed him. Mr. Thomas

was a chaste and graceful writer, and was recognized as one of the most forceful

political writers of his time. He died in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 22, 1876.



   Between the years of 1857 and 1878 the paper was conducted by Messrs. J. S.

Neblett and J. A. Grant, under the firm name of Neblett & Grant. At the fall of

Fort Donelson, when the city was taken by the Federal troops, the paper was

suspended until the close of hostilities. From a medium sized sheet, printed on

a Washington hand press in the ante-bellum days, the paper was enlarged to

double medium size, with a Potter power press. Of those men whose writings have

been instrumental in part in giving character and prominence to the paper may be

mentioned: Dr. Daniel F. Wright; Edward C. Campbell; R. H. Yancey, now

editor-in-chief of the Nashville Banner, and Capt. F. M. Duffy.



   Owing to failing health, J. A. Grant sold his interest in the Chronicle to W.

P. Titus, January 1, 1878, and under the firm name of Neblett & Titus the paper

was conducted until September, 1885. In 1885 Mr. Titus bought Mr. Neblett's

interest, becoming the sole owner of the Chronicle.



   The evolution of the paper in the way of its operative facilities is most

interesting to note, and the progress of the publication along these lines is

set forth briefly at this juncture. It was first printed on what was known as a

Ramage press, similar to the one used by Benjamin Franklin. Its nest, step was

the use of the Smith press, and it was later printed on a Washington press.

Today its facilities include fast presses and Mergenthalers. A venture into the

daily field was made by Mr. Titus, but after a short time the publication of the

Daily Chronicle was discontinued. On July 10, 1890, the Weekly Chronicle was

sold by Mr. Titus to Brandon & Barksdale, proprietors of the Daily Tobacco Leaf,

who consolidated the two papers under the name of Daily Tobacco Leaf-Chronicle.

Later the word "Tobacco" was dropped from the name of the paper, because of the

impression it gave abroad that it was a trade paper devoted exclusively to the

tobacco interests.



   A word here in reference to The Tobacc Leaf, which, at the time of the

consolidation, was the more influential and prosperous of the two The Tobacco

Leaf was established February 11, 1869, by Martin V. Ingram, who commenced his

newspaper career in Springfield, Tennessee, in 1866, when he founded The

Robertson Register. He was induced to come to Clarksville by the commercial and

tobacco interests of the city, and to exploit and promote these interests began

the publication, as before stated, of the Weekly Tobacco Leaf. Associated with

him, at various times, were Charles O. Faxon, H. M. Doak, and Maj. Clay Stacker.

In 1881, the paper, which was then published semi-weekly, became the property of

Walter O. Brandon and William W. Barksdale, under the firm name of Brandon &

Barksdale. Under this management the paper increased in prestige and prosperity,

was converted into a daily publication and acquired, as before stated, the

Chronicle in 1890.



   In March of 1891, Mr. Barksdale purchased the interest of Mr. Brandon, and

since that time has conducted the paper alone, having the distinction of being

the owner and editor of the oldest paper in the state of Tennessee.



   Concerning the life of Mr. Barksdale, it may be said that he was born on June

27, 1857. He was educated in the old Stewart College at Clarksville, and later,

in 1872, entered the office of The Tobacco Leaf as an apprentice to the printing

trade. He has been continuously connected with the paper since that time, a

period of forty-one years. Under his ownership the paper has kept fully abreast

of the times, mechanically and otherwise. He has made the Leaf-Chronicle a

powerful factor in the moral and material advancement of the community and to

him belongs the further distinction of having a longer connection with the paper

than any of his predecessors. He is the son of Wilton Galloway Barksdale, a

native North Carolinian, who came to Tennessee in his young manhood. He engaged

in the building business in this state, which he followed until his death on May

17, 1884, when he was fifty-eight years old. He married Araminta Donna Martin,

of Kentucky, and they were the parents of three children, the subject being the

youngest of the trio. The wife and mother died in July, 1907, aged seventy-five

years. Wilton Galloway Barksdale was the son of Hudson Barksdale, a noted

educator of North Carolina, in which state he lived and died.



   William Wallace Barksdale, the proprietor of the Leaf-Chronicle, was united

in marriage on December 26, 1893, to Miss Wilhelmina Sickenberger, who before

marriage was instructor in German in the Evansville, Indiana, schools, and one

son has been born to them,— W. W. Barksdale, Jr., born on January 26, 1912. Mrs.

Barksdale is a gifted woman of intellectual and executive ability and for a

number of years after her marriage was actively associated with her husband in

the conduct of the paper. She is prominent in the literary and social life of

Clarksville.



   Mr. Barksdale has been a member of the Baptist church since his boyhood, and

his wife is also a member of that church. He is a Democrat in politics, and

takes a lively interest in the activities of the party in his state. He is a

member of the Masonic fraternity, and is past eminent commander of Clarksville

Commandery No. 8. He is further affiliated in a fraternal way with the

Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Benevolent and

Protective Order of Elks.



Additional Comments:
From:



A history of Tennessee and Tennesseans : the leaders and representative men in

commerce, industry and modern activities

by Will T. Hale

Chicago:  Lewis Pub. Co.,  1913



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