Western Carolinian [1]
Western Carolinian
The Western Carolinian was founded in Salisbury on 13 June 1820, with Jacob Krider and Lemuel [2] Bingham [2] as editors. The western counties of North Carolina, more sparsely populated than those in the east, had long needed a newspaper [3]to voice its desire for equal representation in the state [4] legislature [4] and otherwise serve its interests. Salisbury, as the region's largest city, was an ideal location for such a paper. In most antebellum [5]political newspapers, national politics received the majority of the editorial attention, but the Western Carolinian was a leader in [6] the movement to increase coverage of state issues. The obvious determination of western North Carolina-so forcefully confirmed on the pages of the Carolinian-led other editors to take sides on these issues, which included the establishment of a public school system [7] and a public college in the west, internal improvements [8], the convening of a constitutional convention, the need for a state penitentiary, the care of the handicapped, and free suffrage for all white males. Although it changed hands and political affiliations several times, the Western Carolinian remained a strong advocate of the economic growth and political rights of western counties until it ceased publication in 1844.
Reference:
Thad Stem Jr., The Tar Heel Press (1973).
Additional Resources:
Search the Western Carolinian at the North Carolina Newspaper Digitization Project: http://exhibits.archives.ncdcr.gov/newspaper/search.html [9] (accessed November 1, 2013).
Chaffin, Kathy. "Early Salisbury newspapers among those online." SalisburyPost.com. January 5, 2010. http://www.salisburypost.com/News/010510-Early-newspaper-archives-online [10] (accessed September 6, 2012).
"State Archives Launches Online Newspaper Collection." Federation Bulletin 30. No. 1. March 2010. p. 4. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/Documents/Detail/federation-bulletin-2010-march-v.30-no.1/1837976 [11] (accessed September 6, 2012).
Rumple, Jethro. A History of Rowan County North Carolina Containing Sketches of Prominent Families and Distinguished Men with an Appendix. Salisbury. N. C.: J. J. Bruner. 1881. p.20-22, 323, 330. https://archive.org/stream/historyofrowanco00rump#page/n3/mode/2up [12] (accessed September 6, 2012).
Image Credits:
"The first issue of the Western Carolinian a newspaper from Salisbury North Carolina, published by Krider and Bingham on Tuesday, June 13, 1820." State Archives of North Carolina. https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn84026486/1820-06-13/ed-1/seq-1/ [6]
1 January 2006 | Williams, Wiley J.