The Monticellonian (Monticello, Ark.)
Historic newspapers carry the language, views and graphic reporting of their time, including racist content. They are shown to teen and adult profiles.
815 issues from 1894 to 1919, published in Monticello, Arkansas, digitised for Chronicling America.
Monticello is the largest town in southeastern Arkansas. It was founded in 1849 to house the county seat of the newly formed Drew County. The town name was likely chosen after Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia estate. Monticello built a courthouse in 1851 and was incorporated in 1852; multiple churches, academies, public buildings, and services soon followed. The earliest newspaper was The Sage of Monticello (1857-186?), a reference to Thomas Jefferson. During the Civil War, there were three minor skirmishes in Monticello when Union forces raided the town in search of supplies, artillery, and Confederate soldiers. In 1880, the Little Rock, Mississippi River, and Texas Railroad (later the Iron Mountain Railroad) built a track through town. In the early 1900s, cotton gins, fertilizer plants, ice plants, and a canning factory were the major businesses in Monticello.
Dr. William Henry Barry started The Monticellonian in 1870. Barry previously published The Sage of Monticello and The Monticello Guardian (1865-1868). Barry moved away from The Monticellonian but continued to work in the newspaper business for a time in Little Rock. Eventually, he moved to Hot Springs where he was a prominent physician.
James Richard Cotham bought half interest in The Monticellonian in 1873, and in 1875, Adolphus A. Ramsey bought the other half of the paper from Barry. The two then published the paper together as Cotham & Ramsey. In 1881, Cotham became sole proprietor and editor. At times, The…
- Genres
- News
- Published in
- Monticello, Arkansas, United States
- Language
- English
- Collection
- Chronicling America
- Licence or status
- None stated by the archive
- Rights
- The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety.
- Credit
- Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities
- Who can read it
- Teens profiles and older (placed by Invisible Network from what the archive says; archives give no ratings)
- Archive
- Library of Congress