South Branch Intelligencer (Romney, Va. [W. Va.])
Historic newspapers carry the language, views and graphic reporting of their time, including racist content. They are shown to teen and adult profiles.
1,596 issues from 1834 to 1896, published in Romney, West Virginia, digitised for Chronicling America.
Located in Romney, West Virginia, the South Branch Intelligencer served eastern West Virginia as a source of news and politics throughout the 19th century. The newspaper was the product of William Harper, a young editor from a family of editors: William’s father George ran The Franklin Repository in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania for many years, while William learned the printing business from his older brother Kenton, editor of the Staunton Spectator in Virginia. In 1829, William Harper moved from Staunton to Romney and established the Hampshire and Hardy Intelligencer, but by 1830 renamed it the South Branch Intelligencer. Under Harper’s leadership, the Intelligencer would continue publication for nearly six decades.
In the years before the American Civil War, the Intelligencer promoted Whig politics and as the clouds of war loomed in 1860 and 1861, it advocated for settlement of the slave question within the Union. Yet the eruption of the Civil War swept over Romney and the nation regardless; the town of Romney endured occupation by both sides numerous times throughout the war. The war’s turmoil left Harper unable to produce the Intelligencer and the paper ceased publication from 1861 to 1865. With the cessation of hostilities, however, Harper quickly revived the Intelligencer. In the post-war era, the newspaper supported the Democratic Party, although politics rarely dominated the Intelligencer‘s pages. Instead, the newspaper devoted most of its columns to local and…
- Genres
- News
- Published in
- Romney, West Virginia, 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