Watertown Republican (Watertown, Wis.)
Historic newspapers carry the language, views and graphic reporting of their time, including racist content. They are shown to teen and adult profiles.
2,112 issues from 1860 to 1906, published in Watertown, Wisconsin, digitised for Chronicling America.
Watertown straddles the border between Wisconsin’s Jefferson and Dodge counties. The first white settlers appeared in 1836, attracted to the rapids in the Rock River, which supplied power to mills. Watertown became a transportation hub with the completion of the Milwaukee-Watertown plank road in 1853 and the railroad in 1855. It grew to be the second largest city in Wisconsin by the mid-1850s, buoyed by a large influx of German settlers. Watertown was home to the unique Octagon House (1854), the first kindergarten in the country, the Turner movement, and the Wisconsin Dairyman’s Association, marking the start of commercial dairying in the state.
Launched on June 15, 1860, theRepublican was Watertown’s fifth newspaper; the first, the Watertown Chronicle, was established in 1847. The Republican provided an alternate political view in the region. Daniel W. Ballou, publisher of The Watertown Democrat, remarked that the Republican
is edited with ability, and [its editor] Mr. [John] Lawton has the capacity and experience requisite for making it a valuable auxiliary in the Republican cause. If his party friends do not give him a hearty, living support, they are undeserving of any organ for all time to come and ought forever to be without one. Watertown should … be not only able but willing to support two English papers and support them well.
By the late 1870s, the Republican had become the largest newspaper in Jefferson County. Its political stance has been described as…
- Genres
- News
- Published in
- Watertown, Wisconsin, 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