INDIANA NEWSPAPER
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(Review by Pat Wilkinson)
The Indiana Newspaper Bibliography by John W. Miller was published by the
Indiana Historical Society in 1982; it contains historical accounts of all
Indiana newspapers published from 1804 to 1980 and locational information
for all available copies, both original and microfilm. The volume contains
the following information for each newspaper: place of publication; all
known titles; publication frequency; establishment, merger, and termination
dates; all known editors and publishers; political or special-interest
affiliation; languages used other than English; and holdings information for
all original and microfilm copies. Also included are publishing histories of
the eight thousand Indiana newspapers.
Scanning through the town and newspaper titles found in this book may alert
you to newspapers, which might have printed information about your
ancestors. The following direct quote appears at the end of the book
preface:
“This newspaper bibliography undoubtedly contains errors; however, the
reader should realize that in cases where founding and termination dates,
spellings of names and titles, and other information differ from statements
given in county histories and other secondary sources, this implies that
direct examination of the actual newspapers or other reliable evidence has
revealed information that conflicts with these sources. In fact, there are
so many spelling and factual errors in most county histories that the reader
will find many discrepancies between the county histories and this
bibliography. Conflicts among sources are common, and we have tried to rely
on actual copies of the newspapers for information, supplemented by the most
reliable secondary sources available.”
Excerpted information from page 51: “Two Bowling Green papers have borne the
title Aurora Borealis: The first was started by A. True LANSING on January
1, 1865, as a continuation of the Clay County Democrat. In July, 1869,
Lansing sold this Democratic paper to Samuel B. RILEY, who changed the title
to the Constitution. The second Aurora Borealis, also founded by A. True
LANSING, issued its first number on July 5, 1871, and supported the
Democratic Party in politics. Three months later Lansing moved the paper to
Knightsville.”
Other Bowling Green papers listed were started, owned, published, or edited
by the following men: James M. OLIVER, John OSBORN, Thomas DILLON, Josiah
HAMBLETON, Daniel W. LUSK, George W. WILTSE, Clint M. THOMPSON, Thomas J.
GRAY, N.L. WILLARD, __WHEELER, __CARTER, Simon HIRSCH, H. DAUSEN, Jason W.
BROWN, P. T. LUTHER, A. J. MONTGOMERY, C. M. LEEKS, William TRAVIS, Samuel
K. CHRISTIE, and KRIEDELBACH.
The book organized by counties; with the index it contains 538 pages. The
book may be found in the Indiana Section of our library under 070/MIL.Newspapers
are also listed for Brazil, Carbon, Center Point, Clay City, Knightsville,
Martz, Saline City, and Staunton.
Two newspapers were listed for Staunton: Roy STEWART founded The Sentinel in
1901. This politically independent journal was printed in Bloomington,
Illinois. It was suspended after about one year of publishing, but it was
later revived and lasted until after 1909. The Star was initiated by C. C.
ORRELL (or ARRELL) in 1892, was printed in Bloomington, Illinois, and had a
life of two years.
Jason W. BROWN around September 1882, in the town of Saline, revived the
Clay County Review, formerly published in Bowling Green and Brazil. It was
discontinued about Jan. 1883.