544 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI senger and consolidated the two papers under the name of the Enterprise-Messenger. He continued the publication under this name until 1887. when he transferred it to R. H. Junes, and then founded a paper he called the Xetr SoiitJieast. After a short time he removed it to St. Louis. Jones changed the name to Tin Dexter Messenger and the paper was afterwards bought by Hill and Watkins in 1894. The present owner and editor, Webb Watkins. bought out the interest of Mr. Hill in 1899. The Messenger is Democratic in politics and is not only one of the old papers of this section, but also one of its influential papers as well. The Dexter IStatesmaji is published at Dex- ter, its editor and proprietor being Edmund P. Crowe. The paper is classed as an inde- pendent Democratic paper. The Statesman was formerly the Sikeston. Missouri. Enter- prise, which was established in Sikeston in 1883. llie Enterprise was published and con- trolled by a number of people, the last of whom was ]. 6. Gresham, by whom it was sold to E. P. Crowe in 1910. Crowe re- moved the entire plant to Dexter and has continued the publication of the paper since that time. The Piixicd Index was established by E. J. Hickman in 1895. Later it was published for a time by G. N. Wynenger. It is at pres- ent under control of Marion Harty. The Index has always been Democratic in its polit- ical affiliations. The Essex Lender is published at Essex in Stoddard county and is owned and edited by D. O. C. Brydon. The piiblication of the paper was liegun May 15, 1908, by ]Ir. Bry- don, who has owned it continuously since that time. It is a live paper and very much de- voted to the agricultural and business inter- ests of Essex and the surrounding country. Advance has no paper at present, though for a time one was published there. This was the Advance Guard, which was established in 1903 by G. M. Brydon. He continued it for some years. The Bernie Star, an independent paper, ■was established in 1905 by J. B. Daniels. Later John Russell published it. Others in- terested in it were DeWitt Henderson and 0. B. Parrott. The present editor is Claud Wilkins, and The Star is independent in its politics. The first newspaper published in W^ashing- ton county was The Miners' Prospect, estab- lished at Potosi September, 1846, by Phillip G. Ferguson and F. A. Dalla. It was an in- dependent paper and passed out of existence in 1849. The next paper established in the county was The Wasliington County Miner, which was published by N. P. Buck, begin- ning in 1856 and was discontinued in 1861. After the war, George B. Clark established The Washington County Journal, in 1867, and transferred it to Eli D. Ake in 1872. He soon removed it to Ironton. The Potosi Inele- pendent was establislied in 1873 by Frank Harris, who published it until his death in 1886. It was sold to Henry C. Bell in 1888. The Potosi Free Press was started by Jesse W. Homan in 1886, but was soon discon- tinued. In 1888 The Potosi Eagle began a publication as an independent paper and had a struggle for existence for a few years and finally passed out of existence. Another paper was The Republican, established in 1887. and published for a short time. The Washington County Journal was established in August, 1894, by F. M. Deggendorf. The Independent and The Journal have had an im- u.sual history. Since Henry C. Bell pur- chased TJie Independent in 1886 he has con-
