HISTORY OP SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 545 tinued its publication without change, and Mr. Deggendorf has been in charge of The Journal since he became connected with it in 1894. These long terms of service bespeak unusual success in the conduct of papers, as measured by the standards of Southeast Mis- souri. The Independent is Democratic while its rival. The Journal, is Republican in pol- itics. There have been some other ventures in the newspaper field in Washington eoimty, which have not proved so successful. About 1901, Will D. Wright began to issue two papers at Belgrade. One of these was an independent pctper called The Messenger, and the other was religious and was named the Farmington District Messenger. They were soon discon- tinued. Soon afterward Dean Gibson began the issuance of the Washington County Ga- zette at Irondale. The office was later re- moved. The first newspaper published in Piedmont, Wayne county, was called The Banner. It was founded in 1872 by Banks and Crawford. They soon sold out, however, to S. B. Sprowl, who removed the paper to Patterson and pub- lished it under the name of Patterson Times until 1876; he then came back to Piedmont with the paper and after a few months dis- continued its publication. In March, 1878, The Vindicator was established by B. E. H. Warren. About the close of that year The Vindicator was sold to T. L. Roussin and moved to Bloomfield, where it was published under the title of the Bloomfield Vindicator. In 1885 G. T. Gale established The Piedmont Ranihlcr and somewhat later the paper be- came Icnown as The Piedmont Leader and was published by W. B. Harris. The office with all of its material was destroyed by fire in 1888. In 1892 The Piedmont Weekly Banner was established by Dr. J. N. Holmes, Vol. 1—3 5 who continued its publication for a time and then sold out to Charles Mitchim. After Mitchim's ownership the paper was published for a time by Rev. Mr. Wilson, W. H. Lewis and others. In 1905 Lewis sold The Banner to the present owner and editor, Bristol P'rench. Mr. French proceeded to put the office in good condition, equipping it with modern machinery and presses. The Banner is a Democratic paper. Some other ventures at Piedmont have been Crucible, a religious paper published by the Christian Publishing Company. This was in 1893 and the enterprise came to an end within a few months. John Marsh at about the same time published The Herald, which was a Re- publican paper. It, too, soon disappeared. A number of papers have been published in Greenville, Wayne county. The first of these was The Reporter, established about 1869, by C. P. Rotroek and afterward pub- lished by Prank C. Neely & Company. A. W. Banks began the publication of the Greenville Democrat in March, 1872. This paper, how- ever, was afterwards removed to Piedmont in 1876. The Weekly Journal was established by J. N. Morrison, who continued its publi- cation about two years and was succeeded by John T. Rhodes. Rhodes sold the paper in 1881 to A. T. Lacey and he in turn trans- ferred it to John G. Settle in 1886. It then passed into the control of J. N. Holmes, who at the same time conducted with great suc- cess the Piedmont Banner. It was afterward transferred to a number of persons. Clarence Carleton published it for a time, as did C. C. Mitchim. It is now owned by G. W. Stiver and Will- iam B. Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy is the editor of the paper, which is Democratic in politics. The Greenville Sun was established in 1894 by S. A. Bates. It was issued as the
