Dallas Herald
Encyclopedia
Two newspapers of general circulation in Dallas
, Texas
(USA
) have operated under the name Dallas Herald.
, settled there in 1841. The first local newspaper appeared in 1849, when James Wellington Latimer (known as “Weck,” “Wake,” and “Mark”) established a weekly newspaper, the Dallas Herald. Latimer and William Wallace had purchased the Texas Times, published in Paris, Texas
, and moved it to Dallas to become the Herald. The first few issues may have appeared under the name the Cedar Snag, but the nameplate read Dallas Herald by December 1849.
Latimer became sole owner and editor
when Wallace retired in 1850. John W. Swindells became part owner in 1854 and sole owner when Latimer died in 1859. It appears that J. L. Bartow acquired the publishing company in March 1877. In 1879 P. S. Pfouts, J. E. Elliott, and W. L. Hall acquired the company.
The paper was renamed the Dallas Weekly Herald in 1873. In 1874 the owners began a second publication, the Dallas Daily Herald, which appeared daily except Monday.
The Dallas Morning News
began publication on October 1, 1885 and later that year acquired the Weekly Herald and the Daily Herald, both of which ceased publication on December 8, 1885. Although most accounts of the demise of the Herald papers state or imply that the Morning News purchased the papers and closed them, contemporary accounts published in the Morning News could be read to say that the Herald owners decided to invest in the Morning News and to close their papers rather than selling them to new owners. The announcement in the Morning News said in part, “For personal and business reasons of their own, the proprietors and editors of the Dallas Herald, Col. P. S. Pfouts, Col. J. F. Elliott and Col. W. L. Hall have identified themselves with The News by becoming purchasers of its capital stock, and with sincere pleasure the announcement is made that they will hereafter contribute their individual efforts to promote the interests and secure the success of The News. This involved, of course, the discontinuance of the Dallas Herald, but no consolidation nor absorption, nor does it involve any changes in the business status, the business principles or the general policy of the News.” In any event, demise of the Herald newspapers removed the most serious competition of the Morning News and allowed it to acquire the Western Associated Press
franchise held by the Herald.
The Herald under Latimer supported the Democratic Party
, slavery
, transportation improvements, and education and opposed Sam Houston
. It urged Democrats to select the moderate Stephen A. Douglas
as the party’s 1860 presidential nominee, rather than a more extreme Southern partisan because Douglas probably could be elected and would listen to the concerns of the southern states
where a less moderate candidate would not likely be elected. When the Ku Klux Klan
appeared in Dallas soon after the end of the Civil War
, the Herald strongly condemned "the ignorant and superstitious members [of the Klan] threatening violence and revolution."
(publishers of the Morning News), dated November 30, 1885, to the effect that the Herald had turned over its subscription list to the Morning News and that the Morning News would fulfill those subscriptions with its own editions and solicited former Herald subscribers to become Morning News subscribers. These notices did not cease until early April.
M. H. Claytor operated this Herald for a few months. Claytor had been manager of the San Antonio Evening Times and in his Herald editorials often advocated for prohibition
. On June 7, 1886 it was acquired by Lafayette Lumpkin Foster, a journalist and then speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.
Foster was joined that fall by Charles Edwin Gilbert, secretary of the Texas Press Association and editor of the Abilene Reporter in Abilene, Texas
. Gilbert's Herald differed from its major competitor, the Morning News, by sometimes publishing one or more extra editions to report important news and in its appearance: while the Morning News was producing pages of solid gray type broken only by advertising, the Herald used wider columns and broke up its columns with small illustrations. Gilbert also was a prohibitionist and would not accept advertising for beer or other alcohol.
The paper lasted through the next year but merged with the Dallas Times
to form the Daily Times-Herald, which began publication on January 2, 1888 and which eventually was renamed the Dallas Times-Herald
and dropped the hyphen.
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
(USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) have operated under the name Dallas Herald.
First Dallas Herald (1849-1885)
The first permanent settler of Dallas, John Neely BryanJohn Neely Bryan
John Neely Bryan was a Presbyterian farmer, lawyer, and tradesman in the United States and founder of the city of Dallas, Texas.- Early life :...
, settled there in 1841. The first local newspaper appeared in 1849, when James Wellington Latimer (known as “Weck,” “Wake,” and “Mark”) established a weekly newspaper, the Dallas Herald. Latimer and William Wallace had purchased the Texas Times, published in Paris, Texas
Paris, Texas
Paris, Texas is a city located northeast of the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex in Lamar County, Texas, in the United States. It is situated in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods. Physiographically, these regions are part of the West Gulf Coastal Plain. In 1900, 9,358 people lived...
, and moved it to Dallas to become the Herald. The first few issues may have appeared under the name the Cedar Snag, but the nameplate read Dallas Herald by December 1849.
Latimer became sole owner and editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
when Wallace retired in 1850. John W. Swindells became part owner in 1854 and sole owner when Latimer died in 1859. It appears that J. L. Bartow acquired the publishing company in March 1877. In 1879 P. S. Pfouts, J. E. Elliott, and W. L. Hall acquired the company.
The paper was renamed the Dallas Weekly Herald in 1873. In 1874 the owners began a second publication, the Dallas Daily Herald, which appeared daily except Monday.
The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
began publication on October 1, 1885 and later that year acquired the Weekly Herald and the Daily Herald, both of which ceased publication on December 8, 1885. Although most accounts of the demise of the Herald papers state or imply that the Morning News purchased the papers and closed them, contemporary accounts published in the Morning News could be read to say that the Herald owners decided to invest in the Morning News and to close their papers rather than selling them to new owners. The announcement in the Morning News said in part, “For personal and business reasons of their own, the proprietors and editors of the Dallas Herald, Col. P. S. Pfouts, Col. J. F. Elliott and Col. W. L. Hall have identified themselves with The News by becoming purchasers of its capital stock, and with sincere pleasure the announcement is made that they will hereafter contribute their individual efforts to promote the interests and secure the success of The News. This involved, of course, the discontinuance of the Dallas Herald, but no consolidation nor absorption, nor does it involve any changes in the business status, the business principles or the general policy of the News.” In any event, demise of the Herald newspapers removed the most serious competition of the Morning News and allowed it to acquire the Western Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
franchise held by the Herald.
The Herald under Latimer supported the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, transportation improvements, and education and opposed Sam Houston
Sam Houston
Samuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
. It urged Democrats to select the moderate Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen Arnold Douglas was an American politician from the western state of Illinois, and was the Northern Democratic Party nominee for President in 1860. He lost to the Republican Party's candidate, Abraham Lincoln, whom he had defeated two years earlier in a Senate contest following a famed...
as the party’s 1860 presidential nominee, rather than a more extreme Southern partisan because Douglas probably could be elected and would listen to the concerns of the southern states
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
where a less moderate candidate would not likely be elected. When the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
appeared in Dallas soon after the end of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the Herald strongly condemned "the ignorant and superstitious members [of the Klan] threatening violence and revolution."
Second Dallas Herald (1886-1888)
The Herald papers had been missing from the Dallas scene for barely more than a month when an item appeared in the Morning News on January 14, 1886 noting that “the first number of the Dallas Daily Herald made its appearance last evening. It is a crisp, bright paper of twenty-eight columns, in a nice new dress . . . .” Meanwhile the Morning News continued running daily notices from Herald Publishing Company and A. H. Belo & Co.Belo
Belo Corp. is a Dallas-based media company that owns 20 commercial broadcasting television stations and two regional 24-hour cable news television channels. The company was previously known as A.H. Belo Corp. after one of the early owners of the company, Alfred Horatio Belo, now the name of the...
(publishers of the Morning News), dated November 30, 1885, to the effect that the Herald had turned over its subscription list to the Morning News and that the Morning News would fulfill those subscriptions with its own editions and solicited former Herald subscribers to become Morning News subscribers. These notices did not cease until early April.
M. H. Claytor operated this Herald for a few months. Claytor had been manager of the San Antonio Evening Times and in his Herald editorials often advocated for prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
. On June 7, 1886 it was acquired by Lafayette Lumpkin Foster, a journalist and then speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.
Foster was joined that fall by Charles Edwin Gilbert, secretary of the Texas Press Association and editor of the Abilene Reporter in Abilene, Texas
Abilene, Texas
Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in west central Texas. The population was 117,063 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County...
. Gilbert's Herald differed from its major competitor, the Morning News, by sometimes publishing one or more extra editions to report important news and in its appearance: while the Morning News was producing pages of solid gray type broken only by advertising, the Herald used wider columns and broke up its columns with small illustrations. Gilbert also was a prohibitionist and would not accept advertising for beer or other alcohol.
The paper lasted through the next year but merged with the Dallas Times
Dallas Times
The Dallas Times was an afternoon newspaper published in Dallas, Texas from 1876 until it merged with the Dallas Herald in 1888 to form the Daily Times Herald....
to form the Daily Times-Herald, which began publication on January 2, 1888 and which eventually was renamed the Dallas Times-Herald
Dallas Times Herald
The Dallas Times Herald, founded in 1888 by a merger of the Dallas Times and the Dallas Herald, was once one of two major daily newspapers serving the Dallas, Texas area. It won three Pulitzer Prizes, all for photography, and two George Polk Awards, for local and regional reporting...
and dropped the hyphen.