Americus Times-Recorder
HISTORY
Newspaper
Note: July 10, 1900 - November 30, 1925 digitized as a part of the 2019/2021 NDNP grant cycle.
Essay written for Chronicling America: "Prominent Americus citizen and lawyer, Merrel Callaway, and J. R. Christian, established the Americus Tri-Weekly Recorder in mid-May 1879 in Americus, Georgia; the four-page paper carried a subscription rate of four dollars. Although the older Sumter Republican retained legal advertising for Sumter County, the Recorder became neighboring Webster County's paper of record. Callaway editorially advocated for the Democratic Party, but he set a precedent by promoting Americus and Southwest Georgia issues. William L. Glessner purchased the Recorder in December 1881 with the intention of making Americus “the commercial centre of Southwest Georgia.” By 1884, assisted by H. C. Storey, Glessner transitioned to daily circulation, and the Americus Daily Recorder became Sumter County’s legal organ in February 1885.
In January 1890, a stock company led by Callaway established the Americus Times as a daily morning paper. R. H. Brumby and J. W. Furlow served as editors for the Times, which quickly became a direct competitor to the Recorder. Americus proved unable to sustain two daily papers, and both titles suspended publication in March 1891. Bascom Myrick, however, organized a merger, and the combined Americus Times-Recorder appeared in April 1891. Myrick became editor in chief and business manager while Glessner, Alf Harper, and Furlow assisted him. After the merger, Glesser wrote, “one good paper, well sustained, will do more for Americus than two papers fighting for an existence . . . .”
Following Bascom Myrick’s death on August 8, 1895, his wife, Marie Louise Myrick, took over as the paper’s owner, publisher, and editor, briefly becoming the only woman in Georgia to hold such a title. She managed the Times-Recorder for 12 years before retiring in March 1907 and selling the publication to Thomas Gamble Jr., a future mayor of Savannah. Gamble published the paper with the assistance of Furlow and C. H. Lowe until Frank T. Long took over in late 1912. Quimby Melton, son of Georgia’s future Poet Laureate Wightman F. Melton, joined the Times-Recorder in June 1913. Under Quimby Melton’s direction, the newspaper transitioned into an afternoon publishing cycle. Melton departed in August 1915, and several managing editors passed through the Times-Recorder offices, including Cranston Williams, Frank Mangum, William S. Kirkpatrick, and, finally, Lovelace Eve. Eve joined the Times-Recorder Publishing Company in November 1918, and became sole owner of the newspaper by 1922.
After a banking panic in July 1926 affected advertising revenue, Eve was forced to shutter the Times-Recorder in late 1928, but William Prescott Allen revived the paper when he acquired its materials at a sheriff’s auction in 1929. Allen subsequently sold out to a newspaper syndicate in January 1931. This syndicate appointed James R. Blair, an Americus resident, as managing editor, and he eventually purchased the newspaper in 1936. The Blair family owned the Times-Recorder until the 1980s, when Thomson Newspapers bought the paper and later sold it to Community Newspapers, Inc. To this day, the Americus Times-Recorder is owned by Boone Newspapers, Inc. and continues to serve as the legal organ for Americus and Sumter County."
Other
New Georgia Encyclopedia entry on the Americus Movement, Civil Rights Era activism, which followed the Albany Movement.
City
County seat of Sumter County
37.5 miles north of Albany, Ga.
County
Superior Court Districts
Chattahoochee Circuit, Dec. 26 1831-Dec. 10, 1840
Southwestern Circuit, Dec. 10, 1840-
Population - Census
1840: 5,759
1850: 10,322
1860: 9,428
1870: 16,559
1880: 18,239
1890: 22,107
1900: 26,212
1910: 29,092
1920: 29,640
1930: 26,800
1940: 24,502
1950: 24,208
1960: 24,652
1970: 26,931
ALREADY DIGITIZED BY DLG
Semi-weekly Sumter Republican; Aug. 26, 1882 - Sept. 22, 1883
The Americus recorder tri-weekly; Dec. 2, 1881 - Sept. 14, 1884
Americus times-recorder; Apr. 19, 1891 - Nov. 30, 1925 (NDNP Cycle 2)
Americus weekly times-recorder; Oct. 31, 1902 - Sept. 6, 1907
FILM HOLDINGS Within Proposed Theme (64 Reels)
Dec 1, 1925 - May 31, 1926
Jun 1, 1926 - Jul 9, 1926; Aug 3, 1926 - Dec 29, 1926
Jan 14, 1927 - Jun 27, 1927; Jul 9, 1927 - Jul 30, 1927
Aug 1, 1927 - Feb 29, 1928
Mar 1, 1928 - Aug 31, 1928
Apr 1, 1929 - Sep 30, 1929
Sep 1, 1928 - Dec 14, 1929; Jan 5, 1929 - Mar 30, 1929
Oct, 1, 1929 - Dec 30, 1929; Apr 1, 1930 - May 28, 1930; Jan 1, 1931 - Feb 27, 1931
Mar 1, 1931 - Sep 30, 1931
Oct 1, 1931 - May 30, 1932
Jun 1, 1932 - Jan 31, 1933
Feb 1, 1933 - Sep 30, 1933
Oct 2, 1933 - May 31, 1934
Jun 1, 1934 - Jan 31, 1935
Feb 1, 1935 - Aug 31, 1935
Sep 2, 1935 - Mar 31. 1926
Apr 1, 1936 - Oct 31, 1936
Nov 2, 1936 - Jun 28, 1937
Jul 1, 1937 - Feb 28, 1938
Mar 1, 1938 - Oct 31, 1938
Nov 1, 1938 - May 31, 1939
Jun 1, 1939 - Dec 30, 1939
Jan 1, 1940 - Aug 31, 1940
Sep 2, 1940 - Apr 30, 1941
May 1, 1941 - Dec 31, 1941
Jan 1, 1942 - Aug 31, 1942
Sep 1, 1942 - Apr 30, 1943
May 1, 1943 - Dec 30, 1943
Jan 1, 1944 - Aug 31, 1944
Sep 1, 1944 - Apr 30, 1945
May 1, 1945 - Dec 31, 1945
Jan 1, 1946 - Jul 31, 1946
Aug 1, 1946 - Mar 31, 1947
Apr 1, 1947 - Nov 28, 1947
Dec1, 1947 - Jul 31, 1948
Aug 2, 1948 - Feb 28, 1949
Mar 1, 1949 - Sep 30, 1949
Oct 1, 1949 - Apr 29, 1950
May 1, 1950 - Oct 31, 1950
Nov 1, 1950 - May 31, 1951
Jun 1, 1951 - Dec 31, 1951
Jan 2, 1952 - Jul 31, 1952
Aug 1, 1952 - Jan 31, 1953
Feb 2, 1953 - Jul 31, 1953
Aug 1, 1953 - Jan 30. 1954
Feb 1, 1954 - Aug 31, 1954
Sep 1, 1954 - Feb 28, 1955
Mar 1, 1955 - Aug 31, 1955
Sep 1, 1955 - Feb 29, 1956
Mar 1, 1956 - Aug 31, 1956
Sep 1, 1956 - Feb 28, 1957
Mar 1, 1957 - Aug 31, 1957
Sep 2, 1957 - Feb 28, 1958
Mar 1, 1958 - Sep 30, 1958
Oct 1, 1958 - Mar 31, 1959
Apr - Sep 1959
Oct 1959 - Apr 1960
May - Oct 1960
Nov 1960 - Apr 1961
May - Oct 1961
Nov 1961 - Apr 1962
May - Oct 15, 1962
Oct 16, 1962 - Apr 18, 1963
Apr 19 - Oct 15, 1963