Lee County Journal
HISTORY
Newspaper
Note: March 3, 1904 - December 28, 1923 was digitized as a part of the 2021/2023 NDNP grant cycle
1904-1974 of this title has been digitized by Advantage Archives, and is available here: http://leecounty.advantage-preservation.com
Established in 1898, the Lee County Journal served as Lee County's legal organ until it ceased publication in the late-20th century.
Essay written for Chronicling America: George L. Keen published the first four-page issue of the Lee County Journal in January 1898 in Smithville, Georgia. Previously, the county relied on newspapers in the nearby cities of Americus and Albany to carry legal advertisements and local news. Even after the Journal’s founding, the paper experienced several temporary suspensions as the county’s impoverished sharecropping community could not support a robust paper. The Journal’s editorial tone mirrored that of papers from neighboring counties and featured partisan content that firmly supported the Democratic Party and White supremacy. This editorial direction continued into the 20th century, when Lee County’s notorious reputation for violence against its Black residents led civil rights activists to select the county for early integration efforts in the 1960s.
Keen managed the paper until March 1900 when he sold it to C. A. Wallace, who subsequently moved the publication to the county seat of Leesburg in November 1901. Wallace managed the Journal until Alfred Z. Wesley and M. E. Tison purchased the paper in March 1904. Wesley left a month later, and illness forced Tison’s retirement in April 1905. Tison’s wife, Minnie Tison, then published the paper until Charles Howell Beazley acquired it in September 1905. Beazley gained attention across the state for his “Crackerlings and Caramels” column, which featured animated poems and editorials.
Beazley’s sprawling business interests and political aspirations, however, resulted in the sale of the Journal to D. D. Hall in May 1908. Hall was unable to sustain the Journal, and it ceased publication in February 1910. Prominent Lee County citizen Henry Lafayette Long then gathered enough investors to revive the Journal in May 1910. With no prior newspaper experience, Henry Long directed the paper until his son, Americus-Times Recorder [LCCN: sn89053204] editor Frank T. Long, assumed management of the Journal. Over the next four years, the paper’s subscriber base more than doubled under his direction. When Frank Long took a teaching job in Dawson, Georgia, in December 1914, Z. V. Blanton took over and controlled the sheet for two years.
J. G. Pruett purchased the paper in July 1916, but was largely an absentee owner, and he leased the paper out several times during his proprietorship. Mismanagement and editorial turnover led to a decline in readership, and the paper almost ceased publication. Beginning in September 1919, the Journal printing plant continued to regularly churn out issues, but each issue was nearly identical, with little else besides the date in the masthead altered. The paper was only briefly rejuvenated in January 1920, when John M. Sadler and Dan L. Avery bought the sheet. Both owners left in February, and the Journal entered another period of publishing reprints on a week-to-week basis.
When Julius Perryman Horne acquired the Journal in October 1920, it had less than 200 subscribers, the lowest in the history of the paper. Horne’s salutatory editorial followed common tropes for a welcoming address, and he promised to make Leesburg his home. Horne proved true to his word, and he lived in Leesburg until his death in 1962. Staying with the paper until his retirement in June 1934, Horne is the Journal’s longest-standing editor and owner. Following Horne’s departure, John Crouch became the new owner until J. L. Taylor of Talbotton purchased the Journal in 1936 and added it to his growing syndicate of newspapers. The Journal passed through the hands of several more owners before coming under the management of William O. Davis in the 1950s. Later that decade, the declining sheet lost its legal organ status to the Albany Herald [LCCN: sn89053577], and the Journal ceased publication in the 1960s.
City
County Seat of Lee County
11 Miles north of Albany
County
Other
Superior Court Districts
Chattahoochee Circuit, Dec. 1826 — Dec. 10, 1840
Southwestern Circuit, Dec. 10, 1840 —
Population - Census
1830: 1,680
1840: 4,520
1850: 6,660
1860: 7,196
1870: 9,567
1880: 10,577
1890: 9,074
1900: 10,344
1910: 11,679
1920: 10,904
1930: 8,328
1940: 7,837
1950: 6,674
1960: 6,674
1970: 7,044
ALREADY DIGITIZED BY DLG
Lee County Journal, Mar. 3, 1904 - Dec. 28, 1923 (NDNP Cycle 3)
FILM HOLDINGS within Proposed Theme (7 Reels)
Jan 4, 1924 - Sep 25, 1931
Oct 2, 1931 - Jun 26, 1936
Jul 3, 1936 - Jul 25, 1941
Aug 1, 1941 - Aug 29, 1947
Sep 5, 1947 - Jun 29, 1951
Jul 6, 1951 - Sep 28, 1956
Oct 5, 1956 - Jul 3, 1959