1859
The Belleville Banner, a Democratic paper with a conciliatory and reformatory mission, made its greeting bow to an unappreciative world September 1, 1859. It was a six-column folio, edited and published by H.L. Davidson. It made no great impression on the town and was short-lived.
(From the History of St. Clair County, Illinois by Brink, McDonough & Co. 1881).
