1873-1880
The paper was first issued in Nov. 1873, by Messrs. John Haps & Co. Three numbers were printed when it suspended and recommenced in March, 1874. It rapidly increased in importance and attained a circulation of over five thousand copies. It was at the height of its prosperity when an absurd ruling was made by the Post Office Department, demanding an exorbitant rate of postage for transmission through the mails, in consequence of which it was compelled to suspend. In the fall of 1880 it was revived, but two members were printed when it was again suspended, owing to the fact that its place had been supplied by a similar publication.
(From the History of St. Clair County, Illinois by Brink, McDonough & Co. 1881).
