1832-1833.
The Free Press appeared in St. Louis in April, 1832 under the editorship of John Steele. It was a Democratic journal founded upon the principles “which governed the Republican party in he elevation of Thomas Jefferson over the first Adams.” It was a weekly paper of four pages containing twenty-four columns, measuring 14 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches. The motto of the Free Press was: “Here shall the Press the People’s Rights Maintain; Unawed by Influence and Unbribed by Gain.”
In April, 1833 the paper completed its first year, at which time the editor returned his thanks for the liberal patronage granted to his paper during the past year. By June, Steele had transferred the paper to Peach and Ruggles, who published it until September. On September 19, 1833 Steele returned to the establishment. Nothing more of it is known.
(From Early St. Louis Newspapers, 1808-1850, a Washington University dissertation by Dorothy Grace Brown, 1931).
