1860-1861.
Volume 1, Number 1 was published January 19, 1860. August Hamilton was publisher, and Alexander G. Hawes was editor. It was a seven-column folio, independent of politics, with slight tendencies toward the Republican party. On January 25th, 1861, it was consolidated with the Advocate in Belleville.
(From The History of St. Clair County by Brink, McDonough & Company, 1881)
