1879-1881?.
The first number was issued in July, 1879, by H.D. O’Brien, publisher, and Y.M. Langdon, editor. These gentlemen continued in partnership until July, 1880, when Langdon purchased O’Brien’s interest, and was the sole proprietor of the Journal until Jan. 1st, 1881, when he sold out to S.J.E. Rawling. It was a seven-column folio, later becoming a five-column folio with a circulation of over four thousand copies, making it a paying investment from the start. Initially the paper was printed in the Gazette offices but it was later issued from Kellogg’s in St. Louis.
(From the History of St. Clair County, Illinois by Brink, McDonough & Co. 1881).
