1849-1933.
The Western Watchman was established in 1865 (We have found copies from 1849 – ed.) by Rev. D.S. Phelan, a priest of the Catholic Church at Medina, Mo. The “Drake Constitution,” then in force, prescribed a “test oath” for clergymen, and Mr. Phelan, refusing to take the oath, was imprisoned. The Western Watchman was started to agitate for a repeal of the obnoxious law. In 1867 the paper was removed to St. Louis, Mr. Phelan having been transferred there…It is published weekly, and is the organ of the English-speaking Catholics of the Diocese.
(From the History of St. Louis City and County by John Thomas Scharf, 1883).
Var: Watchman, St. Louis Western Watchman.
