Seeing Reconstruction in the Fall of 1868 Through the Eyes of The “Weekly Caucasian” Newspaper from Missouri

As many of you probably know, the Weekly Caucasian newspaper from Lexington, Missouri was a staunchly Democratic newspaper. Supporting the virtues of the Confederacy, applying the lessons of “The Lost Cause” to Missouri, and aggressively advocating the program of the Democratic Party made it into one of the most-read rural newspapers in America.

I thought that it might be useful to get a sense of how the changes brought by Reconstruction and the Election of 1868 looked through the eyes of this rural newspaper. I will be posting articles from the paper in this thread. Here is more information on the paper from the Library of Congress:

Published in Lexington, Missouri, the first issue of the Weekly Caucasian appeared on April 25, 1866. The paper was a continuation of the Lexington Weekly Express and Union and the Lexington Weekly Union, which was the first paper in Lexington after the start of the Civil War. The Union was started in 1862 by Samuel S. Earl and Henry K. Davis. The paper changed editors and proprietors numerous times before Henry Davis became sole owner and changed its name to the Weekly Caucasian, the third and last name change the paper made before ceasing publication and consolidating with the Lexington Weekly Intelligencer in 1875.

The Caucasian was a weekly 4-page paper that was pro-White, pro-South, and Democratic in its politics. The Caucasian was known for its provocative editorials, and the first editorial published on April 25, 1866, clearly illustrates what patrons could expect:

The intention and desire of the proprietors is to render the paper a valuable and welcome visitor in the hands of all who may favor it with their patronage – valuable not merely because of its political proclivities, but for much that makes up the aggregate of a well-conducted newspaper…. We shall constantly call upon our friends; whether of one side or another to come up to the polls and vote down, and vote out of power, those now holding sway. This is a duty, not only to themselves, but to their neighbors, and to the country itself. Ballots are more potent than bayonets and if the prerogative is a long neglected, the yoke of the tyrant may be so firmly fixed upon our necks that no power will be able to shake it off, or disenthrall the people from it.

Under the leadership of Col. Peter “Pat” Donan, the Caucasian became known for its “red hot” editorial style. Donan had come to the paper in 1869 after working at the Missouri Vindicator in St. Joseph and the Metropolitan Record and New York Vindicator in New York City. Donan remained editor of the Caucasian until 1875, despite conflicts with his fellow editors and other staff members. Jacob M. Julian, who had co-edited the paper with Donan, published on February 25, 1871, a valedictory with the following remarks: “Circumstances over which I could have no control forced this separation and this leaves taking. It had been known for a long time to many friends, that I was not in sympathy with the political editor, that I did not, and could not, endorse either his political course or his peculiar style of composition. I did not feel that either his matter or manner were at all adapted to the time, pleasing or edifying to the people, conductive to good taste or calculated to build up a paper or a great party. “

Donan was known for long, drunken ramblings. In addition to his criticisms of President Ulysses S. Grant and Republican politics generally, he also took issue with babies, religion, and women. Every year, Donan would commemorate the Palmyra Massacre, in which Union forces shot Confederate prisoners of war. Donan’s anger over this incident was intensified since one of the victims was a childhood friend. Donan brought the Caucasian into the national spotlight during the 1872 presidential elections between Grant and Horace Greeley. Donan took credit for Greeley being nominated on the Liberal Republican ticket and published a special issue of the paper with the well-known headline: “Horace Greeley, the devil or anybody to beat Grant.” By April 1872, Donan boasted that the Caucasian had the largest circulation for any country paper in America. However, Harper’s Weekly cartoonist Thomas Nast used Donan’s connection to defame Greeley and his presidential run.

Donan’s personality was complex. Although considered crass and even vicious by his opponents, he was described as kind-hearted and sympathetic by those who knew him. Known for his humor and good fellowship, Donan was “the sort of fellow for whom the Columbia brass band would turn out to give an impromptu, after-midnight, welcome when he was in town visiting fellow-editor Edwin Stephens.”

I wanted to take us away from the big city newspapers that I usually draw articles from to give a sample of articles from a rural Border State paper opposed to the Radical Reconstruction program. Some of the articles use language that is offensive. This first article suggests that a “carpet bagger” be lynched.

Weekly Caucasian
Saturday, Aug 29, 1868
Lexington, MO
Vol: 3
Page: 3

The next article takes aim at U.S. Grant, nominee of the Republican Party for president. It uses the rumor of Grant’s heavy drinking to suggest that he will “never be sober enough” to stand on his political platform.

Weekly Caucasian
Saturday, Aug 01, 1868
Lexington, MO
Vol: 3
Page: 3

 

 

The Caucasian claimed in August an increase in support for the Democratic ticket of Seymour and Blair. In fact, the Democrats would be defeated in the Fall.

Weekly Caucasian
Saturday, Aug 01, 1868
Lexington, MO
Vol: 3
Page: 3

A local election in July of 1868 saw a Democrat elected. The Caucasian saw in this victory a sign of growing disaffection with the Republicans.

Weekly Caucasian
Saturday, Aug 08, 1868
Lexington, MO
Vol: 3
Page: 2

 

Local Democratic clubs often published meeting notices in the Caucasian.

Weekly Caucasian
Saturday, Aug 08, 1868
Lexington, MO

 

The pages of the Caucasian were used to attack the liberal press.

Weekly Caucasian
Saturday, Aug 15, 1868
Lexington, MO
Vol: 3
Page: 3

 

The newspaper also warned of secret goings-on between the local African American community and what a later generation of white nationalists would call “outside agitators” but to whom the Caucasian referred to as “carpet baggers.”

 

Weekly Caucasian
Saturday, Aug 15, 1868
Lexington, MO
Vol: 3
Page: 4

 

The next article offers a compedium of fears.

 

Weekly Caucasian
Saturday, Sep 19, 1868
Lexington, MO
Vol: 3
Page: 3

 

 

I will return to the Weekly Caucasian after the Labor Day holiday to look at its coverage of the Election of 1868. For those imbibing recent books lauding Grant, the Caucasian offers a very different viewpoint.

 

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