Charleston Courier

City: Charleston

County: Coles

State: Illinois

William Harr and William Workman established The Charleston Courier as a Whig Party organ in April 1841. Workman soon retired, and Harr entered into a partnership with William W. Bishop in publishing the Courier. The Courier ceased publication before the Mexican War. After his return from the war, Bishop together with Harr purchased the Rough and Ready, changing its name in November 1847 to The Charleston Courier. As the Whig Party receded from the political stage, the Courier became a Republican Party paper. Bishop continued his involvement in the paper, becoming editor pro tempore in August 1858 to spearhead the paper's coverage of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates and the 1858 Senatorial Election, continuing in this role until his retirement in December. Harr operated the paper alone until 1863, when he sold it to Eli Chittenden and John S. Theaker, who changed the name to the Plaindealer.

Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 9 April 1841, 2:4; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 10 December 1841, 2:4; Illinois Journal (Springfield), 25 November 1847, 1:5; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 10 August 1858, 3:1; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 1 December 1858, 2:1; Franklin William Scott, Newspapers and Periodicals of Illinois, 1814-1879, vol. 6 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1910), 49.