Hawk Eye

City: Burlington

County: Des Moines

State: Iowa

John G. Edwards established the Hawkeye, issuing the first edition on December 13, 1838 under the title Burlington Patriot. In June 1839, he changed the name to the Iowa Patriot. At the suggestion of his wife, Edwards, in September 1839, added the name "Hawkeye" and the paper became the Hawkeye and Patriot. It continued under that moniker until 1843, when the owners suspended publication for a few weeks, and when it resumed it was known simply as the Hawkeye. In 1855, the owners of the Hawkeye purchased the Telegraph, which had started as a daily in 1851, and published the merged papers as the Telegraph and Hawkeye. The owners restored the title Hawkeye in 1857, and it retained that title through the Civil War. Originally established as an organ of the Whig Party, the Hawkeye became, after the demise of the Whigs, an advocate of the Republican Party.

Commercial and Statistical Review of the City of Burlington, Iowa (Burlington: J. L. Spaulding, 1882), 63-64.