Pioneer Imprints from Fifty States

Iowa

The initial issue of the weekly Du Buque Visitor, dated May 11, 1836, is the oldest example of Iowa printing. John King, the first proprietor of this four-page newssheet, acquired the press on which it was printed at Chillicothe, Ohio. He employed William Cary Jones of Chillicothe to "perform the duties of foreman in the printing office ... and likewise such other duties in superintending the publication of the newspaper as may be required,"[100] and he employed the Virginia-born printer Andrew Keesecker, lately of Galena, Ill., to be the principal typesetter.

The earliest Iowa printing represented in the Library of Congress is its partial file of the Du Buque Visitor, extending from January 18 to May 17, 1837.[101] On December 21, 1836, the proprietorship had passed to W. W. Chapman, an attorney, and with the issue of February 1, 1837, William H. Turner became the owner. The paper maintained a high standard throughout these changes, its issues justly displaying the motto: "Truth our guide, the public good our aim." A reduction in the size of certain issues furnishes evidence of the customary difficulty of operating a pioneer press. As the March 15 issue explains, "Within the last two months, so large an addition has been made to the subscription list of the Visitor, that our stock of paper of the usual size is exhausted, and we are constrained to issue, for a week or two, a smaller sheet. By the first boat from St. Louis we shall receive our spring and summer supply."

The Library's file dates from the period when Iowa still belonged to the Wisconsin Territory. An editorial from the Library's earliest issue advocates independent status:

Division of Wisconsin Territory

It gives us pleasure to see that Genl. Jones, our delegate in congress, has introduced into the house of representatives a resolution, "to inquire into the expediency of establishing a seperate [sic] territorial government for that section of the present territory of Wisconsin which lies west of the Mississippi river," and the same resolution has been introduced into the senate of the United States by Dr. Linn of Missouri.

We sincerely hope that these resolutions will be acted upon, and sanctioned by congress—if sanctioned, they will have a most important bearing upon the future interest and prosperity of the people on this side of the Mississippi. Yes, we would rejoice that the 'Father of Waters' should be the boundary to a new territory. The present territory of Wisconsin, is much too large, and embraces too many conflicting interests—the people on the east side of the Mississippi are jealous of those on the west side, and the west, of those on the east. Why not, under these circumstances, give to the people on each side of the Mississippi separate territorial governments? We believe that such a measure would be highly satisfactory to the people throughout the whole of Wisconsin territory.

The reasons for dividing the present territory of Wisconsin are, in our opinion, well founded, for unless the people governed can be united—unless their representatives legislate for the good of the whole territory, there will not be satisfaction—there will not be harmony, & the government instituted to protect the rights of the people, will become an engine in the hands of one part to oppress the other.

It is, or should be, the policy of the United States, in the establishment of temporary governments over her territories, to adopt the best and most judicious means of guarding the happiness, liberty, and property of her foster children, so that when they enter the great family of the Union, that they may be worthy of that exalted station.

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From later in 1837 the Library possesses Iowa News, which replaced the Du Buque Visitor after its expiration in May, in an imperfect file extending from June 17 (the third number) to December 23. The Library also has the Wisconsin Territorial Gazette and Burlington Advertiser, printed at Burlington, in another incomplete file from July 10 to December 2. The Library's three files of very early Iowa newspapers have a common provenance, as most issues of each file are addressed in manuscript to the Department of State, which was in charge of Territorial affairs until 1873. These newspapers were transferred to the Library of Congress sometime before the end of the 19th century.[102]

[100] The full contract is quoted in Alexander Moffit's article, "Iowa Imprints Before 1861," in The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, vol. 36, 1938, p. 152-205. For a biography of Jones, see William Coyle, ed. Ohio Authors and Their Books (Cleveland, 1962, p. 346).

[101] Vol. 1, nos. 37-52; no. 47 wanting. The May 10 and May 17 issues are both numbered 52.

[102] They are recorded in A Check List of American Newspapers in the Library of Congress (1901).

In the Library's Broadside Collection (portfolio 19, no. 34) is a printed notice of the Des Moines Land Company, with text dated from Des Moines, September 4, 1837. This item cannot have been printed at Des Moines, since printing did not reach there until 1849. It is not listed in Alexander Moffit's "A Checklist of Iowa Imprints 1837-1860," in The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, vol. 36 1938, p. 3-95.

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