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According to the newspaper’s website, The Florida Times-Union published its first newspaper on February 4, 1883. However, it was actually in publication 18 years before that. Newspaper publication in Jacksonville, Florida goes back to the mid-1830s. This particular place was bestowed very early with a community composed mainly of lawyers and preachers who took part in the craft of journalism. The Florida Union started as a four-page war paper from a hand press during the Civil War.
Based on the newspaper’s website, a man named J.K. Stickney, who was once an editor in Detroit, Michigan started growing olives in Fernandina and then started his own newspaper in Fernandina. In 1864, Stickney decided to partner with a man named W.C. Morrill in order to publish the Florida Union in Jacksonville. While Morrill had all the supplies needed to print the newspaper, Stickney had the money to help expand the newspaper even further. Stickney and Morrill decided to leave the partnership in 1865 while Stickney continued to publish it. He designated a physician named Holmes Steele as the publisher. Stickney had Republican values and beliefs, however Steele cared about the democratic views of the people. After Steele’s death in 1867, Stickney sold the newspaper to Edward M. Cheney, who was a lawyer from Boston.
According to the newspaper’s website, even though Cheney was a Republican and a Unionist, the newspaper, “fixed an arch and rigorous course of civic correctness that The Florida Times-Union pursued for generations.” In addition, Cheney tried to turn the Union into a daily paper instead of being published only three times every week, but he failed in the attempt. As a result, Cheney sold the Union to Walton, Fowle & Co. in 1873. The paper continued to survive, however it was not thriving. C. F. Mawbey, a lawyer, took over the newspaper eventually and persuaded Cheney to become an editor and Mawbey made the newspaper become published daily.
According to the newspaper’s website, as soon as the Democrats took over, the newspaper fell drastically in popularity. A Baptist preacher named H.B. McCallum who was a Democrat started the newspaper back up again. Charles H. Jones wanted to buy the newspaper from McCallum because he had become ill, but he did not want to sell it. Therefore, Jones became enraged and partnered up with someone to start a rival paper called The Florida Daily Times in 1881 and it instantly became a success. In 1883, when McCullum was deathly sick, he sold it to interlopers and Jones wanted to combine the two newspapers. However, five days after the deal took place the besieged editor died, and so did the Florida Union. Four days later The Florida Times-Union started its publication.According to the Pulitzer Prize website, in 1982, Walter C. Stricklin won a Pulitzer Prize for the news coverage of a family affronted by the death of a member of their family.
Click here to visit The Florida Times-Union online!
Source
Foley, Bill. "The History of The Florida Times-Union | Jacksonville.com."The History of The Florida Times-Union | Jacksonville.com. The Florida Times-Union, n.d. Web. 08 May 2015. <http://jacksonville.com/content/history-florida-times-union>.