Historical souvenir of Greenville, Illinois : being a ... - University Library

64 Historical Souvenir of Greenville, Illinois.
Mrs. Alice Enlok Perkvman.
floor of the Weise building, on the
north side of the square, where it
remained till July 1901, when the
plant was moved to its present location
on the ground floor two doowest
of the postoffice.
Cbc 6vccnviUc Sun.
By Will C. Wright.
The Greenville newspaper now
known as The Sun was originally
The Bond County Democrat. J. B.
Anderson, a practical printer, established
the Democrat here in
1876 and the first issue appeared
June 2d of that year. The paper
espoused the cause of Democracy.
The office was then located on the
second floor of the Holies buildint;.
just over the store now occupied liy
A. H. Krause, the jeweler. Thr
paper consisted of eight pages, six
columns to the page. Local news
appeared on only four of these, the
remaining four being "patent insides."
Mr. Anderson conducted
the Democrat until February 2, 187 7,
when it was purchased by William
Boll and Fordyce C. Clark. Both
these gentlemen had previously
been employed in the composing
rooms of the Advocate. The new
proprietors promptly changed the
name of the paper to The Sun ami
its policy also was changed so thai
it became more independent in tone
However, it still retained its denid
cratic proclivities and in 188 it
again became a recognized organ of
that party, remaining so up to the
present time. Messrs. Boll & Clark
retained possession of The Sun for
seven years and sold it in 18 84 to
Vallee Harold, of St. Genevieve,
Missouri. Mr. Harold presented the
first issue under his management
July 4, 1884. He continued the
publication of the paper in the same
location for about three years and
then moved it to the rooms over J.
Seaman's hardware store, on the
southeast corner of the square.
The next change in The Sun's
management took place Nov. 9, 1891,
when Chas. E. Davidson, who had
been associated with Mr. Harold, became
its editor and proprietor. Mr.
Davidson retained charge of the paper
until Jan. 5, 1901, when ill
health compelled him to dispose of
it. The Sun then passed into the
ownership of Will C. Wright, the
present proprietor, who had been
Residence of George Ferryman.
Georoe Perrvman,
Editor of the Item.
doing local work under Mr. Davidson
for the four years and a half
preceding.
During Mr. Davidson's regime the
paper was moved to the second story
of the old First National Bank
building on the south side and here
it remained until the fall of 1898
when a new building was erected
for it on the east side of the square
and it was, for the first time, located
on the ground floor.
Editor's note.—Since the above
was written, Mr. Wright has sold
The Sun to Charles E. Maynard, who
is now the editor and publisher. The
sale was made in November, 190 5.
Che 6recnvtUc Item.
By George Perryiaan.
The Greenville Item entered the
journalistic field of Bond county
May 28, 1896. It was received by
the public with many doubts and
misgivings and few believed it
would survive longer than three
months, as it came in direct competition
with two old-established and
well-equipped newspaper offices,
which seemingly filled every want,
but it lived and grew in size from a
five-column quarto to its present
size, seven-column quarto, the largest
paper published in the county,
and is now recognized as one of the
permanent institutions of the
county.
Much of it's success is due to the
efforts of the publisher's wife, Mrs.
Alice Ferryman, who has assisted in
every department of the paper. The
Item is now in its ninth year and is
enjoying a lucrative patronage.