There was no on-line copy of the January 1, 1881, Rural Republican so Lawrence County news printed in the Western Sun  was used for this blog.    News: The previous Tuesday Matt Harvey had four horses killed and one crippled by the O&M railroad between Lawrenceville and Vincennes. A baby boy of Sheriff Ed Ryan died Friday and was buried on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, the only other ‘news’ item published was by a special correspondent to the Western Sun  who criticized La

December 17 1880 The new editor Sam B Day noted that the Rural Republican had the largest circulation of any paper in the county. “Lawrenceville”, he said, “was located one mile north of the crossing of the Ohio and Mississippi and Danville and Southwestern railroads. It was a beautiful little village of about 1000 inhabitants surrounded by some of the finest farms and farming land in the state. It was a strong temperance town and was inhabited by a thrifty and enterprising

Don't forget the Ladies of Lawrence: Clothing Through the Decades program Thursday Dec 4 10:00 at the History Center! News in Lawrencre County as reported in the Lawrence and Knox County newspapers for the week ending on December 3 1880. After the death of Mary Buntin , the new editor, her brother- in- law Sam B Day , began reporting the news. He had spent fifteen years in the publishing office setting type but stated that he would do a fair job with the news.    The worthy c

November 19th, 1880 Old man winter had pitched his tent right here and looked like he was going to stay. The sudden cold spell with six inches of snow made one hustle along lively to the fire.  All the weather prophets predicted a cold winter. Miss Mary Buntin was still very ill.  William Laws of Sumner would be the Deputy Sheriff after December. Isaac Shields of Birds Station moved to Olney and was reading law with Judge A Shaw . The Dedication of the Pleasant Ridge Chri

October 1 1880 The Rural Republican The paper was still filled with political news. Orators were imported many miles to speak at...

The life of Alonzo McClellan "Mac" Fyffe (A. M. Fyffe) reads like a chapter from an adventure story.  Born at Ft. Smith, Arkansas,...

The readers of the Rural Republican were shocked to read the headline on Friday August 13 1880 when they opened their newspapers. “One...

News of the Week ending with August 6 1880      SP Barton shipped 14,000 bushels of wheat in July.  Excursion tickets to Chicago were...

Lawrenceville Mill In Lawrence County the week of July 30, 1880, Mr. Cole repaired the Lawrenceville water-powered flour mill dam by...