The ''Hannibal Courier-Post'' is a

daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

published in

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is owned by Phillips Media Group. In addition to Hannibal, the ''Courier-Post'' covers several other communities in

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mari ...

Pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

, and Ralls Counties, including the cities of

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...

Center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, Monroe City,

New London New London may refer to: Places United States *New London, Alabama *New London, Connecticut *New London, Indiana *New London, Iowa * New London, Maryland *New London, Minnesota *New London, Missouri *New London, New Hampshire, a New England town * ...

Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second ...

Perry Perry, also known as pear cider, is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally the perry pear. It has been common for centuries in England, particularly in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. It is also made ...

, Saverton, and Vandalia.

History

The newspaper claims to be the oldest daily newspaper in Missouri, having printed daily since 1853 and tracing its lineage back to several

weekly newspaper A weekly newspaper is a general-news or Current affairs (news format), current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and electronic publishing, digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly new ...

s in and around Hannibal: the ''Commercial Advertiser'' (1837), later called the ''Pacific Monitor'' (1840), ''Hannibal Journal'' (1841) and ''Hannibal Journal and Western Union'' (1850); the ''Hannibal Gazette'' (1846); the ''Hannibal Messenger'' (1851); and a Palmyra weekly, the ''Missouri Courier'', founded in 1832 and consolidated with the ''Gazette'' in 1848. The ''Journal'' converted to a daily March 16, 1853, the ''Messenger'' in 1858. The ''Messenger'' combined with the ''Courier'' in 1863, adopting the name ''North Missouri Courier''. The daily ''Courier'' in 1891 merged with the ''Daily Post'', marking the debut of the name ''Hannibal Courier-Post''. The ''Morning Journal'' was acquired in 1918. Individual owners had published the ''Courier-Post'' and its predecessors since the 1850s, including Thomas B. Morse, who had founded the ''Daily Post'' in 1886 and remained publisher of the merged newspaper until 1907. Morse sold the paper that year to

Lee Enterprises Lee Enterprises, Inc. is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 77 daily newspapers in 26 states, and more than 350 weekly, classified, and specialty publications. Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by Alfred Wilson Lee and is b ...

, which invested heavily in its new acquisition, with a new printing press,

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

wire, and a new building. Lee sold the paper to

Stauffer Communications Stauffer Communications was a privately held media corporation based in Topeka, Kansas, that owned many publications and broadcast outlets, including the ''Topeka Capital-Journal'' and WIBW, WIBW-FM, and WIBW-TV. The company operated from 1930 to ...

in 1969.

Morris Communications Morris Communications, headquartered in Augusta, Georgia, is a privately held media company with diversified holdings that include magazine publishing, outdoor advertising, book publishing and distribution, visitor publications, and online serv ...

acquired Stauffer in 1995. GateHouse Media, purchased the ''Courier-Post'' in 2007.

Quincy Media Quincy Media, Inc., formerly known as Quincy Newspapers, Inc., was a family-owned media company that originated in the newspapers of Quincy, Illinois. The company's history can be traced back to 1835, when the ''Bounty Land Register'' was one of ...

, owners of the ''

Quincy Herald-Whig Quincy Media, Inc., formerly known as Quincy Newspapers, Inc., was a family-owned media company that originated in the newspapers of Quincy, Illinois. The company's history can be traced back to 1835, when the ''Bounty Land Register'' was one of ...

'', announced their purchase of the ''Courier-Post'' in 2019.

Mark Twain

As the hometown daily newspapers of

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

(Samuel Clemens), the predecessors of the ''Hannibal Courier-Post'' were an important part of the future literary star's youth. It was an advertisement in the ''Commercial Advertiser'' weekly, from February 27, 1839, that lured Twain's father

John Marshall Clemens John Marshall Clemens (August 11, 1798 – March 24, 1847) was the father of author Mark Twain. Biography Clemens was the scion of a Virginia family that owned both land and slaves in that state. The Clemens were said to be a Cornish Amer ...

to Hannibal. Twain himself worked on the ''Missouri Courier'', as a "printer's devil" in 1849, as he recalled in a 1908 letter to the ''Courier'' editors: Twain's older brother,

Orion Clemens Orion Clemens (July 17, 1825 – December 11, 1897) was the first and only Secretary of the Nevada Territory. His younger brother Samuel Langhorne Clemens became a famous author under the pen name Mark Twain. Early life Born in Gainesboro, Tenn ...

, briefly owned the ''Hannibal Journal and Western Union'', 1850-1853, employing Twain as a typesetter and contributor of articles and humorous sketches. In the ''Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1, entry 29 March 1906'',Mark Twain Project: Mr. Clemens as apprentice to Mr. Ament—Wilhelm II’s dinner, and potato incident—The printing of Reverend Alexander Campbell’s sermon
/ref> Twain described his life as a printer's apprentice at the office of the "Hannibal ''Courier''" (''sic'') and how a fellow apprentice was rebuked for abbreviating "Jesus Christ" to "J.C." when typesetting a sermon by Reverend Alexander Campbell. "He (Rev. Campbell) said, 'So long as you live, don’t you ever diminish the Savior’s name again. Put it ''all'' in.' He repeated this admonition a couple of times to emphasize it, then he went away." As Twain described it: Since the incident is described as having happened about 1847 (after Twain's father died), It shows just how old some idioms of swearing are.

References

External links

* {{QNI, state=collapsed Newspapers published in Missouri Marion County, Missouri Ralls County, Missouri Publications established in 1832