The ''Saint Paul Dispatch'' was a daily newspaper in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

from 1868 until 1985.

Founding

Harlan Page Hall founded the ''Saint Paul Dispatch'' on February 29, 1868. Hall was born in 1838 in

Ravenna, Ohio Ravenna is a city in Portage County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Akron. It was formed from portions of Ravenna Township in the Connecticut Western Reserve. The population was 11,323 in the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Por ...

, where his father published a country newspaper. After graduating from Ohio Wesleyan in 1861, Hall was admitted to the bar. Poor health inspired him to move to Minnesota in 1862, where he went to work for the ''St. Paul Union'' newspaper. The ''Union'' merged with the ''St. Paul Press'' the following year. In 1865 Hall purchased the '' St. Paul Pioneer'', but sold it a year later. After spending two years in the printing business with David Ramaley, Hall launched the ''Dispatch''. Ramaley, an active Republican, served as the ''Dispatchs publisher.

The Hall and Castle years

When Harlan Hall founded the ''Dispatch'' in 1868, he made no secret of his political affiliations.Weber, "The Story of the St. Paul Globe," p. 327. In the 1800s newspapers openly aligned with political parties and the ''Dispatch'' was no exception. Under Hall's leadership, the paper initially supported the insurgent wing of the Republican Party. But Hall (who was the great uncle of the Minnesota sports broadcaster

Halsey Hall Halsey Lewis Hall (May 23, 1898 – December 30, 1977) was a sports reporter and announcer in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area from 1919 until the 1970s. Early life Halsey Lewis Hall was born in New York City's Greenwich Village on May 23, 189 ...

) switched parties in the mid-1870s and became a Democrat. When Hall sold the ''Dispatch'' in 1878, the newspaper reflected Hall's Democratic affiliation. With the change of ownership in 1878, however, the paper's political orientation once again transformed "overnight." Hall sold the paper to Henry Anson Castle, who made the ''Dispatch'' "an aggressive Republican organ." A Union Army veteran, Castle was active in the Minnesota Republican Party and held a seat in the state legislature in the 1870s. Castle also played a leading role in the successful 1874 gubernatorial campaign of

Cushman Kellogg Davis Cushman Kellogg Davis (June 16, 1838November 27, 1900) was an American Republican politician who served as the seventh Governor of Minnesota and as a U.S. Senator from Minnesota. Early life and American Civil War Davis was born in Henderson, ...

.Castle, History of St. Paul and Vicinity, p. 1200 Castle briefly turned over editorial duties in 1880 to Lucius Nieman, who later founded ''

The Milwaukee Journal The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

''. But otherwise Castle set the ''Dispatchs editorial direction until 1885.

George Thompson and the Dispatch Printing Company

George Thompson, an Anglo-American banker and entrepreneur, purchased the ''Dispatch'' in 1885.Burnquist, ''Minnesota and Its People'', Vol. 3, p. 108 Thompson was born in

Devonshire, England Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, ...

, in 1840. After graduating from

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, he worked for 17 years as a banker at Willis, Percival & Co. When the bank collapsed, Thompson took his father's advice and immigrated to the United States in 1882. He worked as an advertising salesman at the Joliet News before moving to Minnesota. He married Abigail Ione Wheeler in 1885 and they settled in St. Paul. The ''Dispatch'' was sold in 1885 by Henry A. Castle to George Thompson and George K. Shaw. Thompson then established the Dispatch Printing Company. His wife, Abigail, was co-owner of the ''Dispatch'' and he relied heavily on her advice in running the newspaper. The Dispatch Printing Company bought the '' St. Paul Pioneer Press'' in 1909 and managed the two newspapers as independent news outlets. The ''Pioneer Press'' became the city's daily morning newspaper and the ''Dispatch'' became the city's daily evening newspaper. Thompson was a staunch Republican and the ''Dispatch'' advocated on behalf of Republican candidates.Burnquist, ''Minnesota and Its People'', Vol. 3, p. 113 As a long-standing at-large delegate to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

, he wrote the

gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the la ...

into the Republican platform. Thompson was a friend of

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

, and many other national officeholders. Thompson had a

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watch custom made for him in 1914 that was sold at auction by

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

in May 2006 for $1.54 million. When George Thompson died in 1917, Charles K. Blandin bought a controlling interest in the Dispatch Printing Company. After Abigail Thompson died in 1923, Blandin took over the remaining shares in the company. Blandin operated the newspaper until he sold it to Ridder Publications in 1927. Ridder Publications (which later became

Knight Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, it was the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspaper brand ...

) acquired both the ''Dispatch'' and the '' St. Paul Pioneer Press'' in 1927. As a young man, Robert Ridder, the philanthropist and co-founder of the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for m ...

, worked as a ''Dispatch'' reporter.

The 1978 election controversy

In 1978 the ''Dispatch'' became involved in an election dispute that ended up before the

Minnesota Supreme Court The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The court hears cases in the Supreme Court chamber in the Minnesota State Capitol or in the nearby Minnesota Judicial Center. History The court was first assemb ...

. In October 1978, William G. Sumner, the ''Dispatchs editor, interviewed a state legislative candidate named Bob Pavlak. An Independent-Republican, Pavlak ran for the District 67A state legislative seat against the incumbent
Arnold Kempe
a member of the Democratic Farmer Labor Party. During the ''Dispatch'' interview, Pavlak produced documents that indicated that Kempe had missed over 300 roll call votes during the 1977 and 1978 legislative sessions. Pavlak warned the ''Dispatch'' that there might be computational errors in the documents. On Saturday, November 4, 1978—three days before the election—the ''Dispatch'' printed an editorial in which it asserted that the editors "have seen nothing to dispute his avlak'sresearch report that shows the incumbent voted four times in 1967-68 this out of more than 300 opportunities." The editorial misstated the years in question as 1967-68 rather than 1977–78. But the real problem with the editorial was its misrepresentation of Kempe's voting record. In fact, Kempe only missed 329 votes out of 1,798 roll call votes, not 325 votes out of 329 as the Dispatch's editorial erroneously suggested. Pavlak's campaign subsequently informed the ''Dispatch'' editors that they had misstated the year, but did not make mention of the newspaper's erroneous tabulation of Kempe's roll call votes. The Minnesota Supreme Court later concluded that copies of the November 4 edition of the ''Dispatch'' reached at least 6,000 eligible voters in the district before Election Day. In addition, the Pavlak campaign circulated over 1,800 reprints of the editorial in five St. Paul and West St. Paul precincts. On Monday, November 6, the ''Dispatch'' printed a second editorial, this time asserting that it had "erred in our endorsement of Robert Pavlak, IR, who is seeking to unseat Rep. Arnold Kempe in 67A. Pavlak's research report stated Kempe voted four times during the years 1977-78, not, as incorrectly reported, 1967-68." But the second editorial failed to correct the major factual error in the November 4 editorial. At the November 7 election, Pavlak narrowly defeated Kempe by a margin of 4,454 votes to 4,133. The Minnesota Supreme Court ultimately determined that Pavlak's campaign had violate
Minnesota's Fair Campaign Practices Act
by circulating the reprinted copies of the erroneous editorial. As the majority explained: :" is our conclusion that Mr. Pavlak violated Minn.St. 210A.04 and that this violation was "deliberate, serious and material" within the meaning of Minn.St. 209.02. It was deliberate in the sense that the distribution of the statement as worded was intentional and was intended to affect the voting at the election. It was serious because the distribution of 1,800-1,900 reprints in a single legislative district is a far from trivial amount. It was material because voting is the essence of a representative's position, and attacking voting performance is germane to one's conduct in that position." But citing to the

Minnesota Constitution The Constitution of the State of Minnesota was initially approved by the residents of Minnesota Territory in a special election held on October 13, 1857, and was ratified by the United States Senate on May 11, 1858, marking the admittance of Minne ...

, the majority concluded that the court had no authority to overturn the election results. Section 6 o
Article IV
of the Minnesota Constitution provides that: "Each house shall be the judge of the election returns and eligibility of its own members." The Court thus concluded that " short, we have no jurisdiction to issue a final and binding decision in this matter, and our opinion by statute will be and by the Minnesota Constitution must only be advisory to the House of Representatives." Pavlak took his seat in the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint ...

on January 3, 1979. However, the House immediately investigated the allegation that Pavlak's campaign violated state election law by circulating the editorial reprints. The contest's resolution ultimately came down to a party line vote. Following the 1978 elections, the state house was perfectly divided between Independent Republicans and DFLers: 67 seats to 67. But House rules prohibited Pavlak from voting on his own election contest. Accordingly, with party loyalty shaping how both sides viewed the contest, the House voted by a margin of 67 to 66 that Pavlak had violated the election law. Pavlak's seat was declared vacated and the House directed that a special election be held for the seat.Pavlak
ran in the special election, but lost t
Frank Rodriguez, Sr.
the first Hispanic ever elected to the Minnesota legislature.

Demise of the ''Dispatch'' name

Knight Ridder continued to publish the ''Pioneer Press'' and ''Dispatch'' as independent daily newspapers until 1985, when they merged to become the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch. In 1990 the owners dropped the word ''Dispatch'' from the name, bringing to an end the ''Dispatchs 122-year run as a prominent feature on the St. Paul media landscape.

References