Local man finds copy of Lenoir's first newspaper

Jun. 17—LENOIR

A local man has recently discovered what appears to be a copy of Lenoir's first printed newspaper from 1875.

Floyd Boston was sorting through his over-crowded bookcase when he stumbled across an old, yellowed document bearing the title, "The Caldwell Messenger." Across the top of that reads, "Caldwell County's First Newspaper — Grandfather of News-Topic."

According to the document, the Caldwell Messenger's first edition was printed on Saturday, Sept. 25, 1875.

Boston is a retired minister of Advent Christian Church living in Gamewell with his wife, Peggy. He said he was going through his bookshelves in order to give some books away to his family when he ran across this paper.

"I don't know where it came from or how I got it, but I think I do," said Boston.

Peggy's grandparents owned land on a king's grant in Gamewell and a farmhouse that was built around an old log cabin, which Boston said was over 200 years old. He is nearly certain that the newspaper belonged to them.

"I think this paper came out of the attic of that old house," he said. "I have a couple of other things that came out of there, too. I can't be sure, but I can't imagine where else this would have come from except out of that old house."

He said when he found the paper on his bookshelf it was kept in a protective plastic sheet. Despite being well-preserved, the fragile yellow document shows signs of age and use. The front page is split horizontally from a multitude of people reading and folding the paper.

According to documents on microfilm at the Caldwell Library in Lenoir, the Caldwell Messenger (as well as subsequent publications) was published weekly on Thursdays.

Boston has shown the document to the Caldwell Heritage Museum, who told him they would love to have it. The museum in Gamewell has a historical section that would be delighted to showcase the newspaper, as well.

"I don't know what to do with it exactly, or what its value is exactly," said Boston. "But I don't think it needs to be stuck in my bookcase."

Cindy Day, director of the Caldwell Heritage Museum, is almost certain that this document, while indeed old, is most likely not an original copy of the first Caldwell Messenger publication.

"It is possible that this is a reprint," said Day. "This paper is certainly very old. However, it appears to not be an original print from 1875."

The main reason for this opinion, Day said, is because the top of Boston's paper reads, "Caldwell County's First Newspaper — Grandfather of News-Topic."

"There's no way they would have known that in 1875," said Day.

Day was unable to tell with absolute certainty when the reprint was published. As a best guess, the reprint would have been published sometime after the newspaper was renamed the News-Topic in 1915.

Regardless, the document holds significance as a well-preserved piece of local history.

The Caldwell Messenger was the first newspaper ever published in Lenoir, according to its first editor, James C. Nutty.

In an introduction from the editor, Nutty writes, "Our journal is designed to supply a want that has been long felt in this community and elsewhere. How far we shall succeed in meeting this desideratum time alone can tell ... We ask the cooperation of our friends everywhere, and trust, especially, that the citizens of Caldwell County, will give us that support which we shall endeavor to merit at their hands."

At the time, an annual subscription to the Caldwell Messenger was a mere $1.50.

In 1876, the Caldwell Messenger became The Lenoir Topic, with R.E. Blakey taking over as its managing editor.

On Thursday, Nov. 16, 1876, Blakey published another introduction regarding the name change.

"We salute the public today with our new name and new dress," writes Blakey. "At present the mother is unable to make the new-born babe all its garments, and so for a few weeks longer we will use the ready-printed outside. However, we will soon be able to sit up and do our own sewing."

"We ask our friends, and especially our home friends, to help us in this enterprise to build up our local interests," Blakey continues. "We want to serve you well and truly, with a paper that shall be anxiously looked for and enjoyed and valued when read ... There is not a regular weekly newspaper in the United States that can be sustained without a local patronage. We hope and expect to receive the encouragement and support of the citizens of Lenoir and Caldwell, and shall endeavor to merit it."

According to the North Carolina Historical Review from October 1945, the present name of the paper, the Lenoir News-Topic, was changed in 1915 to be a consolidation of the Lenoir News, established in 1898, and The Topic, re-named from the Caldwell Messenger in 1876.

The Caldwell County Library in Lenoir has an impressively large collection of original copies of the Caldwell Messenger, The Topic, and beyond on microfilm for the public to peruse.