History of Colleton County Newspapers

JACKSONBORO

GAZETTE - According to the Journal of South Carolina House of Representatives (1782) and Charleston’s Royal Gazette (March 13, 1782), the Gazette was published at Jacksonboro March 1, 1782. No copy ever found… may have been a broadsheet. Pendleton Messenger (August 25 1827) says the press used was part of the equipment of General Greene.

WALTERBORO

COLLETON AND BEAUFORT SUN - Weekly – established 1858, ceased ?.

V. Stanton was editor, Stanton and Hyrne was publishers, V. Stanton and Henry Hyrne Jr. were proprietors.

COLLETON COURIER – Weekly, Democrat – established 1892, ceased about 1896. D. H. Behre was editor, Behre and Rich was publishers. In 1897 Behre was editor of the Low County News.

COLLETON DEMOCRAT – Weekly – established 1877, became Colleton Press about 1880, which in 1890 merged the Colleton Standard to form the Press and Standard. Latter now uses 1877 as founding date.

COLLETON GAZETTE – Weekly, Republican – established 1872, ceased about 1873. George F. McIntyre & Company was editor and publisher.

COLLETON NEWS – Semi-weekly, weekly – established 1908, ceased about 1911. Began as semi-weekly, became weekly in March 1909. John W. Hammond was editor and manager. E. F. Hammond and John E. Moore also associated with paper.

COLLETON PRESS – Weekly, Democrat, Farmers’ Alliance – established 1877 as Colleton Democrat, became Colleton Press about 1880, merged with Colleton Standard in 1890 to form Press and Standard. No editor or publisher identified until 1890 when B. G. Price Jr is cited as editor and publisher.

COLLETON REPUBLICAN – Weekly, Democrat – established 1874, ceased 1875. Successor to Colleton Gazette. Founded by George Francis McIntyre, a Charleston native and an army veteran. He served in the Reconstruction legislature and held various Colleton County offices during the 1870s.

COLLETON STANDARD – Weekly, Democrat – established 1889, merged with Colleton Press in 1890 to form the Press and Standard.

COLLETON TIMES – Weekly, Independent – established 1964, ceased about 1967. Robert F. Hartley was editor and publisher.

LOW COUNTRY NEWS – Weekly, Democrat – established 1896, ceased about 1897. D. R. Behre was editor. L. M. Fripp was publisher.

PRESS AND STANDARD – Weekly (Issued briefly in 1974-1975 as semi-weekly.) Created in 1890 by merger of Colleton Press and Colleton Standard. Press and Standard dates origin from 1877 when Colleton Democrat – the Colleton Press after 1880 – was founded. B. G. Price Jr was editor and publisher. Also associated with the paper were J. L. B. Warren, James E. Peurifoy, R. M. Jefferies, James F. Risher, F. L. Morrow, William Wightman Smoak (1877-1947, editor 1906-1947), William Wightman “Bill” Smoak (1904-1958, editor 1947-1958), William Wightman Smoak Jr. (1926-1976, editor 1958-1976), and Estelle Sullivan Smoak (1906-1999, editor 1976-1989.)

William Wightman Smoak brought the Press and Standard in 1906 and sold it to Mr. R. M. Jefferies in 1913. In 1914, William Wightman Smoak returned to Walterboro and brought The Press and Standard again, serving as editor and publisher until his death in 1947. His son, William Wightman “Bill” Smoak, was editor from 1947 until his death in 1958. William W. Smoak Jr., then 32, took charge of the paper after his father’s death. He served as editor until his death in 1976. His mother, Estelle Sullivan Smoak, then became editor, serving from 1976-1989 when her daughter, Anne Smoak Lubs and husband, Harold Lubs, took over. The Lubs sold the newspaper to Smith Newspapers Inc. of Alabama in 1992 and Taylor M. Smith took over as editor.

SOUTHERN STAR – Weekly – established 1885, ceased about 1887. W. B. Gruber was editor and publisher. According to the Charleston Dispatch of January 22, 1888, the Colleton Press bought the Southern Star and ended its career.

WALTERBORO NEWS – Weekly, Republican – established 1873, ceased about 1877. A. C. Shaffer & Company was editors, publishers and proprietors. Paper’s slogan: “With Malice toward None, with Charity for All”.

Reference:

SOUTH CAROLINA NEWSPAPERS by John Hammond Moore