The ''Illinois Intelligencer'' (1814–1832), was the first newspaper in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. Founded by

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

native Matthew Duncan as the ''Illinois Herald'' in 1814, the printing offices were also used to print early territorial documents. In 1816, the operation was sold to

Daniel Pope Cook Daniel Pope Cook (1794 – October 16, 1827) was a politician, lawyer and newspaper publisher from the U.S. state of Illinois. An anti-slavery advocate, he was the state's first attorney general, and then congressman. Cook County, Illinois, is ...

, who re-titled the publication the ''Western Intelligencer''. Under

Robert Blackwell Robert Alexander "Bumps" Blackwell (May 23, 1918 – March 9, 1985) was an American bandleader, songwriter, arranger, and record producer, best known for his work overseeing the early hits of Little Richard, as well as grooming Ray Charle ...

, Elijah C. Berry, and William C. Berry, the paper was issued until 1832.

History

The formation of the

Illinois Territory The Territory of Illinois was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 1, 1809, until December 3, 1818, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Illinois. Its ...

in 1809 led to the first state printing five years later. The first state printer was Matthew Duncan of

Russellville, Kentucky Russellville is a home rule-class city in Logan County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 6,960 at the time of the 2010 census. History Local historian Alex C. Finley has claimed the area was fir ...

, the older brother of future

governor Joseph Duncan. The elder Duncan was a graduate of

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

and returned to Russellville in 1808 to found the ''Farmer's Friend'' newspaper. The paper was certainly published through 1810 and probably continued through 1813. Duncan was a friend of

Ninian Edwards Ninian Edwards (March 17, 1775July 20, 1833) was a founding political figure of the State of Illinois. He served as the first and only governor of the Illinois Territory from 1809 to until the territory was dissolved in 1818. He was then one of ...

, the first territorial governor of Illinois. Through this connection, he was commissioned to print the ''Laws Passed by the Legislative Council & House of Representatives, of the Illinois Territory, at their First Session Held at Kaskaskia, in 1812'', the first official document from the territory. Seeing a future as the state printer, Duncan moved to

Kaskaskia The Kaskaskia were one of the indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. They were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation, also called the Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in ...

in 1814. In the spring of 1814, Duncan founded the ''Illinois Herald'' in Kaskaskia, the first newspaper issued and the first work of print in the Illinois Territory. Duncan apparently closed the printing office during the winter of 1815 to 1816 to enter the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. He sold his printing press to

, who established the ''Western Intelligencer'' in Kaskaskia in April 1816. He soon admitted

as a partner and assumed publishing duties. Elijah Conway Berry, a former state printer of Kentucky, was hired as co-publisher in 1817. Blackwell and Berry changed the named of the paper to the ''Illinois Intelligencer'' in May 1818. They also printed the first

Constitution of Illinois The Constitution of the State of Illinois is the governing document of the state of Illinois. There have been four Illinois Constitutions; the fourth and current version was adopted in 1970. The current constitution is referred to as the "Constit ...

in August 1818. Blackwell & Berry continued to publish the newspaper in Kaskaskia until the fall of 1820, when operations were moved to the new state capital, Vandalia. The ''Intelligencer'' thus became the first publication in that town. Elijah C. Berry was then replaced by his brother, William C. Berry. Publication of the ''Intelligencer'' continued until the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the " British Band", cros ...

of 1832. The press was later used for the ''Vandalia Whig'' paper.

References

{{reflist Defunct newspapers published in Illinois Publications established in 1814 Publications disestablished in 1832 1814 establishments in Illinois Territory 1832 disestablishments in Illinois