The ''Messenger-Inquirer'' is a local newspaper in

Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a Home rule in the United States, home rule-class city in Daviess County, Kentucky, United States, of which it is also the county seat. It is the List of cities in Kentucky, fourth-most populous city in the state. Owensboro is loca ...

. ''The Messenger-Inquirer'' serves 15,087 daily and 20,383 Sunday readers in five counties in western

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

History

The newspaper's roots trace back to 1875, when Lee Lumpkin founded The Examiner. The newspaper's name was later changed to the Messenger. The Messenger was purchased by the Hager family, owners of the competing Owensboro Inquirer, in 1929. By 1864, when Thomas S. Pettit purchased the paper, it had changed its name to ''The Monitor''.Connelley and Coulter, p. 158 Immediately after taking control of the paper, Pettit published a series of items vigorously criticizing the Republican Party and its policies during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

.''Biographical Cyclopedia'', p. 141 On November 17, 1864, Pettit was arrested on orders from General Stephen G. Burbridge on charges of being "notoriously disloyal" to the Union. He was taken to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, and transferred into

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

territory. In May 1865, he returned to Owensboro and found his print shop and printing press had been destroyed by federal authorities. He traveled to

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

to purchase replacement equipment and, on hearing the story of his arrest and subsequent travels, the equipment dealer extended him a generous line of credit, allowing him to purchase more sophisticated equipment than had ever before been used in Owensboro. With this new equipment, Pettit revived the ''Monitor'' and published his stories of wartime banishment, bringing him significant acclaim in Kentucky. Moreover, he also published editorials by future

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Thomas C. McCreery, giving the ''Monitor'' further credibility and increasing its readership.Belo sells Kentucky daily
/ref> The newspaper was purchased by A.H. Belo Corp. (then-owner of the

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

) in 1997 for an undisclosed sum. Belo sold the newspaper to

Paxton Media Group Paxton Media Group of Paducah, Kentucky, is a privately held media company with holdings that include newspapers and a TV station, WPSD-TV in Paducah. David M. Paxton is president and CEO. The company owns 32 daily newspapers and numerous wee ...

in 2000.

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Messenger-Inquirer, The Newspapers published in Kentucky Owensboro, Kentucky Newspapers established in 1875 1875 establishments in Kentucky