Wooster Republican vs. Wayne County Democrat
Although they were published at around the same time and around the same place, there was one major difference between the Wayne County Democrat and the Wooster Republican: political stance. For much of the nineteenth century, Ohio was a “purple” state, with the two dominant political parties always vying for influence. Although Wayne County had a small Democratic majority, both parties were very active in the community.1 The two competing newspapers, the Wayne County Democrat and the Wooster Republican, were highly partisan and the largest weekly newspapers in the county for much of the latter half of the nineteenth century. The spirited exchanges between the two competing newspapers mirrored the political battle between the parties that each newspaper represented.
The Wayne County Democrat was founded in 1826 as a pro-Jacksonian newspaper, with Jackson’s quote “the blessings of government, like the dews of heaven, should be dispensed alike the rich and the poor, the high and the low” as its tagline. The Wooster Republican descended from the first weekly newspaper in Wayne County, the 1817 Ohio Spectator, but emerged in 1852 as the Wooster Republican after many editorial and proprietary changes.2
Both newspapers were helmed by devotedly partisan men and safeguarded from outsiders. In 1886, an outgoing editor of the Wayne County Democrat praised his replacement as “a practical printer, an able editor, and an unflinching Democrat.”3 Both newspapers served as platforms for political organizations, announcing party meetings, reporting on state conventions, and denouncing the position of the rival party.
Sometimes, interactions between the two newspapers were scathing. After the death of President Pierce, the Wooster Republican printed a eulogy describing the president as “one who did evil and only evil to his land and nation.”4 The Wayne County Democrat disagreed, reprinting the article and writing “the above are the dying kicks of the imported whining Yankee,” before going on to declare Pierce’s administration “one of the most brilliant on record.”5
But it is worth noting that not all interactions were on vicious political ground. One Christmas, the Wayne County Democrat apparently took great pleasure in publishing a holiday greeting for “all one hundred readers” of the Wooster Republican, resulting in a multi-issue scuffle between the two papers over readership numbers and appropriate Christmas spirit.6 Interactions could be petty as well as partisan.
The political divide between the two main newspapers helped to establish and maintain two distinct political communities within Wooster and Wayne County. Just as the two parties constantly vied for power in the county, state, and nation, the Wayne County Democrat and Wooster Republican constantly vied for more influence over the local community. Slights against readership numbers and the criticism of rival articles demonstrate both the desire for influence and the interaction that characterized political life in Wayne County. Prospective readers were free to choose which newspaper to support based on their party affiliation. Thus, out of one greater local community emerged two distinct communities – Wayne County Democrat readers and Wooster Republican readers.
Footnotes:
1: David Leip, “Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections,” accessed August 13, 2020. uselectionatlas.org.
2: B. F. Bowen, History of Wayne County Ohio, vol. 1 (Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1910), 313-314.
3: L. Firestone, “To the Friends and Patrons of the Wayne County Democrat,” Wayne County Democrat, May 19, 1886, 2.
4: “Gone,” Wayne County Democrat, March 12, 1857, 2.
5: “Gone,” Wayne County Democrat, 2.
6: “Not the Right Word,” Wayne County Democrat, January 5, 1887, 2.