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The first newspaper in our community, then Osage Mission, was published in 1868:
"August 5 (1868). - The first issue of the Osage Mission Journal was published. It was dated 'Mission Town, Kansas, August 5, 1868.' John W. Scott was the publisher; subscription price $2 per year. It was a four page paper, five columns to the page, and the office was in the residence of the publisher on west Jefferson street, just east of where the railroad now crosses that street. Mrs. Scott helped with the mechanical work. It was Republican in politics and favored Grant for president and Geo. A. Crawford for governor."
Source: Graves, W. W., Annals of Osage Mission, page 69.
On July 1, 1895, Osage Mission officially became St. Paul and the name of the newspaper was changed:
"July 4, 1895. - The name of the Journal is changed from Osage Mission Journal to Neosho County Journal and the date line changed from Osage Mission to St. Paul. Thus ends the story of Osage Mission."
Source: Graves, W. W., Annals of Osage Mission, page 489.
In 1896, renowned author, publisher, and historian W. W. Graves acquired this paper:
"January 2, 1896. - E. B. Parks announces the sale of the Journal to the Journal Publishing Co. and that W. W. Graves would be in charge of the paper. B. B. Fitzsimmons, James F. Fitzsimmons, and W. W. Graves composed the Journal Publishing Co. A few months previously, Charley Allison of the Erie Sentinel, and Seth Wells of the Erie Record had attempted to purchase the Journal and move it to Erie. The Fitzsimmons brothers stopped that by contracting to purchase the paper themselves. They sold an interest then, and later all of it to W. W. Graves."
Source: Graves, W. W., Annals of St. Paul, page 13.
Thus began Graves' tenure as owner, editor, and publisher of our local newspaper.
"On April 1, 1901, he changed the name to the St. Paul Journal which he owned and operated until July 1951 when he sold it to Kern [sic] Powers of Thayer."
Source: Osage Mission Sesquicentennial, page 117.
Kerm Powers was the Publisher of the St. Paul Journal until its last issue on November 16, 1961. The November 30, 1961, issue of the Parsons News, page 7, reports on the demise of our local paper (source).
"A Long Life - And, A Good One
This weeks seems to be the "Swan Song" for the St. Paul Journal, as an individual weekly newspaper publication. The Journal was the aftermath of the once famous Osage Mission Journal, probably one of the oldest publications in the state of Kansas. No question, that Osage Mission, now St. Paul, is one of the pioneer settlements of the state.
It was in 1938 that the St. Paul Journal, under the guidance of the late W. W. Graves and F. S. Hopkins (a present St. Paul resident), celebrated it 70th anniversary. The late W. W. Graves published the Journal for some 65 years. [Editor's note: To the best of our knowledge, W. W. Graves published the newspaper from January 1896 through July 1951, or more than 55 years.]
This last week, Kerm Powers of Thayer, who has been publisher of the paper the past 10 years, or from July 1951, turned the subscription list of the Journal to The Parsons News, David Tippet, owner.
Mr. Tippet has indicated that it will be impossible to continue the Journal as a separate publication and further indicates that it will become a section of his picturesque weekly Parsons News.
Dave Tippet is no stranger to the people of the St. Paul community, and his picture appears in the History of Neosho County Newspapers, as an Intertype operator for the Journal, when the history was published in St. Paul in 1938"
Our community has had no local newspaper since the loss of the St. Paul Journal. Other sources cover St. Paul news, but none is devoted exclusively, or even primarily, to covering the news in our community. Moreover, we do not have a newspaper we can "call our own."
The owner of this site had a dream that St. Paul could again have a local news source uniquely identifiable as our own. Translating this dream into reality meant acknowledging that our community is most likely too small to support a traditional print newspaper. An online news source seemed to be the best compromise - a cost effective way to serve the information needs of our community with a uniquely branded product.
osagemission.com is the resulting news source for our community. The concept for this service is a blend of two, popular Internet sites.
One of the sites is extremely popular even though it rarely publishes original content. Rather, it is a collection of links to original content that the owner feels will draw traffic to his site.
osagemission.com will strive to post original content that is relevant to our community. This content may be in the form of links to other online sources, or scanned copies of material otherwise available only in print form. Original news content may occasionally be posted, but we do not purport to be a traditional news gathering enterprise; rather, we will strive to assemble news from multiple sources so that it is accessible to our readers on a single website.
The other Internet site publishes original content, but it is always a parody of current events; it strives to provide entertainment value, not news value. Much of the original content posted on osagemission.com will be parody and satire provided for entertainment value.
It is the responsibility of the discerning reader to separate fact from fiction in the original content posted on this site. Our only commitment is that we will never alter any content from other sources, nor will we parody church events in our community.
We invite others to submit news links or stories for osagemission.com. The final decision to publish any content is hereby reserved exclusively for the owner of this site.
osagemission.com exists to serve the information needs of the St. Paul Area Community. Our format combines news and entertainment. News value will be provided by linking to, or electronically posting, original content from other sources, and from occasionally posting our own original news content. Entertainment value will be provided by posting original content that parodies current events in our community.
