The Maryland Independent is a semi-weekly newspaper that began publication in September 1874 in Port Tobacco, Charles County, Maryland.[2]
 The cover page of the September 16, 1874 issue of the Maryland Independent | |
| Type | Semi-weekly |
|---|---|
| Owner(s) | Adams Publishing Group |
| Founder(s) | John S. Button |
| President | Jim Normandin |
| Editor | Jesse Yeatman |
| Founded | September 1874 |
| Headquarters | La Plata, Maryland |
| Circulation | 7,104 (as of 2021)[1] |
| OCLC number | 11730041 |
| Website | somdnews |
History
editThe Maryland Independent was founded by John S. Button, a local printer and Freemason.[3] Its Republican slant paralleled the growing popularity of the Republican party in Charles County, and when former state's attorney Eugene Diggs[4] joined the newspaper as an editor in 1877, he maintained this advocacy for Republican candidates and policies.[5] This political position put the Maryland Independent directly at odds with the county's Democratic paper, the Port Tobacco Times, a rivalry that would continue for years.[6][7]
In 1879, the paper turned Democratic for a short time when local Democratic leader Charles Vivian Brent acquired the newspaper, retaining Button as business manager.[8] Button died the following year, and Brent moved on in 1882 to a series of positions in the federal government, resulting in the paper's sale to Adrian Posey.[9] Posey was a Republican lawyer who served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1888 to 1890, the Maryland Senate from 1890 to 1894, and as the Charles County State's Attorney from 1896 to 1900.[10] In late 1893, Posey built new offices and moved the newspaper's operations from historic Port Tobacco to the bustling new town of La Plata,[11] which soon became the Charles County seat in 1895.[12][13]
After Adrian Posey's death in 1922, his son Frederick Stone Posey continued publishing the Maryland Independent until his death in 1926, when the Posey family sold it to Thomas Brackett Reed Mudd.[14] Though Mudd came from a prominent Republican family, his tenure at the newspaper was short, with brothers Ruey Philip and Philip Benjamin Bowling publishing the paper by 1930.[15][16]
The Maryland Independent continues publication to the present day, under the ownership of APG Media of Chesapeake.[17] In July 2020, the paper was consolidated into Southern Maryland News, which covers neighboring St. Mary's and Calvert counties.[18]
References
edit- ^ "APG Chesapeake Circulation Map" (PDF). Adams Publishing Group. 2021-05-01. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
- ^ "About Maryland independent". Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
- ^ Schultz, Edward Thomas (1888). History of Freemasonry in Maryland. Vol. 4. J. H. Medairy. p. 62.
- ^ Journal of the Proceedings of the Senate of Maryland, January Session, 1872. Annapolis, Maryland: W.M. Thompson. 1872. p. 102.
- ^ Klapthor, Margaret Brown; Brown, Paul Dennis (2013). The History of Charles County, Maryland: Written in Its Tercentenary Year of 1958. Heritage Books. ISBN 978-0788401602.
- ^ "About Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser". Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
- ^ Zilliox, Jacqueline (2007). Charles County: Images of America. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1439617649.
- ^ Rowell, George Presbury (1882). Geo. P. Rowell and Co.'s American Newspaper Directory. Geo. P. Rowell & Company. p. 157.
- ^ N. W. Ayer & Son's American Newspaper Annual. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: N. W. Ayer and Son. 1887. p. 158.
- ^ "Other Obituary Notes". Fourth Estate: A Weekly Newspaper for Publishers, Advertisers, Advertising Agents, and Allied Interests. 8 July 1922. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
- ^ Wearmouth, John M. (1988). La Plata, Maryland 1888-1988. 100 Years. The Heart of Charles County La Plata, MD: Town of La Plata, p. 10-11.
- ^ Wearmouth, p. 7.
- ^ Charles County Historical Chronology, accessed January 31, 2021.
- ^ N. W. Ayer & Son's American Newspaper Annual & Directory. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: N. W. Ayer & Son. 1922. p. 407.
- ^ King, Julia A. (2008). Pathways to History: Charles County Maryland, 1658-2008. Smallwood Foundation, Inc. ISBN 978-0615244464.
- ^ Walthall, Charles Jenkins (October 1995). "Burlean Hall: Summary of Research". The Record of the Historical Society of Charles County. 69: 1–4.
- ^ "About Us". Maryland Independent. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
- ^ "A letter to our readers". Southern Maryland News. Retrieved 3 September 2020.