Orleans Independent Standard Archive

The weekly Orleans Independent Standard served readers in Orleans County in northeastern Vermont. Araunah A. Earle established the Standard in Irasburg, the shire town (county seat) in 1856, when the county did not have a locally published paper. Earle was a journeyman printer who had worked for newspapers in New York, Vermont, Oregon and Washington before establishing the Standard, the first of numerous Vermont papers that he published before his death in 1892. After ten years, Earle moved the Standard about six miles to the busier village of Barton. In his December 22, 1866 farewell to Irasburg, Earle looked forward to working and living in “a village where there is life and energy, and liberality, and public spirit,” as well as a railroad connection to help deliver the paper in a more timely fashion. In 1871, Earle sold the Standard to David M.Camp, publisher of the Newport Express, to support his investment in another paper, the St. Johnsbury Times. Camp merged the two Orleans County papers to create the Express and Standard.

As editor and publisher of the Standard, Earle created a successful rural weekly. In 1870, he claimed that the Standard was the largest paper in the county, with a circulation of 1,770. Earle maintained the same general format throughout the paper’s existence, placing literary selections and general interest articles on the front page; editorial opinions, political and news reports on the middle pages; and farm, home, and religious articles on the back page. He gradually expanded news from area towns in a local news section on the third page. Local content included detailed summaries of cases heard at sessions of the Orleans County Court.

Earle was known for his spicy writing and strong opinions. In the pages of the Standard, he was especially passionate about slavery, “the disgrace of the nineteenth century.” From 1856 to 1865, the Standard’s motto was “No more compromise with slavery,” boldly printed at the top of each issue. Earle supported the Civil War to bring about “the death of the foul system of American slavery,” and provided extensive coverage of military actions and political developments. He was also a strong advocate for temperance, and regularly included articles about temperance meetings, reports about seizures of illegal liquor, and opinions about ways that communities and churches could banish alcohol.