Potosi Journal Archive

Frank Melcher Deggendorf began the Potosi [Missouri] Journal on August 22, 1894, after returning to Potosi from working as a printer in St. Louis. He had previously worked in the editorial office of the Weekly Independent, a Democratic paper in Potosi. Upon returning to Potosi, Deggendorf married and quickly set to publishing a four-page Republican newspaper each Wednesday. Deggendorf's enthusiasm for his newest endeavor was apparent in the inaugural issue when he states: "we propose to devote space in our paper and do all in our power for the advancement of all the resources and enterprises in Washington County, the home of our adoption, and to this end we invite the co-operation, assistance and good will of all our citizens." Deggendorf also coined a new motto: "The Journal is the Paper for the People."

Deggendorf's pride in his editorial work is evident in the fact that he rarely, if ever, missed publishing the paper. In 1914, his 20-year anniversary edition mentions that the Potosi Journal "has appeared regularly without a single miss, always under the same ownership." At that time, Deggendorf had overseen the publication of 1,040 issues and had written articles or editorials for all but perhaps half a dozen of these. By then, the enthusiasm of Deggendorf, now middle-aged and a widower, seemed dampened by experience and personal loss, as his editorials become darker and more jaded. Despite never having missed an issue, Deggendorf wrote: "whatever we have failed in reaching the goal of our ambition, our lot during the period we have held the helm of the Journal has not been without joy in the recompense of enduring friendships won and their faithful support of the paper through all the good and bad years of these two decades." Deggendorf died on December 17, 1928, on his way home from the newspaper office. His fellow journalists mourned the passing of the seasoned publisher and editor with many obituaries and memorials in local papers. He was remembered as an "outstanding figure," "a very fine old newspaperman" whose editorials were "quoted far and wide by Republican newspapers." On January 28, 1929, Deggendorf's estate sold the Potosi Journal to Henry C. Bell, owner of the Weekly Independent, a Democratic paper. Bell merged the two papers into the Weekly Independent and Potosi Journal. In its first issue (January 31, 1929) under the new name, Bell states: "The two papers have been consolidated and it is our intention to give our county a progressive, clean, newsy paper, giving all the news that it is possible to publish... As to politics, all know that the Independent has been a Democratic newspaper. From now on the emphasis will be put on the word NEWS and not politics. We want to assure all that the columns of the paper will be open to both republicans and Democrats, for any articles they may care to publish over their signature, and they will also be open for any advertisements they may care to insert."