Southern Argus Archive

Antebellum Columbus, the seat of Lowndes County, supported both Whig and Democratic newspapers. The four-page Whig weekly, Southern Argus (1834-42), was established just four years after the county was formed in east-central Mississippi. In 1837, it was published as the Southern Argus, and Lowndes County Advertiser. From late 1840 until 1842, Samuel Davis was publisher and proprietor. In the last issue (September 6, 1842) of the Argus, former editor Richard Henry Browne wrote, ". . . we propose publishing at this place a political paper to be called the Democratic Whig. . . .The leading measures in the policy of the great Whig party of the Union shall receive our cordial support . . . there is no one who has such high claims upon our preference for the chief magistracy of the Union, as Mr. [Henry] Clay." The Whig was often at odds with its rival, the Columbus Democrat (1834-78), calling its editors Locofocos, a commonly used derogatory label for a faction within the Democratic Party. Browne owned the paper until 1843, when Samuel Davis and Company became proprietor; at this time its name was changed to the Columbus Whig (1843-50). In its last two years, the paper was called the Primitive Republican (1850-52).

Banking issues were frequently discussed in the Southern Argus and the Democratic Whig, and during the early years of the Columbus Whig. Articles promoting Whig ideals such as a national bank, a national bankruptcy act, and the repayment of state-owned bonds appeared often.

The last issue of the Primitive Republican in 1852 marked the end of the Whig press in Columbus.