The Herald and Mail Archive

Early records of the Columbia Herald were destroyed in a fire, so little is known about its origins. The earliest extant copy of this weekly dates from 1861. Based on the volume and issue number of this copy, it is most likely that the paper was established circa 1850. J.J. McDaniel was its first editor. It is known that the Herald supported the Democratic Party and its presidential candidate in 1852, Franklin Pierce.

In 1861, Hunter Nicholson was publisher and editor of the Herald. The paper was suspended during the Civil War, resuming publication in 1866, with William S. Bliss as publisher and Nicholson returning as editor. The July 23, 1869 issue shows Alfred S. Horsley as editor and publisher. On January 5, 1872, the Herald announced that the current partnership would be dissolved and in the future the paper would be published by A.S. Horsley and Harden P. Figuers, with “no material changes.” In February 1873, the Columbia Herald merged with the Columbia Mail to form the Herald and Mail.

In 1881, the newspaper came close to going out of business. Thirty local businessmen came to its rescue by forming a corporation called The Columbia Herald Company. The publishers of the Maury Sentinel and the Columbia Journal merged their interests with those of the Herald and took stock in the new company. The paper’s name reverted to the Columbia Herald.

Former U.S. Senator Henry Cooper became editor at the Herald in 1885, and Frank D. Lander succeeded him in 1887. In 1892, a daily edition--the Columbia Daily Herald--was published but was discontinued the same year. It resumed in 1899 as the Daily Herald with Lander as editor. In 1909, James I. Finney joined the paper as editor, becoming the first of the Finney family which owned and operated the Herald for the next 70 years. The weekly edition continued until 1935.  The Daily Herald is still published today, and can also be read online.

During the early part of the 20^th century, the Herald subscribed to the newswire service of the United Press Associations (U.P.A.). The technology had advanced enough for reporters to wire stories back to the United States from around the world, allowing newspapers to break the latest news just as soon as they could print it. One of the biggest scoops for U.P.A. was achieved when one of their reporters in France announced on November 7, 1918, that World War I had ended. The Daily Herald (along with other U.P.A. subscribers) carried this headline four days before the official armistice was declared.