The Home Journal Archive

George E. Purvis, formerly of the Pulaski Independent Citizen, and William J. Slatter established the weekly Winchester Appeal in Tennessee in February 1856. Lewis Metcalfe served as the paper’s first editor. The masthead described the publication as “a family newspaper—devoted to politics, local interests, foreign and domestic news, agriculture, mechanism, education—independent on all subjects.” Later that year the paper supported the re-election of Millard Fillmore for president.

In July 1856, the paper became the Winchester Weekly Appeal but survived only until December 5, when the editorial announced, “This issue closes the career of the Winchester Appeal.” Its successor--the Home Journal--began publication a few weeks later. The owners and editors (who remained unchanged) believed their readers were “more interested in domestic economy than in political contention,” and so the new paper would be “devoted chiefly to the home interests of [Franklin] county.”

After only a few weeks, Purvis sold his share of the paper to Slatter. Purvis (along with Albert Roberts and Henry Watterson) later went on to revive the Nashville Republican Banner, which had been suspended during the Civil War. Purvis was also instrumental in founding the Tennessee Press Association, and became its first president in 1870.

In June 1857, the Home Journal briefly included the town’s name in its title (the Winchester Home Journal)—but reverted to the Home Journal in September 1858. With the exception of the war years, the paper retained this name until the 1880s. Publication of the Journal was suspended when Union troops arrived in Winchester at the beginning of 1862. However, in September, Slatter began printing the Daily Bulletin from the Home Journal’s office. In the third issue of the Bulletin, an article was reprinted from the Chattanooga Daily Rebel entitled, “The Importance of the Press in Time of War.” The piece eulogized the role of the--primarily Confederate--press. In January 1863, S.L. Gannaway became a partner, and the paper’s name was changed to the Winchester Daily Bulletin. Editorials were unashamedly anti-Union, exercised no restraint, and grew increasingly personal. On April 1, 1863, an editorial questioning Lincoln’s “true pedigree” ran under the heading, “Abraham Lincoln, the Bastard.” In June, Union troops took possession of the printing office, and on July 11, the first issue of the Winchester Army Bulletin was published by a group of soldiers from the Army of the Cumberland as the collective “An Association of Printers.” Two of the soldiers--James M. Bromagem and H.T. Leyman--later published the Chattanooga Army Bulletin in December that year. The Winchester Army Bulletin ceased publication later that summer. At that time, Slatter salvaged his printing press and fled to Newnan, Georgia, where, in November 1863, he published several issues of the Daily Bulletin. Little survives of the papers printed in exile, but there is some evidence that Slatter also printed the Daily Bulletin in LaGrange, Georgia, in spring 1864.

The Home Journal resumed weekly publication on February 10, 1866, under proprietors William J. Slatter and Henry H. Dulin. The opening editorial reaffirmed the paper’s political stance, stating that “the position of this paper will be conservative, not radical.”  Publication was suspended between April 1868 and 1869, after which the Home Journal remained in circulation, under various owners, until 1896 when it merged with the Franklin County News to form the News Journal.