By Bev Jackson

Our local newspaper means a great deal to us. Not only does it keep us informed about area news and some national and international news, but we depend on it for church and event schedules, weather, the wisdom of the comic section and opinion columns, bits of local history, advertising, and a space to air our grievances.

The first issue of the Albert Lea Evening Tribune was published on Oct. 15, 1897. However, there were many weekly newspapers in Freeborn County prior to this date.

According to the History of Freeborn County 1882, The Minnesota Star appeared on July 11, 1857 with a $500 sponsorship by the Democratic Central Committee, and in September 1858, Alf. P. Swineford took over its publication under a new name, the Freeborn County Eagle. In February 1850, Isaac Botsford became the supervisor and the newspaper became Republican. On May 19, 1860, “the Eagle made its last flight.”

George S. Ruble and Joseph Hooker then began publishing the Freeborn County Standard, and while they owned the newspaper only 23 weeks, it continued under the ownership of several other men. When the 1882 history was written, the Freeborn County Standard had been in continuous operation except for a nine month period during the Civil War when the foreman and compositors left to serve in the Union Army.

During those early years of county development, several other newspapers educated and entertained their readers.

The Bancroft Banner and the Bancroft Pioneer extolled the virtues of that little community north of Albert Lea when it had high hopes of becoming the county seat.

The Albert Lea Enterprise, a weekly Republican newspaper, started in 1872 and in four years had a circulation of 1,000 copies.

The Albert Lea Posten, started in 1882 and published by the Albert Lea Publishing Company, was printed in the Norwegian language, and was the successor of the Sanverke and the Soudre Minnesota.

Other papers included the Will of the Wisp, “which launched upon the troubled sea of existence, breasted the waves for three months, and sunk forever beneath its waters,” and “The High School Journal ” which was a “sprightly, well-behaved little entity surviving four months and a credit to all concerned.”

The purpose of the Freeborn Springs Herald was to mold public opinion toward

supporting Itasca in the county seat election. The competition went way beyond printing the various sides of the story. According to the 1882 history book, “The Itasca concern … sent a young man down who purloined the ‘toggle joint’ of the Albert Lea press, hoping thus to prevent the issue of its hated rival until the election was over, but Ruble and the boys were equal to the emergency, and did not propose to let a little thing like that prevent the regular appearance of the paper. So they procured a long scantling for a lever, and letting one end project out of the door, the form was run under the platen, when a man outside would heave down, and take the impression.”

I’m certain that there must have been other publications to help keep residents informed, but the names of these papers were not deemed important enough to record.

As I perused the History of Freeborn County 1882 looking for more newspapers, I discovered that in the first years of our county’s development, the citizens had plenty of other things on their minds, and newspapers were not high on the priority list. Businesses included lumber and flour mills, saloons, schools, churches, grocery and general stores, dairies, post offices, farms, hotels, smithys, elevators, government offices, harness shops, and hotels. Other occupations were carpenters, shoemakers, doctors with drug stores, soldiers, teachers, lawyers, railroad depot agents and telegraph operators, and barbers. Writers and publishers aren’t on the list. It’s interesting to note that “women’s work” is also not mentioned. That was a time when cooking, cleaning, sewing, canning, caring for children, and helping out with the farm chores were 24-7 occupations. But I’m wandering again –

Building a shelter, breaking that prairie soil, and providing for their families were the major concerns of those early settlers, and most of their news must have come by word of mouth. How different that is from our instant media communication, and “see it as it happens” coverage.

Our museum library contains microfilm of those early newspapers, and purchasing film of the Albert Lea Tribune is an ongoing project for us when the money is available. How glad we are that those early newspapers and films provide a written record of news that is available for genealogical and historical researchers.

(Bev Jackson is the executive director of the Freeborn County Historical Museum.)