Published: May 04, 2006 10:41 am      

Richmond Register's History begins in 1809

RICHMOND — The Richmond Register's history goes back to the incorporation of the City of Richmond.

The city's first paper was The Globe Register, which was first published Nov. 2, 1809, by Dr. Thomas White Ruble, a Virginian who came to Richmond in 1805. Ruble owned the paper for a year before selling to John A. Grimes, who changed the name to The Luminary.

The paper was sold to Joe Turner in 1816, who in 1822 changed the name to The Farmer's Chronicle. Competition came also in 1822 for the Chronicle. The Richmond Republican started publication as well as The People's Press, which started in 1827. The Chronicle was sold again in 1929; Col. William Neale bought it from Turner for $1,000. In 1845, editor Thomas I. Goddin changed the name from The Farmer's Chronicle to The Whig Chronicle, which found competition from 1847 to 1859 from The Plowboy.

J.M. Shackleford and S.V. Rowland were proprietors in 1852 and again the name of the paper was changed; this time to The Weekly Messenger.

In 1851, Col. R.H. Johnson, who had successfully published The Western Whig in central Illinois, came to Richmond and bought Rowland's interest in The Messenger. He later bought Shackleford's interest and made The Messenger the largest circulated paper in Kentucky outside Louisville.

The paper was sold again in 1858 to a joint stock company and ceased to be published in 1862, apparently on account of the war. In September of 1862, another paper, The Kentucky Rebel, was published in Richmond, but only one issue was published. Other papers that appeared in Richmond during the war period included The Mountain Boomer by Barney Young and The Mountain Democrat.

The year 1866 saw The Kentucky Register appear in Richmond. It was followed by The Herald in 1879, which was replaced by The Climax. The 1890's saw three papers being printed in Richmond: The Kentucky Register, The Climax and The Semiweekly Pantograph. Other papers that started in Richmond in the early 1900's include The Madisonian by Judge Grant E. Lilly and The One Timer by Preston Smith.

In 1917, S.M. Saufley purchased The Climax and The Kentucky Register and created The Richmond Daily Register.

Saufley would sell half interest of the paper to Keen Johnson, who became editor and president of the paper. Saufley died in 1942 and his son, Shelton M. Saufley Jr. became co-publisher with Johnson and T.B. Challinor. Johnson was the editor of The Richmond Daily Register until he was elected governor of Kentucky in 1939. Challinor became general manager of the paper and remained there until his death in 1965. His son-in-law Ben Tureman took over.

In 1970 the paper changed hands again. Frank Helderman Sr. of Alabama bought the paper and named Randall Shew publisher.

Helderman's wife sold the paper to the Thompson Corporation in 1985. Thompson owned the paper for 10 years before selling to American Publishing, a subsidiary of Hollinger International, in 1995.

NHI (Newspaper Holdings, Inc.) bought the Register in 1999. Nick Lewis became publisher in late 2004.

The Richmond Register was named best newspaper in the state in January 2006 by the Kentucky Press Association.