Joseph Charless and The Missouri Gazette

• by George Bailey • Published: May 31, 2007

The first issue of the _Missouri Gazette_ came off the press on July 12th, 1808. Joseph Charless, the paper's founder, produced it out of a log cabin in St. Louis at a weekly cost of $20. Charless was willing to barter for the paper, rather than deal only in cash, often accepting flour, vegetables and meat as payment. In Charless's day the paper was printed in French as well as English to accomodate French settlers, and printed on small (i.e. 12x8) pages divided into three columns. It would soon entertain a host of different titles, such as the _Louisiana Gazette_, the _Missouri Gazette and Illinois Advertiser_. Charless sold the paper to James Cummins who, in 1822, sold it _back_ to the Charless's, only this time to the founder's son Edward, who changed it's name, yet again, to the _Missouri Republican_. The _Republican_ became daily in 1836, and added a Sunday issue two years later, provoking not a little controversy amongst the Christian community. In 1849 the St. Louis fire of May 18th destroyed part of the printing plant. It was two years before the _Republican_ recovered, reappearing new and improved on much larger (i.e. 31.5x52) sheets of paper. It would go on to be called the _St. Louis Republican_, the _St. Louis Republic_ and, finally, the_St. Louis Globe-Democrat_. Missouri's first newspaper folded in December of 1919.