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History of Bradley County's First Newspaper
| Bradley county's
first newspaper was The Banner, a Democratic paper founded in
1854 by Robert McNelley. He published it for over a quarter of a
century, with a brief suspension from 1863 due to the war, until his
death in 1882. His son continued the publication for a time until it
was bought by V. A. Clemmer and J. H. Bible and merged with The
Polk and Bradley News. The consolidation was call The Banner
News. In 1891 it was sold to James L. McReynolds, who changed
its name to The Cleveland Journal. In 1895 he sold it to J.
B. Stern, who was editor and publisher, and in 1903 H. M. Linn
bought it. W. L. Rodgers, the present owner, bought the paper in
1916 and changed the name back to the original Banner.
The Commercial Republican, the second paper in Cleveland, was published by N. A. Paterson from 1872 to 1874, when W. S. Tipton bought it and changed its name to The Herald. He sold it in 1904 to A. J. Fletcher and J. I. Harrison, who published it until 1906, when Levi Trewhitt bought Fletcher's part. In 1913 Walter Franklin became the owner, and his son still publishes it. L. W. Lewellen and son published The Weekly Tribune from 1929 to 1933, when it was discontinued. Two church papers with large circulation are published in Cleveland: The Evangel, the organ of the Church of God, and The white Wing Messenger, published by the Church of God over which the Reverend Mr. A. J. Tomlinson is overseer. "An Educational Study of Bradley County, TN., by Ernest Lafayette Ross 1940" transcribed by Pam Rathbone |
