Home → History → Businesses & Industry → The Newspapers of Sandwich
The editors, publishers, and pages that preserved a town’s story.
Before news arrived on a screen or through a radio, Sandwich residents found it in the pages of their local newspapers.
There were elections to follow, businesses to discover, weddings to celebrate, and deaths to mourn. Advertisements offered everything from agricultural machinery to a room for the night. Local columns recorded visits, departures, improvements, disagreements, and the small happenings that made up life in a growing town.
In Sandwich, that newspaper story began in 1857.
Over the following decades, editors and publishers launched a succession of publications. Some lasted only months. Others became familiar community institutions. Together, their surviving pages preserve a record of Sandwich that reaches well beyond the major events usually found in history books.
They tell us how the town lived.
Three years after Sandwich’s first newspaper appeared, the Prairie Home and Advertiser was recording the growing town’s life. This surviving front page dates from May 3, 1860. From a private collection . Image restoration by Herk Schmidt. Some portions of the original text have been lost to time.
The People’s Press — 1857
Sandwich’s first newspaper, the People’s Press, was established on September 10, 1857, by a publisher identified in historical accounts as W. L. Dempster.
The community was still young, and producing a newspaper was an ambitious undertaking. An 1885 history of DeKalb County newspapers described the publication as a six column folio and its publisher as an experienced newspaperman.
A surviving issue dated Thursday, December 3, 1857, Volume I, Number XIII, provides a direct glimpse of the venture. Beneath its masthead, the newspaper announced its interests: literature, science, agriculture, local and general news, and markets. It also declared itself independent on all subjects.
According to an account published in the Sandwich Argus in 1883, Dempster operated from rented quarters on the third floor of the Commercial Hotel, the building later known as the Wallace House.
That connection places Sandwich’s earliest newspaper inside another familiar part of the town’s history.
Local businessmen reportedly supported the enterprise, but encouragement could not meet every expense. The retrospective account stated that Dempster had acquired much of his printing equipment on credit. After approximately six months, the newspaper ceased publication.
Its life was brief, but the People’s Press had established a new way for Sandwich to describe itself, and leave a record for those who followed.
The People’s Press, December 3, 1857, Volume I, Number XIII. This surviving issue documents Sandwich’s first newspaper during its brief publishing life.
The Prairie Home and Advertiser — 1859
Sandwich’s next newspaper appeared on October 13, 1859, when Mattison & Higbee began publishing the Prairie Home and Advertiser.
Its decorative masthead gave the publication a distinctive appearance. Inside, its news and advertising connected the town with the farming country around it.
Surviving pages from May 1860 are especially useful for understanding that relationship. Business notices reveal the merchants, services, and machinery available to local customers immediately before the Civil War.
Among the advertisers was A. Adams & Co., whose advertisement named Augustus, Darius, and Henry Adams. Its offerings included reapers and mowers, threshers, sugar cane mills, cultivators, road scrapers, and plows.
The advertisement connects the newspaper with the Adams family’s developing machinery business and the larger story of the Sandwich Manufacturing Company.
Such notices were written to attract customers. Today, they help explain what local businesses sold, whom they served, and how closely Sandwich’s commercial life depended on agriculture.
Although the Prairie Home and Advertiser did not become one of the town’s enduring newspaper names, its surviving pages preserve Sandwich at a formative moment.
The Prairie Home and Advertiser carried news and business notices for Sandwich and its surrounding agricultural community.
The Sandwich Semi-Monthly News — 1865
Another early publication appeared under the name Sandwich Semi-Monthly News, edited by James M. Higbee.
A surviving issue dated May 1, 1865, identifies itself as Volume I, Number XI. The newspaper appeared on the first and fifteenth of each month, with an annual subscription price of seventy five cents.
Its office was in Kent, Woodward & Latham’s Brick Block.
The masthead carried a statement of purpose:
Devoted to the Interests of Trade and Agriculture at Home.
That emphasis suited a community whose merchants and manufacturers served the surrounding countryside.
The 1885 county newspaper history called the publication the Sandwich News, described it as the town’s third newspaper, and reported that it continued for approximately five months.
The surviving May issue gives us firmer ground than later recollections alone. It establishes the newspaper’s printed title, editor, office location, subscription price, and twice-monthly schedule.
Its exact beginning and its relationship to Higbee’s next publishing venture require care, but its place in Sandwich’s newspaper history is preserved on the page itself.
The Sandwich Semi-Monthly News, May 1, 1865, Volume I, Number XI. James M. Higbee’s newspaper appeared on the first and fifteenth of each month.
The Sandwich Gazette — 1865
In May 1865, James M. Higbee began publishing the Sandwich Gazette.
The 1885 county history described its original form as a five column folio. Higbee subsequently became associated with James H. Sedgwick, and the newspaper later passed through other hands, including H. Furman and Gilbert H. Robertson.
The Gazette developed a substantially longer publishing history than Sandwich’s earliest newspaper ventures.
Its surviving issues also show that a newspaper could change considerably while retaining its name. A December 26, 1873, issue featured an elaborate illustrated masthead. By December 1878, the newspaper identified itself as a semi-weekly, appearing more frequently than its original weekly edition.
Later mastheads adopted a simpler appearance.
Through these changes, the Gazette recorded Sandwich during years of industrial development and expanding commercial activity. Its advertisements and news columns followed public affairs, local businesses, social events, and the concerns of area residents.
One preserved copy retains an address label associated with Asbury, a small settlement south of Sandwich. The label offers a reminder that the newspaper’s readership extended beyond the town’s streets into neighboring rural communities.
The Gazette remained in circulation into the 1890s. Its eventual discontinuation, including accounts of a sale to the Free Press, remains a point for further documentation.
Selected Sandwich Gazette mastheads illustrate changes in the newspaper’s appearance through the years, rather than a complete sequence of its designs. The December 26, 1873, example retains a mailing label for Asbury, a small settlement south of Sandwich, a reminder that the newspaper also reached readers in surrounding rural communities.
The Sandwich Free Press — 1873
On Wednesday, July 16, 1873, the first issue of the Sandwich Free Press appeared.
Its editor and publisher, Henry Bloodgood, introduced the venture with confidence, humor, and a clear statement of priorities:
Home First; The World Afterward.
The motto placed Sandwich at the center of the newspaper’s attention while leaving room for news from beyond the community.
Bloodgood’s introductory remarks expressed faith in the town and its prospects. They also acknowledged the uncertainty of beginning a newspaper.
Recalling a conversation with his wife, he reported her practical question:
“Who’ll read the paper after it is printed, Bloodgood?”
He reassured her that he already knew three people who had promised to read it.
The exchange made light of a serious concern. A newspaper needed paying subscribers, advertisers, and enough steady income to keep producing the next issue.
The Free Press succeeded in becoming one of Sandwich’s principal newspapers. Through later changes in ownership and publication, its name remained part of the community for generations.
Its surviving first issue is particularly important for establishing its beginning. An 1885 county history included a conflicting July 1872 date in a biographical passage. The original newspaper, plainly marked Volume I, Number 1 and dated July 16, 1873, provides the stronger evidence.
The first issue of the Sandwich Free Press, July 16, 1873. Its motto, “Home First; The World Afterward,” placed local interests at the heart of the publication.
The Salutatory from the inaugural issue of the Sandwich Free Press, July 16, 1873. In this opening statement, the publishers introduced their newspaper, explained their intentions, and appealed to the community for its support.
The Daily Advertiser — Documented in June 1878
By 1878, Sandwich’s newspaper readers had a daily publication available to them.
A surviving Daily Advertiser dated Thursday, June 20, 1878, identifies itself as Volume I, Number 10. That issue establishes the newspaper’s operation that month, although it does not by itself establish the first publication date.
Its business notices preserve a detailed view of the community’s commercial life.
Names appearing in the surviving material include the Sandwich House, Emmons House, Sandwich Bank, Crofoot & Manchester, M. B. Castle & Co., Paul W. Wallace, and Charlie Orr.
Together, such notices help reconstruct the town’s network of hotels, merchants, financial services, and other enterprises.
For the original reader, these were useful places to spend money, conduct business, or obtain a service. For today’s reader, they are clues to a commercial landscape that has largely disappeared.
The Daily Advertiser also shows that local publishers were experimenting with a more frequent supply of news than a weekly paper could provide. Its complete publication history remains to be established.
The Daily Advertiser, June 20, 1878, Volume I, Number 10. These fragile pages were photographed with minimal handling, leaving their tears, folds, and separations undisturbed. Despite the damage, they preserve a remarkable record of Sandwich businesses and everyday life.
The Sandwich Evening Herald — 1878
In June 1878, Sandwich welcomed another newspaper, the Evening Herald, published by Fred S. Douglass.
Later historical accounts place its beginning on June 17, 1878, and describe a publication issued daily except Sunday. A notice in the True Republican that June provides contemporary evidence that the small Sandwich daily was operating that summer.
The newspaper was modest in size: four pages measuring approximately 8½ by 11 inches. Reported prices were one cent per copy, five cents per week, or fifteen cents per month.
A surviving issue dated Thursday, January 23, 1879, identifies itself as Volume I, Number 89.
Its pages offer a lively picture of the community. A column titled “Sandwiches” carried local news and observations. Other items included reports from Somonauk, marriage announcements, advertisements, and notices concerning area residents.
Its Gothic style masthead gave the small newspaper a distinctive identity.
The Evening Herald did not achieve the longevity of the Free Press or Argus, but its surviving pages preserve a different part of Sandwich’s newspaper experience: a compact publication that readers could purchase for a penny.
The Sandwich Evening Herald, January 23, 1879, Volume I, Number 89. Its pages combined local observations, area news, announcements, and advertising.
The Sandwich Argus — 1878
The Sandwich Argus began publication on November 9, 1878, under M. B. Castle & Son.
It became another enduring voice in the community, following local affairs, business developments, and the activities of Sandwich residents for almost forty years.
Its pages also became a source for the town’s own history. Later accounts of Sandwich’s earliest newspapers appeared in the Argus, preserving details about publications that had already disappeared.
The Changing Face of the Argus
Over the years, the Argus appeared under several different masthead designs. From the straightforward lettering of its early issues to elaborate illustrations and ornate typography, these surviving examples offer a glimpse of the newspaper’s changing appearance.
The four examples shown here represent selected years rather than a complete history of its mastheads.
After M. B. Castle’s death in 1900, his son, J. B. Castle, continued the business.
In August 1913, Wood & Carpenter purchased the newspaper. Frank Carpenter’s connection with the Argus extended back more than thirty years, including work as foreman and later publisher.
Carpenter retired because of poor health in May 1918, selling his interest to B. W. Wood.
That October brought a larger change. On October 2, 1918, the Argus announced that F. D. Lowman, publisher of the Sandwich Free Press, had purchased its plant, subscription list, and goodwill. The operations were to be consolidated.
The farewell announcement thanked the community and described the pressures facing the business, including rising operating costs and labor shortages.
A May 29, 1919, Free Press account subsequently confirmed the consolidation.
The Argus had chronicled decades of change in Sandwich. Its own final announcement became part of that history.
The Argus announced its sale to Free Press publisher F. D. Lowman on October 2, 1918. The consolidation ended nearly forty years of independent publication.
The Sandwich Semi-Weekly Journal — Surviving Issues, 1899–1900
By the turn of the twentieth century, another title was recording Sandwich life: the Sandwich Semi-Weekly Journal.
Two photographed issues document its publication:
- November 28, 1899—Volume III, Number 3.
- March 27, 1900—Volume III, Number 36.
Both advertised an annual subscription of one dollar. The March issue identified J. H. Larner as publisher and stated that the newspaper appeared on Tuesdays and Fridays.
The volume numbering shows that the Journal was already in its third volume in 1899. It does not, on its own, establish an exact founding date.
The surviving pages combine community news with an assortment of advertising. Readers encountered local merchants, a bicycle repair business, Sandwich Manufacturing Company hay presses, and the Journal’s own printing services.
The November 1899 issue also carried an account of Henry Munch’s funeral, preserving details of a community gathering that might otherwise be difficult to recover.
These pages bring the newspaper story into the closing years of the nineteenth century. Sandwich had changed considerably since the People’s Press appeared in 1857, but readers still turned to a local paper for familiar names, useful information, and news of their neighbors.
The Sandwich Semi-Weekly Journal, March 27, 1900, Volume III, Number 36. Published by J. H. Larner on Tuesdays and Fridays, it offered an annual subscription for one dollar.
Other Titles and Later Changes
These nine newspapers form the principal illustrated sections of this history. They do not account for every publishing effort associated with Sandwich.
Historical references also mention titles such as the Rising Generation and Baptist Funnypaper. Their histories require additional documentation before their dates, publishers, and relationships can be described confidently.
The newspaper landscape continued changing in the twentieth century. The Free Press remained a familiar name, while later publications associated with the community included the Plano Sandwich News Press, Tri-County Today, and Sandwich Record.
Their individual histories deserve attention as this account develops.
What Their Pages Preserve
A newspaper was made to be read when it was new. Its useful life might seem to end with the arrival of the next issue.
Yet an advertisement can identify a forgotten business. A local notice can place a family in Sandwich at a particular moment. A funeral account can preserve the names of friends and neighbors. A publisher’s farewell can explain the disappearance of a familiar institution.
Even the mastheads tell a story through their lettering, illustrations, and changing designs.
The surviving originals are fragile records. Some still carry folds, tears, stains, or mailing labels, evidence of the people who handled and saved them.
Because those pages survived, we can hear something of the Sandwich their readers knew: a town building businesses, following public affairs, welcoming newcomers, mourning neighbors, and looking toward its future.
The editors could not record everything. But issue by issue, they left us an extraordinary record of everyday life.
Sources and Historical Notes
This article draws upon surviving newspaper issues, contemporary notices, and later historical accounts.
Principal materials include:
- People’s Press, December 3, 1857.
- Prairie Home and Advertiser, surviving May 1860 pages.
- Sandwich Semi-Monthly News, May 1, 1865.
- Sandwich Gazette, surviving issues including December 26, 1873, and December 1878.
- Sandwich Free Press, July 16, 1873, and May 29, 1919.
- Daily Advertiser, June 20, 1878.
- Sandwich Evening Herald, January 23, 1879.
- Sandwich Argus, historical accounts and ownership announcements, including its October 2, 1918, farewell.
- Sandwich Semi-Weekly Journal, November 28, 1899, and March 27, 1900.
- Contemporary True Republican notices concerning Sandwich newspapers.
- The 1885 history of DeKalb County newspapers.
Historical sources sometimes disagree about names, dates, and the relationships between publications. Where an original issue directly establishes a fact, it has been given preference over later recollections. Dates attached to surviving issues should not be understood as founding dates unless specifically identified as such.
This history will be updated as additional evidence becomes available.
Continue the Story
Bloodgood and the Sandwich Free Press
Meet the publisher behind the newspaper and explore its beginnings, first issue, and promise of “Home First; The World Afterward.”
More History Awaits
The story continues every day.
Follow Historic Sandwich, Illinois on Facebook for additional photographs, new discoveries, and everyday glimpses into our town’s past.