Abstracts from the Clarksville Standard (Formerly the Northern Standard)

The Northern Standard, later renamed The Clarksville Standard, was a weekly newspaper first published in 1842 by Charles DeMorse in Clarksville, a small town in the northeastern corner of the Republic of Texas. The paper grew to become the second largest in circulation in Texas and DeMorse was hailed as the Father of Texas Journalism. In 1856 and 1857, times were good and everyone thought life would only get better. New technology brought change, both good and bad. Texas agriculture took a giant leap forward with the introduction of mechanical threshers and reapers. The telegraph and railroads connected many states, and would eventually include Texas. But periodically, even in the face of seeming prosperity, economies crash and times become tense. The Crash of 1857, resentment against immigrants, the Dred Scott decision handed down by the Supreme Court, the Underground Railroad, and insurrection conspiracies all contributed to the undercurrent of stress in society. The Whig party was disappearing, the Democrats were split between North and South, the Republican Party was forming, and the Know Nothings' American Party rounded out the political combatants of the day. All this, along with town activities, marriages and deaths, celebrations, crops, weather and more were covered in the Standard. Both the genealogist and the student of Texas history will prize this work. For the genealogist, there is a wealth of names. For historians, this volume offers a taste of the people, events and attitudes in motion which were to shape Texas and the United States. An every name index enhances the text.