Final issue!

New chapter to open in Gentry's hometown paper

— Today’s issue marks the close of another chapter in the history of newspapers in Gentry and the opening of another.

This is the final issue of the Gentry Courier-Journal, with the Westside Eagle Observer - a combined edition of the Courier-Journal, the Decatur Herald and the Gravette News Herald - beginning publication next Wednesday.

The Courier-Journal traces its history back to 1894 when a newspaper man by the name of John Hann, owner and operator of the Waunetta Breeze in Waunetta, Neb., came to the then-forming town of Gentry and set up the town’s first newspaper, the Gentry Journal, leaving it in the hands of his brother-in-law, Edwin Baker, to operate.

The signature of Baker and the names of Hann and Baker appear on a Gentry Journal proof of publication of Gentry’s Notice of IncorporationPetition filed at the Benton County Courthouse, in early 1895.

Though the first issues of the Gentry Journal may be lost, the petition to incorporate Gentry was filed at the Benton County Courthouse on Feb. 18, 1895, and was published in the Gentry Journal Feb. 21, Feb. 28, March 7 and March 14, 1895. The certification of publication was filed March 23, 1895. The hearing date for the petition was at 1 p.m., April 12, 1895, at the Benton County Courthouse. The signers of the original petition were: D.W. Feemster; R.D. Morlan; W.H.Young, M.D.; N.H. Mitchell; F.M. Terry; T.H. Oakley; G.F. Lowdermilk; J.W. Knox; J.T. Sheffield; G.C. Cunningham; John McNeil; M.G.Hull; John S. Hinds; W.J. Holbrook; H.M. Chandler; W.H. Allen; Wm. Collins; J.M. Collins; A. Bickel; Geo. M. Craig; A.S. Brandon; J.F. Wasson; A.D. Hall; W.M. Gunn; J.W. George; J.W. Mitchell; and O.O. Hill.

The newspaper changed hands numerous times since its founding, being sold already in 1895 to D.L. Kost and Joe G. Bennett.

Most notable of early owners was Arthur Tallman, who owned and operated the newspaper from 1896 until 1921 when Tallman sold the newspaper, then called the Journal-Advance, to M.V. Crockett and his wife. After spending time in Hot Springs to regain his health, Tallman returned to work at the Journal Advance and died at the press on Jan. 10, 1924, according to his published obituary.

“Since his return to Gentry, he has worked in the JA office,” his published obituary states, “and was assisting with the press work of last week’s edition, when he fell - fell to rise no more. Thus he died ‘in the harness,’ in the work of his chosen profession. The wheels ofthe press stopped, and in a few brief minutes after falling, the soul of this noble, Christian man, this kind and loving husband and brother, this loyal friend, took its flight to the realms of bliss.”

Other owners and publishers included S.S. and E.B. Evans, Marion Wasson, C.H. and J.A. Reagan, Jack White, Ed Caulson, Herbert Sengstake, Mr. and Mrs. Morris Lamberson, Robert Lamberson, Robert Douglas, and Johnny and Martha Brock. Gentry’s weekly newspaper was owned by Community Publishers, Wehco Media and is now a part of Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC.

As the name indicates, the Courier-Journal is the offspring of previous newspapers: The Gentry Journal, the Gentry Advance, the combined Journal-Advance, the Gentry Courier and a second Gentry Journal.

There were also brief periods in the history of Gentry newspapers when there were none. The Journal-Advance suspended publication between October of 1973 and February of 1974 when Robert Douglas bought the paper and resumed publication. The Gentry Courier began publication in the 1980s to fill a void after the Journal-Advance ceased publication, leaving Gentrywithout a newspaper for a couple of years.

While it is lamentable that Gentry is losing a newspaper devoted solely to the Gentry community, the upcoming change is not the end of Gentry’s hometown newspaper. Rather, this new combined edition marks a new chapter in Gentry’s hometown newspaper history.

Hometown news coverage will not change. The pages of the Eagle Observer will still include photos of Gentry people, places and events. It will include news stories,information and announcements pertaining to Gentry and the surrounding community. Coverage of sports at Gentry Public Schools will continue.

The combined edition will give readers what they had before in the Courier-Journal and a whole lot more, because readers will also be able to read in a single issue news stories and events from Decatur and Gravette as well.

While this issue marks the end of the Gentry Courier-Journal as the community has known it for a number of years, it is not the end of hometown newspapers in Gentry. Rather, it is a new chapter - a needed chapter - to make it possible to continue and improve the hometown coverage the Gentry community has come to expect.

So, next week, when the Westside Eagle Observer arrives in the news racks and in mailboxes, rest assured that it is still Gentry’s hometown newspaper.

News, Pages 1 on 07/28/2010