About

S. W. Roberts and Mr. Harrison published the first issue of the Jefferson News and Farmer on May 5, 1871 in Louisville, Georgia. The weekly newspaper printed every Thursday at an annual subscription cost of $2.50 per year but that subscription fee was reduced to $1.50 in 1880. Roberts and Harrison co-owned the paper until February 1872 when Harrison left the publication. In 1874, Robert J. Boyd joined Roberts, and they managed the paper together until Roberts’ departure in 1876. In July 1875, the paper’s masthead was shortened to the News and Farmer. Boyd, who became sole owner of the paper in 1876, was editor and publisher until his abrupt death in November 1882. For the rest of the year, the paper’s masthead still listed Robert J. Boyd as editor and publisher, but the new owners assured subscribers that the paper was expecting new type by 1883. By January 1883, J. W. White and W. Wayne presented a News and Farmer with expanded sheet size and redesigned masthead. W. Wayne’s association with the News and Farmer was short-lived, but J. W. White managed the editorial helm of the paper until 1923. In 1917, J. W. White, while retaining his role as editor, sold the News and Farmer to C. B. and G. S. Chapman, who also owned the Sandersville Progress. J. W. White continued to manage the day-to-day operations of the newspaper, and C. B. Chapman visited Louisville on a weekly basis to attend to business matters. By 1920, the News and Farmer was organized under the Georgian Publishing Company based out of Sandersville, Georgia. Virginia Polhill joined the paper that same year as an editor alongside J. W. White. In 1922, Polhill, who owned shares in the paper, purchased the News and Farmer outright and organized it under the News and Farmer Publishing Company. J. W. White left his editorial position in 1923 to manage his other businesses, which left Polhill has the sole editor. Polhill went on to also purchase the nearby Wadley Herald, and she merged the two papers into the News and Farmer and Wadley Herald. Today, the paper is titled the News and Farmer and Wadley Herald the Jefferson Reporter and continues to serve as Jefferson County’s legal organ.