About

In July 1860, J. F. McClendon and Augustus P. Burr began publication of the four-page Middle Georgian in Griffin, Georgia. The paper circulated on a weekly basis and politically aligned with the Democratic Party. Burr, a former Independent South owner, continued his support for pro-secession movements in the South and promoted the Breckinridge-Lane ticket in the 1860 Presidential election. In the spring of 1861, Burr stepped down to volunteer for the Confederate army, and his son, Seneca B. Burr, took over editorial duties. The Middle Georgian announced its suspension in late November 1861 when Seneca also joined the Confederate army. The Georgian reemerged as a weekly and semi-weekly paper in February, 1869, with Seneca B. Burr again as its proprietor and editor. In April of that same year, F. E. Bridges briefly owned half-interest in the paper, but he sold his shares back to Burr just a month later. H. E. Morrow, a teacher in Griffin, bought shares of the paper in July 1869. In January 1870, Burr sold his interest to J. J. Hunt, and the paper became managed by J. J. Hunt and H. E. Morrow. The new owners dropped publication of the paper’s weekly edition later in 1870. H. E. Morrow retired in February 1871 and sold his shares to J. H. Logan and S. W. Mangham; the paper’s holding company was managed by Logan, Hunt, and Mangham. J. H. Logan’s association with the Georgian was short-lived as he retired in mid-October 1871. On July 11, 1872, A. M. Speights of the newly-established Griffin Daily News bought Mangham’s half of the Middle Georgian and created a weekly paper titled the News and Georgian. By 1874, Georgian was dropped from the masthead, and the weekly paper became the Griffin News.