The Parsons Sun, originally named The Sun,[1][2] is a twice-weekly newspaper serving Parsons, Kansas. It is the second-largest newspaper in Labette County behind Farm Talk, with a circulation of 2,632.[3][4] The paper publishes Tuesday and Friday and is owned by Montgomery Media Group.[5]
The Sun was founded in 1871 by Milton W. Reynolds and Leslie J. Perry, though the latter left soon after the first issue was published.[6][7][8] Both founders had experience with newspaper's having edited several newspapers before. The Parsons Sun has survived intense competition over the years, most notably from The Parsons Daily Eclipse.[9][6][7]
History
Founding and Early Years
Photo of Milton W. Reynolds, co-founder of the Parsons Sun. Date unknown.
The first issue of The Parsons Sun was published on June 17, 1871, the same year that the city of Parsons, was incorporated as a city.[10][11] Originally it was co-owned by Milton W. Reynolds and Leslie J. Perry.[12][7] Reynolds was born in Elmira, New York and had previously edited the Detroit Free Press and The Nebraska City News along with founding several newspapers across the Midwest.[13][14] Perry had been born in Michigan, but moved to Wisconsin and served in the Second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry where he was captured and sent to Andersonville. Much like Reynolds, Perry had also founded several newspapers.[15] The original name of the paper was The Sun, and it published weekly,[16] though its masthead changed several times. Almost immediately after founding the paper, in August 1871,[7][8] Perry sold his stake in the newspaper for unknown reasons. He later founded TheKansas Spirit, which soon became The Western Spirit.[15][17]
Photo of Leslie J. Perry, co-founder of the Parsons Sun. Date Unknown.
Due to Perry not selling his share in the paper to him, Reynolds worked with multiple different co-owners, though none for more than two years.[7] In 1876 Reynold, who had previously been elected to the Nebraska Legislator, successfully ran for the Kansas Legislator, though he lost reelection.[13] The same year The Parsons Surprise was consolidated into the paper.[7] Despite this, both papers had been struggling to make profit, and for six months from November 11, 1876 to May 12, 1877,[7] the paper was forced to shut down. When it reopened, Reynolds was the sole owner.[13][6][7]
Despite the paper reopening, it still struggled financially.[8] Eventually in 1878 Reynolds retired from The Sun and The Leavenworth Press, and he sold his share in The Sun to Harry H. Lusk.[7][8][12] Reynolds moved to Oklahoma several years later and founded the oldest newspaper in Oklahoma, The Edmond Sun, which later merged with The Norman Transcript. He would also regularly write guest column for newspapers under the alias Kicking Bird[13][14] Lusk was a prominent community member in Parsons, having become postmaster of the city.[18][8] He had also previously edited the Olney Ledger.[8] After his death the Topeka State Journal called Lusk the best newspaper man in the southeast (Kansas).[19] Lusk soon turned around the fortunes of the paper and was able to change The Sun's publishing to daily (Except for Monday) in 1880. The masthead was thus changed to TheParsons Daily Sun.[11][8] A year later, in 1881, under Lusk, The Parsons Daily Sun would start a Sunday edition of the newspaper called The Parson's Sun.[20] This is not to be confused with the modern paper, which is of the same name. In 1884 the name of the Sunday edition changed to The Parson's Weekly Sun.[21][7] (It was also briefly published as The Parsons Sun and Semi-Weekly Herald).[22] In 1901 the masthead of the daily paper was changed, back to The Sun.[23]
Under Henry Allen and the Reed Family
Front page of the Parsons Daily Sun, displaying the end of WWIFirst front page with the modern masthead name, "The Parsons Sun"
Lusk died in 1902.[19] A year later Henry J. Allen bought the paper from Lusk's estate. At the time Allen owned the Ottawa Herald and Salina Journal.[24] Allen went on to own Topeka State Journal and The Manhattan Nationalist, among other newspapers.[25][26] A prominent player in Kansas politics, Allen lived in Wichita in a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.[27] He was the first owner of the paper to not live in Parsons. The year he bought the paper he changed the masthead to The Parsons Sun,[28] and then less than a year later once more, to The Parsons Daily Sun.[28] During his tenure as owner of the paper the Parsons Weekly Sun had still been publishing, and in 1908 it was sold to a J. B. Lamb, and it became The Parsons Eclipse.[7][29] Allen sold his majority stake in the paper in 1914 to Clyde Reed, a close acquaintance, and would go on to become Governor of Kansas.[30] He would be inducted into the Kansas Press Association hall of fame.[31]
The Parsons Sun would have two Kansas governors edit the paper back to back as Clyde Reed would later become governor. Unlike Allen, Reed had a much closer relation with the paper, and lived in Parsons. He also served as a war correspondent in the Spanish–American War.[32] In 1929 TheParsons Daily Sun dropped the word Daily from the Masthead, turning the paper into the Parsons Sun, though the paper was still published daily, except for Sunday. The name would not be changed again.[33] The same year, Reed was elected Governor of Kansas. Then for 10 years between 1939 and 1949, Reed was United States Senator.[32] The same year he lost is election bid and a brutal blizzard descended on the Great Plains and North West, killing 33 people and delivering snow drifts 3–8 times what was considered normal.[34] During this blizzard, power was cut to the Parsons Sun, rendering it unable to publish the paper. To solve this, the paper reached out to the Katy railroad for help. In response, the railroad ran a power cable to The Parson's Sun from the train depot so that they could print their newspaper in a timely manner.[6] The first issue back the staff ran the advert "Resurgam" or Latin for "I will rise again."[6] After losing his reelection bid, Reed died, age 78, after falling down the stairs.[35] Reed, like Allen, was later inducted into the Kansas Press Association hall of fame.[31]
After Reed Died, his son, Clyde Reed Jr. took over the paper. Born in Parsons, he spent much of his time working on the paper and won multiple awards. This included being inaugurated into the Kansas Press Association hall of fame, like his predecessors.[36] Also under his leadership, the Parsons Sun moved to its current location in 1962.[6] Clyde Reed Jr. retired in 1982 due to health issues, and sold the paper. Despite no longer being in charge of the newspaper, Reed Jr. continued to be active in Parsons. He stopped both the Ammunition plant and the Katy railroad from leaving the city, though injunctions from the federal government and judiciary, respectfully. He later died in 1993.[6]
Consolidation
The Reed family would be the last local owners of the paper. The Sun was sold in March 1982 up to Harris Enterprises, a Kansas newspaper chain based in Hutchinson. At the time the paper had a 9,000 daily circulation.[37] Four years later in 1986, Oliver Redmond, a former patrolman for the Parsons Police Department, sued the Parsons Sun for libel, claiming that statements in a 1979 article were false. The article in question covered Redmond's last place defeat in a city commissioner primary. The Parsons Sun won the case, as Redmond failed to prove any damages whatsoever.[38] The online version of the Parsons Sun was launched in 1997 by editor and publisher Ann K. Charles.[6]
In 2016, media company Gatehouse Media bought Harris Enterprises, and with it, the Parsons Sun.[39][40]Gatehouse sold the paper to Kansas Newspapers LLC in 2018, who would change the paper to six days a week. In 2023, Kansas Newspapers LLC sold the paper to Montgomery Media Group, who then changed the publishing from five days a week to twice-weekly.[5][41]
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