Introduction to
The
Weidman Messenger
and other Weidman newspapers
If you are new to this feature, please read the information below.
If you have already read this information, you may go directly to the ARCHIVES.
In a communication from Joyce McClain, a long time resident of Weidman,
I* was provided with the following history.
The the first Weidman newspaper, the Weidman Herald was published 1896-1901 by Clarence Messmore, William Bell and Fred Blanchard.
The Weidman Record was published during 1912 by James Leonard Campbell.
The Weidman Messenger was initiated by Rolla Roe December 27, 1912.
He sold the Messenger in July of 1923 to Howard Van Ommeren who published the paper through March of 1927. Howard
died of a heart attack in 1927. Rolla had gone to Plainwell to
have a paper there, but moved back to Weidman and bought the Messenger
from Howard's widow in 1927. Rolla Roe continued with the publication of
the Messenger from April 1927 until 1939 when his family took it over. Rolla died
in 1942 and his family suspended the paper March 26, 1943.
When I conducted a Google search for "history of Weidman", I found a
listing for the Weidman Dispatch (1946-1947) on the Library of Michigan Web
site. I don't know if that date range constitutes the longevity
of the publication or if those are the years the Library of Michigan
has on hand.
When
my wife and I moved to Weidman in
1967 the Messenger was being published by Rolla's daughter, Constance
(Connie) Roe Skinner. Joyce McClain has documentation that shows
the Messenger being started up again in 1952 with the first issue being
dated June 2nd. That period of publication lasted until January
of 1960 when the Messenger facilities burned. The
fire damaged the printing equipment and the last issue of that
period was printed by the Mt. Pleasant Daily Times on January 14, 1960,
courtesy of publisher James Slattery who made the offer to Connie the
very day her facility burned.
We have not yet acquired issues from 1954 and earlier so our archives begin with 1955. With the exception of the last issue mentioned in the above paragraph, the Messenger was not published 1960-1963. Our digitized copies start again in June of 1964.
A "must read" is the discourse by Connie that describes much of Weidman's
history and her personal life as one of the "Roe kids". It is truly delightful
reading and brought back many memories of Connie.
If you would rather read original "hard copies" of The Weidman Messenger,
the
Sherman Township Library has many (perhaps, all) originals in
a bound set available for use only within the library.
Credit
for the digital files linked below goes to Joyce McClain who provided
the original copies of the newspaper and to CMU's Patrick Graham, Ed.D.
who "digitized" the hundreds of pages of the newspaper and over 100
photos.
Click HERE for
The Weidman Messenger
Archives Index
For links to transcribed articles dealing with Weidman history,
follow the HTML links below.
Transcribed Articles in HTML Format
Rolla Roe authored a series of articles entitled "Roses for the Living", short biographies of various prominent Weidman
area citizens. Weidman history articles by other authors have been "digitized" in HTML (Web page) format.
Transcriptions of many of the articles can be accessed by clicking the following links:
http://www.mifamilyhistory.org/isabella/roses.htm
http://www.mifamilyhistory.org/isabella/hxweidman.htm
http://www.mifamilyhistory.org/isabella/jbmcginnis.htm
http://www.mifamilyhistory.org/isabella/gmiddlesworth.htm
http://www.mifamilyhistory.org/isabella/jotterbine.htm
