People's Voice Archive

Lyman Naugle founded the People's Voice of Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas, in 1890 as a Farmer's Alliance organ. The paper ran with the tagline "At War with Class legislation and Maladministration - Equal Right to All; Special Privileges to None." From March 16, 1894, to February 16, 1895, sheets of the People's Voice were published simultaneously in nearby cities, identical except for the title and the names of local editors: Mulvane Voice, Charles S. Sheiman; Corbin Voice, Henry Howe; South Haven Voice, Rostein L. Wright; Argonia Voice, Eustace L. Wilson; Mayfield Voice, George R. Steele; Belle Plaine Voice, Charles Hatfield; and Hunnewell Voice, Lyman Naugle. The People's Voice was published weekly for the majority of its run, with exception of a semiweekly schedule from November 1898 to early April 1899. Lyman Naugle also issued the Wellington Daily Voice from September 14 to November 7, 1896, a short-term paper intended "to keep the people of Wellington posted about what is going on from the silver people's point of view" during the 1896 presidential election. Naugle stated that "when emergency arises, the Daily Voice may again come to life; until then we shall depend on the weekly - the biggest, brightest and best county newspaper in the southwest."The People's Voice featured political commentary, market reports, legal notices, advertisements, and news of local events. Circulation peaked in 1900 with over 2,300 subscriptions.

Soon after the paper began, Naugle lamented the attitude of those who opposed the Populist platform: "There is not one man in forty outside the party that understands the true aims and objects of the People's party. They won't read anything but that which agrees with their own shelf-worn hobbies. A man is not a true American citizen who will not read both sides and then do his own thinking." The People's Voice continued to support the People's Party until July 1904 when Charles Havens purchased the paper. Havens announced its new party affiliation with the simple statement: "Politically, the Voice will continue an independent Democratic paper, liberal, not partisan."

During its 27-year run, the People's Voice went through several changes in ownership. Founder Lyman Naugle published the paper alone until he was joined by Richard L. Collins in April 1899; Collins had sole ownership one month later. Soon after, on July 13, 1899, William Stryker purchased full shares and was publisher until Charles Havens purchased the paper in 1904. In April 1917, Havens sold the Voice to Burns Hegler and Harve C. Plumb, owners of the daily Wellington Journal, and together they published both papers as separate titles until November 1917.

In a coordinated action of consolidation during the "great war" and because of continually rising newspaper costs, the People's Voice was absorbed by the weekly Republican paper, the Monitor-Press; the Voice's last issue ran on November 8, 1917. At this same time, the Wellington Daily News purchased the Wellington Journal, leaving only one daily and two weekly newspapers in Wellington.