Texas Almanac, 1945-1946 Page: 31
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THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS. 31
The last editorial campaign of Richard-
son before his death in 1875 was directed
at the redemption of Texas from "the
thief and the scalawag."
The tragic close of the War Between
the States turned the footsteps of many
a young man toward the hopeful West.
Among these was the second of the three
outstanding personalities that have guid-
ed The News through its more than a
century of constructive journalism. Col.
A. H. Belo late of the Confederate Army,
came to Texas from his native North
Carolina in 1865 and joined the staff of
The News shortly before it returned
from Houston to Galveston. He soon
became Richardson's right-hand man in
the management of the paper and, after
the latter's death in 1875, became the
principal owner of the paper. He con-
tinued as the executive head of the
enterprise until his death in 1901.
After Reconstruction.
It was a period of economic and cul-
tural progress for the young state after
it was released from the bonds of the
Reconstruction period. A network of
rail lines rapidly connected the coast
cities with the Texas hinterland, popu-
lous centers sprang up on the Blackland
Prairies and the beginnings of industrial-
ization became apparent. The manage-
ment of The News looked up across the
broad expanse of Texas with its on-
ward-moving population and saw the
inland opportunity. The News became
widely circulated in rapidly developing
upland Texas. A larger staff was needed
and several men who subsequently made
large contributions to the growth of the
paper were added, including John J.
Hand, Donaldson C. Jenkins, Thomas W.
Dealey and R. G. Lowe.
It was in this period that the third
outstanding personality in the history of
The News joined its forces. On Oct. 12,
1874, Colonel Belo, with the approval of
Willard Richardson, employed a fifteen-
year-old, British-born lad, G. B. Dealey,
who began as office boy. For approxi-
mately one year the tenures of the three
-Richardson, Belo and Dealey-over-
lapped. The tenures of Mr. Dealey and
Colonel Belo ran concurrently until the
death of the latter in 1901. The young
man was one of the first to be sent to
North Texas with the establishment of
The Dallas Morning News. At first busi-
ness manager, he became manager of all
of its departments in 1894. Subsequently,
in 1901, he became vice-president and
general manager. After the death of
Alfred H. Belo Jr. in 1906, Mr. Dealey
became executive head of The News and
was made president in 1920. As this
issue of the Texas Almanac goes to
press he is active as chairman of the
oard of directors and is in his seventy-
first year of service to a single publica-
tion-a record without parallel in the
English-speaking world.
The Dallas Morning News.
As the war clouds cleared, The News
rapidly expanded its facilities. The Gal-
veston News began publication as a dailyin 1865, the outgrowth of the daily war
extras started in the fall of 1864. The
Weekly News, however, was continued
and expanded. But it was soon realized
that, even with improving transportation
facilities, The News could not serve the
great expanse of inland Texas from its
Gulf Coast headquarters with a single
publication. After an extensive survey
of interior cities, The Dallas Morning
Ne vs was established, Oct. 1, 1885. After
the extension of telegraph service to
Dallas in 1872, The News had maintained
a bureau in this city and had been active
in promoting the interests of the North
Texas region.
The Galveston and Dallas publications
were connected by leased wire and were
issued primarily as duplicate publica-
tions, a journalistic innovation that at-
tracted nation-wide editorial comment.
However, the Dallas publication soon
outdistanced the sister enterprise at Gal-
veston and developed a journalistic char-
acter of its own.
The Weekly News was published in
Galveston and Dallas, the name later
being changed to The Semi-Weekly Farm
News. Publication was continued in
each city until 1923 when The Semi-
Weekly Farm News at Galveston was
merged with the Dallas edition. It con-
tinued as a leading farm journal of
Texas until Dec. 31, 1940, when changing
economic conditions and the outbreak of
the war crisis in Europe caused the man-
agement to consolidate it with The Dallas
Morning News.
Another member of The News group
was established in The Dallas (evening)
Journal in 1914. It continued until 1938,
when it was sold to other owners.
A milestone in the history of the pub-
lishing organization was passed in 1923
with the sale of The Galveston News to
W. L. Moody of Galveston, while corpo-
rate headquarters, files and historic rec-
ords were removed to Dallas. The Semi-
Weekly Farm News was also expressly
retained by the publishers of The Dallas
Morning News.
Texas Almanac.
The Texas Almanac is also a part of
the larger journalistic enterprise that
has come to be referred to popularly as
The News. The first issue appeared Jan.
1, 1857. It was born of the same vision
and purpose in the mind of Willard Rich-
ardson that made him pioneer Texas'
most noteworthy and successful newspa-
per publisher. Looking up from Galves-
ton over the broad and fertile expanses
of Texas and witnessing its scant popula-
tion, Richardson and his associates real-
ized that Texas would be slow to develop
a demand for its great resources if only
the natural increase in population was to
be depended upon. He resolved to pub-
lish an annual compendium which, in
addition to telling Texans themselves
about the resources and opportunities of
their state, could be used in the eastern
states t9 bring population by migration.
The average early editions were approx-
imately 25,000 to 30,000 copies and there
was wide distribution in the Old South
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Texas Almanac, 1945-1946, book, 1945; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117166/m1/33/?rotate=90: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.