The Panola Watchman

Duane's take

The way the marker in Panola County tells it, here's the story of a newspaper that outlasted almost everything around it. Tom M. Bowers, born in 1837, had already been in the printing business in Carthage before the Civil War even got started.

He'd published the Carthage Banner here from 1859 until he left around 1861 to serve in the Confederate army. So when he came back and rolled up his sleeves, he knew exactly what he was doing. On July 2, 1873, he printed the first issue of the Watchman.

Type was handset, every letter placed by hand, and the news itself came from other publications and letters to the editor. That's how a paper ran in those days, and Bowers ran it that way until the ownership changed hands. He died in 1916, but the paper he started kept going long after.

Between 1884 and 1906, three men headed the Watchman, and here's a detail worth chewing on: all three of them were state representatives. T. E.

Boren, Jasper Collins, and O. P. Carswell.

A small-town newspaper, and it kept landing in the hands of men who also walked the floors of the statehouse. Make of that what you will. Then in 1915, R.

M. Park added a linotype machine, and just like that, the era of setting every single letter by hand was done. The paper kept rolling forward.

In 1971 the publishers converted to offset printing, sending that work out to Marshall. And then in 1984, the first offset press was installed right there on site, bringing it all back home. From handset type in 1873 to an offset press in 1984, the Panola Watchman just kept on printing.

Some things in Texas, friend, don't quit.

What the marker says

Tom M. Bowers (1837-1916) printed the first issue of the Watchman on July 2, 1873. He had published the Carthage Banner here from 1859 until he left about 1861 to serve in the Confederate army. Type was handset, and news items came from other publications and letters to the editor. Following Bowers' ownership, the paper was headed by three state representatives-- T. E. Boren, Jasper Collins, and O. P. Carswell-- between 1884 and 1906. R. M. Park added a linotype machine in 1915. In 1971 the publishers converted to offset, sending printing to Marshall. In 1984 the first offset press was installed. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986