DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Victoria Advocate. Now settle in, because this is a story that starts with a bang — literally. May 8, 1846.
The very day the first issue of a little weekly paper called the Texan Advocate rolled off the press in Victoria, Texas, soldiers were trading fire at a place called Palo Alto in the first battle of the Mexican War. The editors didn't just sit on that news. They printed an extra edition right then and there to get the word out to local citizens.
Not a bad way to announce yourself to the world. The two men behind that first issue were Thomas Sterne, born in 1818 and living all the way to 1906, and John Davis Logan, also born in 1818 and gone in 1878. Both of them knew what they were doing — experienced newspapermen, the marker tells us.
And they were listening to their readers, too, because in that very first year they changed the name from the Texan Advocate to the Texian Advocate, at the request of early Texas pioneers who apparently had opinions about spelling and identity. Sterne and Logan held on to the paper until 1853, when they sold it and both turned to ranching. Logan eventually found his way back to the press, operating the Daily Herald newspaper in San Antonio.
The paper passed through several hands after that — editors and publishers by the names of Sam Addison White, Victor Marion Rose, Frank R. Pridham, Edward Daniel Linn, John L. Bartow, Louis Nicholas Hofer, and James McDonald.
It was during White's ownership, somewhere between 1859 and 1861, that the paper got the name it carries to this day — the Victoria Advocate. Then James McDonald came along and in 1897 introduced the Daily Advocate, giving Victoria both a daily and a weekly edition. Those two editions ran side by side all the way until 1943.
What started as a weekly paper on the same morning cannons were firing at Palo Alto grew right alongside the city it served for well over a century. The second oldest newspaper in continuous operation in Texas — and it announced itself with an extra edition on the first day of a war. That's one heck of an opening issue.
What the marker says
The second oldest newspaper in continuous operation in Texas, the "Victoria Advocate" began as the weekly "Texan Advocate" in 1846. The first issue was published on May 8, 1846, the same day as the Battle of Palo Alto, first battle in the Mexican War. An extra edition was printed to inform local citizens of the event. The newspaper's first publishers were Thomas Sterne (1818-1906) and John Davis Logan (1818-1878), both experienced newspapermen. They changed the name of the paper in its first year to the "Texian Advocate" in response to requests from early Texas pioneers. Sterne and Logan sold the newspaper in 1853. Both became ranchers, and Logan later operated the "Daily Herald" newspaper in San Antonio. Later editors and publishers included Sam Addison White, Victor Marion Rose, Frank R. Pridham, Edward Daniel Linn, John L. Bartow, Louis Nicholas Hofer, and James McDonald. It was during White's ownership that the newspaper was renamed the "Victoria Advocate" between 1859 and 1861. McDonald introduced the "Daily Advocate" in 1897. Both daily and weekly editions were published until 1943. Growing with the city, the "Advocate" has served the citizens of Victoria for well over a century. (1989)