Published by The Evansville Courier

During the next 16 years the paper failed, changed hands and was revived several more times. Changes usually resulted in a new name.

While still a weekly, the newspaper was called The Advertiser, The Republican, The Times, The Gazette and The Dispatch. When Capt. John B. Hall purchased the paper in 1853, he established it as a daily and called it The Daily Enquirer. Hall laid the foundation for a stronger, more credible Evansville newspaper when he hired Col. Charles Denby as The Daily Enquirer's editor.

Perhaps best known today for the cigar that was named after him, Charles Denby's editorials were popular and widely quoted during the next six years. He is considered to be the first outstanding writer and editor in The Evansville Courier's long history, and later became an investor when the paper became known again as The Courier.

While serving as editor, Denby studied law with Conrad Baker, who later would be governor. After practicing in Evansville for a time, he was appointed by President Cleveland as minister to China.

It was during Denby's years as editor in the mid-1850s that two distinct political parties - the Democrats and the Republicans - settled into American structure.

It is believed that operation of The Daily Enquirer was suspended in 1861 and didn't resume until after the Civil War. Details aren't clear, but it's known the ownership changed hands two or three more times.

On Jan. 7, 1865, The Evansville Courier name was restored by a group of investors that included Denby. It was purchased in 1866 by George William Shanklin, who was joined by his brother, John Gilbert Shanklin, two years later.

The Evansville Daily Journal was the area's dominant English-language newspaper during the Civil War years. The Republican paper bolstered Abraham Lincoln's campaign and 1860 election, then a few months later took up the grim work of reporting the events of the Civil War.

April 17, 1861, was a big news day for the Daily Journal. Southern states had seceded from the union by early 1861. And early on April 12 Fort Sumter was bombarded by Confederate artillery. On the afternoon of the following day, Union Maj. Robert Anderson agreed to surrender the fort. He marched out of Fort Sumter on April 14. On April 17, a raucous town meeting filled Evansville's market house and spilled onto the streets. The town meeting demonstrated the city's suppport for the Union cause.

Mayor William Baker, Conrad Baker's brother, and other city leaders delivered patriotic speeches and poems. The Crescent City band played rousing favorites such as "Yankee Doodle" and "Hail Columbia."

And before the assembly was over, most of the cheering crowd had taken an oath - led by Conrad Baker - to support the Constitution of the United States.