The Maryland Free Press was a weekly newspaper published in Hagerstown, Md., from 1862 to 1876, with a hiatus from 1863 to 1866. Its editorial perspective included support for secession, the Confederacy, and the Democratic party.

Front page of the Maryland Free Press (Hagerstown, Md.), October 13, 1862. Via Chronicling America

The Maryland Free Press was founded in November 1862 by owner and publisher Andrew G. Boyd.[1] Boyd was arrested on March 12, 1863, for printing material hostile to United States government and exiled to the South, where he served in the Confederate Army.[2] The Free Press was suspended by the federal government for three years following Boyd's arrest, until its revival on May 3, 1866, in Williamsport, Maryland. The paper returned to Hagerstown in late 1866. The paper was renamed the Reporter and Advertiser in March 1875, then sold to the Hagerstown Mail and discontinued in April 1876.[3]

Contents of the Maryland Free Press included local news, war reports, market reports, agricultural news, and advertisements.[3] Post-Civil War coverage was critical of Reconstruction and of civil rights for freed slaves.[4][5][6]

References

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  1. ^ Scharf, John Thomas (2003). History of Western Maryland: Being a History of Frederick, Montgomery, Carroll, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett Counties from the Earliest Period to the Present Day, Including Biographical Sketches of Their Representative Men. Genealogical Publishing Company. p. 1146. ISBN 9780806345659.
  2. ^ Bergeron, Paul H., ed. (1967). "Letter from Andrew G. Boyd to President Andrew Johnson, September 10, 1865". The Papers of Andrew Johnson: September 1865-January 1866. University of Tennessee Press. p. 59. ISBN 9780870496899.
  3. ^ a b "About Maryland free press. (Hagerstown [Md.]) 1862-18??". Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  4. ^ "Step by step are we approaching that equality for which the Radicals are so rampant..." Maryland Free Press. Hagerstown, Md. June 14, 1866. p. 5.
  5. ^ "One is actually startled by the fearful advance of fanaticism..." Maryland Free Press. Hagerstown, Md. May 10, 1866. p. 2.
  6. ^ "The New Trick to Force Negro Suffrage Upon the People". Maryland Free Press. Hagerstown, Md. July 19, 1866. p. 2.
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