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In January of 1879, James Madison Kirkpatrick, with little capital, founded "The St. Francois County Banner," a four-page, seven column weekly newspaper in the little town of "St. Joe Lead Mines," whose post office was designated as Bonne Terre.
Kirkpatrick constructed a flat press for his little shop, buying only the ink rollers. His paper carried a fair amount of advertising, and it is interesting to note the advertisements of the following doctors in the issue of August, 1879: J. H. Glasscock, James Kendall, E. E. Evans of St. Joe, and Dr. A. W. Keuh of Big River Mills.
Lack of finances soon caused Kirkpatrick to close his plant and "The St. Francois County Banner" ceased to exist. But in March, 1885, this same ingenious editor founded "The Bonne Terre Register."
The following year, 1886, H. H. Butler started "The Bonne Terre Star," and during 1887 "Nary" LaChance issued "The Critic." Irwin L. Page from Fairbury, Neb., purchased "The Critic" and consolidated it with "The Bonne Terre Star," which he had also acquired. He called his issue "The Bonne Terre Star."
"Nary" LaChance took a second venture in the land of news, founding "The Bonne Terre News," which was soon acquired by Page who then published his consolidated papers under the name of "The Bonne Terre Star News."
In 1890, Barbeau A. Roy and Joseph Flynn started "The Bonne Terre Democrat." Flynn sold out to Roy that same year. Three years later, Roy bought "The Bonne Terre Register" from Kirkpatrick. Flynn continued to edit the consolidated paper until May, 1908, when he leased the plant to George Stanfill.
The Stanfill lease, in turn, was sold to Col. John H. Wolpers in March, 1911. Wolpers published "The Bonne Terre Register" for five years, selling to Page in 1917. The newspapers were consolidated, and the Bonne Terre paper was known from that time as "The Star News-Register." Page edited the Bonne Terre newspaper for a continuous period of 22 years.
Due to ill health Page sold his paper in 1921 to Emil Calman, who edited "The Star News-Register" until 1934, when the paper as well as the printing plant was acquired by the Lead Belt Bank of Bonne Terre. C. T. Malugen, as trustee, edited the newspaper until it was sold in December, 1936, at public auction to John W. and Fayne W. Steinbeck.
The Stewart Printing Company had its beginning in a small job printing shop operated by Paul Stewart. The complete equipment cost less than $300 and was first housed in the basement of the Methodist Church in Bonne Terre.
Shortly after opening the printing shop, Stewart began publishing "The Bonne Terre Bulletin." The first issue of the Bulletin was distributed as a free sheet on July 15, 1932. Jess Stewart joined his brother in the printing business, and The Bulletin was published for several years.
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