Corning Express

The Corning Express was the first newspaper established in Clay County. Published for just over two years in Corning (Clay County), it shows the typical lifespan of newspapers in the newly created county and its early settlements. It was affiliated with the Democratic Party and often endorsed their candidates during elections. It was also used anonymously to defend local Ku Klux Klan (KKK) gangs from an anti-Klan newspaper in a neighboring town across the Missouri border.

The first issue of the Corning Express was printed on May 6, 1875, with editor Dr. Charles Hiram Ireland, who was a former resident of Doniphan, Missouri, and publisher Joseph J. Winston, also a former resident of Doniphan and of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. At first release, it was a six-column paper, but it soon grew into a six-column quarto sheet (eight pages).

On July 22, 1876, Ireland retired as editor. Winston bought the press and became the joint publisher with T. P. McGovern, who also became the new editor. Ireland continued to operate a medical practice in Corning and, along with his wife, ran the Ireland House hotel on the courthouse square. It was also reported in August 1876 that Ireland was building a distillery at Brazell’s mill near Palatka (Clay County). McGovern would continue to grow the newspaper, also joining the Arkansas Press Association in June 1876.

During the 1870s and 1880s, masked gangs of the KKK began to spread their control throughout Ripley County, Missouri, and in Arkansas in the Clay County communities of Richwoods, Palatka, and Moark. The violence at Doniphan in Missouri prompted the anti-KKK editor of the Doniphan Prospect, P. Mabery, to use his newspaper to request help from Missouri Governor C. H. Hardin. In September 1876, Governor Hardin sent Union veteran adjunct general George Caleb Bingham to round up the Doniphan-area Klan. They remained jailed until General Bingham left, and the pro-Klan sheriff, D. B. Young, released all the prisoners. One of those arrested and then released was Ireland.

Up until this point, the Doniphan Prospect had had a good relationship with the Corning Express, both cordially syndicating stories from each other. However, the newspapers soon turned against each other. Someone began writing a column in the Corning Express under the pseudonym of “Vox Populi” (Latin for “The People’s Voice”) criticizing the anti-Klan journalism of the Doniphan Prospect’s editor. While Vox Populi’s identity was never stated, it appears to be someone with pro-Klan sentiments and connections to both Corning and Doniphan, a description that could fit Ireland. It should be noted that many of the arrested Klansmen had past arrests for bootlegging, with Ireland having opened a distillery a month prior to his arrest.

In November 1876, the Corning Express decreased from eight pages to four, and by the end of February, it ceased publication. However, it was purchased and revived by Tom T. Ward, a publisher from Jacksonport (Jackson County), on March 10, 1877. This revival was short-lived, and the newspaper permanently closed by the end of June 1877. In September 1877, R. E. O’Neill bought the former Corning Express equipment and created a new newspaper, the Clay County Courier (a different paper from the present-day Clay County Courier).

For additional information:
“Arkansas Tooth-Picks.” Daily Arkansas Gazette, May 8, 1875, p. 3.

Carter, Ryan. “A Brief History of the Doniphan Prospect and the Current River News.” Prospect-News, June 25, 2024. https://www.theprospectnews.com/news/a-brief-history-of-the-doniphan-prospect-current-river-news-3045115 (accessed March 19, 2026).

“City and General Items.” Daily Arkansas Gazette, February 22, 1877, p. 4.

“City and General Items.” Daily Arkansas Gazette, July 18, 1877, p. 4.

“City and General Items.” Daily Arkansas Gazette, September 25, 1877, p. 4.

“Clay.” Daily Arkansas Gazette, August 22, 1876, p. 2.

“Could Not Nominate a Better Man.” Daily Arkansas Gazette, May 10, 1876, p. 3.

Daily Arkansas Gazette, June 7, 1877, p. 6.

“Lingering Local Lightning” Ste. Genevieve Fair Play, March 1, 1877, p. 5.

“LOCAL.” Doniphan Prospect, December 17, 1875, p. 1.

“LOCAL.” Doniphan Prospect, August 11, 1876, p. 1.

“LOCAL.” Doniphan Prospect, September 8, 1876, p. 1.

“LOCAL.” Doniphan Prospect, September 22, 1876, p. 1.

“LOCAL.” Doniphan Prospect, September 29, 1876, p. 1.

“LOCAL.” Doniphan Prospect, October 6, 1876, p.1.

“LOCAL.” Doniphan Prospect, November 17, 1876, p. 1.

“LOCAL.” Doniphan Prospect, February 9, 1877, p. 1.

“LOCAL.” Doniphan Prospect, February 23, 1877, p. 1.

“LOCAL” Doniphan Prospect, March 30, 1877, p. 1.

“LOCAL.” Doniphan Prospect, September 28, 1877, p. 1.

“LOCAL AND EDITORIAL.” Doniphan Prospect, August 13, 1875, p.1.

“LOCAL DEPARTMENT.” Doniphan Prospect [Missouri], April 30, 1875, p. 3.

“LOCAL MATERS.” Ste. Genevieve Fair Play [Missouri], May 13, 1875, p. 3.

“The Press Convention.” Fayetteville Weekly Democrat, June 24, 1876, p. 2.

“Southeasternings.” Iron County Register [Missouri], March 29, 1877, p. 3.

“Thos. Fletcher, of Pulaski.” Daily Arkansas Gazette, April 9, 1876, p. 1.

Drew A. Calhoun
Clay County Genealogical and Historical Society