The Walsh County Record

The Walsh County Record
TypeWeekly newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Founder(s)A.L. Woods
E.H. Pierce
PublisherJackie L. Thompson
EditorW. Todd Morgan
Founded1889 (1889)
LanguageEnglish
HeadquartersGrafton, North Dakota
Circulation3,259
ISSN1067-5922
OCLC number27305001
Websitewcrecord.com

The Walsh County Record is a weekly newspaper printed in Grafton, North Dakota. It is the newspaper of record of Walsh County, North Dakota covering news, sports, business, community events, and job openings for Grafton, North Dakota and the surrounding communities.[1]

History

In 1889, A.L. Woods and E.H. Pierce founded the weekly Walsh County Record.[2] Woods eventually retired from the firm.[2] In 1901, circulation was just over 1,000.[3] In 1908, Pierce sold the paper to Grant S. Hager.[4] In 1919, Pierce died.[5] In 1923, Hager died.[6]

Later that year his widow sold the Record to Rilie R. Morgan.[2] Prior to the sale, Morgan was one of the youngest men elected president of the North Dakota Press Association.[7] During his reign, the paper was called the Grafton Record.[8] In 1935, Hager was posthumously inducted into the North Dakota Newspaper Hall of Fame.[9]

R.R. Morgan published the Record for decades and served for 16 years in the state legislature where he was the first chairman of the Republican Organizing Committee.[7] In 1942, his eldest son, Rilie R. Morgan Jr., was killed in the Battle of Guadalcanal.[10] W.E. Balkee worked as the paper's editor for much of the postwar period.[11] R.R. Morgan retired in 1959. At that time the Record had a staff of 30, making it the largest private payroll in the county. The paper was published twice weekly with a circulation of 4,500.[7] In 1965, his wife Edith (Thomas) Morgan died.[12]

In 1977, R.R. Morgan died at age 86.[13] The paper was inherited by his son John E. "Jack" Morgan,[14] who in 1971 was elected president of the North Dakota Newspaper Association.[15] In 1979, R.R. Morgan was posthumously inducted into the North Dakota Newspaper Hall of Fame.[8] In 1985, Jack Morgan retired as publisher and in 1989 he died.[14] His widow Dorothy (Danielski) Morgan then became publisher.[16] In 1991, Jack Morgan was posthumously inducted into the hall of fame.[17] In 2006, Dorothy Morgan died and her daughter Jackie L. Thompson took over as publisher.[16] She and the other members of the Morgan family continue to operate the Record.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "The Walsh County Record". Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.
  2. 1 2 3 "Walsh County Record Sold". Grand Forks Herald. November 8, 1923. p. 3.
  3. ↑ N.W. Ayer & Son's American Newspaper Annual. N.W. Ayer and Son. 1902.
  4. ↑ "Pierce Sells His Grafton Record". Grand Forks Herald. September 17, 1908. p. 10.
  5. ↑ "Ed Pierce, Pioneer Editor, Is Dead". The Fargo Forum, Daily Republican, and Moorhead Daily News. Fargo, North Dakota. July 23, 1919. p. 4.
  6. ↑ "Grant S. Hager, Walsh Editor, Is Stricken By Heart Disease". The Fargo Forum, Daily Republican, and Moorhead Daily News. Fargo, North Dakota. April 6, 1923. p. 1.
  7. 1 2 3 "Morgan to Retire as Publisher". Grand Forks Herald. November 4, 1958. p. 14.
  8. 1 2 "Mr. Morgan to be enshrined in Newspaper Hall of Fame". West Fargo Pioneer. West Fargo, North Dakota. April 18, 1979. p. 11.
  9. ↑ "Press Envoys Arriving Here". The Forum. Fargo, North Dakota. January 11, 1935. p. 6.
  10. ↑ "Rile Morgan, Jr., Killed In Acton On Guadalcanal". The Forum. Fargo, North Dakota. Associated Press. December 5, 1942. p. 1.
  11. ↑ "Journalist Balkee dies". The Daily Journal. Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Associated Press. April 22, 1975. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Mrs. Rilie Morgan, Grafton, Dies". The Forum. Fargo, North Dakota. September 23, 1965. p. 24.
  13. ↑ "Rilie Morgan, publisher, dies at 86". Grand Forks Herald. May 20, 1977. p. 1.
  14. 1 2 Swanson, Kali (March 28, 1989). "Former publisher, John D. Morgan, dies". Grand Forks Herald. p. 5.
  15. ↑ "John Morgan Named Head of Newspaper Association". Steele County Press. Finley, North Dakota. April 29, 1971. p. 2.
  16. 1 2 "Grafton, N.D., newspaper matriarch dies". Grand Forks Herald. August 9, 2006. p. 4.
  17. ↑ "N.D. Newspaper Hall of Fame to be unveiled". The Jamestown Sun. April 26, 2014. pp. A7.
  18. ↑ Thompson, Jackie L.; Morgan, Ernie (June 27, 2024). "CELEBRATING 100 YEARS of Morgan ownership". The Walsh County Record. Retrieved July 7, 2026.
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