"By dint of much hard work the first paper was issued on April 7, 1865. One copy of the first edition has been preserved, and it is quite an interesting specimen of journalism. It was a six-column quarto, and the first page contains a few advertisements, a poem and a short story, and a history of Company G, 4th regiment of Iowa Volunteer infantry. The second and third pages contained the editorial announcement, a few local items and more advertisements. The last page was entirely devoted to advertisements of periodicals and daily papers. The subscription price as $2 per annum, to be paid in advance. The proprietors were willing to trade subscriptions to the paper for almost any commodity, and indeed the first issue contained the following local which is kept standing by the country editors: 'Wood taken on subscriptions.' The population of Mt. Ayr at that time was hardly 250 souls, and the entire population of the county did not reach 3,000.

"The first issue was the bearer of most grateful news. Postmaster D. C. Kinsell two days before had received an extra from the Ottumwa Courier which came by stage and it contained a telegraphic report to the effect that Gen. Grant had captured Richmond and Petersburg. The new publishers were glad to herald the union victory, and the telegram was embodied in the first issue with many expressions of rejoicing. The town was illuminated by placing candles in the windows, muskets were fired, and a bonfire kindled by the enthusiastic citizens.

"After continuing the publication for three months, Mr. Beall sold his interest to its former owner, Mr. Roby, who then purchased the other half from Mr. Turk. He conducted the paper along. Mr. Roby was in charge until the spring of 1872. During his ownership he was assisted in the office by two of his sisters, Mesdames D. B. Mashall and W. S. Berkey. W. W. Clark and W. S. Berkey were also among the early employees - the latter serving a full apprenticeship of three years, and working the first year for $75 and his board. The paper was sold in 1872 to D. D. Pratt, who had associated with him a Mr. Baker. The remained at the head a few years and then sold the plant to Geo. R. Stephens. The country was becoming well settled and the paper prosperous. Mr. Stephens greatly improved and enlarged the same, adding new machinery and type. He also built a two-story brick structure, it being the third brick structure erected in Mt. Ayr."

Stephens published the Record until 1887, when he sold to Rev. J. H. Tedford and Robert P. Williams, then publisher of the Ringgold County Republican, which merged with the Record. After a few years, Williams sold his interest to Howard Tedford who joined his father in J. H. Tedford & Son. In 1907, the Tedfords sold one-half interest in the Record to Sam Spurrier, who had been associated with the paper since 1895 as mechanical foreman. In the same transaction, the Record was consolidated with the Twice-A-Week News, the combined paper carrying the name of Record-News.

In 1911, Sam Spurrier became the sole owner of the Record-News, serving as editor and publisher until his death, November 8, 1940. In 1936, his son, Franklin, had bought half interest in the paper and purchased the remaining interest January 1, 1941. He served as editor and publisher until April 1, 1966, when he sold it to Jack R. Terry. Alan Smith of Mount Ayr purchased a half interest in the newspaper in 1981 and then purchased the rest of the newspaper from Terry in 1982. Smith sold his interest in the Record-News to Tom and Tami Hawley in August of 2012, who remain the owners of the newspaper today.

The first attempt at Democratic journalism in Ringgold county came in 1873, when C. C. Bartruff of Creston founded the Mount Ayr Journal. Bartruff published the paper for 10 years, changing its name to the Free Press. Then in 1883, he sold the publication to J. W. Burleigh, who restored the former name. In November 1885, J. S. Shepherd took charge and published the paper until his death. He was succeeded by his son, George, who continued the publication until 1924, when the paper was suspended.

The Headlight was established in 1877 by a stock company, chiefly to arouse interest in the north-south narrow gague railroad which was then proposed. The publication was succeeded by The Onward in 1878; this paper was published for seven years as a Republican publication. It changed hands often and was suspended in December 1884.

The Ringgold County Republican was established July 16, 1885, by Frank Wisdom and Robert P. Williams, the former retiring at the close of the first volume. Rev. J. H. Tedford became a partner of Williams. The Republican was combined with the Mount Ayr Record in 1887, when Tedford and Williams purchased that paper.

The Mount Ayr News was started in August 1892, by F. F. Armstrong. In December of 1892, he sold half-interest and the brothers changed the name to the Twice-A-Week News. In 1899, Walter bought out his brother and continued as sole owner until 1907 when he sold to Tedford & Spurrier in the consolidation that resulted in the present Record-News

Early day journalism evident in the columns of these papers reflected a candor and sometimes slander that would involve the auther in a lawsuit in a minute today. Politics, especially, seemed to bring out the best, or worst, in early-day editors, who mixed every metaphor and colored every comparison in their effort to outdo each other. But even straight news reporting often was colored by the editor's view.

As an example, a Mount Ayr lady found an unbidden man crawling in her bedroom window one evening in the 1870's. She shot the intruder in the head with a pistol. The editor reported the incident in a short local item which ended with this observation: "The bullet entered his head, in search of a brain, but finding none, departed."

Present day readers, looking at early issues, are immediately struck by the emphasis on national and international news, as well as many literary offerings. The weekly newspaper in the late 19th century served not only as an organ for local news, but for national events as well.

"Bartruff, the au fait of the Journal, is grevously maltreated by the editor of the Bedford Argus as follows -- 'The editor of the Mount Ayr Journal calls us 'a squirming squirt, chicken-hearted youth, diabolical jackassary, ape, hog, mullein stock, dog fennel, tumble-bug and toiling caterpillar.' This is an awful slam on us but we console ourselves with the thought that the quill driver of the Mount Ayr Journal is all this and more too. He is the butt cut of original sin, the quintessence of double-distilled nastiness, a foul bubble floating on the surface of a cesspool, a dirty mangy god and a foul disgrace to his own fleas.'"
~ Ringgold Record, May 14, 1874.

A note from the Publisher:

We're sure you've noticed something different about your Record-News this week. Today's issue marks a new redesign of the newspaper. Some of the changes are probably obvious to you -- a narrower page featuring a six-column layout instead of seven, a new headline font and new page headers.

The Record-News was just one of the handful of newspapers in the country still using the wide, seven-column format. We thought the milestone of finishing our 150th year of publishing in Ringgold County was a good time to update and clean-up our design, making the newspaper easier to read.

While the pages may be narrower, the amount of news and advertising you receive each week won't change, as we will be printing more pages than we have in the past.

The change also was facilitated by our changing of printers, moving from a plant in Lamoni to one in Creston. The new print facility will give us additional color capabilities, expanding on the use color which our readers and advertisers say they like so much.

One thing that hasn't changed is our commitment to covering the happenings -- good and bad -- in Ringgold County. They say newspapers are the first rough draft of history, and we're proud of having provided that draft for Ringgold County for over a century and a half.

We would love your feedback, good or bad, or suggestions of what we can do to make your Record-News even more valuable to you.

Here's to another 150 years of service to Ringgold County!

Tom & Tami Haley

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, September of 2015