The Midland Journal was a weekly newspaper published in Rising Sun, Cecil County, Maryland from August 7, 1885 to June 27, 1947.[1][2] It was founded when veteran newspaperman Edwin E. Ewing purchased the Rising Sun Journal[3] from the firm of William H. Pennington & Brother and renamed it to The Midland Journal.[4] Ewing had plenty of experience publishing newspapers, having previously established Topeka, Kansas' Daily Capital in 1877 as well as Macon County, North Carolina's Blue Ridge Enterprise in 1882.[5] He had also owned and edited nearby Elkton, Maryland's Cecil Whig from 1861 to 1876, during which time he was a staunch supporter of the Union cause.[6] He was also a novelist and poet, with his story "The Hag of the Wallowish" originally appearing as a serial in The Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper beginning in 1849.[7][8] Ewing published the paper with the assistance of his three sons, Cecil, Evans, and Halus, until his death in 1901; after this, his sons took over ownership of the Journal.[9] They continued to publish the paper until 1947, when they sold it to the owners of the Cecil Whig and it ceased publication as a separate title.[10][11]
Like many small town publications, The Midland Journal functioned primarily as a source of local news, light reading, and brief notices of national and international events.[12] During its early decades, discussion about temperance dominated the Journal's editorial pages, as well as documentation of the activities and meetings of the Women's Christian Temperance Union.[13] Ewing continued the trend he started at the Whig of a fairly progressive editorial stance; in December 1885 the Journal announced a lecture at the local Episcopal church by celebrated abolitionistFrederick Douglass and noted that "his fame as an orator is world wide."[14]
The offices of The Midland Journal were located in a building built in 1935 that still stands at 11 East Main Street.[15]