Parsons Sun

{{Short description|Newspaper published in Kansas, US}} {{good article}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox newspaper | name = Parsons Sun | logo = Parsons Sun Logo.webp | image = Parsons Sun front page 2025-2-25.jpg | caption = Front page of the Parsons Sun for Thursday, September 22, 2011 | type = Semiweekly | format = Broadsheet | owners = Montgomery Media Group LLC | founder = Milton W. Reynolds<br/> Leslie J. Perry | editor = Ray Nolting | founded = June 17, 1871 (154 years ago, as ''The Sun'') | language = English | headquarters = 1724 Main Street,<br/>Parsons, Kansas | circulation = 2,632<ref name=":20">{{Cite web |title=Parsons Sun |url=https://kspress.com/viewRecord.php?recid=77613 |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=Kansas Press Association}}</ref> | sister_newspapers = Chanute Tribune | oclc = 12276956 | website = {{URL|parsonssun.com}} }}

The '''''Parsons Sun''''', originally named ''The Sun'', is a semi-weekly newspaper serving Parsons, Kansas and the surrounding Southeast Kansas. It is the second-largest newspaper in Labette County, behind ''Farm Talk''. It has a circulation of 2,632. The newspaper is published every Tuesday and Friday and is owned by Montgomery Media Group''.''

The ''Parsons'' ''Sun'' was founded in 1871 by Milton W. Reynolds and Leslie J. Perry, though the latter left after the first issue was published. Over the years the ''Parsons Sun'' has been owned and operated by several notable people, such as two Kansas governor's. The ''Parsons Sun'' has also survived intense competition over the years, most notably from ''The Parsons Daily Eclipse''.

== History ==

=== Founding and early years === The first issue of ''The Parsons Sun'' was published on June 17, 1871, in the same year that the city of Parsons, was incorporated.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Parsons |url=https://www.parsonschamber.org/history |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Parsons Chamber of Commerce |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite news |last= |first= |title=About The sun. [volume] (Parsons, Kansas) 1871-187? |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85031545/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |work=National Endowment for the Humanities}}</ref> The original name of the ''Parsons Sun'' was ''The Sun'', and it published weekly.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Sun (Parsons, Kansas) 1871-187? |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85031545/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref> Initially it was four pages,<ref name=":15">{{Cite journal |last=Newsom |first=D. Earl |date=1996 |title=Milton W. Reynolds (Kicking Bird): The Man Who Named Oklahoma "Land of the Fair God" |url=https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc2031788/m1/2/ |journal=Chronicles of Oklahoma |language=English |volume=74 |issue=2 |pages=198–217}}</ref> eight columns,<ref name=":7" /> which was not uncommon for the time. However, most modern newspapers like ''The New York Times'' use six columns, though they previously used eight until 1978.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1976-06-15 |title=The New York Times to Change To a 6-Column Format Sept. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/06/15/archives/the-new-york-times-to-change-to-a-6column-format-sept-7.html |access-date=2025-02-23 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> It cost 2 dollars for a years subscription.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-17 |title=nniversary Parsons Sun begins 154th year of publication today |url=https://www.parsonssun.com/article/2602,nniversary-parsons-sun-begins-154th-year-of-publication-today |access-date=2026-02-18 |website=Parsons Sun |language=en}}</ref>

Originally the paper was co-owned by Milton W. Reynolds and Leslie J. Perry.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last1=Kansas State Historical Society |url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofkansasn00kansuoft/historyofkansasn00kansuoft_djvu.txt |title=History of Kansas newspapers : a history of the newspapers and magazines published in Kansas from the organization of Kansas Territory, 1854, to Jan. 1, 1916 : together with brief statistical information of the countries, cities and towns of the state |last2=Connelley |first2=William Elsey |last3=King |first3=Henry |date=1916 |publisher=Topeka : Kansas State Printing Plant |others=Robarts - University of Toronto}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/parsonslabetteco00pars/mode/2up |title=Parsons, Labette County, Kansas years from 1869 to 1895 : story of "The Benders" |date= |publisher=[Parsons, Kan. : Bell Bookcraft |others=Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center}}</ref> Reynolds was born in Elmira, New York<ref name=":15" /> and had previously edited the ''Detroit Free Press''<ref name=":15" /> and ''The Nebraska City News<ref name=":15" />'' along with founding several newspapers across the Midwest.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Blackmar |first=Frank Wilson |url=https://archive.org/details/kansascyclopedia02blac/mode/2up |title=Kansas; a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. ... with a supplementary volume devoted to selected personal history and reminiscence |date=1912 |publisher=Chicago, Standard publishing company |others=Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Milton W. Reynolds |url=https://okjournalismhalloffame.com/1971/milton-w-reynolds/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=The Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame |language=en-US}}</ref> Meanwhile, Perry had been born in Michigan, but moved to Wisconsin and served in the Second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry<ref name=":16">{{Cite news |last=Humanities |first=National Endowment for the |date=1910-04-26 |title=The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, April 26, 1910, LAST EDITION, Image 1 |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82016014/1910-04-26/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1756&index=0&rows=20&words=Leslie+Perry&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=Kansas&date2=1911&proxtext=Leslie+Perry&y=13&x=17&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 |access-date=2025-02-23 |issn=2377-7117}}</ref> where he was captured and sent to Andersonville.<ref name=":16" /> Much like Reynolds, Perry had also founded several newspapers.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=April 29, 1910 |title=The Death of Captain Perry. |work=The Western Spirit |location=Paola, Kansas |pages=1}}</ref> Almost immediately after founding the paper, in August 1871,<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Case |first=Nelson |url=https://archive.org/details/historyoflabette00case/mode/2up |title=History of Labette County, Kansas, and representative citizens |date=1901 |publisher=Chicago, Biographical Pub. Co. |others=Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center}}</ref> Perry sold his stake in the newspaper for unknown reasons. He later founded ''The'' ''Kansas Spirit'' in Paola, Kansas'','' which soon became ''The Western Spirit.<ref name=":4" />''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kansas Spirit (Paola, Kan.) 1871-1871 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85030500/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Western Spirit (Paola, Kan.) 1871-Current |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84027666 |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref> thumb|Photo of Milton W. Reynolds, co-founder of the ''Parsons Sun''|leftthumb|Photo of Leslie J. Perry, co-founder of the ''Parsons Sun'' Due to Perry not selling his share of the paper to him, Reynolds worked with multiple different co-owners, though none for more than two years.<ref name=":7" /> It was also during Reynolds tenure that the paper had a strong liberal bias.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kansas State Board of Agriculture |title=First Biennial Report of the State Board of Agriculture: To the Legislature of the State of Kansas, for the Years 1877-8 ; Embracing Statistical Exhibits, with Diagrams of the Agricultural, Industrial, Mercantile, and Other Interests of the State, and Sectional Maps, in Colors, of Each Organized County, Showing Their Relative Size and Location, Railroads, Towns, Post Offices, School Houses, Water Powers, Etc., Etc |publisher=Kansas State Board of Agriculture |year=1878 |edition=1st |publication-date=1878 |language=English}}</ref> This was due, in part to Reynold being elected to the Kansas Legislator in 1876. Reynold also had previously been elected to the Nebraska Territorial Legislator. He only served one term in the Legislator, as he lost reelection.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":15" /> The same year, another newspaper, ''The Parsons Surprise'' was consolidated into ''The Sun''.<ref name=":7" /> Despite this, the newly merged paper struggled to make profit, and for six months from November 11, 1876, to May 12, 1877,<ref name=":7" /> the paper was forced to shut down.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Humanities |first=National Endowment for the |date=1877-05-19 |title=Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, May 19, 1877, Image 1 |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84029838/1877-05-19/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1756&index=13&rows=20&words=Parsons+Sun&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1963&proxtext=Parsons+Sun&y=15&x=21&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 |access-date=2025-02-23 |issn=2163-4467}}</ref> Reynolds would reopen it as the sole owner.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Nolting |first=Ray |title=2021 Parsons Community Guide |publisher=Parsons Chamber of Commerce |year=2021 |location=Parsons, Kansas |pages=20–27}}</ref><ref name=":7" /> Despite the paper reopening, it still struggled financially.<ref name=":8" /> This in part may be due to Reynolds printing five to ten thousand copies of the paper for news he considered important,<ref name=":15" /> at a time when the city of Parsons had a population of only 4,199.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Decennial Census of Population and Housing |url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html |access-date=2025-02-26 |publisher=US Census Bureau |language=en}}</ref> He would then ship these extra copies to other towns and notable politicians to garner support for his political agenda.<ref name=":15" /> Eventually in 1878 Reynolds retired from ''The Sun'' and ''The Leavenworth Press'', selling the paper to Harry H. Lusk.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":13" /> He retired after prominent businessmen in Parsons rejected his idea to published 100,000 copies of the paper to ship throughout the U.S.<ref name=":15" /> Reynolds moved to Oklahoma several years later and founded the oldest newspaper in Oklahoma, ''The Edmond Sun,'' which later merged with ''The Norman Transcript'' due to drops in ad revenue from the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>{{Cite web |author=KOCO Staff |date=2020-05-02 |title=The Edmond Sun to merge with The Norman Transcript starting May 6 |url=https://www.koco.com/article/the-edmond-sun-to-merge-with-the-norman-transcript-starting-may-6/32353257 |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=KOCO |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-05-04 |title=Newspaper touted as Oklahoma's oldest to close, virus cited |url=https://apnews.com/general-news-bbbb9e4c371ff49cd6d3defc79104f3b |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> Reynolds would also regularly write guest column for newspapers under the alias ''Kicking Bird.''<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":17">{{Cite news |last=Humanities |first=National Endowment for the |date=1895-05-08 |title=The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, May 08, 1895, Image 4 |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014635/1895-05-08/ed-1/seq-4/#date1=1756&index=1&rows=20&words=Milt+Reynolds&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1963&proxtext=Milt+Reynolds&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 |access-date=2025-02-23 |pages=4 |issn=2158-8880}}</ref> Reynolds would attempt to found another paper in Parsons, ''The Daily Evening Star.'' The venture was started with an George Higgens but the effort folded within the year.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kansas State Historical Society |url=http://archive.org/details/collections04kansuoft |title=Collections |last2=Kansas State Historical Society. Transactions |publisher=Topeka |others=Robarts - University of Toronto}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Apr 05, 1881, page 1 - The Daily Evening Star at Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/366195817 |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> Eventually Reynolds would die in 1890 and was buried in an unmarked grave in Oklahoma.<ref name=":15" /><ref name=":17" />

Harry Lusk, whom Reynolds had sold the paper to, was a prominent community member in Parsons, having become postmaster of the city.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1901-02-06 |title=Kurtz family |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/parsons-palladium-kurtz-family/42360140/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |work=Parsons Palladium |pages=5}}</ref><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":18">{{Cite news |last=Humanities |first=National Endowment for the |date=1890-09-30 |title=The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, September 30, 1890, Image 5 |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90061066/1890-09-30/ed-1/seq-5/#date1=1756&index=0&rows=20&words=Harry+Lusk&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1902&proxtext=Harry+Lusk&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 |access-date=2025-02-24 |pages=5 |issn=2163-7369}}</ref> He had also previously edited the ''Olney Ledger.<ref name=":8" />'' Lusk soon turned around the fortunes of the paper, and was able to change ''The Sun'''s publishing to daily (Except for Monday) in 1880. The masthead was thus changed to ''The'' ''Parsons Daily Sun''.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":8" /> A year later, in 1881, ''The Parsons Daily Sun'' would start a Sunday edition of the newspaper called ''The Parson's Sun''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Parsons Sun (Parsons, Labette County, Kansas) 1879-1894 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85031546/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref> This is not to be confused with the modern paper, which is of the same name. In 1884 the name of the Sunday edition changed to ''The Parson's Weekly Sun''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Parsons Weekly Sun (Parsons, Kansas) 1894-1904 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85031547/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref><ref name=":7" /> (It was also briefly published as ''The Parsons Sun and Semi-Weekly Herald'').<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Parsons Sun and Semi-Weekly Herald (Parsons, Kansas) 1904-1907 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85031548/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref> In 1901 the masthead of the daily paper was changed, back to ''The Sun.''<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Sun (Parsons, Kansas) 1901-1903 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85031512/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref> After his death in 1902<ref>{{Cite news |last=Humanities |first=National Endowment for the |date=1902-11-30 |title=The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, November 30, 1902, Image 34 |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1902-11-30/ed-1/seq-34/#date1=1756&index=9&rows=20&words=Harry+Lusk&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1902&proxtext=Harry+Lusk&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 |access-date=2025-02-26 |issn=1941-0719}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite news |date=November 29, 1902 |title=Editor Lusk Dead. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-topeka-state-journal-obituary-for-ha/37914679/ |access-date=February 10, 2025 |work=The Topeka State Journal |pages=4}}</ref> the ''Topeka State Journal'' called Lusk the best newspaper man in Southeast Kansas.<ref name=":5" />

=== Under Henry Allen and the Reed family === thumb|Front page of the Parsons Daily Sun, displaying the end of WWI. In 1903 Henry J. Allen bought the paper from Lusk's estate.<ref name=":19" /> The same year the paper started publishing news from the ''Associated Press'' Morse Service.<ref name=":21">{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.parsonssun.com/p/10/about-us |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=Parsons Sun |language=en}}</ref> He also changed the paper to an afternoon paper.<ref name=":1" /> At the time Allen also owned the ''Ottawa Herald'' and ''Salina Journal'',<ref name=":19">{{Cite news |date=June 17, 1903 |title=H. J. Allen Buys Parsons Sun {{!}} Late H. H. Lusk's Paper Changes Hands July 1 |work=The Topeka Daily Herald |pages=6}}</ref> and would go on to own ''Topeka State Journal'' and ''The Manhattan Nationalist,'' among other newspapers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Walling |first=Ray |title=Website: Kansans: Governors Archive |url=https://library.ks.gov/kansans/governors |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=library.ks.gov |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1940-01-12 |title=TOPEKA JOURNAL IS SOLD; Stauffer Buys Paper Owned by Henry Allen and 2 Partners |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/01/12/archives/topeka-journal-is-sold-stauffer-buys-paper-owned-by-henry-allen-and.html |access-date=2025-01-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> A prominent player in Kansas politics, Allen lived in Wichita in a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Frank Lloyd Wright's Allen House |url=https://flwrightwichita.org/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |language=en-US}}</ref> He was the first owner of the paper to not live in Parsons. In 1902, the paper he changed the masthead to ''The Parsons Sun'',<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |title=The Parsons Sun (Parsons, Kansas) 1903-1906 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85031513/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref> and then less than a year later once more, to ''The Parsons Daily Sun.<ref name=":12" />'' During his tenure as owner of the paper the ''Parsons Weekly Sun'' had still been publishing, and in 1908 it was sold to a J. B. Lamb, and it became folded into ''The Parsons Eclipse''.<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Daily Eclipse (Parsons, Kan.) 1891-1899 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85031541/ |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref> Allen sold his majority stake in the paper in 1914 to Clyde Reed, a close acquaintance, and would go on to become Governor of Kansas.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-01-31 |title=Henry Justin Allen |url=https://www.nga.org/governor/henry-justin-allen/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=National Governors Association}}</ref> He would later be inducted into the Kansas Press Association's Hall of Fame.<ref name=":9" />thumb|First front page with the modern masthead name, "The Parsons Sun". Later the word, "The" would be dropped.|leftUnlike Allen, Reed had a much closer relation with the paper, and lived in Parsons. He also served as a war correspondent in the Spanish–American War.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2018-01-31 |title=Clyde Martin Reed |url=https://www.nga.org/governor/clyde-martin-reed/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=National Governors Association}}</ref> In 1920 the Parsons Sun printing press burnt to the ground, and despite being bitter rivals, the paper would be printed in Oswego, by ''The Parsons Daily Eclipse''.<ref name=":24">{{Cite web |title=Oct 06, 1922, page 1 - Parsons Daily Republican at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/366174367 |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=www.newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> The fire caused 27,000 dollars in damage, or over 423,000 dollars in 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inflation Calculator {{!}} Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis |url=https://www.minneapolisfed.org/about-us/monetary-policy/inflation-calculator |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=www.minneapolisfed.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Apr 27, 1920, page 1 - Parsons Daily Republican at Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/366120162 |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> ''The Parsons Daily Eclipse'' would shut down due to Celcus Lamb, the paper's owner, dying in 1921.<ref name=":22">{{Cite news |year=1922 |orig-date=10/6/1922 |title=Celcus Lamb, Veteran Kansas Editor Dead After Long Illness |url=https://kansashistoricalopencontent.newspapers.com/image/63326880/ |work=The Parsons Daily Sun |pages=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Parsons Daily Eclipse (Parsons, Kan.) 1899-1921 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85031542/ |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref> In 1929 ''The'' ''Parsons Daily Sun'' dropped the word ''Daily'' from the Masthead, turning the paper into the ''Parsons Sun'', though the paper was still published daily, except for Sunday. The name would not be changed again.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Parsons Sun (Parsons, Kan.) 1929-Current |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85031515 |access-date=2024-11-23 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref> The same year, Reed was elected Governor of Kansas. Then for ten years between 1939 and 1949, Reed was United States Senator.<ref name=":6" /> The same year he lost is election bid a brutal blizzard descended onto the Great Plains and North West, killing 33 people and delivering snow drifts 3–8 times what was considered normal.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=January 1949 Blizzard |url=https://www.weather.gov/unr/1949-01 |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=National Weather Service |language=EN-US}}</ref> During this blizzard, power was cut to the ''Parsons Sun,'' rendering it unable to publish the paper. To solve this, the paper reached out to the Katy railroad for help. In response, the railroad ran a power cable to ''The Parson's Sun'' printing presses from the train depot's generator so that they could print their newspaper in a timely manner.<ref name=":1" /> The first issue back the staff ran the advert "Resurgam" or Latin for "I will rise again."<ref name=":1" /> After losing his reelection bid, Reed died, age 78, after falling down a step of stairs.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1949-11-09 |title=78-Year-Old Senator From Kansas Dies After Fall Down Stairs |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-union-city-times-gazette-78-year-old/112880007/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |work=The Union City Times-Gazette |pages=2 |agency=International News Service}}</ref> Reed, like Allen, was later inducted into the Kansas Press Association hall of fame.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=Allen, Henry J. |url=https://kspress.com/allen-henry-j |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Kansas Press Association}}</ref>

After Reed Died, his son, Clyde Reed Jr. took over the paper.<ref name=":14">{{Cite web |title=Reed, Clyde M. Jr. {{!}} Kansas Press Association |url=https://kspress.com/reed-clyde-m-jr |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=kspress.com}}</ref> Born in Parsons, he spent much of his time working on the paper. This included being inaugurated into the Kansas Press Association hall of fame, like his predecessors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Reed, Clyde M. Jr. |url=https://kspress.com/reed-clyde-m-jr |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Kansas Press Association}}</ref> Also under his leadership, the ''Parsons Sun'' moved to its current location in 1962.<ref name=":1" /> Clyde Reed Jr. retired in 1982 due to health issues, and sold the paper. Despite no longer being in charge of the newspaper, Reed Jr. continued to be active in Parsons. He stopped both the ammunition plant and the Katy railroad from leaving the city, though injunctions from the federal government and judiciary.<ref name=":1" /> Though the Katy did eventually leave when Union Pacific bought it.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Train town page: Parsons, KS |url=https://www.up.com/aboutup/train_town/parsons_ks/ |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=www.up.com}}</ref> He later died in 1993 in Lawrence, Kansas,<ref name=":1" /> posthumously getting elected to the Kansas Press Association Hall of Game, much like Allen and his father, along with getting the ''Clyde M. Reed Jr. Master Editor Award.''<ref name=":14" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Awards {{!}} Kansas Press Association |url=https://kspress.com/about-us/member-resources/awards |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=kspress.com}}</ref>

=== Consolidation === The Reed family would be the last local owners of the paper. The ''Sun'' was sold in March 1982 up to Harris Enterprises, a Kansas newspaper chain based in Hutchinson. At the time the paper had a 9,000 daily circulation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Garofalo |first=Frank |date=March 13, 1982 |title=Harris Chain Buys Stock {{!}} Parsons Editor Sells Out |work=The Wichita Eagle |pages=23}}</ref> Under Harris Enterprises in 1986, Oliver Redmond, a former patrolman for the Parsons Police Department, sued the ''Parsons Sun'' for libel, claiming that statements in a 1979 article were false. The article in question covered Redmond's last place defeat in a city commissioner primary. After going to the Kansas Supreme Court The ''Parsons Sun'' won the case, as Redmond failed to prove any damages whatsoever.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Redmond v. Sun Publishing Co. |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/kansas/supreme-court/1986/57-441-1.html |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=Justia Law |language=en}}</ref> Eventually, an online version of the ''Parsons Sun'' was launched in 1997 by editor and publisher Ann K. Charles.<ref name=":1" /> It was also under Ann K. Charles when in 2003 ''The Chanute Tribune'' and the ''Parsons Sun'' became sister newspapers, and ''The Chanute Tribune'' began printing its newspaper on the ''Parsons Sun's'' press.<ref name=":1" />

In 2016, Gatehouse Media bought Harris Enterprises, and with it, the ''Parsons Sun.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=November 13, 2016 |title=GateHouse Media to acquire Hutchinson News, other Harris newspapers; Montgomery named to lead Kansas group |url=https://www.hutchnews.com/story/news/local/2016/11/14/gatehouse-media-to-acquire-hutchinson/20973952007/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=The Hutchinson News |language=en-US}}</ref>''<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 14, 2016 |title=GateHouse buys Harris Enterprises, five Kansas papers |url=https://kspress.com/news/2016/11/14/gatehouse-buys-harris-enterprises-five-kansas-papers |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Kansas Press Association}}</ref> Gatehouse soon sold the paper to Kansas Newspapers LLC in 2018, a year before its merger with Gannet.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How the Gannett/GateHouse merger could deepen America's local news crisis |url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-the-gannett-gatehouse-merger-could-deepen-americas-local-news-crisis/ |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=Brookings |language=en-US}}</ref> Kansas Newspapers LLC would later change the publishing days to five days a week. In 2023, Kansas Newspapers LLC sold the paper to Montgomery Media Group,<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Dirks |first1=Press Release {{!}} |last2=Essen |first2=Van |last3=April |date=2023-04-12 |title=Montgomery Media acquires two Kansas dailies |url=https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/montgomery-media-acquires-two-kansas-dailies,243135 |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=Editor and Publisher |language=en}}</ref> who then changed the publishing from five days a week to twice-weekly.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=April 13, 2023 |title=Montgomery Media acquires two Kansas dailies |url=https://www.nna.org/montgomery-media-acquires-two-kansas-dailies |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=National Newspaper Association |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-13 |title=Chanute and Parsons newspapers get new owners |url=https://www.iolaregister.com/news/state-news/chanute-and-parsons-newspapers-get-new-owners |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=The Iola Register |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Competition == Despite being founded almost immediately after the city of Parsons was established, the ''Parsons Sun'' was not the first newspaper to reside in the town. The first newspaper was ''The Anti-Monopolist'' which published five editions between January and February 1971.<ref name=":23">{{Cite web |last=Mack |first=John |year=2009 |title=SWORDS INTO PLOUGHSHARES: The Struggle to Build an Ordered Community of Liberty on the southeast Kansas Frontier 1867-1876 |url=https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/06aaa6c9-97cc-4ed5-b558-e4cff77d54cb/content |publisher=Kansas University}}</ref> The ''Parsons Sun'' also was not the first daily newspaper in Parsons, as ''The Daily Record'' was founded in 1867, but was suspended less than half a year later, when the owner became a travailing salesmen for the ''Parsons Sun.<ref name=":7" />'' While a variety of newspapers have been founded in Parsons, none but the ''Parsons Sun'' and the relatively new ''Farm Talk'', a trade publication, have survived to this day.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Member Directory Search Results {{!}} Kansas Press Association |url=https://kspress.com/kparecordfind.php?newsname=&city=Parsons&county= |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=kspress.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Newspaper Publication search |url=https://www.newspapers.com/papers/?city=Parsons&county=Labette&publication-ids=11404,11402,6990,11405,8061,6835,6779,8110,7563,11457,11446,11456,10803,11098,6986,11403,11406,8714,6658,6657&region=us-ks |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== ''The Parsons Eclipse'' === ''The Parsons Eclipse'' was founded on April 9, 1874, when an Dr. J. H. Lamb bought the ''Parsons Weekly Herald'' following its bankruptcy.<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Nov 21, 1877, page 3 - The Parsons Eclipse at Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/61585429 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> Dr. Lamb had been a surgeon in the American Civil War.<ref name=":24" /> The paper had a conservative bias, and frequently feuded with the more liberal ''Parsons Sun,'' and the two papers regularly attempted tried to undermine each other's reliability.<ref name=":23" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jan 25, 1878, page 1 - Parsons Weekly Sun at Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/60149638 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=May 27, 1874, page 3 - The Parsons Eclipse at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/365756730 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> In 1878 the paper took up a daily schedule and such changed its name to ''The Parsons Daily Eclipse,'' though the Sunday edition kept the name of ''The Parsons Eclipse.''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dec 25, 1878, page 1 - Parsons Daily Eclipse at Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/367272551 |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> Eventually his son, Celsus Lamb took over, and turned the newspaper into a daily in 1981.<ref name=":24" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Daily Eclipse (Parsons, Kan.) 1891-1899 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85031541/ |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref> Despite the paper doing well financially, when Celsus Lamb died in 1922, the paper would also close.<ref name=":24" />

== Printing == While the online site is updated daily, the ''Parsons Sun'' prints twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays, with home delivery.<ref name=":21" /> The circulation of the newspaper is 2,632, and prints in six columns. Legal notices are also published in the ''Parsons Sun''.<ref name=":20" />

Along with printing a newspaper, the ''Parsons Sun'' produces a yearly community guide for the city of Parsons, along with other special interest publications for the community.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Archive Issue - Parsons Sun |url=https://publisher.etype.services/Parsons-Sun/archives |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=publisher.etype.services}}</ref> The ''Parsons Sun'' also printed its sister newspaper ''The Chanute Tribune.''<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.chanute.com/p/10/about-us |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=Chanute Tribune |language=en}}</ref> In November 2023 the ''Parsons Sun'' shut down it printing press and moved its printing operations to Independence.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-21 |title=Parsons Sun press shuttered - The Iola Register |url=https://www.iolaregister.com/community/parsons-sun-press-shuttered |access-date=2026-02-18 |language=en-US}}</ref>

== References ==

== External links == * [https://www.parsonssun.com/ Parsons Sun Website] * [https://www.kansashistory.gov/p/kansas-digital-newspaper-program/16126 Free Kansas Newspaper Archive]

Category:Newspapers published in Kansas Category:Labette County, Kansas Category:Newspapers established in 1871 Category:1871 establishments in Kansas