Parsons Sun

The first issue of The Parsons Sun was published on June 17, 1871, in the same year that the city of Parsons, was incorporated.{{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}}{{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}} The original name of the Parsons Sun was The Sun, and it published weekly.{{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}} Initially it was four pages,{{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}} eight columns, 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.{{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}}

Originally the paper was co-owned by Milton W. Reynolds and Leslie J. Perry.{{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}}{{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}} Reynolds was born in Elmira, New York and had previously edited the Detroit Free Press and The Nebraska City News along with founding several newspapers across the Midwest.{{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}}{{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}} Meanwhile, Perry had been born in Michigan, but moved to Wisconsin and served in the Second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry{{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}} where he was captured and sent to Andersonville. Much like Reynolds, Perry had also founded several newspapers.{{Cite news |date=April 29, 1910 |title=The Death of Captain Perry. |work=The Western Spirit |location=Paola, Kansas |pages=1}} Almost immediately after founding the paper, in August 1871,{{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}} 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.{{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}}{{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}}

File:Milton W Reynolds (Founder of Parsons Sun).jpgFile:Leslie J. Perry.png

Due to Perry not selling his share in the paper to him, Reynolds worked with multiple different co-owners, though none for more than two years. It was also during Reynolds tenure that the paper had a strong liberal bias.{{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}} 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. The same year, another newspaper, The Parsons Surprise was consolidated into The Sun. Despite this, the newly merged paper struggled to make profit, and for six months from November 11, 1876, to May 12, 1877, the paper was forced to shut down.{{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}} Reynolds would reopen it as the sole owner.{{Cite book |last=Nolting |first=Ray |title=2021 Parsons Community Guide |publisher=Parsons Chamber of Commerce |year=2021 |location=Parsons, Kansas |pages=20–27}} Despite the paper reopening, it still struggled financially. This in part may be due to Reynolds printing five to ten thousand copies of the paper for news he considered important, at a time when the city of Parsons had a population of only 4,199 in 1880 census.{{Cite web |last=Bureau |first=US Census |title=Decennial Census of Population and Housing |url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=Census.gov |language=en}} He would then ship these extra copies to politicians and other towns to garner support for his political agenda's. Eventually in 1878 Reynolds retired from The Sun and The Leavenworth Press, selling the paper to Harry H. Lusk. This was because prominent businessmen in Parsons rejected his idea to published 100,000 copies of the paper to ship throughout the U.S. 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 Pandemic.{{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}}{{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}} Reynolds would also regularly write guest column for newspapers under the alias Kicking Bird.{{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}} Eventually he died in 1890 he was buried in an unmarked grave.

Harry Lusk, whom Reynolds had sold the paper to, was a prominent community member in Parsons, having become postmaster of the city.{{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}}{{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}} He had also previously edited the Olney Ledger. 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. A year later, in 1881, The Parsons Daily Sun would start a Sunday edition of the newspaper called The Parson's Sun.{{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}} 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.{{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}} (It was also briefly published as The Parsons Sun and Semi-Weekly Herald).{{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}} In 1901 the masthead of the daily paper was changed, back to The Sun.{{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}} After his death in 1902{{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}}{{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}} the Topeka State Journal called Lusk the best newspaper man in Southeast Kansas.

File:Parsons Daily Sun.webp

In 1903 Henry J. Allen bought the paper from Lusk's estate. The same year the paper started publishing news from the Associated Press Morse Service.{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.parsonssun.com/p/10/about-us |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=Parsons Sun |language=en}} He also changed the paper to an afternoon paper. At the time Allen also owned the Ottawa Herald and Salina Journal,{{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}} and would go on to own Topeka State Journal and The Manhattan Nationalist, among other newspapers.{{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}}{{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}} A prominent player in Kansas politics, Allen lived in Wichita in a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.{{Cite web |title=Frank Lloyd Wright's Allen House |url=https://flwrightwichita.org/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |language=en-US}} 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,{{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}} and then less than a year later once more, to The Parsons Daily Sun. 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.{{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}} 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.{{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}} He would be inducted into the Kansas Press Association's Hall of Fame.File:Parsons Sun frontpage January 1929.jpgThe Parsons Sun would have two Kansas governors edit the paper back to back, as Clyde Reed would also become governor. Unlike 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.{{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}} 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.{{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}} The fire caused 27,000 dollars in damage, or over 423,000 dollars in 2025.{{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}}{{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}} A year later The Parsons Daily Eclipse shut down due to Celcus Lamb, the paper's owner, dying in 1921.{{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}}{{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}} 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.{{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}} The same year, Reed was elected Governor of Kansas. Then for ten years between 1939 and 1949, Reed was United States Senator. 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.{{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}} 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. The first issue back the staff ran the advert "Resurgam" or Latin for "I will rise again." After losing his reelection bid, Reed died, age 78, after falling down a step of stairs.{{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}} Reed, like Allen, was later inducted into the Kansas Press Association hall of fame.{{Cite web |title=Allen, Henry J. |url=https://kspress.com/allen-henry-j |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Kansas Press Association}}

After Reed Died, his son, Clyde Reed Jr. took over the paper.{{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}} 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.{{Cite web |title=Reed, Clyde M. Jr. |url=https://kspress.com/reed-clyde-m-jr |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Kansas Press Association}} Also under his leadership, the Parsons Sun moved to its current location in 1962. 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. Though the Katy did eventually leave when Union Pacific bought it.{{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}} He later died in 1993 in Lawrence, Kansas, 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.{{Cite web |title=Awards {{!}} Kansas Press Association |url=https://kspress.com/about-us/member-resources/awards |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=kspress.com}}

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.{{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}} 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.{{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}} Eventually, an online version of the Parsons Sun was launched in 1997 by editor and publisher Ann K. Charles. 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 it's newspaper on the Parsons Sun's press.

In 2016, Gatehouse Media bought Harris Enterprises, and with it, the Parsons Sun.{{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}}{{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}} Gatehouse sold the paper to Kansas Newspapers LLC in 2018, a year before its merger with Gannet.{{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}} Kansas Newspapers LLC would later change the publishing days to six days a week. In 2023, Kansas Newspapers LLC sold the paper to Montgomery Media Group,{{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}} who then changed the publishing from five days a week to twice-weekly.{{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}}{{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}}

Despite being founded so quickly after the city of Parsons was established, the Parsons Sun was not the first newspaper in the town, as The Anti-Monopolist newspaper published five copies between January and February 1971.{{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}} The Parsons Sun also wasn't the first daily newspaper in Kansas, 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. 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.{{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}}{{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®ion=us-ks |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en-US}} Though due to the nature of trade publications, Farm Talk doesn't directly compete with the Parsons Sun.{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Peggy |title=Research Guides: General Business 360 Research Guide: Trade Publications |url=https://researchguides.library.wisc.edu/c.php?g=1148483&p=8572862 |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=researchguides.library.wisc.edu |language=en}}

By far the largest competitor in the Parsons Sun's history, The Parsons Eclipse was founded on April 9, 1874, three years after the Parsons Sun, when an Dr. J. H. Lamb bought the Parsons Weekly Herald when it went bankrupt.{{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}} J Lamb had been a civil war surgeon. The paper had a conservative bias, and frequently feuded with the more liberal Parsons Sun, and the two papers frequently insulted each other, and tried to undermine each others reliability.{{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}}{{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}} Eventually his son, Celsus Lamb took over, and turned the newspaper into a daily in 1981.{{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}} Despite the paper doing well financially, Celsus Lamb had no children or others to run the paper after his death, and less than a year after his own death in 1922, the paper would also close.

While the online site is updated daily, the Parsons Sun prints a paper twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays, in the city of Parsons. The circulation of the newspaper is 2,632, and prints in six columns. Public Records are published in the Parsons Sun.

Along with printing a newspaper, the Parsons Sun prints the yearly community guide for the city of Parsons, along with other special interest publications for the community.{{Cite web |title=Archive Issue - Parsons Sun |url=https://publisher.etype.services/Parsons-Sun/archives |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=publisher.etype.services}} The Parsons Sun also prints its sister newspaper The Chanute Tribune.{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.chanute.com/p/10/about-us |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=Chanute Tribune |language=en}}

• List of Newspapers in Kansas
• Parsons

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.parsonssun.com/ Parsons Sun Website]

Category:Newspapers published in Kansas

Category:Labette County, Kansas

Category:Newspapers established in 1871

Category:1871 establishments in Kansas