Chignecto Post, William C. Milner, 1870

A Young Publisher with Political Ambitions

William C. Milner (1846 – 1939), was a journalist and historian who, in 1870, established the Chignecto Post in direct competition with The Borderer and Westmorland and Cumberland Advertiser. The Borderer had been the only newspaper anywhere between St. John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Born into a long-established and well-known family, his father was the postmaster of Sackville which meant William, from an early age, was exposed to both the domestic and international newspapers that came in daily. But Milner trained for a completely different profession. In the late 1860s, he studied and trained as a lawyer.

Around 1870, just as he was beginning his professional career, Milner turned from law to journalism. The Chignecto Isthmus was entering a period of industrial expansion, encouraged by the arrival of the railway in 1869, and Sackville was well placed to benefit. Confederation had also reshaped the political landscape. A supporter of Sir John A. Macdonald, Milner recognized the influence a newspaper could exercise over public opinion. His legal training would serve him well as an editor, while newspaper publishing offered opportunities to establish himself in both business and politics.

Milner initially launched the Chignecto Post alongside J. E. Franklin & Co. but quickly stepped forward as the primary editor and publisher. Published weekly on Thursdays, the paper operated under the distinct motto, ‘Deserve Success and you shall Command it’.

The paper was printed as a four-page, seven-column newspaper measuring 24 x 36 inches. While the exact printing press Milner purchased in 1870 remains unknown, producing a newspaper of this size required substantial printing equipment. He may have used a large iron hand press or a hand-powered cylinder press, both suitable for a small-town newspaper operation. Sackville’s new railway connection, established in 1869, would have made transporting such heavy machinery considerably easier.

The Chignecto Post was unabashedly Conservative, and Milner was fiercely loyal to Sir John A. Macdonald. By the late 1870s, the newspaper championed Macdonald’s National Policy, which promoted Canadian industry through protective tariffs. Political loyalty could also bring financial rewards. Throughout the nineteenth century, governments routinely supported sympathetic newspapers through advertising, official notices and printing contracts. Such patronage was particularly valuable to small regional publishers like Milner.

Milner was an ambitious and determined competitor. When he established the Chignecto Post in 1870, he challenged The Borderer, another Conservative newspaper that had dominated the region’s press for more than a decade. Its founder, Edward Tryon Bowes, died in 1868, leaving the paper under successive owners. For nine years, the two newspapers competed for readers, advertisers and influence in Sackville. An 1872 American newspaper directory provides a particularly interesting comparison between the two competing newspapers.

1872 Figures

Chignecto Post

Circulation: 912
Sheet dimensions: 24 x 36 inches
Annual subscription: $1.00
Publication: Thursday

The Borderer
Circulation: About 600
Sheet dimensions: 23 x 32 inches
Annual subscription: $1.25
Publication: Thursdahy

Just two years after its establishment, the Chignecto Post reported a circulation considerably larger than that of its established rival. Milner also charged less for an annual subscription while producing a slightly larger newspaper.

In September 1879, Milner purchased and merged with the Borderer. The paper was renamed the Chignecto Post and Borderer. Milner was the sole proprietor, editor and publisher. The acquisition may also have included The Borderer’s printing press, potentially giving Milner additional capacity for commercial job printing alongside newspaper production.

Situated near the head of the Bay of Fundy, Sackville was an important centre for regional trade. The Chignecto Post served merchants and businesses by publishing shipping information, including vessel arrivals, departures and cargo details. Like other nineteenth-century newspapers, it also drew upon the newspaper exchange system, through which publishers exchanged copies of their papers and reprinted news from other communities. Postal regulations allowed newspaper editors to send exchange copies to other newspaper offices free of postage, making it possible to gather news from distant communities at little expense. This network brought regional and international information to Milner’s Sackville readers without requiring a large staff of correspondents.

During the 1880s, Milner gradually turned his attention from newspaper publishing to historical research. The Chignecto Post and Borderer continued until 1896, when the publication underwent another transformation. Renamed The Semi-Weekly Post in 1897, it became The Sackville Post in 1905. Although the Chignecto Post name disappeared, the newspaper’s publishing lineage continued well into the twentieth century.