Source:Quincy Herald Whig

From the Herald-Whig website, https://www.whig.com/site/about.html (retrieved 6 October 2020):

"The story of Quincy Media Inc. (QMI) is a tale of two families and five generations of leadership that nurtured a single newspaper into a multi-media company now employing more than 1,000 people and serving markets in 14 states.

Successive generations of the founding families, the Oakleys of Quincy with roots in Rockford and the Lindsays of Decatur, guided that growth.

QMI was formed in 1926 to publish the newly merged Herald-Whig, the sole heir to a long line of Quincy publications and a direct descendant of the first newspaper in Adams County. The Herald-Whig printed its first edition on June 1, 1926.

The Herald-Whig traces its roots to The Illinois Bounty Land Register, which published its first edition on April 17, 1835, 17 years after Illinois achieved statehood. At the time, there were only three other newspapers in the state, publishing in Jacksonville, Springfield and Galena.

The Illinois Bounty Land Register became The Herald in 1841, which began publishing as a daily in 1850. The Herald changed hands no less than four times before being purchased in 1891 by Edmund M. Botsford, Hedley H. Eaton and Charles L. Miller, experienced newspapermen from Rockford.

Miller, who earlier founded the Rockford Daily Register, the first permanent newspaper in that city, brought his brother-in-law and nephew, Aaron Burr Oakley and Ray M. Oakley, to The Herald with him. These two became the first generations of Oakleys in the newspaper business in Quincy. Today, Ray M. Oakley's great-grandson, Ralph M. Oakley, is president and chief executive officer of QMI. Other members of the Oakley family are actively involved in the operations of the corporation and its media companies.

In 1893, The Herald changed from a morning to an afternoon paper and, in 1896, Miller left Quincy to return to Rockford.

In the meantime, The Quincy Whig was established. It began publishing as a weekly newspaper in May 1838 and expanded to a daily on March 22, 1852. The Quincy Whig also changed hands several times before it was purchased in 1915 by two brothers from Decatur, Frank M. Lindsay, Sr. and Arthur O. Lindsay, Sr. A.O. Lindsay remained in Quincy as president and manager. F.M. Lindsay remained in Decatur with the Decatur Herald and formed an association with another Illinois newspaper family, the Schaubs. In 1920, the Whig purchased The Quincy Journal, established on Sept. 11, 1863, and began publishing The Whig-Journal.

The Quincy Herald and The Whig-Journal competed for six years, each publishing evening city, morning rural, and Sunday editions. In 1926, the two merged, forming The Quincy Herald-Whig and its parent corporation, Quincy Newspapers, Inc. The merger brought two Illinois newspaper families, the Oakleys and the Lindsays, together in a business association that continues today through succeeding generations."