From the first edition of The Parsons Sun,
June 17, 1871. Page 2:
Our Purpose
Our purpose is plain. We need not rise to explain. The
Sun is established for the pecuniary interest of its pro-
prietors, to promote the growth of the rising young city
of Parsons, advance the interests and aid in the devel-
opment of Southern Kansas and the State. We have no
enemies to punish or friends to reward. Did we have, we
should prefer to use other means than the columns of The
Parsons Sun for the puncturing and praising business.
There is a fluid that sentimental poets call “the milk of
human kindness.” This lacteal substance so exudes from
our generous natures that we can easily forget and for-
give. And in a new country, in traveling over unbroken
wastes and trackless prairies, we have found it best not
to cross rickety bridges until we come to them, or swear
at a mule until he kicks. This philosophy may not be ac-
cording to Plato, but it is according to The Parsons Sun.
As for the dead, let them sleep. When a politician
dies, plant a rose or two, perhaps three, at his grave.
Better to set out a cypress or a willow than throw poi-
soned meat upon the new-made grave to invite ghouls
or wild beasts to harry the remains of the dead and the
lost. The aroma of sweet flowers, the odor and incense of
the rose and cypress, will fill the air with perfume, and
mellow and soften the passionate remembrances of the
past. But be certain that your political enemy is surely
and effectually dead, before entering largely into the ev-
ergreen business.
A word more and we are done with this thought. Hope,
that “springs eternal in the human breast,” so fills our
natures and permeates our whole beings, that we can-
not long look through a glass darkly and see reflected
golden opportunities lost and wrongs avenged. We know
that “time at last sets all things even.” If time doesn’t, the
man is not much account if he can’t do it himself.
The Sun will shine for all. It will warm everybody and
burn nobody. It’s voice will be clear and distinct upon
questions — political, social and otherwise — that are
ripe for discussion. But it will be devoted largely, main-
ly, to the interests of the locality in which it is published
— Southern Kansas and the State. Kansas has long been
our theme, and shall be till we die. From the rising of The
Sun until the going down thereof we shall strive to pro-
mote the industrial interests of this grand young com-
monwealth. Schools, churches, good morals, the inter-
ests of our higher educational institutions, the welfare
of society and the State, will always find in The Sun a
zealous and earnest friend and advocate. The encour-
agement of labor — the foundation of capital and wealth,
both for individual and the State, that shall transform
these broad, uncultivated, but Eden-like prairies into
productive farms, and cause them to bloom with fertility
— will find in The Sun not a ranting and demagogueic, but
a firm and unflinching friend.
We hope and trust that the long years of the future
will show that it is good for The Sun to be here, and that
its friends here and throughout the State will be glad of
its rising.
22 Labette County Community Guide • 2021
dustrial interests of this grand young commonwealth. Schools, church-
es, good morals, the interests of our higher educational institutions, the
welfare of society and the State, will always find in The Sun a zealous
and earnest friend and advocate. The encouragement of labor … will
find in The Sun … a firm and unflinching friend.
“We hope and trust that the long years of the future will show that it
is good for The Sun to be here, and that its friends here and throughout
the State will be glad of its rising,” the 1871 statement concluded.
Reynolds, born in New York and educated in Michigan, operated
newspapers most of his life. As with other publishers over the years,
he, too, had a political career to promote as well as other causes. Perry
pulled out of publishing The Sun two months after the venture began
and was replaced by a number of different editorial partners over the
years.
Reynolds served one term in the Kansas Legislature and lost a re-elec-
tion bid. He sold his interest in The Sun to H.H. Lusk in December
1878. Reynolds moved to Oklahoma in 1889 and started another news-
paper, the Edmond Sun. In Oklahoma, he won a seat in the territory’s
House of Representatives on Aug. 5, 1890, but died four days later at
age 57. In 1971, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of
Fame as he was a key figure in getting Oklahoma opened to settlement
through a 20-year crusade. He had founded eight newspapers in Ne-
braska, Kansas and Oklahoma.
“The fiery crusader helped organize the press associations of the
same three states and was elected to the legislatures of all three,” the
hall of fame reports. (In May 2020, The Edmond Sun merged with
the Norman Transcript because of financial constraints created by the
COVID-19 pandemic).
The Parsons Sun became a daily newspaper in September 1880. The
Sun changed to an afternoon newspaper in 1903.
In 1910, Henry J. Allen, Kansas governor-elect and a former publish-
er of The Sun, appointed Clyde M. Reed Sr. of Parsons as his private
secretary and, thus, introduced Reed to newspapers.
In 1914, Reed purchased controlling interest in The Sun and re-
mained its publisher until his death in 1949. Lester Combs was secre-
tary-manager from 1919 until his death in 1942.
The Sun was jointly owned by the Reed and Combs families when
Clyde M. Reed Jr. borrowed money in 1953 to purchase the newspaper
interests of his brothers and sisters and that of the Combs estate.
Both Reeds had political careers. Reed Sr. became a Kansas governor
and also served as a U.S. senator for 10 years. Reed Jr. ran for Kansas
governor and lost, but served on the Kansas Board of Regents and on
federal commissions by presidential appointment. Reed Jr. also had his