Number one, volume one of The Sun appeared on
June 17, 1871, as a weekly newspaper. Milton W. Reynolds and Leslie J.
Perry were its joint editors and proprietors.
Having been founded the same year, the history of The Sun and the city
of Parsons are closely related, anchoring around the Katy (Missouri-Kansas-Texas)
Railroad. Parsons got its name from Levi G. Parsons, builder of the Katy
and a nephew of the first J.P. Morgan.
With the September 5, 1880, edition The Sun became a daily morning paper
and in 1903 the publication time was changed to afternoon when it began
printing news from the Associated Press Morse Service.
In 1910, Henry J. Allen, Kansas governor-elect and one-time publisher
of The Sun, appointed Clyde M. Reed of Parsons as his private secretary
in Topeka, and as owner and publisher of the Wichita Beacon, introduced
him to newspapers.
Four years later, in 1914, Reed purchased controlling interest in the
Sun and remained its publisher until his death in 1949. Lester Combs became
secretary-manager in 1919, and served in that capacity until his death
in 1942. The Sun was owned jointly by the two families when Clyde M. Reed
Jr., the youngest of seven children in his family and the only one interested
in journalism, borrowed funds in 1953 to purchase the interests of his
brothers and sisters and that of the Combs estate.
While the elder Reed became governor and then a United States Senator
for 10 years, the younger Reed also ran for governor (but was defeated),
served on the Kansas Board of Regents and served presidential appointments
to federal commissions.
After 68 years of controlling interest by the Reeds, the Parsons Sun was
sold to Harris Enterprises of Hutchinson in 1982, and has maintained the
reputation it gained under the father and son as an outspoken newspaper
and an important Southeast Kansas voice.
Harris president Bruce Buchanan served as editor and publisher of
the Sun from 1985 until 1990 and was succeeded by Ann Charles. Darren
Werth became the Sun's editor and publisher upon Charles' retirement in 2007.
The paper was recently sold to Kansas Newspapers L.L.C., part of Family Media Inc. of Miami, Oklahoma. Shanna L. Guiot is the publisher.
Today the Parsons Sun has moved into the next level of technology by introducing
an electronic version available on the Internet at www.parsonssun.com.