Cyrus F. Mosier founded The Bristol Banner in Bristol, Indiana. He was a man of vision who realized that the occurrences of his day would be the history of tomorrow. The Bristol Banner would document events as well as provide a platform for giving his opinions about them. Thus a weekly town newspaper was born.

The presses began to roll on April 13, 1877. It was the first newspaper in Elkhart County, Indiana. Cyrus ran the operations and did the editing, voicing his opinions and delivering the latest news for eleven years. Over the next ten years it was leased to three separate parties who were still under the watchful eye of Cyrus.

Cyrus’ opinions and ideas were so well received that despite the town of Bristol only having 600 residents, The Bristol Banner had a paid subscriber list of 2,500. Having practiced law and having a large following also gave him the opportunity to served two terms in the Indiana State Legislature.

By 1898, Cyrus’ son Horace H. Mosier was deemed old enough to take over the management and editing duties of The Bristol Banner. The weekly journals continued and H. H. as he was called also served in the Indiana State Legislature. He was an advocate for progress in his columns as well as in the legislative halls of Indianapolis. H. H. operated the paper for 50 years and raised his son to followed in the family footsteps.

Born in 1918, Horace “Red” F. Mosier began working at the paper as a youngster. His duties were sweeping, packing scrap metal and other necessary but mundane chores. In 1936, he began working as a linotype operator. In 1948, H. H. retired and “Red” took over the operation. In addition to publishing the weekly paper, he also worked for The Elkhart Truth newspaper.

In 1975 as the country celebrated it’s bicentennial, the focus all across the country was on our history and our heritage. Bristol, Indiana was no exception. Searching through the archives, the library Board of Directors realized that the town’s most significant historical record, the Bristol Banner newspaper, was literally crumpling from age. With the agreement of publisher Red Mosier and funds from the township, the newspaper was preserved on microfilm. This labor of love and appreciation for the written word was finished in 1979. Cyrus Mosier’s dream of recording history for posterity was permanently accomplished.

In 1982, Red retired and The Bristol Banner retired with him. The banner had been owned by the Mosier family for 106 years.

In 1988, Indiana declared “Celebration ‘88". It was a statewide program for cities & towns to look into their history. This renewed interest in history brought new life to The Bristol Banner. Wyndham Hall Press, a Bristol based academic publisher, purchased the rights to it. The first commemorative edition published in December of that year was as a special “Merry Christmas” to all Bristol residents.

While a small town newspaper was not viable, there was a great deal of interest in keeping the quality of The Bristol Banner tradition alive. Wyndham Hall Press, under the ownership of John Morgan, created a new division “Bristol Banner Books”. This division would be the poetry imprint of Wyndham Hall Press, Inc. Mr. Morgan’s own dedication to the written word and his understanding of the nature of business in the rapidly changing late 20th century gave a new and positive direction to The Bristol Banner.

In 1991, because he was already very busy with his own publishing company, he sold Bristol Banner Books to Melody Myers. Melody had been working for Mr. Morgan and was familiar with most if not all of the aspects of book publishing.

Ms. Myers carried on the poetry tradition of the in memoriam books. She also expanded Bristol Banner Books to include the anthologies of poems and short stories as well as publishing novels and collective works of numerous authors. However by 2007, family obligations were absorbing much of Ms. Myers time and attention and she made the decision to once again transfer ownership.

My name is Grace Adele. I was honored and thrilled when Melody offered the business to me. I’ve been an avid reader all my life, preferring library books over text books any time I could get away with it. I have more books in my house than I know what to do with. So you can be assured that I value the written word every bit as much as my predecessors.

I got off to a slow start as I didn’t know anything about the publishing part of books. But Melody was a great help in teaching me and guiding me through everything I needed to know.

I’ve been impressed with the quality of submissions I’ve received. There truly is a world of talent that deserves recognition. And it’s been delightful to meet some of the authors who have been with Bristol Banner Books for many years. I look forward to many more years of continuing the Bristol Banner Books tradition of excellence and to making new friends as we continue to grow.

Bristol Banner Books is dedicated to allowing all writers  venue for expressing their thoughts and feelings, wit and wisdom, and their own historical record of life today. I think Cyrus Mosier would be delighted.

References Cited:
Tales of a Hoosier Village, Copyright © 1988 Jean Ann Young, Wyndham Hall Press. All rights reserved.

South Bend Tribune, Sunday, December 4, 1988