When the republican party was organized, the _Linn County Register_ became one of its most able and enthusiastic advocates in the county. The late Judge N. M. Hubbard was in active politics at that time and during that memorable campaign he conducted the _Register_. Ah, "thim were the days." The judge was a past master in the art of "skinning" an opponent. That was the method of political fighting in those days and no editor ever had a sharper knife than Judge Hubbard. He used to say in later years that it was one of the most enjoyable periods of his whole life. "I made the paper grow," he said. "Everybody wanted to get it to see whose hide was put on the fence that week." The judge lived to tell the tale, but after the fun was all over and the battle had been won he decided that railroad law practice was more profitable than editing a newspaper. The _Register_ passed back into the editorship of J. H. Jennison. The next year Robert Holmes became its editor and subsequently its proprietor. He held this position for five years and it was five years of the most important period in the history of the county. Mr. Holmes successfully conducted the paper through the great struggle of the Civil war, and up till 1863 when he sold it to A. G. Lucas. Its name was then changed to the _Linn County Patriot_. In September, 1864, there came from Cedar county, a young soldier-lawyer, S. W. Rathbun. He purchased the plant and changed the name of the paper to the _Marion Register_. He has been editor of the _Register_ ever since that time. He has a few more gray hairs, a few more wrinkles, and a bit more avoirdupois than he had then, but he still wields a trenchant pen, still makes the _Register_ a readable and interesting paper. It has been one of the most influential papers among the weekly press of Linn county, and has always been firmly republican. THE MARION SENTINEL The _Marion Sentinel_ was originally called the _Springville Independent_, being established at Springville in the year 1879 by Fred Chamberlain, who afterwards served as county superintendent of the schools of Linn county. It was a seven-column folio, independent in politics, the forerunner of the independent papers of the county. It grew rapidly, and by 1884 had increased to a twelve-page paper. An edition was also published for Prairieburg, and one for Central City. In 1885 it had a circulation of 1600. It met with some reverses in 1886 and on July 1 of that year it was moved to Marion and its name changed to the _Linn County Independent_. Mr. Chamberlain made a big success of it in Marion. The name of the paper was then changed to the _Marion Sentinel_. Later O. M. Smith was taken into partnership. The paper then changed from an independent to a democratic paper, and has remained democratic until the present time, the only simon pure democratic paper in Linn county at the present time.