In 1848 Rev. James W. Hunnicutt established the "Christian Banner," which continued to exist until 1862, when Mr. Hunnicutt, being a Union man and opposed to the Civil war, went North, and it has been stated that the Banner office was destroyed by Southern soldiers. This statement, however, is thought not to be true. "The Virginia Baptist" made its appearance in Fredericksburg about the year 1857. It was edited and conducted by Rev. W. R. Powell, Rev. John C. Willis and Rev. Joseph A. Billingsly as a temperance advocate. Its publication was suspended in 1860 and never resumed. "The Democratic Recorder," established in 1842, was owned by James M. Campbell, but in 1850 he removed to Manchester, N. H., and the office was purchased and the publication of the Recorder was continued by Robert B. Alexander, S. Greenhow Daniel and James B. Sener, in the order named. Its publication was suspended during the Civil war, but upon the return of peace in 1865 it was resumed by James B. Sener, the name being changed to "The Fredericksburg Ledger." In 1872 Judge Sener was elected to Congress and the publication of the Ledger ceased. The office and fixtures were sold by Judge Sener in 1873, and for twelve or fifteen years it changed hands often and several publications were started, only to cease after a struggle of a year or two. After the publication of the Ledger was discontinued the first paper sent out from the office was the "Independent," by Berry & Tierney. One year marked the life of the Independent and then came the "Bulletin," by Quinn & Tierney; "The True Standard," by a joint stock company, and "The Recorder," by the Mander Brothers. None of these publications lived more than two or three years at most. In May, 1887, the office was purchased by Col. John W. Woltz and Wm. E. Bradley, who established the "Free Lance," which they conducted until the death of Col. Woltz in 1893, when it was soon purchased by a joint stock company and its publication continued to the present. Under its first management the "Free Lance" was issued as a semi-weekly, but as its circulation increased it was changed to a tri-weekly, and was the first and only tri-weekly publication the town ever had. Another innovation the "Free Lance" made in the newspaper history of Fredericksburg was the introduction of a power press. Prior to this all the newspapers were printed on Hoe hand presses, but the "Free Lance," under Woltz & Bradley, boasted of a power press of a capacity of twelve hundred papers an hour, which was soon exchanged for one of sixteen hundred an hour. A third innovation made by the "Free Lance" was the purchase and use of a folding machine. This was a new machine in town and was observed by those who had never before seen one with much curiosity. It can fold papers as fast as they are printed, and is quite an improvement on the old way of hand folding.