William Webber: The Father of Saline County Journalism
above image credit: FindAGrave.com
By Cody Berry
Did you know that the first newspaper in Saline County was founded by a former Union soldier? William Ami Webber was born on February 13, 1839, in Plymouth, Maine, although the Centennial Courier says he was from Vermont.1 At some point, Webber moved to Iowa, which is where he was living when the Civil War started, and he served throughout the war with an Iowa regiment. In 1875, Webber was sent to Arkansas as a special correspondent for a newspaper called the Chicago Inter-Ocean. In 1876, Webber returned to Arkansas where he became interested in a newspaper called the Spirit of Arkansas.2
Webber lived in Benton for five years. During that time, he started a newspaper called The Saline County Digest in 1876. It was a weekly publication and eventually became The Saline Courier. Webber was also one of the proprietors of the Malvern Meteor and one other newspaper in Hot Springs. Webber was one of the founders of the Arkansas Press Association (APA), which was established on October 15, 1873.3 Webber served as the president of the APA in the 1880s and as its historian later. After leaving Benton, Webber became an agent for the Missouri Pacific Railroad for six years.4
Webber also had an interesting connection to the history of mining in Arkansas. After living for a time in Chicago, Webber moved back to Arkansas where he built a homestead and founded the zinc mining town of Maryhattianna.5 Webber died in Little Rock on April 11, 1921, when he was 82 years old. He was buried in a family mausoleum at Oakland and Fraternal Historic Cemetery Park.6 While William Webber didn’t stay in Saline County for a long time, he certainly left his mark by founding its first newspaper. Webber’s Saline County Digest was purchased by B.B. Beavers in 1882. Beavers then changed its name to the Saline County Review. Beavers edited and published the paper until November 1883.7
Citations:
1 Fred William Allsopp, History of the Arkansas Press For a Hundred Years and More, Parke-Harper Publishing, 1922, pp. 639-640 and “First Newspaper Here Sixty Years Ago – L.B. White Here Thirty Years,” Benton Courier – Centennial Edition, March 25, 1937.
2 Fred William Allsopp, History of the Arkansas Press For a Hundred Years and More, Parke-Harper Publishing, 1922, pp. 639-640
3 Fred William Allsopp, History of the Arkansas Press For a Hundred Years and More, Parke-Harper Publishing, 1922, pp. 639-640 and Dick E. Browning, “Arkansas Press Association,” CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas, https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/arkansas-press-association-4819/, Date Accessed 12/19/2025.
4 Fred William Allsopp, History of the Arkansas Press For a Hundred Years and More, Parke-Harper Publishing, 1922, pp. 639-640
5 Fred William Allsopp, History of the Arkansas Press For a Hundred Years and More, Parke-Harper Publishing, 1922, pp. 639-640 and “The History of Marion County, Arkansas, Chapter Four,” Newspapers 1873-1976, p. 26-29, https://www.argenweb.net/marion/history/history-marion-co-ar-04-newspapers.html, Date Accessed 12/19/2025.
6 “William Ami Webber (1839-1921,” FindaGrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/222683213/william_ami-webber, Date Accessed 12/19/2025.
7 Fred William Allsopp, History of the Arkansas Press For a Hundred Years and More, Parke-Harper Publishing, 1922, p. 403.