THE ALBION LEADER

Albion has had several newspapers during its existence. This week we're featuring The Albion Leader. This newspaper was founded in 1898 by William J. Gleason (formerly with the Albion Recorder), and was located at 105 W. Porter St. This weekly Saturday morning paper was in competition at the time with the Albion Mirror, the Albion Recorder, and the Albion Transcript. A yearly subscription cost one dollar. The Leader purchased the Transcript in 1899 and continued in operation with William H. Green as the editor.

In 1905 the Leader was sold to William B. Gildart (1848-1918), an attorney who came from Stockbridge in August of 1903 to set up a law practice here. The Leader became the only competition to the Albion Recorder after the Albion Mirror folded in 1910. On August 1, 1914, the Leader moved its location to the old Albion Mirror building at 113-115 W. Center St. where it remained for the rest of its existence.

One of Gildart's popular features was the Pioneer Sketches he published in his paper during 1908, containing the biographies of Albion pioneers who were still living. These also included a photograph of the subject, and proved to be an attraction for subscribers. When the Sketches were being published, the Albion Mirror realized the draw that these had, and started with a series of its own, entitled the Biographical Sketches which ran in 1908 and 1909.

Upon Gildarts death in 1918, the paper was discontinued. Unfortunately, only a few scattered issues, plus the complete run of issues containing Pioneer Sketches remain today. Fortunately, these have been microfilmed and are available to researchers today. From our Historical Notebook this week we present a photo of the Leader office at 105 W. Porter St. Standing in front are William Gildart's sons (L-R) Emerson and Ralph. How many of our readers have in their possession old Albion newspapers such as those mentioned here?

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
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