History
In March 1891, Joseph D. Lea founded the Roswell Record. Lucius Dills was editor for several years. In January 1899, Lea and Dill sold the Record to Elmer O. Creighton and A.A. Burnett. A few months later Burnett exited the business. In September 1902, Charles E. Mason and his brother-in-law Professor Harvey F.M. Bear bought the paper from Creighton. It was soon expanded from a weekly into a daily. In April 1903, the paper's printers went on strike. In February 1905, Bear died. At that time his widow Grace Thorpe Bear incorporated a stock company and transferred ownership to it. In April 1905, former owner Creighton died. George A. Puckett succeeded Bear as editor, and he died in December 1909. Mason eventually became editor. In February 1932, Arthur W. Cooley bought the Record. The other new minority owners were T.N. Gretzer and Thomas B. Shearman. Mason and Mrs. Bear retained interests. In 1937, Shearman took over as publisher. In May 1949, the paper installed a new printing press. In September 1949, the Record acquired and absorbed the Roswell Morning Dispatch. Shearman, who eventually acquired full ownership, was succeeded as publisher by his son-in-law Robert Hallum Beck in 1955. and Shearman died in 1988. Around that time R.H. Beck retired and was succeeded by his son Robert Cory Beck, who died in 2006. Charles Fischer ran the paper until Barbara Beck, sister of R.C. Beck, took charge in 2015. and his wife Marjorie Shearman Beck died in 2021. ==See also==