| Show UTAH PRESS ASSOCIATION The Utah County town was then withoutnewspaper until April 25 1901 when John Wallis who would carve for himselfniche in the Utah Newspaper Hall of Fame began the Advance Though he produced what contemporaries la belled an exceptionally fine newspaper Wallis closed the doors on July 11 1901 editorializing We regret to make this announcement but after publishing for 12 weeks at considerable loss without making any headway withsubscription list we have reluctantly come to the conclusion that it would avail nothing to publish any longer Less than two years later on May 27 1903 the presentday Citizen was born And forbrief period of time was contested by the Tri-City Times published by James Jakeman It expired swiftly and the Citizen was then produced by Loveless until 1915 when Gaisford and Will Ross became its co-publishers Though its front page banner identified it with American Fork it also contained departments for both Pleasant Grove and Lehi In 1919 Gaisford became the sole owner and November 24 1923 he was succeeded by Gaisford and his son Frank The paper remained in the family until June 1963 On that date Russell Innes of the neighboring Lehi Free Press bought the property upon the retirement of Frank Gaisford Innes would sell it some fifteen years later on January 1979 to Newtah Inc California-based corporation headed by the late Robert Cribb Newtah in turn was sold on March 1982 to Brett Bezzant an area native who changed the corporate name to Newtah News Group During subsequent years he has pro duced prize-winning papers in Pleasant Grove and Lehi as well as American Fork Forperiod of time prior to World War James Kirkham published the American Fork Leader which unfor tunately has not been preserved in files or on microfilm The same problem exists with the Lehi Banner which Kirkham also published The files do not seem to have been preserved historian Cecil Alter records We were informed that only Jim Kirkham and God know where they went Jim 80 Digital image 2005 Marriott Library University of Utah Al rights reserved |
