“Terrorists attack U.S.” “Nixon to resign.” “Hope speeds search for Amelia Earhart.” “Fiery explosion claims shuttle crew.” “Eisenhower dies.” “Steamer Lusitania torpedoed.” These are actual headlines about pivotal moments of crisis in American history, as they appeared in the Junction City Daily Union newspaper through the decades. For four generations, John Montgomery and his family have been leaders in the newspaper industry in Junction City and beyond.
John G. Montgomery is the retired publisher of the Junction City Daily Union and other community newspapers in the region. His family has deep roots in the newspaper business, beginning with great-grandfather John Montgomery who worked as an apprentice at a newspaper office in Iowa. One day in 1865, young John received word by telegraph that President Lincoln had been assassinated. He set the type to print the story in the newspaper and then delivered the papers himself.
After the Civil War, the young newspaperman came west to Kansas. In 1888, he bought the Weekly Union newspaper in Junction City. Four years later, it became a daily. The Daily Union is now believed to be the third oldest continuously published newspaper in Kansas.
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