William Henry Dodge wrote in his diary on the 11th of February, 1861 that he had been living with his wife and son in Adel, Iowa when he was ruined by "one of the most severe money pressures the land ever saw".

He went to Missouri looking for work or opportunity, first to Macon City, where his wife and child joined him, but his savings were exhausted in a summer.

In August, 1859, he arrived in Maryville "for the purpose of establishing a printing office as I had a press in Iowa lying idle. I received some assistance from the inhabitants and moved my press from Adel to Maryville and on the 3rd day of October, 1859, issued the first no. of the Maryville Reporter."

His wife and child had stayed behind but came "by cars to St. Joseph by stage to Savannah and to Maryville." He "sold out the press in the spring following (1860) and moved back to Macon City." He does not say why he left so quickly.