The Gaffney Ledger

At the invitation of a group of Gaffney businessmen, Edward Hope DeCamp came to Gaffney to begin a weekly newspaper. DeCamp, a native of Charlotte, was just 29 years old when he arrived in Gaffney. Despite having just a 4th-grade education, DeCamp became an experienced printer and newspaperman. He delivered newspapers after quitting school and at the age of 13 began working in the print shop of the Charlotte Observer. His printing carried him across the Eastern Seaboard and in 1884 he worked for Joseph Pulitzer at The New York World. In the late 1880s he founded The Charlotte Star, which he called a financial disaster. From there he went to Columbia and was a compositor at The State newspaper when the first edition was printed in 1891. He was later promoted to pressroom foreman and became close friends with the Gonzales brothers and always attributed everything he knew about newspapers to the founders of The State. While in this position at The State, DeCamp received the invitation to come to Gaffney, and he accepted. In 1927, now 62 years old, DeCamp sold The Ledger to his son-in-law, Frank Sossamon, and S.C. Littlejohn, both of whom had been connected with the paper for some time, Littlejohn as editor and Sossamon as business manager. Frank’s son and DeCamp’s grandson, Louis Sossamon, purchased the newspaper from Frank in 1969. Cody Sossamon joined The Ledger in 1976 and served as advertising director for about 10 years He then served as executive editor and associate publisher until he became the newspaper’s fourth publisher. Klonie Jordan was named editor in 1991. Abbie Sossamon, Cody’s daughter, joined the The Ledger in October, 2015, to become the 5th generation of the Sossamon family to be associated with the family-owned newspaper The Ledger continues to be published tri-weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. A total market coverage newspaper, The Weekly Ledger, launched in the mid-1980s, is delivered to Cherokee County households each week.