William Cunningham Gray, Purcell's maternal grandfather, was the managing editor of this weekly Presbyterian newspaper from 1871 until his death in 1901.  Edward Sissons, longtime associate of Gray, succeeded to the editorship of the paper, which converted to a magazine format by 1908.  He asked Purcell to create a new cover layout for the periodical.  The documentation for this work consists of small sketches for borders and other graphic devices that were apparently never used.  The name of The Interior soon afterwards changed to The Continent, in an effort to increase circulation beyond the traditional Middle West subscriber base.  The ploy, however, was unsuccessful and the magazine soon succumbed financially. 

Texts

• Parabiographies entry, by William Gray Purcell

 

research courtesy mark hammons