The Sonoma Index-Tribune
THE SONOMA INDEX-TRIBUNE
THE SONOMA INDEX WAS FOUNDED IN 1879 BY BENJAMIN FRANK. IT IS THE SUCCESSOR
TO THE SONOMA BULLETIN (1852-1855), THE FIRST CALIFORNIA NEWSPAPER PUBLI-
SHED NORTH OF SAN FRANCISCO.
THE INDEX WAS PURCHASED IN 1884 BY HARRY H. GRANICE, MATERNAL GRANDFATHER
OF CURRENT PUBLISHER ROBERT M. LYNCH. GRANICE, EXPERIENCED NEWSPAPER PUBLI-
SHER AND PRINTER FROM MERCED COUNTY, GAVE THE PAPER ITS PRESENT NAME. HE
OWNED IT UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1915.
HE WAS SUCCEEDED BY HIS ELDEST DAUGHTER CELESTE GRANICE, MURPHY (LYNCH'S
AUNT) A FORMER EDITOR OF THE INDEX-TRIBUNE, AND HER HUSBAND WALTER, AFTER
34 YEARS AT THE HELM, THE MURPHYS, IN 1949, SOLD THE NEWSPAPER TO LYNCH
AND HIS WIFE, JEAN. THEIR SONS, BILL AND JIM LYNCH, WHO JOINED THE NEWSPAPER
IN 1969 AND 1971 RESPECTIVELY, WILL SUCCEED THEIR FATHER AS FOURTH GENERATION
CO-PUBLISHERS OF THE AWARD-WINNING FAMILY NEWSPAPER.
DEDICATED JUNE 8, 2003
BY THE
NATIVE SONS OF THE GOLDEN WEST
RICHARD S. KIMBALL, GRAND PRESIDENT