The "Reformer" published its first issue, under the name Windham County Reformer, in 1876. Publisher Charles N. Davenport, a prominent lawyer and supporter of the Democratic Party. Davenport founded the paper in part due to dissatisfaction with what he saw as a Republican bias in the coverage by the "Vermont Phoenix", the main political paper in the state. The presidential campaign at the time, between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden prompted the "Vermont Record and Farmer", the third paper in the state, to describe the new paper as dedicated to "Tilden and reform."