Published in Portland, Maine, Voice from the Belfry sought to further the cause of the Constitutional Union Party at the state and national level.  Its masthead motto announced the party’s three founding principles of saving the Union from breakup, upholding the Constitution, and enforcing the law.  Its bell logo carried the names of the party’s presidential and vice-presidential nominees, John Bell of Tennessee and Edward Everett of Massachusetts, respectively.  The newspaper was printed by the Brown Thurston Company of Portland. 

The main articles of the inaugural issue—August 17, 1860—reported results of the Constitutional Union State Convention meeting in Portland, Maine.  Each issue’s first two pages contained news from around the country on the progress of the Bell bandwagon, excerpts from the speeches of leading Constitutional Union figures such as John Crittenden and Robert Winthrop, and other campaign-related articles.  The newspaper emphasized the national character of the Constitutional Union Party contrasted with the sectionalism of the Democrats and Republicans.  The last two pages of each issue consisted primarily of brief items of general news and features, along with advertisements.