USA > Alabama > Memorial record of Alabama. A concise account of the state's political, military, professional and industrial progress, together with the personal memoirs of many of its people. Volume II pt 1 > Part 21
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J. H. Nunnelee acquired an interest in the paper in 1878, and in 1887 the Daily Gazette made its appearance. The senior Nunnelee has been in the newspaper business over fifty years and has always struck "straight out from the shoulder." to use his own expression. J. H. Nunnelee was brainy, and there was no end to his energy. The Nunnelees sold the Gazette to N. A. and W. S. Graham in 1888. N. A. Graham is still pro- prietor and chief editor of the Daily and Weekly Gazette. He went from Shelby county, where he had long been editor of the Guide and the Sentinel. and stands foremost with the leading newspaper men of the state. The old Church Path was edited by the Rev. Mr. Hunt, rector of Christ's church in Tuscaloosa, in 1857. John F. Warren was the publisher and the paper had a large circulation among the Episcopalians in the state and was ably edited. The New Era was established in North Port, just across the river from Tuscaloosa, in 1876, by T. A. Nixon. A Mr. Garnet from Greensboro became editor in 1877 and Walter Guild in 1878. Dr. Blalock bought the paper in 1879 and moved the material to Green Pond, Tuscaloosa county. and established the Apostolic Baptist in 1880. The doctor attempted to make the paper the organ of the Primitive Baptists, but his paper lasted only a short time.
The spectator was established by A. B. Persinger & Co. in 1871. in North Port. across the river from Tuscaloosa, with R. W. Smith as editor. In 1872, W. R. Smith became editor and proprietor and continued in charge until the paper was suspended a few years later. Judge William R. Smith, the father of the proprietor of the paper, did the editorial work in a masterly manner. in the line of graceful and beautiful literature. The West Alabama Breeze was started in North Port, in 1889, by John C. Lawrence, editor and proprietor, and is still in existence. Mr. Lawrence is a young journalist of great promise and is making his paper a power in west Alabama. The Crystal Fount, a temperance paper, was published by Rev. Mr. Buck. a Baptist minister. in 1576, as a temperance paper, but it died young. The University Monthly was established in 1873 and is now being published under the name of the Journal. Chappell Cory. now of the Birmingham Age-Herald. was one of its first editors. The Southern Law Journal was established by A. B. McEachin, as editor and proprietor, in 15-6. and Mr. McEachin continued its publication until he sold to H. G. McCall in 1880. The Vindicator was launched by L. A. Banks as an organ of the Farmers' Alliance, in 1592. and is still in oper- ation. It has a large circulation.
The Gazette was established at Florence in Lauderdale county in 1819- so that the fair litle city enjoys the distinction of having a paper in its limits that was born before Alabama came into the union, or at least 12*
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contemporaneously with that event. On that old Gazette many famous newspaper men have served, chief among them Hon. M. C. Galloway, who on Memphis daily paper's achieved distinction in a wider field than on an Alabama weekly. The Gazette is now edited and published by I. S. Barr. A great many papers have been published in Florence since the Gazette first appeared, but a close search has failed to arrive at their names or the names of the editors and proprietors. Not having access to local fields or opportunity to learn from well informed old citizens, whose recollections of past events could fill up many missing gaps in this sketch, must serve as an excuse for the imperfect record furnished not only of the newspapers of Lauderdale. but of many other counties of the state. Florence has always been noted for the intelligence and refine- ment of her people. It has been a reading community, and in 1892 enjoyed the luxury of three interesting and well edited papers, viz: The Gazette, the Times and the Herald.
The year 1820 witnessed the beginning of journalistic enterprise in Dallas county. In that year, two papers were established at Cahaba, one called the Alabama Watchman and the other the Free Press. The latter was published by Allen & Brickell. These were not by any means all the papers that were ever published at Cahaba, which, in 1820, was the capi- tal of the state and the county seat of Dallas. It enjoyed the first honor for only a brief period. but held the latter until sometime after 1865. Its papers were well edited and enjoyed a high degree of prosperity, as well as a state reputation. We have no information as to the names of all of Cahaba's papers, but in 1837, two were published there, one called the Democrat and the other the Southern Democrat. and William L. Yancey, who then resided in Cahaba, was an editorial contributor to both. Papers representing both parties-the demoratic and whig-were published and well patronized, as the members of each party, in that county and sec- tion of the state. were as a rule fairly well off in this world's goods. What was once the seat of wealth, enterprise and princely hospitality is now merely a reminiscence in Alabama's history. Cahaba's more enter- prising neighbor up the river, Selma, outstripped her in business and population, and with Selma's growth came Cahaba's downfall. While the former has assumed large proportions and is a fair and prosperous city, the latter has been resolved into its original state.
The first newspaper published in Selma was the Times, in 1825, five years after two had been in operation in Cahaba. We do not know the name of its founder, but since its first issue Selina has not been without one of those indispensable aids to business growth and prosperity. The facts are not at hand from which to make out even a meager history of Dallas county journalism. Col. George W. Gayle and John Hardy and N. G. Shelley, at Selma, were editors at the same time of papers of oppo- site schools of thought in the stormy period immediately preceding. Ala- bama's secession from the union. Col. George Gayle conducted the Slave
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Holder, an advanced southern rights Breckenridge democratic paper; Mr. Hardy was the presiding genius of a Douglas democratic paper; called the Sentinel, while Col. Shelley combated both with his Bell and Everett union paper, The Reporter. All three of these actors upon the political field have passed away and the papers with which they were connected are known no more. Col. Gayle was frequently a member of the house of representatives from Dallas county and was in the session of 45-46. When the question of removal of the capital was the absorbing issue, he championed the cause of Selma. At the session he was made chairman of the ways and means committee .. Mr. Garrett in his Remin- iscences of Public Men in Alabama thus refers to an incident in Mr. Gayle's life, which attracted attention: "While the war was raging, and the southern people were straining every nerve to support the cause, Mr. Gayle, believing that President Lincoln was.the author of all this mis- chief and suffering, offered a reward of one million dollars in confederate money to any person who would destroy the monster, as he considered him, and thus put an end to the frightful atrocities committed through his influence. It was a mere fancy, intended to convey his opinion of the man, without the least idea or expectation that any person would attempt to execute such a daring and hazardous deed. Several years thereafter Mr. Lincoln was assassinated by a tragedian, who acted the part of Brutus, at Ford's theater. in Washington, from his own impulses, with- out ever having seen or heard of the published offer of Mr. Gayle. But in the course of time. after the southern people were subjugated, and placed at the mercy of district commanders, with bayonets in hand to punish disloyalty. Mr. Gayle was arrested on the charge of conspiracy to assassinate the president. The proceeding against him was simply ridiculous, and after some military bluster and talk of a court martial, he was discharged without a trial."
The present Selma Times is the regular descendant of the Reporter, which the latter may have been the successor of the original Times. After the war closed, Mr. M. J. Williams, who was one of the most capa- ble newspaper men the state has ever known, and who had been connected with the Reporter and then owned it. changed its name, and it has since been known as the Times. It has had various owners, and enjoyed differ- ent degrees of fortune. Since then Messrs. Robert McKee, R. English, S. J. Saffold, F. P. Glass. Chappell Cory, H. C. Graham. Kincey Brothers, and perhaps others have been connected with it as editors or proprietors. It is now owned and edited by Mr. S. F. Nunnelee and his son Mr. J. H. Nunnelee, both of whom have large newspaper experience. It is a morn- ing daily. There is also an evening daily in Selma. the Journal, and the two pretty well cover the field of news in their portion of Alabama.
One of the best edited, as it was undoubtedly the neatest, papers in Alabama, during its life, was the Selma Argus, established in 1869. It was a large-sized weekly paper, edited and published by Col. Robert
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McKee, who, at the outbreak of the war in 1861, occupied a leading edito- rial position on the Louisville Courier, a paper which its owners put upon wheels and with it followed, for a time, the fortunes of the southern Con- federacy. The Argus secured a large circulation because of its vigorous editorials, its condensation of news., and general excellence of matter. In 1878 Gov. Cobb offered Col. McKee the position of private secretary, which he accepted. He not only served during Gov. Cobb's four years' incumbency but retained the position during Gov. O'Neal's two terms. As he had to live in Montgomery, it was impossible to pay that attention to the Argus which it required, and he disposed of it to Messrs. Chappell, Cory and Gaston A. Robbins, who kept up its well-earned reputation. The former secured a position on the Daily Times, and the latter desired to devote his whole time to the practice of the law. In consequence they disposed of its good will and subscription lists to the Times, and the Argus ceased to live. Mr. Cory is now connected editorially with the Birmingham Age- Herald, and Mr. Robbins is a member-elect of the fifty-third congress of the United States from the fourth Alabama district. The Mirror was estab- lished in Selma in 1888, as a weekly paper, by J. E. Gholson. It was a strong advocate of the Farmers' Alliance and was published until a very recent date.
Thus far it is seen that most of the papers published in Alabama had their beginning in the year of 1820. The Montgomery Republican was established by Jonathan Battelle, and the first issue made its appearance on the 6th of January. 1821. Mr. Battelle was a native of Boston, Mass., and for several years prior to his removal to Montgomery he had been a merchant in Savannah. Ga. His brother, Nathaniel Battelle, had preceded him to Montgomery. being interested in the land company which laid off a portion of the city. and was, no doubt, instrumental in bringing his brother and the establishment of a newspaper. All the material for the paper was purchased in the north and shipped by water to Savannah, and from there hauled overland. a distance of over four hundred miles. It was the intention to start the paper in 1820. but the vessel which bore his material returned to New York without reaching Savannah. an epidemic prevailing there at the time. Mr. E. W. Thompson came out from New York to take charge of the mechanical department. He was a thoroughly competent man, having served an apprenticeship in the same office at the same time with the elder brother of the celebrated firm of Harper & Brothers. The first sheet of the first Montgomery paper was delivered to Mr. Neil Blue, an honored citizen and at the time of his death a few years ago the oldest inhabitant of the city. During Mr. Battelle's absence in the summer and fall of that year, Mr. Simeon Fisk and Mr. John W. Tounsend were the editors. In March. 1822. because of other engage- ments which prevented proper attention to the paper. Mr. Battelle adver- tised it for sale and Rev. Moses Andrew and Mr. E. W. Thompson became the purchasers, the former assuming the editorial management and the
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latter continuing in charge of the mechanical features of the paper. Dr. Andrew did not remain long with the paper, as he relinquished his interest to his partner, in July, 1822, who associated with him as editor Mr. Charles Shaw, a graduate of Harvard university, and teaching school at the time in Montgomery. He also practiced law, acted as notary public and published the first Alabama almanac. which was for the year 1822. His connection with the paper continued until the following March. On the 6th of December, 1822. the firm name was changed to Edward W. Thompson & Co. From May, 1824, until October, 1825. the editor of the paper was Henry Goldthwaite, Esq., afterward, and at the time of his death, one of the justices of the supreme court of Alabama. His editorials were clear and comprehensive, qualities which are found in all his judicial deliverances.
In 1823, the name of the paper was changed to that of the "Alabama Journal" and G. W. B. Towns became the editor. Mr. Towns settled in Mont- gomery when quite a young man, not being nineteen years of age, and he was not twenty-five when he assumed editorial functions. He was a fairly successful lawyer and speaker, while his editorials were well written, exhibiting fearlessness and independence on all subjects. In 1826, he returned to Georgia, settling in Talbot county, and was succes- sively member of the state legislature, representative in congress and governor of Georgia. Mr. Ebenezer D. Washburn purchased the paper from Mr. Towns, the latter claiming that it had enhanced in value fifty per cent. during his management of it. The paper had been a warm sup- porter of the administration of Mr. Adams and continued on the line under the new owner. In December, 1826, Mr. Washburn sold the paper to a young lawyer, Milton Cooper, who announced that the policy would not be materially changed. but he dissented from the latitudinarian views of the constitution then in vogue, and declared them to be in derogation of the rights of the states. The paper was suspended from July. 1827, until the following December on account of the difficulty in getting paper, the Alabama river being too low for navigation. Its publication was resumed in the latter month, with Mosely Baker as the editor and with a declara- tion in favor of Andrew Jackson as the choice of the people of Alabama. Mr. Baker was a remarkable man. He was gifted as a lawyer and was measurably so as a writer and public man. In several legislatures, he was a representative from Montgomery county, and in 1832 he moved to Texas. At the battle of San Jacinto. April 21, 1536. he was in command of a company. In his latter days. he was a Methodist preacher. and in 1747 he died. In the latter part of March. 1-29. Mr. Hardy Herbert bought a half, interest in the journal and became associated with Mr. Baker. Mr. Herbert was a highly accomplished educator. being a graduate of the South Carolina college at Columbia. At different times he was called to fill positions of honor and trust in Montgomery, one of them being that of mayor in 1541. Messrs. Baker and Herbert continued
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together until 1831. when Mr. Turner Bynum succeeded the latter. Not very long afterward, however, Mr. Bynum returned to South Carolina. where he took charge of a paper, and was afterward killed in a duel by Col. B. F. Perry, of the Greenville Mountaineer. . As before stated. Mr. Baker emigrated to Texas in 1832. He was succeeded on the Journal by Col. Thomas S. Mays. The paper, when the nullification issue arose while Mr. Baker was in charge, became an intense advocate of states' rights views, and under Col. Mays the same policy was pursued. Col. J. W. A. Pettit. quite a prominent lawyer. was Col. Mays' successor, and he in turn was succeeded by a stirring, eloquent whig lawyer, Joseph J. Hutchinson, who continued to edit it until 1839. In the year 1847 he entered the Methodist ministry. Before leaving the Journal, Mr. Hutchinson had associated with him another ardent whig lawyer. Henry W. Hilliard. and it was not long before the former retired altogether, leaving his associate as the editor of the paper. Mr. Hilliard was an accomplished writer and graceful orator, and under his guidance the Journal became a leading whig organ with an influence extending far beyond the limits of Alabama. In 1839, he went to Harris- burg, Pa., as a delegate to the great whig convention which selected William Henry Harrison as its candidate for president, and although Mr. Hilliard was quite a young man. the honor was accorded to him of placing in nomination the name of John Tyler for vice-president. Mr. Hilliard was afterward the representative of the United States in Brussels at the court of Belgium, was several times a whig member of congress from the Montgomery district, and a leader of recognized power and influence in his party. During the administration of Mr. Hayes he was United States minister to Brazil. Mr. Hilliard died a few months ago at his home in Atlanta, Ga., where he had been residing for some years.
In 1841 the man who became more. distinctly associated with the Journal than any of its predecessors appears upon the scenes in the per- son of Col. John C. Bates, the paper in that year passing into his hands in connection with Mr. Robert Nelson. Col. Bates was a strong and vig- orous writer and thoroughly informed on public questions. He never varied in his advocacy of whig doctrine, and persistently refused to sup- port the know-nothing or native American party, to which so many of his party associates gave in their adhesion, with the hope that it would break down the democratic party. He preferred to remain true to his first love, even at the cost of temporary separation from his old friends. In 1844, another strong writer, E. Sanford Sayre, secured an interest in the paper and wrote many valuable articles. In 1846, Johnson J. Hooper secured an interest in the Journal. and he proved quite a valuable acqui- sition because of his general capacity as a writer, and his humorous way of treating matters and things. The firm name was Bates, Hooper & Co .. and remained so through the years 1847-48, 49 and 50. Other changes were a half interest to Hugh N. Crawford in 1851. in the same year a change
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of firm name to J. C. Bates & Co., the firm consisting of J. C. Bates, Joseph S. Perry and J. D. Cowan: in January, 1852, it was J. C. Bates alone, and in March, 1852, Benjamin Gardner purchased an interest, and, as Bates & Gardner, the firm continued through 1853 and 1854. In 1855, William H. Lucas purchased the interest of Mr. Gardner and the paper was continued under the firm name of Bates & Gardner until the death of the former, on the 25th of December. 1857. and a few months afterward the old paper ceased to exist. It had passed through thirty-six years of life with varying fortune, but always ably and capably edited. Of the men connected with it many achieved distincion at the bar, in political life, in the executive office and in .the preaching of the gospel. It is doubtful if as many gifted were ever employed on a paper as were on the Journal from first to last. Of those who were editorially con- nected with it only one, Benjamin Gardner, survives. He is quietly liv- ing at his home in Troy, Ala. Its first printer, Mr. E. W. Thompson, died in Hayneville, Ala., December 28, 1868. It will be noticed that the political complexion underwent several changes, for first, it advocated the principles of the Jefferson republican party, but in the contest in 1824 it advocated the election of John Quincy Adams to the presidency. In 1827, Mr. Baker committed it to the support of Andrew Jackson, but when the nullification era came it at once espoused the states' rights cause. After it put on the whig mantle it never changed, but with it received its widest reputation.
On the 29th of November. 1829, Mr. E. W. Thompson, who has been ยท mentioned in connection with the founding of the "Montgomery Repub- lican," issued a prospectus of the "Planters Gazette." which he proposed to establish in the city of Montgomery. The town had then grown into considerable importance as a business and political point. The following extract from the prospectus will serve to show the political principles it was proposed that the paper would advocate:
"The political features of the Gazette will conform to those of the Jeffersonian school. It will endeavor to lay before its patrons. the prin- ciples avowed and acted on by that great statesman; and lend its humble aid in transmitting them pure and unadulterated. The doctrines of states' rights and internal improvements. as inculcated by Jefferson will be strictly adhered to. In relation to state polities the proprietor avows himself attached to that political party which gave birth to the state bank-to the amendment to the state constitution in relation to the tenure of the judges' office-and which has so ably supported the rights of the people. He rests his faith in the necessary consequence of our repub- lican creed, that the voice of the people should be the law of the land, and that any other course would be an infringement on their rights. In fine, to set before the people, at all times, the latest information on all subjects-to sound the toesin of alarm whenever illegitimate power may be attempted to be exercised by the general government over the states- to guard the interest of the southern section of the union aud of our state particularly-to protect the rights of the people-to inculcate principles
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of morality and virtue-and to diffuse general information -- will be the increasing endeavor of the proprietor."
The exact date of the first issue is not definitely known, but it was during the first week of the month of January, 1536. It was edited and published by Mr. Thompson, and an associate named McGuire. It was a small paper, but well gotten up typographically and otherwise. The Journal at that time was vigorously in opposition to Andrew Jackson, and the State Gazette ranged itself against nullification and squarely on the side of Jackson. Among its first editors was a young school teacher named Patterson. He became involved in a bitter controversy with Messrs. Baker and Herbert. editors of the Alabama Journal, and the feel- ings of the community were so aroused against him in consequence, that he severed his connection with the paper and left the town. The next editor of the Gazette was a lawyer, Maj. William Cook, who also became the proprietor in the early days of 1831. In April, of the same year, he associated with him in the proprietorship, as well as editorial manage- ment, James E. Belser, one of the best known names in Alabama. The latter was always an earnest union man and unsparing in his denuncia- tion of the nullification theory. In consequence. the paper was soon an established favorite with all the union men of the state After about twenty months, connection with the paper, Maj. Cook sold his interest, September 26, 1832. to Mr. Hooper Caffey, who also purchased that of Mr. Belser, though the latter remained as editor and conducted an uncom- promising union paper. The nullification advocates at that time were in a majority in the section of the country around Montgomery. Mr. Caffey remained with the paper less than a year, as we find that in September, 1833, he disposed of his interest to Mr. Hugh McGuire, who has been previously mentioned as one of the proprietors of the Tuscaloosa Intelli- gencer. With his advent into the paper, came a change of name. for it was immediately called the Montgomery Advertiser and Planters Gazette, and the first part of the name has remained with it from that day until this. Mr. MeGuire has always borne the reputation of having been an excellent newspaper man in every particular, and a marked im- provement was visible as soon as he commenced to work upon the paper. His knowledge of Alabama affairs, as well as those of a general nature, gained by his experience for several years as editor of the Tuscaloosa Intelligencer aided him in furnishng the best newspaper which had, up to that date, been published in Montgomery. It seems to have been im- possible in Montgomery for any one to remain long on a Montgomery paper in those days, as Mr. McGuire disposed of his interest in April, 1534, Mr. Belser and Mr. Lee becoming the purchasers. This partner- ship, however, was an unusually long one, lasting nearly two years. Mr. -
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Belser was a lawyer, with a fine practice in Montgomery and the adjoining counties. When he was away the editorial care fell into the hands of Mr. Childs, and, as he was not as prudent and conservative as Mr. Belser,
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