USA > Connecticut > New London County > A modern history of New London County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 54
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Dr. William Robinson joined the County Medical Association in 1827, but the next year he is noted as exempt from taxation by reason of being over sixty years of age. In 1828 he received the honorary degree of M. D. from the Connecticut Medical Society. He died about 1847.
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Dr. George E. Palmer was born in Stonington, April 15th, 1803. He began the study of medicine and graduated from the college of Physicians and Surgeons in New York in 1825. He immediately settled in his native town, where he practiced for over forty years. He was twice married and left numerous descendants. As a physician he was held in high regard by the public, and was popular with his fellow practitioners. He was moreover prominent as a citizen, being seventeen times elected to the office of warden of the borough. He joined the County Medical Association in 1828, was chosen chairman in 1856 and '67, and was elected Fellow of the State Society upwards of ten times. He died May 8th, 1868.
Dr. Thomas P. Wattles was a practitioner in North Stonington. He also entered the County Medical Association in 1828, and was clerk in 1832-33-34. He died in 1854, age 54 years.
Dr. John Owen Miner was for many years a much esteemed physician of Groton. He was born January 9th, 1762, and lived to an advanced age. He dwelt near the old village of Center Groton. He was an original member of the New London County Medical Association, and seemed to have been very faithful in attendance and to have taken a prominent part in its activities. He served as clerk in 1804-05, was chairman no less than ten times, and in the twenty-three years from 1800 to 1822 he was chosen Fellow of the State Society twenty times. In 1815 the Connecticut Medical Society granted him the honorary degree of M. D. He died about 1851.
Dr. Phineas Hide was born in Franklin, in 1749. He practiced first in Poquetannock, but the most of his life work was done in Mystic. He served as surgeon in the Revolutionary War, both in the army and navy.
Drs. Amos Prentiss, Sr. and Jr., may be mentioned as charter members of the County Medical Association in 1792.
The following physicians were also residents of Groton or Stonington at one time or another : Daniel and William Lord, Asher Huntington, Jonathan Grav, James Noyes, Asa Spalding, Alfred Bailey, Andrew T. Warner, Thomas J. Wells, Mason Manning, Edward York, David Hart, Henry C. Brown, Alvah Gray, Horatio Robinson, John P. Wells, Edwin Bentley, John Smith, Joseph Durfee, Orrin E. Miner, Benjamin F. Stoddard, Elias F. and A. W. Coates.
The town of Lyme has been favored with a long line of able practitioners. One of the earliest of record was Dr. Elcazer Mather. He was born Novem- ber 17th, 1716, and graduated from Yale in 1738. "He settled in Lyme (Ham- burg Society), where he was a useful physician, selectman, magistrate, etc." (Dexter," I, p. 607.) He married, November 15th, 1741, Hannah Waterhouse (or Watrous) of Lyme, by whom he had six sons and one daughter. He was one of the committee of eighteen appointed at the time of the Revolution to examine candidates for the positions of surgeon and surgeon's mate (Rus- sell, p. 199). Dr. Mather died November 2nd, 1798. On his tombstone he is called : "an eminent physician and a man of universal knowledge."
Dr. Samuel Mather, son of the preceding, was one of the original members of the New London County Medical Association, of which he was chosen chairman in 1804, '09 and '10. He was chosen Fellow of the State Society at its first meeting in 1792, and several times later. In 1804 the Connecticut
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Medical Society conferred upon him the honorary degree of M. D. He was dismissed by his own request on account of advanced age in 1813.
Dr. John Noyes, another charter member of the County Medical Asso- ciation, was several times chosen Fellow of the State Society, and was chair- man in 1803, after which his name does not occur again on the records.
Dr. Thomas Miner was a member of the New London County Medical Association for four years from 1810 to 1813; after that he removed to Middle- town, and became later one of the most distinguished Connecticut physicians of his time, and a medical author of considerable prominence.
Other physicians of Lyme who came later were Drs. John C. M. Brock. way, who lived at Hamburg; Richard Noyes, who was a member of the County Medical Society for sixty-two years; Sylvester Wooster, Marvin Smith, Richard Warner, John D. Rogers, Oliver Kingsley, Reuben L. Miner, John Noyes, and William W. J. Warren.
In East Lyme, near the village of Flanders, there were three physicians who deserve mention : Dr. John L. Smith, who was a practitioner there for many years, a member of the County Medical Association from 1813 to his death, December 20th, 1860; Dr. Austin F. Perkins; and Dr. Vine Utley. The latter is especially noteworthy for his early work in vaccination, and as a contributor of articles to the "Medical Repository of New York." He was a member of the County Medical Association from 1807 to 1819. His son, Leander Utley, became a prominent physician in Providence, Rhode Island.
Looking back at the lives of these old-time medical men, I think one may truly say that as a class they do not fall far short of Stevenson's esti- mate-"to have shared as little as any in the defects of the period, and most notably exhibited the virtues of the race." They chose a calling, arduous and toilsome, and with all shades of native ability and educational advantage they did their work for the most part well and faithfully, striving manfully accord- ing to their lights to bring comfort and healing to the sick, and to further the welfare of the communities in which they dwelt. Numbered among them were some few gifted, forward-looking puissant men, the equals of any of their time and country.
REFERENCES
1. Steiner, Walter R., M.D .: Historical Address, "The Evolution of Medicine in Con- necticut, with the Foundation of the Yale Medical School as Its Notable Achievement." New Haven, 1915.
2. Packard, Francis Randolph: "The History of Medicine in the United States." Phila- delphia, 1901.
3. Russell, Gurdon W., M.D .: "An Account of Early Medicine and Early Medical Men in Connecticut." Proc. Conn. Med. Soc., 1892.
4. Lindsley, Charles A., M.D .: "The Beginning and Growth of Sanitary Legislation in Connecticut." Proc. Conn. Med. Soc., 1892.
5. "The Diary of Thomas Minor." Stonington, Conn., 1653-1684; Ed. by S. H. Miner and G. D. Stanton, Jr., N. Y., 1899.
6. "N. E. Hist .- Genealog. Reg.," Vol. 9, pp. 43-51.
7. "The Diary of Manasseh Minor," Stonington, Conn., 1696-1720; published by Frank Denison Miner and Miss Hannah Miner, 1915.
8. Caulkins, Frances Manwaring : "History of New London, Connecticut." New Lon- don, 1852.
9. "Diary of Joshua Hempstead of New London, Connecticut," Coll. N. L. Co. Hist. Soc. Vol. I. 1901.
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10. Caulkins, Frances Manwaring : "History of Norwich, Connecticut," 1866.
11. Woodward, Ashbel, M.D .: "Biographical Sketches of the Early Physicians of Nor- wich." Proc. Conn. Med. Soc., 1862.
12. Webster, Noah : "A Brief History of Epidemics and Pestilential Diseases." Hart- ford, 1799.
13. "Medical Repository," N. Y., New Series, Vol. 2, p. 213, "History of the Mortal Epidemic that appeared in the Towns of Lyme and Waterford, Connecticut, 1813," by Dr. Vine Utley of Lyme, Connecticut.
14. Chamberlain, C. W .: "Malaria in Connecticut." Rept. Conn. State Board of Health, 1881.
15. Graves, Charles B., M.D .: "Epidemic Disease in Early Connecticut Times." Proc. Conn. Med. Soc., 1920.
16. Woodward, Ashbel, M.D .: "Centennial Anniversary of the New London County Medical Association." Proc. Conn. Med. Soc., 1876.
17. Salibury, Edward Elbridge and Evelyn McCurdy : "Family Histories and Geneol- ogies," 1892.
18. Sigourney, Mrs. Lydia Huntley : "Letters of Life," 1866.
19. Proc. Conn. Med. Soc., various years.
20. Hurd, D. H .: "History of New London County." 1882.
21. Chapman, Rev. F. W .: "The Coit Family." Hartford, 1874.
22. Bolton, H. Carrington : "Memoir of Dr. Elisha North." Proc. Conn. Med. Soc., Hartford, 1887.
23. Steiner, Walter R., M.D .: "Dr. Elisha North. One of Connecticut's Most Eminent Practitioners." 1908.
24. Brainard, Lucy Abigail: "Brainard-Brainerd Genealogy." Hartford, 1908.
25. Wheeler, Richard Anson : "History of the Town of Stonington." New London, 1900.
26. Dexter, Franklin Bowditch: "Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College, with Annals of the College History." N. Y., 1885.
CHAPTER XIV NEW LONDON COUNTY PRESS
The "New London Day"-"Norwich Bulletin" -- "Cooley's Weekly"
In another part of this history has been printed an outline of the early history of the press in New London County. The following accounts bring this record to date. From the "New London Day" we print by permission Mr. Theodore Bodenwein's account of his experience in building up this paper to its present position of influence :
This is the third time I have been called upon to write the history of "The Day." The first time was in 1894, three years after I bought the paper, and the second time was five years ago, after twenty-five years of ownership and service to the community. Would that some better qualified person assumed the task, now that the period of forty years ago-the birth of ""The Day" -- is the epoch to be commemorated.
I did not enter the employ of "The Day" until six months after the paper was started, or in December, 1881, so what I write about the early days of the paper comes to me partly from observation and partly through report. Elsewhere in this issue John C. Turner, sole survivor of the trio which founded "The Day," contributes a very interesting and witty article on New London journalism forty years ago, but he modestly refrains from giving a close-up view of the early days of the paper.
"The Day" was founded mainly to give Major John A. Tibbits, a well- known lawyer and politician of that period, a vehicle through which he could air his political views. The major, as versatile a man as ever graced an editorial chair, had been at a previous time editor of the "Evening Star," and upon that luminary's purchase by the New London Printing Company in 1873, had become financially interested in its successor, the "Evening Tele- gram," but C. I. Shepard had a controlling interest in that paper, and I judge, although ny information on this point is hazy, Major Tibbits was not able to dictate the policy of the paper, so he concluded to start one of his own.
Those were days when politics cut more of a figure in men's careers than at present, and Maj. John A. Tibbits, lawyer, writer and orator, lived on political expectations all his life. So much for the motives behind "The Day's" inception.
The partnership which undertook to publish "The Day" was composed of John A. Tibbits, John C. Turner and William J. Adams. Of course, Tibbits was to be editor. Turner was to handle the telegraphic and local news and Adams was to be the business manager. The only other member of the staff was John McGinley, city editor and reporter.
John C. Turner in the seventies had been city editor of the "Telegram" and at the same time city clerk. On the "Telegram" the city editor was also the paper's only reporter. Newspapers in those days did not run very much to local news and if they turned out a column and a half an issue that was considered an extraordinary quantity. Turner was exceedingly popular in those days as reporter and city clerk, just as he was later as town clerk. He knew everybody in the city-not so difficult a feat in a city of less than ten thousand inhabitants. He had left the "Telegram" about five years before "The Day" was ushered into the world, to engage in journalistic labors in other cities and was, I suppose, induced to come back to his native heath by Major Tibbits.
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John A. Tibbits, although a comparatively young man, had an interesting career. He had served in the Civil War with distinction and had been severely wounded in an engagement. He was a lawyer by profession, but gave most of his time to the lure of politics. Journalism to him was inci- dental. As a writer he had few equals, especially as a descriptive writer. The ease and facility with which he wrote in long hand was remarkable. His penmanship was like copper plate and his copy was seldom marked by changes or interlineations. It was no unusual task for him to sit down in an afternoon and turn out enough editorial copy to last a week. He could turn his hand to any kind of newspaper writing with equal facility. He had a vivid imagina- tion and a keen sense of humor. During the trial of the Cramer murder case in New Haven, he reported the event for "The Day" and for a week or more he daily produced a highly interesting story of the trial that filled the entire first page of "The Day." But he was erratic and occasionally, when his services were needed the most, he was unaccountably missing. Not that his habits were bad, but because he had found some need for a trip to Wash- ington or Hartford or some other point on a political errand. So it was on the last day of the Cramer trial. He left for New Haven the same as usual, but that evening he failed to return on his usual train with a pocket full of copy and next morning "The Day" lacked its usual front page story.
William J. Adams was an active, energetic local man, who had made quite a lot of money, it was said, in fortunate speculations and by various enter- prises. He was the lessee of Lawrence Hall, the city's only amusement place, and most of the theatrical productions of the period came here under his auspices. He was also the city bill poster, a business quite different and of more importance than it is now. Among his other activities he handled the circulation of the "Evening Telegram" for many years, personally distributing the papers each afternoon to the newsboys. The circulation was around one thousand copies, I should judge. It was printed in the basement of the wooden building on Green street, south of L. Lewis & Co.'s store, now occu- pied by sundry small shops, and the boys took turns in running back behind the building through an alle way to the basement to gather up a supply of papers as they came from the fly of the printing press. The press was a slow- running affair, which threw the papers out at the rate of about ten a minute. Charlie Allen, a colored man, caught the papers as fast as the fly delivered them and as quickly as twenty-five or more were collected handed them over to a waiting boy. The papers were then brought up to Adams in a room off the street and here on a counter he folded them with a speed and accuracy that was marvelous, and then counted them out to the carriers.
John McGinley, although a New Londoner by birth, had long been living in New York City, and had been a buyer for a linen concern. a very responsible position which frequently took him to England. The firm suspended business and somehow he was asked to try his hand at reporting. He had no previous experience, but he did have a large fund of information, a ready command of language, a genial personality and a happy faculty of making friends and keeping them. He also had a fine sense of humor and he took to reporting easily and wrote many clever things.
Of the original "Day" force, with the exception of John C. Turner. I know of but two who are still living-Samuel T. Adams and William H. Rolfe. Adams was a compositor on the "Evening Telegram" and when "The Day" started he was placed in charge of the latter's composing room. Two or three years later he was promoted to telegraph editor, replacing John G. Lynch, and he held that position until Major Tibbits in 1889 was appointed United States Consul at Bradford, England, by President Harrison, when he was made managing editor. He held that position until 1891, when the paper passed into my control.
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William H. Rolfe was the telegraph operator who took the press report for "The Day" when the paper started. In its early days "The Day" always managed to have a good telegraphic news report, although the cost came very high. Rolfe was an expert telegrapher, and as typewriters had not come into use at that time he had to take the news report sent in code from the wire in long hand. This required very rapid writing and it was generally the custom among telegraphers taking press copy to write without lifting the pen from paper so that nearly all the words were connected, but as they were sufficiently apart there was no difficulty in reading them. At the very start of the paper there came the exciting episode of President Garfield's assassina- tion and the press wires were loaded with news, causing an unusual strain upon the operator taking the report. Despite the hard work and long hours, Rolfe stuck to his job with the loyalty and grit that has always been char- acteristic of him while at his work, until his right arm was swollen twice its usual size and he was forced to lay off. Subsequently he left New London and spent ten years or more at his occupation in New York City, but about sixteen years ago he returned to "The Day" as Associated Press operator and has been with the paper ever since in that capacity. During his absence he had perfected himself in the use of a typewriter, an accomplishment made necessary by the great increase in volume of words sent in the press reports Mr. Rolfe had the unusual faculty of taking the most rapid and complicated wire report on a typewriter and at the same time keeping up a lively conver- sation with a chance visitor and not make a break or a skip in his copy.
The paper was launched on the morning of July 3, 1881. It had quarters on the second floor of the stone building on Bank street now owned and occupied by Darrow & Comstock. There were two stores beneath, one on the corner occupied as a saloon and the other by C. C. Calvert, father of W. S. and DeWitt C., both doing business here now. Entrance was effected by an outside stairway. There could not have been much money invested in the plant, probably a few thousand dollars.
Preparations for starting the paper had been under way for some time. In order to create reader interest, great secrecy was observed as to the name the paper was to assume. The title "The Day" was evidently evolved by Major Tibbits himself. There had been many newspapers with title of "Star." "Sun," "World," etc., and the idea of the owners of the new paper was to adopt a name that would be original. I never heard whether the major originated it or whether he came upon it in one of the works of Thackeray which mentions a publication that was called "The Day."
To keep the title a dark secret, not even the compositors setting advance copy were let in, and wherever the name should have appeared, three letters were substituted, whatever letters the imagination or fancy of the writer dictated. The idea on the night of publication was to take these out and insert "DAY." This was done, but so well were the dummy titles distributed and so numerous that not all of them were eliminated when the paper went to press very late, with the results that as the combined office force seized the first copies off the press and eagerly scanned the freshly printed pages there were explanations like this: "Hey, stop the press; it says here 'The Cat,'" and "Here's another title that hasn't been changed, 'The Bat,'" or again, "Oh, Lord! Here's one more-'The Dog.'" At last, however, all the cor- rections were made and "The Day" began its career.
It was a four-page, six-column sheet, printed on a flat-bed country press, and it presented an attractive appearance. The captions over news items were extremely modest in regard to size of type, a fault not then recognized in the journalistic profession. James Hislop, dry goods merchant, had a two- column advertisement on the first page and the rest of the paper had con-
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siderable advertising. Mr. Hislop always was a firm believer in "The Day" as an advertising medium and never failed to use it.
The arrival of "The Day" was eagerly awaited by the townspeople and it had a good sale. The first issue came out on a Saturday morning. It was late in getting out-a condition modern newspapers have not entirely over- come-and everyone connected with it, from editor to printer's devil, was completely tired out. The next day was Sunday and the following Monday was a holiday. Of course on the Fourth of July everyone connected with the paper left for parts unknown. Then fate decreed that one of the biggest news events of the century should occur. President Garfield was shot Sunday after- noon in the Washington railroad station. The dreadful news was flashed along the wires and reached New London, but not enough of "The Day's" mechanical force could be found to issue an extra and the paper lost a great opportunity to score a beat. Not until Tuesday morning could it tell its readers what had occurred on that eventful Sunday, and a perusal of Tues- day's issue fails to disclose any account of the shooting, the incidents of the crime being passed over as if everyone knew all about them and "The Day" began its chronicle of the event by reporting the condition of the patient and the disposal of the murderer.
"The Day" soon became a good newspaper from the standpoint of the period, but it was quickly found by the owners that the field was not large enough to support two daily newspapers. The proprietors after a few months found their capital exhausted and decided to seek financial help. So a stock company, with a capital of $10,000, was organized. The stockholders included Frank H. Chappell, Augustus C. Williams, Robert Coit, Mason Young, Frank L. Palmer, James Greenfield and others. At this time John C. Turner decided to relinquish his connection with "The Dav" and departed for Paterson, N. J., where he remained for many years on "The Guardian." Wil- liam J. Adams also disposed of his interest and returned to his amusement enterprises and bill posting. Later he suffered business reverses and died poor.
With the help of new capital "The Day" returned to the conflict. It was to be a war to the death between it and its evening contemporary. To divide the advertising patronage in the evening field, in December, 1881, "The Day" launched a small afternoon daily, called "The Penny Press." It was a little four-page sheet to which everybody contributed a bit of his brightest, and it made a hit. A one-cent newspaper was then a novelty. "The Penny Press" was at once in great demand. After the novelty of issuing it wore off, how- ever, it was left to take care of itself, and it became a dull and tame affair. It survived over a year, however, until "The Day" establishment was moved from Bank street into the Brainard Block on Main street, occupying one store on the street, and two upper floors. To such an extent was "The Penny Press" regarded by its publishers as an ephemeral affair that no attempt was made to preserve a file of it and none is known to exist today.
But I am getting ahead of my story. I should say something of the surroundings in which "The Day" found itself when it was ushered into the world. Its office and composing room was, as already noted. on the second floor of the stone building in Bank street now occupied by Darrow & Com- stock. Entrance had to be effected by climbing a long pair of stairs on the outside of the building. The floor it occupied was divided in two, the front room being used as business and editorial room. In the rear was the usual complement of type cases, stands and press to be found in small newspaper offices of those days. The stationary engine designed to supply motive power for the press was located in the northeast corner of the rear room.
"The Day" started off with forty advertisers whose announcements filled ten columns. Merchants from 1881 to 1891 and even later did a very much
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different kind of newspaper advertising than they are doing at the present time. Up to twenty-five years ago, nearly every merchant contracted for a certain amount of space, usually only a few inches, and ran some kind of announcement every day in that space, but seldom did any of them change the copy of their advertisements oftener than once a week, and many of them did not change their copy more than twelve times a year. It was easy for the newspaper publisher to calculate how much advertising space he was going to carry every day because none of the advertisers varied the size of their advertisements, except at rare intervals. So that the size of the paper could be permanently maintained whether it was four or eight pages. In 1881 there was no elasticity in the size of newspapers. The maximum size was eight pages ("The Day's" was only four) and when advertising crowded the columns too much, a supplement was issued of two pages or whatever number was required. This supplement had to be folded into the main paper by hand. Presses were not built to print a varying number of pages. Nearly all the daily papers forty years ago were printed on flat-bed presses into which the sheets were fed by hand and printed on one side at a time. After one side was printed the sheets were turned over and printed on the reverse. Some- times a folder was attached to the press so that the papers would come out folded, but often the circulation was so small that folding by machine was deemed unnecessary.
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