USA > Iowa > Page County > History of Page County, Iowa : also biographical sketches of some prominent citizens of the county, Vol. I > Part 15
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The paper is issued twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays, eight pages, all home-print, republican in politics, price $1.50 per year.
THE SHENANDOAH WORLD.
This was the third newspaper to be established in Shenandoah, the first issue appearing September 24, 1891. The founders were C. H. Benford and Fred Harrison, both of them young men of Shenandoah, who under- took this work in response to requests of the democrats of this vicinity, that party having no representative paper in the city. About six months after the establishment of the paper, Harrison sold his interests to another young Shenandoah man, H. M. West, who assumed editorial charge, the firm name being West & Benford. At this time, the office was located under the old La Fayette hotel building, corner of Sheridan avenue and Blossom street. For some time they had no press of their own but used that of the Sentinel. At this time, the paper was a four-page folio. More pages have been added as occasion required, until the regular issue now is of eight pages.
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A little later the office was moved across the street into a small frame building, just west of the Hedges block, and then another move was made later to a frame building standing just a few doors west of the present lo- cation. At this time, the proprietors purchased a press of their own, an old-fashioned Mann hand-cylinder, which served them until they again moved across the street, into a building just east of the First National bank, when they got a Prouty, later exchanging this on a Potter, which is still in use. In 1898, Benford sold his interest to West, who then had full ownership and who continued as active editor until he sold the plant to two brothers, F. A. and F. J. Brown, early in the year of 1899. They were proprietors and editors until January, 1900, when they sold out to J. I. Brorby. The latter soon re-sold to G. A. Brown and Brown was the owner until September, 1901, when the present proprietor and editor, W. D. Jamieson, formerly of Columbus Junction, Iowa, purchased the plant.
Mr. Jamieson's interest in politics presently made him prominent among the democrats of this district and, in 1906, he was elected a member of the state senate, though the district is ordinarily overwhelmingly republican. Two years later, in 1908, he was elected as congressman from this, the eighth district, and took his seat in the lower house of the national con- gress on the 4th of March, 1909, resigning his office of senator in order to go to Washington. This district is also usually strongly republican in politics and Mr. Jamieson was the first democrat ever elected to this office, and he has the further honor of being the only democratic member from Iowa in the present congress. His political duties have caused him to be absent from Shenandoah a good part of the time, but he has always directed the policy of the newspaper, having assistants in the office to take care of that part of the work he has been unable to do himself.
The World has always been stanchly democratic in politics-in fact, the original name was "The Democratic World." The word, "Democratic," was later dropped from the title and the name for a while was "The World :" then it was again changed to "The Twice-a-Week World" and later this was changed to the present title. For a number of years after being started, the paper was issued as a weekly but about fifteen years ago it was changed to a semi-weekly and so continues, being published on each Tuesday and Friday.
The policy of the present editor is clearly set out in his expression of the desire to have a good, local newspaper, "democratic, decent and de- pendable" and it is generally regarded to be fairly well fulfilling this part.
THE ESSEX INDEPENDENT.
Fred L. Ellis founded the Essex Independent, February 9, 1894, and conducted the paper with indifferent success alone until May 18, 1894, when G. G. Rathbone was taken in by him as partner and they conducted the paper until September 7th of that year, when the plant was sold to Robert I. Dugdale and Nate G. Miller. Dugdale & Miller continued the publication of The Independent until June 12, 1897, when Mr. Dugdale
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retired and Miller was the editor until January 4, 1909. At this time he sold the paper to Frank P. Rotton, who is now its present editor and proprietor. The Independent is a six-column quarto, published on Friday, and has a splendid advertising and subscription patronage. It is one of the important newspapers of Page county.
HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY NEWSPAPERS.
The first paper published in Page county was a small sheet issued by the students of Amity College in 1858. Not much is known about it. The first real paper and the oldest in the county is the Clarinda Herald, which celebrated its fiftieth anniversary May 24, 1909. Its history has been check- ered and eventful ; it has changed hands often and twice was burned out, rising each time vigorously from its own ashes. It has improved with age as all good things do, and is more ably conducted now than ever before, although in the past it has had lawyers, preachers and a member of congress on its editorial staff. The first proprietors of the Herald were C. B. Shoemaker & Company, who moved a plant from Sidney. Mr. Shoemaker enlisted in the Union army and was succeeded by T. R. Stockton. Following him in the order named came W. T. Smith, Horndobler & Aldrich, Irad Richardson, George H. Powers, W. P. Hepburn (1867), W. E. Loy, Lowery and Mc- Intire, Ralph Robinson, C. B. Shoemaker, T. E. Clark, J. W. Chaffin, J. E. Hill and C. A. Lisle.
The Clarinda Democrat was started in August, 1868, and is therefore the second oldest paper in the county. Its founder was James Arrack, who conducted it until December, when he sold it to N. C. Ridenour. Mr. Riden- our continued to be its guiding genius till he sold it in 1889 to its present owner, A. E. Robinson. For a year or two just previous to this transfer, Hugh L. Cooper bought a half interest of Mr. Ridenour but had little or no editorial control, managing the mechanical department only. Practically, therefore, two men have controlled the Democrat during all the forty-one years of its existence. It has always been a very good local paper but never aggressive.
In 1879 J. J. Moulton started a greenback paper in Clarinda, called the Nodaway Chief. At the end of two years he sold the press and inaterial to J. W. Hill and L. S. Hanna, who founded the Journal, a republican paper that for a time was a formidable rival of the Herald. Hill sold out and went to Beatrice, Nebraska, and afterwards to Texas, where he died thir- teen years ago. Mr. Hanna was taken with consumption and died in the south, his paper being leased by Bailey & Skeed. The Journal went through several changes and finally died.
The Coin Mint was established January 1, 1881-the first paper in Coin. Arthur Roselle was editor but not owner and it died the following July. In November, 1881, Mr. Roselle founded the Coin Eagle, a green- back paper. It afterwards became the Gazette and is now edited by Evert Stewart. It is a seven-column quarto. Coin also had another paper called the Courier, republican in politics. It was owned by Dr. Cokenower, of
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Clarinda, and edited by A. A. Thompson, who quit journalism to become a Methodist minister. The Courier passed into other hands and died after a run of about two years.
Clarinda also had another paper-the Daily Evening Star-by A. S. Bailey. It ran quite successfully for two years and a half, beginning about Christmas, 1881. The material of the office was bought by F. C. Barker and became part of the Herald job office. The thirty-six-point rim shaded type used in Herald display ads was a part of the Daily Star outfit.
Shenandoah has quite a newspaper history to relate. Before the Sentinel came on the scene, three others had been founded and gone under the sod.
The first paper in Shenandoah was the Reporter, started in August, 1871, by M. Nicholson and D. R. Gaff. James McCabe bought Nicholson's inter- est and it was then McCabe & Gaff, proprietors. George W. Gunnison bought it December 1. 1874. He enlarged and improved it. The next year it passed to the ownership of Mentzer Brothers and was leased to one Patterson, who changed it from a republican to a democratic paper. Mr. Gunnison again got control of it and moved the material to Sidney.
The Republican was started in September, 1877, by W. H. Copson and D. R. Gaff. It prospered, grew from an eight-column sheet to a nine- column. In 1887 it suspended and the press and material were sold to the Clarinda Herald, after the latter was destroyed by the Linderman block fire.
Both the Reporter and Republican were excellent papers, nicely printed and well edited and seemingly they might have lived to this day. But news- paper life, like human life, is uncertain and all the explanation that can be given is-destiny. Yet one other explanation may be suggested. In August, 1882, C. S. Hanley started the Post. It was by far the brightest, newsiest, ablest paper Shenandoah had then seen. Its success was phe- nomenal. It aspired to be a county paper and really gained a circulation all over the county, won the county printing and seemed destined to be THE paper for Shenandoah for all time. When in June, 1887, Mr. Hanley sud- denly abandoned secular journalism to enter upon a religious life, his fellow journalists of the county thought he had gone plum crazy. Now, after twenty-two years, it may be that after all he was the saner man.
Blanchard has had her ups and downs in the newspaper business. The first venture of the kind in the state line town was the Blanchard Record, which was started soon after the town was platted. It thrived for a time and the inviting field caused another, the State Line Leader, to locate. Sharp competition killed both papers. They were succeeded by the Sentinel, pub- lished for a time by E. H. Winney and later by Deater & Winney. It, too, went the way of the good. Then came the Blade, published by E. J. Orr, which continued for several years and was succeeded by the Photo, by U. G. Reininger. The Photo was sold and two weeks later burned. Soon after the State Line Herald was founded by Rev. Burr, who within a year sold it to its present proprietor, H. S. Dewell.
In College Springs the newspapers have had a checkered career. Many attempts have been made to conduct papers in that town but until the present one was founded, without success. The newspaper graveyard over
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there contains the names of various ventures, the ones recurring to mind at present being the Vigilante, a monthly ; the Index, a weekly ; the Western Crank, a radical prohibition paper that at one time had a very big subscrip- tion list ; the Bugle, a very good little paper, published weekly ; and last the Current-Press, which was started by U. G. Reininger in 1891. Four years later it was sold to Rev. Burr, who in turn sold it to R. H. Miller, who dis- posed of it to Editor McCormick of the Albia Republican, who was suc- ceeded by his brother. J. G. McCormick. It is now edited by J. Chester Dorr.
Braddyville has on several occasions boasted of a newspaper of a few months' existence. One of these, the Post, was absorbed by The Shenandoah Sentinel about fifteen years ago, into whose capacious bosom no less than four Page county newspapers have found rest. Following it came the Tidings, the death and birth of which were separated by a few short months only. The Braddyville Enterprise has been in existence for some years past and is edited by Alex McClure. It is a six-column quarto and has a fair pat- ronage.
THE DEFUNCT.
Among all the men engaged in newspaper work in Page county since the Herald started forty years ago, four have died, namely : L. S. Hanna and J. W. Hill, of the old Clarinda Journal ; Rev. J. W. Chaffin, of the Herald; and N. C. Ridenour, of the Democrat. But the way is strewn with dead journals. Below is a list of them and upon their tombs we lay a flower as a tribute to their memory ; Essex Index, 1876-87 ; Nodaway Chief, 1879- 80; Clarinda Journal, 1881-89; Daily Star, 1881-83; Shenandoah Reporter, 1871-86; Shenandoah Republican, 1877-86: Blanchard Record, 1879-86; Blanchard Sentinel, 1887-92; Coin Mint, 1881-82; Coin Courier, 1883-89 ; Blanchard Photo, 1894-95; Blanchard Leader, 1886-87 ; Blanchard Blade, 1892-94 ; College Springs Vigilante ; College Springs Index ; College Springs Western Crank; College Springs Bugle; Braddyville Post; Braddyville Tidings.
TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES IN PAGE COUNTY.
THE FIRST RAILWAY.
In 1859 a move was made on the part of the citizens to secure what was to be known as the State Line Railroad, the eastern terminus of which was Farmington, Van Buren county. If constructed, this line would have to run through the southern tier of townships of Page county but it never was built.
March 23, 1860, a meeting was held at Clarinda and committeemen ap- pointed to confer with railroad companies at St. Joseph, Missouri, and make known to them the many advantages offered by the resources of Page county for a line up the Nodaway valley. The project, as the one before mentioned, did not culminate in anything and the good people of Page had to get along as best they could without a railroad line until about 1871, during which year
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the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Company constructed its Nebraska City branch from Red Oak to the former named point on the Missouri river. It enters Page county on the township line between Pierce and Fremont town- ships, running through sections I and 12, and diagonally across sections 13, 23. 24, 26, 27 and 34, entering Grant at the northeast corner of section 4, running angling over sections 4, 9, 8, 17, 18 and 19. There are but two sta- tions on this line in Page county .- Essex, in Pierce township, and Shenan- doah, in Grant township. This road was constructed without aid from citi- zens of the townships through which it passes. This is the only road in Page county that has not received aid from the citizens.
BROWNSVILLE & NODAWAY VALLEY ROAD.
In 1872 several of the more thoughtful and enterprising business men of Clarinda decided that the town had been groping in darkness long enough. They had been running after various projects for years, all to no avail, and now that lines of railway were being built in all directions around the town, it behooved the citizens to be awake if they did not desire to be forever shut out from the world by good railroad facilities being extended to neighboring towns. In February, 1872, a company was formed at home for the purpose of constructing a road from Villisca to Brownsville, Nebraska, via Clarinda. The road was to be known as the Brownsville & Nodaway Valley Railroad. The first set of directors were: H. C. Lett, John Barnett, D. Reinick, J. S. Cameron, John Fitzgerald, N. C. Ridenour and Dr. N. L. VanSandt. These gentlemen were also the incorporators of the company. Notwithstanding the fact that Clarinda had long wanted a railway, some of the citizens strongly opposed this project when they learned that encouragement to it was to be taxed a few cents per dollar.
On June 1, 1872, the voters of Nodaway township voted on the question of transferring the five per cent tax already voted to what was styled the Chil- licothe Railroad, over to the Brownsville & Nodaway Valley line. In con- nection with this it was also necessary to raise thirty thousand dollars, which after a great struggle they succeeded in accomplishing. N. C. Ridenour, one of the incorporators, was the editor of the Page County Democrat, and in the July 4, 1872, issue he remarked editorially as follows :
"For the past few months our citizens have been working for a railroad, almost day and night, and we are glad to announce that they have at last achieved the long talked of project, and on the Ist day of October, 1872, Clarinda will have railway connection with the outside world. In this work our citizens have done nobly. They have acquitted themselves with credit and we, with most of our citizens, rejoice that such liberality and en- terprise was manifested in securing this road. It is true we have had many drawbacks, some of our would-be leading citizens making a display of what they called independence, which in our opinion will not be of any advantage to them in the future. On Thursday last the contract for building the Brownsville & Nodaway Valley Railway was let to Messrs. Fitzgerald & Reinick."
CHICAGO, BURLINGTON & QUINCY DEPOT, SHENANDOAH
M. SHENANDOAH
E
WABASH DEPOT, SHENANDOAH
T
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We must be permitted to say that too much praise cannot be bestowed upon George Gribble, William Butler, Moses Thompson, Allen Collins, J. S. McIntire and others, for their liberal donations, as well as many hard days' work in securing this railroad.
Work commenced the last days of July, 1872, and the last rail was spiked down at Clarinda, September 24, 1872-about two months' time.
Upon the completion of the line, the editor of the Democrat rejoiced in the following strain: "Ever since 1856 our people have been year after year agitating some railroad scheme and when the present was inaugu- rated many of our most prominent citizens were disposed not only to rough-lock the enterprise but attempted to laugh it out of existence. But many of our people looked upon it as the only salvation of our town and hence placed their shoulders to the wheel, and after a long pull accomp- lished what they had so long been waiting for and we are today permitted to see a railroad in Clarinda. Now that we have what we all have been laboring for, we hope our business men will turn over a new leaf and go to work and regain what we have lost by being so long deprived of this blessing."
Soon after its completion this road passed into the hands of the Chi- cago, Burlington & Quincy road, then the Burlington & Missouri Com- pany, although it has always been known as the Brownsville & Nodaway Valley Railroad.
In 1873 the "Granger Railroad Law" was enacted, which act had a tendency to cripple for the time the further extension of railroads. Even for the next four years but little railroad building was carried on in Iowa. So it will be seen that Clarinda was not united by rail with the outside world any too soon.
By the year 1878 the building of railroads was again revived, the ob- noxious embargo having been raised, or rather legislated out of existence and with prosperity in that respect came a general desire on the part of the citizens of Page county and Clarinda in particular for more and better rail- way facilities.
In 1879 the Brownsville & Nodaway line was extended to Burlington Junction, Missouri, thus giving the citizens of Clarinda a southern outlet.
ST. LOUIS & COUNCIL BLUFFS ( WABASHI ) LINE.
During the latter part of 1878 the business men of Clarinda began to look hopefully toward the south with a view of securing the St. Louis & Council Bluffs road. In October of 1878 the citizens of Nodaway town- ship voted on the proposition of levying a five per cent tax in aid of said road, at which election there were cast five hundred and forty-three votes, three hundred and seventy-two of which favored the project and one hundred and seventy-one opposed it. But notwithstanding all the hard work done by Clarinda men, the route was established to the southwest and made Shenandoah the point, instead of Clarinda. However, Page county was greatly benefited by the road. The following five townships
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voted aid toward the road: Colfax, Washington, Morton, Lincoln and Grant.
The main line of this road which subsequently became a part of the great Wabash system, enters Page county at Blanchard on section 29 of Colfax township, runs across said township, enters Lincoln township at the southwest corner, thence across the northeast corner of Morton and enters Grant township at the southeast corner, traversing the same in a northwesterly direction. On this line, in Page county there are four sta- tions : Blanchard, Coin, Bingham and Shenandoah.
After losing the main line of this road the business men at Clarinda concluded a half loaf better than none and set about inducing a branch to be constructed. After consulting with the officers they learned that it could be secured by voting a five per cent tax in Nodaway, East River, Harlan and Buchanan townships, with subscriptions to bring the whole amount up to one hundred thousand dollars, the right of way and depot grounds complete at Clarinda. It was rather a large undertaking but the case in point was a desperate one, so far as the capital of Page county was concerned. If it ever proposed to amount to anything in the future it was essential that the town should secure the road and more especially now was the case as since the main line had gone to Shenandoah the citizens and newspapers of that live town had sprung the county seat question. The proposition to vote a five per cent tax in Nodaway township was car- ried by a vote of five hundred and seven to eighty-five. Buchanan town- ship had always persistently refused to vote a tax but now came to the front with a vote of one hundred and twelve to forty-two in favor of the road. The vote in East River township was one hundred and twenty-five to sixty-six, for the road, hence the line was built. It leaves the main line at Roseberry, Missouri, eleven miles from the Iowa line. It enters this county on or near the section line between sections 29 and 30, Buch- anan township, running up the east side of the Nodaway river, and touches parts of East River and Harlan townships, and on north to Clarinda. The stations in Page county on this line are Clarinda, Morseman and Crooks. This line continued to do business and prosper quite well for some years but it seemed to go down and finally did not pay its running expenses. It went into the hands of a receiver and after a hearing before the rail- road commissioners that body did not see fit to compel them to operate trains any longer. So, December, 1889, the last train was run and the road was taken up at once.
IIUMESTON & SHENANDOAH RAILROAD.
In 1880-81 the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and the Wabash Railway companies formed a joint company and built what is known as the Hume- ston & Shenandoah Railway. It enters this county in Nebraska township and runs west to Clarinda and from there takes a westerly line to Shen- andoah, where it intersects the Wabash system. This line is about ninety miles long, Humeston being in Wayne county, Iowa. This road asked no
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aid from the people of Page county. It has twenty-seven miles of track in the county. The stations on this road in Page county are: Clarinda, Yorktown, Norwich and Shenandoah.
THE "DENVER SHORT LINE.
The above is applied to a line owned by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy company under the corporation name of Clarinda, College Springs & Southwestern Railway, running from Clarinda southwest to Northbarro, the southwest township of the county, where another section styled the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs line commences and runs on out of the state. This was built in 1881-82 and gives a fine southwestern ont- let and connects at Clarinda with the Brownsville & Nodaway Valley road, giving an outlet to the main line of the "Q" at Villisca. On the "Denver Short Line" there are the stations of Page City, Coin and Northbarro.
As these lines are being written the Commercial Club of Clarinda is beginning to congratulate its composite self on the flattering prospects now before the community of a road, which is proposed and the preliminary surveys already completed, for Clarinda taking in College Springs on its way. The line will be seventeen miles in length and has been incorporated as the Iowa & Southwestern Railroad Company.
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES OF PAGE COUNTY.
THE CLARINDA METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
(As Written by Rev. C. W. Blodgett on the Occasion of its Twenty-fifth Anniversary.)
What Methodism is in the capital of the state, it will be to a certain ex- tent in Iowa; what it is and has been and is yet to be in Clarinda, it will be in Page county. I have found it extremely difficult to trace back the history of this church. From far and near has come what little I shall be able to tell you of our church in the quarter of a century of its existence. I find from the records of the court that the board of trustees was organized on the 18th day of March, 1857, though the society had an existence prior to this. I reproduce here a copy of the articles of incorporation : Know All Men by These Presents :
That Isaac Van Arsdol, Edward Long, H. H. Litzenberg, George Miller, Elijah Miller, Edward Keeler, David C. Ribble, Thomas Owen and J. S. Allen, the trustees regularly appointed and chosen by the Clarinda and Mont- gomery County Mission Trustees of the M. E. church, Iowa Conference, and according to the rules and provisions of said church, resolve ourselves into a body corporate for the transaction of such business and duties as devolve upon trustees of said church by the rules of the same.
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