USA > Iowa > Hancock County > History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 32
USA > Iowa > Winnebago County > History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 32
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The Hayfield German Methodist Episcopal Church was incorpo- rated on July 7, 1897, by Jacob Nonweiler, W. F. Mertz, Fred Erdman, Thomas R. Blank and Henry Schuldt.
The German Reformed Church of Klemme was incorporated May 13, 1899, by H. J. Schuldt, Fred Bock, Julius Priebe, Jr., and William Baack.
The Sacred Heart Church of Woden, Catholic, was incorporated January 19, 1912, by Archbishop Keane, Vicar General Ryan, Reverend Baxter, Thomas Ormsby and M. J. Barrett. The society was organized some twelve years previously and a new church dedicated January 1, 1900.
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St. Mary's Catholic Church of Goodell was incorporated February 28, 1912, by Archbishop Keane, M. F. Eardley, Frank Quigley and William Monaghen.
St. Wencelaus Catholic Church of Duncan was incorporated Jan- uary 9, 1912, by Archbishop Keane, Vicar General Ryan, Reverend Opava, Mike Malek and Frank Kopacek.
St. Mary's Catholic Church of Corwith was incorporated January 13, 1912, by James J. Keave, Roger Ryan, W. JJ. Baxter, Thomas Beecher and Peter Hatterscheid.
The First Methodist Episcopal Church of Woden was incorporated November 23, 1914, by Norman Missman, E. W. Kellogg and J. L. Bushman.
CHAPTER IX
HANCOCK COUNTY JOURNALISM
ORIGIN OF NEWSPAPERS - FIRST PAPERS IN THE UNITED STATES - THE COUNTRY EDITOR-THE FIRST PAPER IN HANCOCK COUNTY-THE GARNER SIGNAL, THE OLDEST PAPER NOW PUBLISHED IN THE COUNTY-THE HAN- COCK COUNTY DEMOCRAT-THE BRITT TRIBUNE-THE BRITT NEWS-OTHER COUNTY NEWSPAPERS AT CORWITH, GOODELL, KLEMME, KANAWHA AND WODEN, THE LATTER DEFUNCT.
ORIGIN OF NEWSPAPERS
The publication known as the newspaper was preceded many cen- turies by the manuscript publications of Rome-written on wax tablets with the stylus-which records were posted in conspicuous places to inform the people of the events happening and the political trend of the times. These were known as Acta Diurna, but their issue was very irregular and without sequence and often entirely suspended in times of scarcity of news.
But little advancement was made from this early prototype of the press until 1622, the date of the birth of the first publication worthy of the name of newspaper. For years prior to this time the mental appetite of medieval and modern Europe had subsisted upon periodical manuscript literature. In England the written news-letter, supplied only at such fabulous prices that only the rich could afford it, was for a long time, in vogue. The news pamphlet was the nearest approach to the newspaper that had obtained until 1622; when the first regular series of newspapers was born. In that year the Weekly News from Italie and Germanie made its salutatory to the London public. It was printed upon a mechanical contrivance, perfected by Nathaniel Butler, who might be termed the progenitor of the newspaper proper. This contrivance spoken of by contemporary writers by that name only, is supposed to have been the forerunner of the present intricate presses. The first attempt at a newspaper was crude and weak and no attention was paid to political events until 1641, when the parliamentary reports were inserted in the paper. Then the career of the newspaper as we know it may be said to have commenced. The first advertisement
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occupied a place in the columns in 1648, and was in verse form, setting forth the virtues of the fashionable tailor of Belgravia.
The first daily morning newspaper was the London Courant, pub- lished in 1709, and which consisted of only one page of two columns, each about five paragraphs long, being made up from translations from foreign journals, many of them a month old. The press now made rapid strides and had so gained in popularity and prestige that before 1760 over 7,000,000 papers were sold annually in England alone.
FIRST PAPERS IN THE UNITED STATES
The first newspaper, as such, in the United States was the Boston Public Occurrences in 1690. It was a small quarto sheet with one blank page, and was afterward suppressed by the Massachusetts government. Then came the Boston News-Letter in 1704, first conducted by John Campbell, the postmaster. The Boston Gazette was established in 1719, then changed to the Massachusetts Gazette. This paper and the News-Letter were organs of the British rule until the evacuation of Bos- ton. In 1721 James Franklin began the New England Courant, which suspended in 1727. Two years later, Benjamin Franklin, who had worked for James Franklin, established at Philadelphia the Pennsyl- vania Gazette, which he conducted as a weekly until 1765. Then it was merged with the North American. The Boston Evening Post ran from 1735 until 1775. The Massachusetts Spy began in 1770 and continued until 1848; the Philadelphia Advertiser was started in 1784; the New York Advertiser in 1785. The Evening Post of New York City was founded in 1801 and is still published.
THE COUNTRY EDITOR
The country newspaper editor in America, as well as the first news- papers, can be described at great length. The weekly newspaper- patent insides-chiefly concerns the population of Hancock County, for the county has yet to see a daily newspaper of lasting quality, It has, for some reason or other, always been customary to treat the small newspaper and its editor and proprietor in a half-humorous manner when writing of early journalism. A very interesting article upon this subject is quoted as follows from a Missouri paper, having first been copied in the Britt Tribune :
"The journalist lives in the larger cities; has an office in the thir- teenth story of some trust building and gets his inspiration from his ancestors. He arises at S, partakes of breakfast and gets to the office at 9. In the afternoon at 2 he lunches; dines at 5 and at 10 refreshes himself again.
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"The newspaper man exists in the smaller town, offices in the press room, on the ground floor or in the basement, and wouldn't know an inspiration from a load of green wood. He doesn't retire in the even- ing, but goes to bed nights and gets up early. He may, or may not eat breakfast, gets to the office in time to sweep out, make the fires and goes to dinner at any old time. Sometimes he is called a country editor, sometimes a quill pusher, sometimes a liar. He never, or seldom attempts to put out anything but a weekly and frequently it is quite weak. It may be a folio, a quarto, a patent or a democratic, but all the same it costs $1 per year, cash in advance, or produce, whenever you can get it.
"This man of destiny is a valuable acquisition to any community, but no two persons place the same construction upon his worth; this is merely a matter of taste or feeling, which depends upon what you want, or what you can get, from the scribe. Some want to be blowed up when they are born, some when they get married; some when they die and some when they run for office, but they all want us to blow. It's blow, blow, blow, from the cradle to the grave, and then some. You have heard the expression 'Live and Learn.' The newspaper man begins to learn when he goes into the business and ceases when he dies. He must know how to lead a prayer meeting, write up a baseball game, a danee, a wedding or death, and must have a vocabulary for the everyday affairs of life from a dog fight to a college commencement, know how to eat with a fork at a wedding feast and drink soda from a bottle at a fish fry.
"You get free passes into the circus, after running a half page two times, and occasionally a reserved seat free, after you get in. Then some subscriber across on the other side sees you and vows that he will never pay up to a man who is able to enjoy one of those luxuries, and right there is where you lose a dollar or two you would have never gotten anyway. You get passes on the railroad; then keep them until they are out of date waiting for spare time to take a ride. There is a big wedding pulled off; the invitations are printed in St. Louis; you get a list of presents thirteen inches long, two pieces of cake, one banana and a bunch of grapes, and then go off into a corner to enjoy yourself while the guests of honor are throwing rice at the happy couple as they take the train for Kalamazoo.
"Now as to ups and downs : whenever a paper from a country town goes into the postoffice it covers a multitude of sins by not saying any- thing about them. This is the only show some editors will ever have of getting into heaven. We have to do this or quit the business. You can't live on earth and print what some people call news. Quite frequently a short contributed article would send the editor straight
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up. This reminds us that many an editor has saved his life by reading between the lines of contributions before accepting them just to fill up with, but occasionally some subscriber reads between the lines of what the scribe writes and then he has to hide out till the storm is over. Then again you many lose a friend who finds an 'o' upside down in a line of obituary poetry. Next week you try to make the correction, leave the dot off an 'i' and another subscriber is gone. One will quit, root and branch, when you ask for the dollar due you, another will go to Stew Creek and not finding his name in the paper, top of column, next to reading matter, off goes another name. The oldest daughter, a most lovely girl, Salla, graduates and you speak of her as Sallie and you are up again. There is a new arrival at Sam Jones', you forget whether it is a boy or a girl, but think it is a girl, and say so in your paper. The next week you meet the father of that fine boy and probably you are down again. By the way, when you don't know just what it is, always say boy. Experience has taught us that this is a safe rule. We do not attempt to explain, but it is true all the same. However, such things should not happen. An editor ought to know what will suit each indi- vidual or he ought to take each item before it is published and let the person whom it concerns censor it. An editor has plenty of time to do this, as all he has to do is to hunt news, clean rollers, write editorials, set type, clean his floor, pen short items, hustle advertising, press the papers, fold them and mail them, write wrappers, talk to visitors, dis- tribute type, read proofs, correct mistakes, split wood, build the fires, hunt the scissors, dodge the bills, dun delinquents, take cussings and tell the subscribers he needs money. These are only a few of the things a newspaper man has to contend with and yet he should not make mis- takes in his paper while attending to such minor details, at the same time living on oxtail soup, lettuce, prunes, sunshine, wind pudding and imagination for dessert."
The above description cannot be said to be applicable in every case at the present day. The introduction of the linotype and improved presses have greatly lessened the labor of newspaper-making and many of the methods which were in use not so many years ago would now be considered antique and crude. The average weekly newspaper in Hancock County is an attractive sheet, well balanced, of editorial quality and mechanical excellence.
THE FIRST PAPER IN HANCOCK COUNTY
The first newspaper published in Hancock County was printed in a covered wagon which stood on the adjoining corners of Hancock, Winne- bago, Cerro Gordo and Worth Counties. The object of printing it was
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to publish the delinquent tax lists of the four counties and receive pay for the same. This issue was known as the Hancock County Sentinel and was in charge of C. C. Doolittle of Mason City, a man afterward prominent in political life in Hancock County. This first publication of a paper in Hancock occurred in the year 1860. D. E. Coon after- ward had charge of the publication, which was located at Ellington, but after a few years, about three in fact, the paper suspended for want of support. The material was sold and went into the plant of the Winne- bago County Summit.
In 1861 a five-column paper called the Independent was started at the village of Amsterdam by the firm of Brainard & Noyes. Like the Sentinel the printing of the tax list was the excuse for opening up business. The Independent continued precariously for a few months and then passed away.
In the spring of 1870 another journalistic venture was inaugurated at Concord, then the county seat. This was known as the Hancock County Autograph and was in charge of the firm of Moulton & Hamlin. It was an eight-column folio and was the best paper in the county until that time. The scarcity of subscribers and the difficulty of communi- cation caused the demise of this sheet after a short life. The material was moved to Mason City and later became a part of the plant of the Mason City Express.
THE GARNER SIGNAL
The Garner Signal was established in the year 1871 as The Hancock Signal by George R. Lanning. This paper is still being published weekly at Garner, after a continued existence of almost a half century. It is the oldest paper now in the county and among the oldest in the northwest part of Iowa. This initial number was issued on the 12th of March and the paper was soon a recognized factor in the business interests of the neighborhood. Soon after the start of the business Mr. Lanning sold out the plant to Messrs. Haywood & Maben. W. C. Hay- wood owned the plant by himself a short time after C. B. Maben became interested with him, and for ten years carried on the publication with intermitten success. On June 1, 1883, he sold out to the firm of Bush & Elliott. Charles Elliott afterward left the firm and H. H. Bush asso- ciated himself with Mr. Knadler. This firm continued the paper suc- cessfully until 1904, when the whole plant was purchased by G. F. Kluckhohn, who is the present proprietor. The Signal has always been a republican sheet and has won an enviable reputation, not only by the quality of its news and editorials, but by adherence to newspaper ideals. It is a four to eight page paper, issued each week.
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HANCOCK COUNTY DEMOCRAT
The Haneoek County Democrat was established in 1883. A history of the earlier years of this publication is difficult to obtain, but it is thought a man named Bloom instituted the paper. Later, in 1893, W. M. Brackett was editor and proprietor. In January, 1916, Raymond F. Schneider purchased the paper and is now editor and proprietor. The plant is well equipped with a new lineograph and job presses and has a eirenlation of 1,150. The Demoerat is one of the most valuable news carriers in the county and is a well patronized advertising medium used by farmers as well as merchants.
The Independent was started at Garner by Sargent & Geddes in 1877. The first number was issued December 12th in five-column quarto style. Mr. Geddes soon disposed of his interest in the paper to John Christie, Jr., but he too sold out March 12, 1878, to Walter Elder. Then the firm was Sargent & Elder. After a year or so Sargent sold out and the firm name became Walter Elder & Company. In the spring of 1882 the paper was moved to Britt and there consolidated with the Tribune.
The Northwestern Advertiser was instituted by C. B. Maben in 1880 and the first number issued October 17th. The paper became noted for its freedom of speech while it lasted, but in the latter part of 1882 was sold to George E. Frost of Clear Lake and was suspended the same fall.
BRITT TRIBUNE
This paper was founded in 1879 by E. E. Adams and the first number issned on the 19th of December that year. It was afterwards known as the Hancock County Tribune and then again changed to the Britt Tribune. This was a six-column quarto paper and continued to run in that shape until October 15, 1881, when it was consolidated with the Hancock County Independent, the name changed, and the publishing firm became that of Adams & Elder, the latter being Walter Elder, late proprietor of the Independent. This firm was short lived, being dis- solved in February, 1882, Mr. Adams continuing in the business alone. Previous to this the size of the paper was changed to an eight-column folio. In August, 1882, it was further changed into a nine-column folio, which form it kept until January, 1883, when it returned to the eight-column size. On October 15, 1882, Mr. Adams purchased the subscription list of the Northwestern Iowa Advertiser. After a few years of existence the Tribune went into the hands of a mortgage holder. John E. Anderson owned an equity and Marder, Luse & Com- pany held the first mortgage. Mr. Adams moved to Des Moines and
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the paper went to F. M. Cooley & Son. About this time E. N. Bailey started the Hancock Republican, which ran a year, then Thomas Way and the Cooleys bought it and moved the plant to Corwith. For a time the Cooleys published the Tribune, then the newspaper went into the hands of the firm of Way & Barrett. In March, 1891, E. N. Bailey bought the plant and after owning half of it for two years sold out to James Coutts, who operated the paper for a year and a half, then sold back to Bailey. The latter has successfully conducted the paper since that time, with the exception of fourteen months, when George Welle- meyer had charge. The Tribune has won a statewide reputation, a reputation chiefly gained by its editorial quality. It is one of Iowa's most substantial papers and has followed a definite policy which has obtained a well-merited patronage. O. S. Bailey and G. D. Bailey, sons of E. N. Bailey, have charge of the business and mechanical depart- ments respectively. The Tribune is issued weekly, is of eight pages, partly patent and partly home print.
BRITT NEWS
This paper had its start as the Weekly News under Mat Johnson. The first number was issued on August 8, 1894. In January, 1895, George P. Hardwick became associated with Johnson in the publication of the News and in the next month bought out Johnson's entire interest. The next owner of the sheet was C. A. Cooley, who kept the paper until July, 1900, when W. A. Simkins purchased the plant and paper. The News Publishing Company, a stock company, filed articles of incorpora- tion on May 19, 1900, which were signed by Thomas A. Way, Charles A. Cooley, E. P. Healy, S. Way, J. M. Coutts and others. This stock com- pany, however, was dissolved in the year 1903, Simkins becoming the sole owner. In 1913 Simkins sold his paper to L. G. Roberts, who had come to work upon the paper in September, 1900. L. G. Roberts con- tinued the publication of the News alone until March, 1914, when he admitted his brother R. R. Roberts, into equal partnership. The name was changed from the Weekly News to the Britt News during the Cooley ownership. The News is now one of the most attractive publications of its kind in northern Iowa. In mechanical makeup and editorial quality it is considered by critics to be in the first division of weekly papers.
OTHER COUNTY NEWSPAPERS
The Corwith Hustler, one of the livest Republican papers in the county, was established in the year 1888. S. L. Thompson has been the editor of this paper for a number of years and has succeeded in making of it a sheet of excellent mechanical and editorial features.
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A Corwith Newspaper Company was incorporated February 7, 1888, by F. P. Heskett, A. E. Harding, E. S. Stilson, J. T. Standring and J. S. Clark.
The Goodell Globe, also a Republican paper, was established in 1892. Hall & Kinney have been operating this paper until recently, when the management was taken over by F. C. Letch, a man well posted in news- paper affairs and with editorial ability.
The Klemme Times, Republican in policy, was started in the year 1895. M. M. Magner is the capable and efficient manager of this publi- cation. It is a weekly and has a large circulation in the county. Allen C. Flint was a former owner of this paper.
The Kanawha Record was established at Kanawha in 1899. B. C. Ellsworth is the editor and proprietor of this paper. Like all the other papers in the county, with one exception, it is Republican in politics and exerts a wide influence in the territory which it covers.
The Woden Watchman, a Republican paper established in 1898, edited at one time by W. E. Sage and lastly by John Bode, has expired for want of monetary nourishment.
CHAPTER X THE BENCH AND BAR
EARLY LAWYERS-THE PRESENT BAR-THE DISTRICT COURT-THE DISTRICT JUDGE-THE CIRCUIT COURT- COUNTY ATTORNEYS-THE COUNTY JUDGE- COURT CLERKS.
EARLY LAWYERS
The bar of Hancock County, although not so numerous as in some other counties of the state, has numbered among its members many men who have been an honor both to the county and to the profession. Of the history of law little can be said within a work of this scope; many and compendious volumes have been written upon the subject without exhausting it. Law itself, however, had its beginning in tribal customs, the shaping of the individual's course of action for the benefit and safety of the community. In that most archaic of countries-China, there were definitely propounded laws before Justinian wrote. Ameri- can law, as understood at present, is largely based upon the Roman and English statutes, with lesser statutes compatible with the needs of each state, county and city.
The first lawyer in Hancock County was M. P. Rosecrans, so long known as the county judge. Mr. Rosecrans was a native of Ohio, but moved to Iowa when a young man, locating in Hardin County in 1855, engaging in farming pursuits. He was a man of excellent education and of considerable native ability and studious habits, and was one of the best newspaper writers the state produced. He was admitted to the bar while a resident of Hardin County and shortly afterwards, in the spring of 1858, removed to Hancock County, where, at the June election, 1858, he was elected to the most prominent local office then existent in the county-that of county judge. Judge Rosecrans left Hancock County in 1866 and located at Clear Lake, Cerro Gordo County.
Others who have practiced law in the early days before the Hancock County bar and who have been residents were: Harvey N. Brockway, Charles D. Pritchard, James Crow, Byron F. Scott, William Kinsey, James Barclay, B. F. Westover, Bush & Bush, A. C. Ripley, W. E. Bradford, Joseph G. Strong, Taylor & Osborne, O. K. Hoyt and J. M. Elder.
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H. N. Broekway, of the firm of Brockway & Elder, was born in St. Joseph County, Michigan, December 26, 1836. His parents Sylvester and Mercy (Stewart) Brockway, emigrated to Michigan about 1830, where they remained a few years, then moved to Indiana. Here H. N. grew to manhood, receiving a common school education. In 1855 he went to Wright County, Iowa, and in 1858 began to read law in the office of G. Berkley at Webster City, Iowa, being admitted to the bar at Concord, Hancock County, in 1860. In 1862 he enlisted in Company B, Thirty-Second Iowa Volunteer Infantry, entering as sergeant and being promoted to captain. He was married in 1865 to Sarah Mitchell of Franklin County, Ohio. In 1865 Mr. Brockway was elected treasurer of Hancock County and reelected in 1867. He resigned in 1868 and was elected judge of the circuit court in the same year. At the expiration of his term he engaged in partnership with J. M. Elder in the law.
C. D. Pritchard was a son of Philo A. and Eliza J. (Woodward) Pritchard and was born at Lockport, New York, August 9, 1830. In 1836 his parents moved to Michigan and here C. D. received an academic edneation and afterwards began the study of law. In the spring of 1857 he came to Hardin County and after a year or so came to Hancock County, where he was admitted to the bar in 1858, and afterward prac- ticed his profession, also taught school occasionally. In 1860 he was elected clerk of the county courts and was later a member of the state legislature. He then became a department clerk in the interior depart- ment at Washington, D. C., but soon resigned and returned to Han- cock County to practice his profession. In 1871 he removed to Alden, Iowa, and entered into partnership with his brother in the mercantile business.
James Crow was a native of Licking County, Ohio, and one of the early pioneers of Hancock County. Although admitted to the bar, he was a man of very limited education, and never became counsel in notable cases, contenting himself with small work before the justice's court. He afterwards removed to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and engaged in the real estate and land business.
Byron F. Scott was admitted to practice at the bar in Hancock County at the June term of court, 1871. He afterwards left the county and disappeared.
William Kinsey came to Hancock County in the spring of 1870 and taught school during that summer and the succeeding year. In October, 1871, he was admitted as a member of the legal fraternity and in part- nership with James Barclay, who had shortly before made his appear- ance, hung out their shingle. The business did not come to them, how- ever, and the firm was soon dissolved. Kinsey went to Muscatine County and build up a large practice, but Barclay vanished.
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