History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 116

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340

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The following is taken from the earliest issue of the Advocate, as an evidence of the talent of the editor, and an exposition of a part of the principles upon which he contemplated conducting the paper:

" We can never suffer the doctrines of our Church to be chal- lenged in our columns, or our discipline to be assailed. But to any contribution that evolves, teaches and enforces the former, or even proposes improvements in the latter, we shall never feel at liberty to close our columns. We fear nothing, but hope everything, from the freedom of speech. We shall speak, ourselves, freely, and shall never be found fettering the lips of others. We shall never be found a stickler for things morally indifferent, magnifying the ' mint and the anise,' canting, and pandering to a fossilizing con- servatism, sneaking into the coverts of non-commitalism, or mounted upon a hobby of ultra progressionism. We shall never be found so visionary as to hope to escape censure, so accustomed to it that it will not grieve us, or sn reckless as intentionally to deserve it. Of the persons who have a right to be heard in our pages, of the appropriateness of the language in which their com- munications are clotlied, of the suitableness of their cogitations to promote truth and righteousness, we are to be the judge. Delicate responsibility! We assume it."

In the issue of February 23, 1853, there is an article upon a social gathering, held at the residence of D. M. Bradley, of the Chicago Democrat office, wherein Mr. Bradley is designated the oldest resident " knight of the quill" in the city. The editor, in recounting the inci- dents of the evening, states that " all felt, and many said, amen, to the prayer of the esteemed pastor pres- ent, which in spirit resembled one we once heard from a good brother in Michigan on a similar occasion: ‘ We thank Thee, O Lord, that one thing is not good; it is not good for man to be alone.' Brother Bradley de- serves well of the Church for the interest he has taken, and aid he has rendered, personally and with his pen, in the establishment of the Northwestern Book Con- cern." Volume III, Number 1, of the date January 3,

1855, came out in a new dress of typography, and with a new heading, Northwestern Christian Advocate.

Recurring to the death of Rev. J. V. Watson, as one of the most marked events in the history of the Advocate prior to 1858, the incomplete editorial hereto appended, with the editorial comments of his surviving co-laborer, evinces the pertinaceous adherence to his duty of him, who, while in the very clutch of the "grim reaper," thought so earnestly of an appeal for the serv- ice of his Master; the last effort of Mr. Watson's life being an entreaty for the united assistance from Chris- tians to further the enlightenment of their benighted fellow-creatures.

OUR MISSIONARY TREASURY,

" Brethren, we tremble every time we mention these words. Not indeed that we are upon the verge of bankruptcy. We believe. our Zion, as yet, has taken hold of no burden that it cannot lift : but we now and then hear curtailment talked of. Well, whom shall we call home? Where shall we commence this curtailment ? How much will it promote the honor of the Church and the glory of God ? Help, brethren, help! This will never do. We must ap- ply the discipline in raising funds for this holy purpose, to the very Jetter, and the work will be done, aye, more than done. Means should be resorted to extraordinary where the ordinary cannot meet the emergency immediately. Gold and silver, brethren ! It belong- eth to the Lord and for the sake of millions ready to perish. let it be put into the treasury of the Lord. The cause of missions is the cause of causes. It is the Church's noble right arm. O let not its strength be enfeebled ! Where is the one who has not a dollar for the treasury of the Lord in this emergency ? We long to hear from the communications of our able secretary a more liberal tone of spirit on this subject. We have said we trembled when we men- tioned the words which head this article. Well. we have. We have trembled for the blessing of God upon the Church. We have trembled for his blessing upon our baskets and store. We must bring all the tithes of the Lord into the Lord's house. 'To him that hath shall be given ; to him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.'

["The above are among the dying words of the late beloved editor of this paper. On the evening before his death he dictated to the writer of these lines about half a column of matter for this issue, of which the above is a part. Though in great and increas- ing bodily weakness for months, it was a relief to him to feel that he was still serving the Church, and he continued to labor until the last, dictating from three to five columns per week for his sheet. In our last were five columns from him. This week his labors were commenced by the preparation of the short article headed 'Want of Sectional Independence.' But his tongue faltered and for the first (time) his paper is 'short of editorial.' When writing for him the above, we were conscious of his near dissolution, and those earnest words, so slowly and faintly spoken, sounded to us like the falter- ing notes of the dying swan, rather, as they were, like soul-breath- ings from the spirit world ; like pleadings from the upper Canaan for the work of grace below. 'Help, brethren, help !' still sounds in our ears. Before this plea was in type, the soul of the pleader was before the Throne."-Northwestern Christian Advocate, Octo- ber 22, 1856.]

THE OLIVE BRANCH OF THE WEST was published for a short time in 1853 by Rev. J. R. Balme, pastor of the Salem Baptist Church.

THE CHICAGO HOMEOPATH, a monthly popular journal of homeopathy, was started in January, 1853, by Drs. D. S. Smith, S. W. Graves and R. Ludlam, and was continued until December, 1856, being discontinued upon the completion of the third volume. The editors in January, 1854, were Drs. R. Ludlam and D. Alphonso Colton.

The CHICAGO COURANT, an independent daily, was issued November 16, 1853, with William Duane Wilson as editor. On the 12th of April, 1854, the paper was enlarged, and a notice is extant of its exist- ence upon May 31, 1854. About that time it passed into the hands of Messrs. Cook, Cameron & Patterson, and these gentlemen stopped the running of the Cour- ant, and, in lieu of it, about July 4, 1854, issued Young America, a daily and weekly Democratic paper, with J. W. Patterson as editor. James W. Sheahan was at this

410

HISTORY OF CHICAGO.

time in the East, and at the solicitation of the publishers of this paper came to Chicago. After some negotiations with these gentlemen, they sacrificed Young America to the manes of Americus Vespucci, and Mr. Sheahan, on August 20, 1854, issued the first number of the Chicago Times, a Democratic daily paper, from the office on LaSalle Street, next door to Jackson Hall, the old headquarters of "Long" John Wentworth. In the spring of 1856 the publishing was conducted by Cook, Cameron & Sheahan, with Mr. Sheahan in the editorial chair. In the autumn of the same year James W. Sheahan and Daniel Cameron were the editors and proprietors, and early in 1857 the office was removed to 112 Dearborn Street, when Andre Matteson became city editor. The files of the Times that were in the office of the paper were sent to the house of D. B Cooke & Co. to be bound, in 1857, and were destroyed in the fire that consumed that place of business October 19, 1857.

THE TRAVELLER, by James M. Chatfield, John Chatfield, Jr., William B. Doolittle and Lee Lars, is mentioned in the Directory of 1853.

THE HEMLANDET, DET GAMLA OCH DET NYA, was first published at Galesburg, Ill., in 1853, and re- moved to Chicago in 1854, with Rev. E. Norelius ed- itor. It was a weekly newspaper, and the first pub- lished in the Swedish language in this city. It was the organ and advocate of the Swedish Lutheran Church, and was subsequently published by the Lutheran Pub- lishing Society, with Rev. Erland Carleson as editor.

THE MAINE-LAW ALLIANCE, a temperance weekly, was published in the spring of 1854, by Hiram W. Jew- ell, with Rey B. E. Hale, Rev. F., Yates and Dr. Charles Jewett, editors. Rev. D. Crouch took Mr. Hale's place in August, 1854.

THE FREE WEST, by Goodman, Warren & East- man, was published in 1854, and sold to the Tribune in 1856.

THE SATURDAY EVENING MAIL, a temperance pa- per, George R. Graham, editor, was started in January, 1854, but soon died.

THE CHICAGO PROTESTANT was begun January 25, 1854, as a monthly; Hays & Thompson, publishers. It had a short career.

DEUTSCHE AMERIKANER, by George Schtaeger, lived for a short period in 1854. Mr. Schtaeger then went on the staff of the Staats Zeitung.

THE ATLANTIS, by Christian Essellen, a monthly, saw the light dimly in 1854.

The Associated Press dispatches were furnished the Chicago dailies in November, 1854.

THE CHICAGO PATHFINDER, began its work April 21, 1855, as a weekly record of railroad and real estate transactions, under the editorship of W. B. Horner; Horner & Crone, publishers.

THE CHICAGO BANK-NOTE LIST entered the field as a claimant for public patronage, July 17, 1855. Its columns were devoted to the reporting of matters finan- cial, with an especial reference to the means of detect- ing counterfeits, and containing a report of the banks that were in embarrassed condition or had ceased to be solvent. It was published and edited by F. Granger Adams, banker, at No. 44 Clark Street. Information as to the duration of this paper is lacking, but it is a mat- ter of record, from contemporaneous publications, that its semi-monthly issuance continued beyond the epoch treated of in this volume of History, as in the Directory for 1858, published January ist, in that year, it is desig- nated among the publications then extant; and a notice of the paper in June 3, 1857, being now in existence,

wherein it is stated that it is issued on the roth and 25th of every month, also monthly; the price of the for- mer, being $1.50 per annum, and of the latter, $1.oo per annum.

THE ILLINOIS GAZETTEER AND IMMIGRANTS' W'EST- ERN GUIDE, was published by Henry Greenbaum and T. W. Sampson, M. D., and edited by William Bross. A. M. This sheet was of similar size and make-up to the Democratic Press, and contained carefully collated statistics of manufactures, trades, commerce, etc., upon the first three pages and a map of Illinois and adjacent States upon the fourth. This was apparently but a spo- radic and single publication, and appeared in August, 1855.

BEOBACHTER VON MICHIGAN, a Douglas paper, was published weekly, in 1855, by Messrs. Committi and Becker. It lived about a year.

The NATIVE AMERICAN, a daily, was started by William Weaver Danenhower, on September 7, 1855; in the interest of the Native American party, whereof Washington Wright was editor. A weekly edition was also published, and both were maintained until the first Wednesday in November, 1856, when they were discon- tinued. Mr. Danenhower is the father of Lieutenant J. W. Danenhower, the Arctic explorer, and Chicago, in addition to her many other causes for distinction, has the honor of being the birth-place of Lieutenant Danen- hower.

In 1855, R. P. Hamilton issued a paper designated THE COURIER.

DER NATIONAL DEMOKRAT, a daily and weekly German newspaper, was first issued on October 15, 1855, by J. E. Committi publisher, with Dr. Ignatius Koch as editor in chief, and J. E. Committi as local editor. The office of the paper was at 55 LaSalle Street, near Randolph, and it was what, in those days, was called a " Douglas paper." In 1856, its publica- tion was transferred to Michael Diversey ; Dr. I. Koch and Louis Schade, editors. In this year Mr. Schade published a tri-weekly edition of the paper in English, but this arrangement lasted only two or three months. In 1857, Fritz Becker was the publisher, and the editors were Dr. I. Koch and Victor Froehlich. Beyond these meager details nothing is known of this paper, and for these the public is indebted principally to J. E. Committi. The office in 1857 was removed to 240 Randolph Street.

THE AGE AND LAND WE LIVE IN, was projected in 1855 by E. H. Hall & Co., but the magazine never appeared, and remained inchoate in the brains of its projectors.

THE WESTERN CRUSADER, a temperance weekly. was started in October, 1855 ; the title being changed to Northwestern Home Journal in June, 1856. Its chief editors were Rev. Thomas Williams and Orlo W. Strong. In 1857 James B. Merwin was editor. F. H. Benson & Co., publishers.

THE CHICAGO HERALD was issued from 93 Dear- born Street, in September, 1856, by T. R. Dawley, as a penny daily, with weekly edition. It ceased in 1857.

THE PEN AND PENCUS., by T. R. Dawley, was a

Y. M. Dawley

weekly art and story paper, contributed to by T. Her- bert Whipple and others. It lived and died in 1856.

411

HISTORY OF THE PRESS.

THE SUNDAY VACUNA, the first excessively Sunday paper in Chicago, was another of Mr. Dawley's unsuc- cessful efforts in 1856.

THE WESTERN GARLAND, a literary monthly, issued simultaneously in Chicago, Louisville and St. Louis, founded by Mrs. Harriet C. Lindsey & Son, with R. R. Lindsey, editor, in this city, reached the third or fourth number here in 1856. Its history elsewhere is not ob- tainable.

THE COMMERCIAL BULLETIN AND NORTHWESTERN REPORTER, by C. H. Scriven and John J. Gallagher, was published in 1856.

ROUNDS' PRINTERS' CABINET .- The typographical supply business out of which grew the Rounds' Printers' Cabinet, was founded by James J. Langdon, who was the foreman of the Journal office in 1848. Sterling P. Rounds was a sophomore of the job printing office of the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, and while located in Racine, Wis., filling the " Old Oaken Bucket" with tem- perance stories and prohibitive arguments, received an invitation from Mr. Langdon to come to Chicago and go into business with him. Some time subsequently- after sinking his finances in a newspaper in Milwaukee -Mr. Rounds reached Chicago upon a borrowed capi- . tal of $5.00 and went into business with Mr. Langdon, who, shortly thereafter, went to Prairie du Chien, Wis., and embarked in the horse-business ; but finding that his horses were so many Pegasuses which lent wings to his circulating medium, Mr, Langdon returned to Chi- cago and again went into partnership with Mr. Rounds -who had carried on the business alone ad interim- the firm name being Rounds & Langdon. In Decem- ber, 1856, the first number of Rounds' Monthly Printers' Cabinet was issued, the size of its pages being twelve by seventeen and one-half inches, containing four pages and having four columns to the page. The irregularity in the issue of this paper made number four appear in May, 1857. The first number was prepared under the auspices of S. P. Rounds alone, but in October, 1857, the names of Rounds & Langdon appear as sponsors for its ex- istence. In December, 1856, there was but one other journal in the United States that was devoted exclu- sively to the interests of the "art preservative"-the Typographic Advertiser; Rounds' Cabinet being the first of that character in the Northwest, the second in the United States in its date of issue, and the first monthly typographical journal in the Union.

THE PRAIRIE LEAF, a monthly, by D. B. Cooke & Co., 1856, was a literary and advertising periodical.

THE WESTERN JOURNAL OF MUSIC ; William H. Currie, editor ; R. G. Greene, publisher ; lived in 1856. THE FLOWER QUEEN was published in 1856.

THE DEMOCRATIC BUGLE, by Charles Lieb, was a weekly which was in existence in 1856.

THE WESTERN ENTERPRISE, an agricultural weekly, by Porter Little, was brief lived and became merged in the Prairie Farmer in 1856.

In 1857, a paper designated the CHICAGO DAILY UNION was issued by the Chicago Union Printing Com- pany. Louis Schade was the ostensible editor; B. H. Mayers, the city editor, and T. Herbert Whipple, the news editor and proof-reader.

On February 21, 1857, an evening journal called the CHICAGO DAILY LEDGER, was published by Barnes, Stewart & Paine, with Seth Paine as editor. This eceen- tric sheet was printed at the machine shop of P. W. Gates.

THE CHICAGO RECORD was issued by James Grant Wilson, editor and proprietor, as a monthly magazine devoted to religion, literature and the fine arts, on April

1, 1857. This journal was the first recognized advocate of the Episcopal Church in Chicago.

Os Grautliliom

THE SATURDAY EVENING CHRONOTYPE was estab- lished, June 27, 1857, by Charles A. Washburne, editor and proprietor, as a literary paper of high order ; but the panic prevented its success, and on September 26, 1857, it died.

In August, 1857, H. D. Emery sent out a specimen number of EMERY'S JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE, the first number of the regular issue of which paper was an- nounced to appear January 1, 1858.

In 1857, Charles Hess published the ZEITGEIST, a German weekly, of which Ernest Goeders was the editor. Its life is alleged to have been brief and er- ratic, and it was the exponent of ultra radical ideas.

THE NORTHWESTERN BANK NOTE AND COUNTER- FEIT REPORTER is reported as having been published by Isaac A. Pool, in 1857. There is a possibility that this paper may have existed in 1853, as in the directory for that year appears a mention of a Bank Note Re- portor, but neither editors nor publishers are named.

In March, 1857, James Grant Wilson, editor 'Carney & Wilson, publishers), began the publication of a monthly magazine designated the CHICAGO EXAMINER, devoted to literature, general and Church matters.

In 1857, Messrs. P. L. and J. H. Wells published a weekly paper called the COMMERCIAL EXPRESS, and also a commercial journal, daily, called the MORNING BUL- LETIN ; both publications being issued in the mercantile and commercial interests of the city.

THE SVENSKA REPUBLIKANAREN was commenced in Galva, Ill., in 1855, and was moved to Chicago in 1857, with S. Cronsioe as editor. It was a secular, or liberal paper, founded as especially antagonistic to the Hem- landet, by the Bishop Hill colony of Swedes.

In the spring of 1857, S. P. Rounds published the SUNDAY LEADER, the first exclusively Sunday newspa- per issued in Chicago of any permanence. One of its distinguishing features was its chess column, edited by Lewis Paulson. Among other contributors, Andrew Shuman furnished a column (sometimes two, every week; H. M. Hugunin supplied a column, and Rev. A. C. Barry gave " Whittlings from the Chimney Corner." Ed- ward Bliss was the managing editor, and William H. Bushnell, one of the pioneer editors of Chicago, was sub-managing editor.

In 1857, subsequent to the establishment of the Sun- day Leader, the SUNDAY HERALD was started in oppo- sition thereto; it ran about a year.

THE TRESTLE BOARD was started by J. J. Clarkson about March, 1857, as editor and publisher, at No. 50 Clark Street, devoted to the interests of the Masonic fraternity.

THE ASHLAR, a Masonic monthly magazine, owned and edited by Allyn Weston, was removed from Detroit to Chicago, in September, 1857; the first number printed in Chicago, by Charles Scott & Co., being the first first number of the third volume. It was, as its name implies, devoted to the interests of the Masonic frater- nity, and was conducted with marked ability and careful conservation of the "lights, rites and benefits " pertain- ing to this powerful organization. The magazine was one of the oldest in the Northwest-the first number having been issued in September, 1855.

In 1857, Gallagher & Gilbert published the REAL

412

HISTORY OF CHICAGO.

ESTATE NEWS LETTER AND INSURANCE MONITOR, monthly, and but for a very few months.

G. W. Yerby & Co., real estate dealers, in 1857, edited and published a few numbers. of a monthly called the REAL ESTATE REGISTER.

Higgins Brothers, in 1857, published the CHICAGO MUSICAL REVIEW, from 54 Randolph Street, of which C. M. Cady was the editor, and Pool & Spaulding the printers. The Review lasted but a short time.

THE CHICAGO MAGAZINE, published by John Gager & Co., and edited by Zebina Eastman, was devoted to literature, biography, historical reminiscence, etc., pro- fusely illustrated with engravings relevant to the text. The first number was issued March, 1857, and therein it was specified that the projectors and publishers con- templated an exemplary longevity therefor, but after the issue of the March, April, May and June numbers, the July number was omitted, and with No. 5 in August, 1857, the Chicago Magazine suspended, greatly to the loss of the literary interests of the city, as it was ably conducted, and its historical sketches, biographies, etc., were exceedingly valuable and accurate.

LE JOURNAL DE L'ILLINOIS was first issued in Kan- kakee, as a weekly paper, on January 2, 1857, by A.

A. Grandpré

Grandpré and Claude Petit, this being the first French newspaper published in the State. In September of that year it was removed to Chicago, under the same management, the first number being issued in this city September 18, 1857; the first French newspaper pub- lished here. It then became a semi-weekly journal, and was so continued until December 18, 1857, when it was changed to a weekly, published on Friday. Upon July

ClausGetir

16, 1858, the publication was discontinued, the editors subsequently removing to Kankakee and publishing Le Courrier de l'Illinois.

It is not improbable that, owing to the scarcity of records, some newspapers have been omitted from the foregoing list. It will readily be understood how im- practicable it is to trace out, from beneath the ruins of the fire of 1871, information concerning temporary is- sues. Should it be found that essential omissions have been made, the subsequent volumes of this work will afford a means of rectifying errors. The plan of this History necessitates the arbitrary closing of all sketches at the year 1857; and reference is here made to the fu- ture volumes for the completion of the chapter on the Press.

PRINTERS, LITHOGRAPHERS, BOOKBINDERS AND STATIONERS.

In the following pages are given outlines of the founding of the printers and kindred mechanical arts in this city:

The first job printing done in the city was by John Calhoun, in 1833. The earliest carriers' address was issued by Mr. Calhoun January 1, 1836. Caricature cuts were inserted in the Democrat as early as 1840, and

humorously illustrated advertisements date from about that period.

The earliest printers in Chicago were undoubtedly the two apprentices whom John Calhoun describes in his autobiography as having been sent here in charge of his press and printing material. Their names are un- known; but in Mr. Calhoun's account book. in the pos- session of the Chicago Historical Society. appear the names of David Johnson, August 22, 1834; Ballard, October 6, 1834; Stevens, no date specified; Charles H. Sedgwick, September 6, 1835, and A. L. Osborn and James Mead, 1836; the dates given being those where- on settlement was made, and the price paid for type- setting being twenty-five cents per thousand ems; these -with John Calhoun himself-being therefore among the earliest printers in Chicago. After Mr. Calhoun had commenced the issue of his paper early settlers recall one Timothy C. Ellithorpe, as a compositor upon that paper who Mr. Eastman* states, was a refugee from Canada, during the Rebellion, in which country he had command- ed a company of the revolutionists. Another very early printer was Hooper Warren who edited his articles at the case. As his ideas took form in his brain they became words and sentences in the "stick," his lucu- brations being put into type as Robert Fergus con- structed his directory, without the customary interme- diate use of copy. N. D. Woodville was another of the primitive compositors, and was a son-in-law of John Baptiste Beaubien. He was subsequently employed as copyist by L. P. Hilliard in the County Clerk's office, and is reputed to have died poor-as so many of the typographers have done and are doing. Thomas O. Davis, the editor of the first Chicago American, in 1836, was another early printer, and John Wentworth states that Abiel Smith worked as pressman on the first num- ber of that paper issued, and subsequently worked at Mr. Wentworth's hand press, until the arrival of the power press. Daniel E. Sickles, whose name has been prominently associated with Washington and military annals, was an apprentice at Smith's office.

The oldest pamphlet extant, and the earliest of which there is any record, is one of thirty-six pages, and is " An Act to incorporate the City of Chicago, passed March 4, 1837. Chicago Printed at the office of the Chicago Democrat. 1837."t It is undetermined whether the second pamphlet was " An oration delivered on 4th July, 1839, at Peru, La Salle County, Illinois, by George W. Holley ; printed at Chicago American Office, corner Clark and South Water streets, 1839 ; " t or the " Laws and Ordinances,"§ ordered printed by the Common Council in 1839 ; an account of which appears under the portion of this article devoted to Directories. The printing of the oration appears to have been performed some time in July or August ; as the manuscript was handed over to the printer July 10, 1839. The printing of the laws and ordinances was performed by Ellis & Fergus ; Robert Fergus being the oldest Chicago printer now living.

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History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 116

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas Number of Pages: 1340

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340