A twentieth century history of Marshall County, Indiana, Volume I, Part 39

Author: McDonald, Daniel, 1833-1916
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 380


USA > Indiana > Marshall County > A twentieth century history of Marshall County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 39


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"First. One-third of our patronage was in Marshall county, which would have been withdrawn from us, preparations having been made to establish a press here.


"Second. The telegraph affords us facilities Rochester did not possess.


"Third. Our subscription list is larger and steadily increasing. The county printing is more valuable here than in Fulton county, as well as job work and advertising."


The Pilot was a six-column folio, was neatly printed, and was alto- gether a very creditable publication, mechanically, for those days, before the printer's art had arrived at its present state of perfection. Electrotype plates had not then been invented, neither had type setting machines, and all the type on the paper had to be set by hand.


In his salutatory the editor said :


"The Plymouth Pilot is before you. How do you like it? It comes to you not on mammoth wings like some of its cotemporaries, but brings you, we trust, although not so much, at least a history of passing events as welcome to your taste as those furnished you by its longer brethren. But, says one stranger, what's your politics? We reply : They are democratic, of the Jeffersonian and Jackson school. Our democracy is not to be appealed, corrupted or compromised. It knows no baseness, it cowers to no danger ; it oppresses no weakness; destructive only of despotism; it is the sole conservator of liberty, labor and property. It is the sentiment of free- dom, of equal rights, of equal obligations-the law of nature pervading the law of the land."


Mr. Howell was young and vigorous then, and it was hard for him to settle down to the realities of life and content himself with the monotonous routine of newspaper work so far as it was then developed. In an inter- view with the writer of these sketches a few years ago, he said he came from Wabash to Rochester about 1849, where later he established the Roch- ester Republican (not republican politically, as the republican party was not then in existence, but in the broader sense). The Republican did not prosper very well, he said, and some Plymouth people, he had forgotten who, offered him $200 to move his office to Plymouth and he accepted the offer and located here. The office was opened in the basement of the east room of a building owned by A. L. Wheeler, on lot No. I, corner of


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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.


Michigan and La Porte streets. When the present brick structure was erected on that lot in 1865, the frame building in which the printing office was located was moved to the east end of the lot, where it stood for some time. The room in which the paper was printed was still there, but in a very dilapidated condition. The editor's sanctum sanctorum had been deserted, and it looked as though the printer's devil had been left in charge and had played the devil with the furniture and fixtures generally. Mr. Howell while here on a visit while it remained there, with the writer went down to take a look at it. "Ah me," said he, "nearly half a century gone and here is the old room still. How many strange and curious stories of bygone days could that old room tell if it could only talk. The old friends that used to visit me there-where are they all? Where is Dr. T. A. Lemon, John S. Doddridge, Dick Rudd, Doc Brown, Ed Lewis and W. G. Pomeroy ?" "All dead," he was told.


"You don't say so," he replied. "And where is Jake Klinger and Jons Brownlee, Greenville P. Cherry, Dave Vinnedge and Enoch Belangee?"


"They are all dead, too."


"Well, well! And where are Drs. Bennett and Sherman and Lyman Griffin and Higginbotham, and Levi Barber and old John Cougle, A. L. Wheeler, H. B. Pershing and Uncle Billy Patterson?"


"They have all passed away and gone to dust, too."


"Well, it beats all! Is there anybody living around here that I used to know when I came in 1851?'"


"Not more than half a dozen who were doing business here at the time you came," he was informed, "are still here, and even they have laid down the burdens of life and are waiting for the end to come."


"Well," he said, "it beats all what havoc the scythe of time has made among my old friends of more than half a century ago.


I feel like one who treads alone Some banquet hall deserted, Whose garlands dead, whose lights are shed, And all but he departed."


He was a fanciful writer on occasion, but drew mostly on his vivid imagination for his facts. After publishing a notice entitled "Cupid's Market," he addressed the following appeal to the single men to join the marriage feast :


"Our readers will learn that 'Cupid's Market' is an invitation to the marriage feast, and that they cannot get a glimpse of the Elysian shades except through the golden network of the marriage altar. Women are by nature a great deal better than men. They come to us at morn with rose and perfume to gladden our hearts ; and eve is ushered in with sweet strains from their golden harps. In the hour of sickness and death they hover around us the angels of love and mercy, to sooth our parting hour and prepare our souls for eternal rest. Choose, then, a happy and virtuous life -a woman of high literary and religious attainments. She will be the brightest star of your destiny-a perpetual sunshine in your pathway. Your daily walks will be through the flowery arcades of virtue and sacred temples of unrivaled beauty. At eve your prayers will mingle with hers, and pearly-faced angels will surround your coach and soothe you to sleep with celestial strains."


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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.


The foregoing is given to show what Plymouth's first editor could do if he needed two or three sticks full to fill up with. His description of married life was simply a day dream, that realization would cause to vanish like mist before the rising sun. As he was not married at that time but took unto himself a wife not long afterwards, it is quite likely if he had continued in the editorial chair it would not have been very long until he could have written in an entirely different strain on "the beauties of mar- ried life."


The editor closed his editorial career at Rochester preparatory to moving to Plymouth by inserting the following under the head of "Wanted:"


" I wish I had a little wife, A little stove and fire, I'd hug her like a lump of gold, And let no one come nigh her.


I'd spend my days in happiness, I'd vegetate in elover, And when I died I'd shut my eyes, Lie down and roll right over."


The Plymouth Banner.


The Pilot did not prove a paying investment, and Mr. Howell deter- mined to get rid of it on the best terms he could. He succeeded in selling it to Richard Corbaley, March 1, 1852. Mr. Corbaley changed the name of the paper and sent out Vol. I. No. I, of The Plymouth Banner, and also changed its politics from democrat to whig. Mr. Corbaley had no literary training, and his time being occupied with other matters he made no attempt at writing anything of a literary nature, or anything outside of the usual routine of country newspaper work.


Mr. Corbaley was clerk of the court at the time, had no practical knowl- edge of the printing business, and the work of publishing the paper was done by journeyman printers, of whom Wallace Stout was the foreman. The "rollers" always worked poorly, the type was badly worn and bruised, the tympan sheets were always out of fix, and as a matter of course when the paper made its appearance it was not the most perfect specimen of newspaper printing. All this time Mr. Corbaley was looking for a purchaser for his paper, whom he found in William J. Burns, of La Fayette, to whom he sold it July 28, 1853, having occupied the "dizzie heights of editorial greatness" about one year and three months.


Mr. Burns continued as editor and publisher one year and four months. He was an educated newspaper man, having been engaged in the business most of his life. He told what he had to say in an easy, off-hand way, and all in all published a fair local paper. In reply to an article extolling Schuyler Colfax, published in an exchange, he was moved to say, "During his whole life, Schuyler Colfax has served in one, and only one legislative body-the constitutional convention. He is simply a newspaper made article, and principally superintended the job himself." This sounds very strangely now since Mr. Colfax served six terms as a member of congress, speaker of the house of representatives, and vice-president of the United States. After Mr. Colfax retired from political life, he engaged in lecturing, and


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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.


in one of his lecturing tours in Minnesota, in hurrying to the railroad sta- tion to catch his train, died of heart failure from over-exertion.


December 4, 1854, the Banner passed into the hands of Thomas B. Thompson. Mr. Thompson was deputy sheriff at the time, and became interested in its management on political grounds. Two or three weeks later James M. Wickizer became associated with Mr. Thompson, and Wm. G. Pomeroy was announced as the editor. None of these men had any knowledge of the newspaper business, and having made a failure in its pub- lication, after owning it about four months again sold it to


William J. Burns, March 22, 1855, who continued as its editor one year and four months. On the fifteenth of November, 1855, his paper contained the following item: "The Marshall County Democrat will make its first appearance today."


July 28, 1856, Mr. Burns sold the office to John Greer, representing the republican central committee. With several others connected with him, he managed to keep the paper going until October 9, 1856, when it was sold to Ignatius Mattingly, of Harrison county. Mr. Mattingly changed the name of the paper to the


Marshall County Republican


and issued the first number as No. I, Vol. I. At the time he took editorial charge of the paper the Buchanan-Fremont presidential campaign was on in full blast, and it was not long until the Democrat and Republican were indulging in a hot political wrangle, which, however, soon passed away.


Of all those who have conducted papers in Marshall county, Ignatius Mattingly was undoubtedly the one who will the longest be remembered of the score of editors who have acted in that capacity during the past half century. He was sensible, dignified, conservative, educated, a smooth and polished writer, and an editor who had mastered the art of knowing what to leave out of his paper as well as what to put in it.


Mr. Mattingly's sons, Wm. H. H. and Moses B. Mattingly, became con- nected with the Republican as local editors during war times, as did also D. T. Phillips and John D. Devor. Mr. Mattingly left the Republican June 4, 1868. He was succeeded by D. Porter Pomeroy. John S. Bender became associated in the editorial management of the Republican August 13, 1868. April 1, 1869, Mr. Pomeroy left the paper and nothing appeared in it to show what the cause of his leaving was. Mr. Bender then became "sole proprietor," and continued its publication until July, 1869, when Charles F. Belangee and William M. Nichols purchased the office of Mr. Bender and secured the services of D. T. Phillips as associate editor. Mr. Belangee died September 10, 1869, only two months after he had become connected with the paper. The entire management of the office then fell upon Mr. Nichols. D. T. Phillips severed his editorial connection with the paper November 10, 1870, and Mr. H. L. Phillips became associated with Mr. Nichols as one of the publishers. March 21, 1871, Mr. Nichols retired from the paper, leaving H. L. Phillips in full control. He continued its publication until April 20, 1871, when the press and material reverted to John S. Bender. January 4, 1872, Mr. Bender sold the office to John Millikan, who published it until June 17, 1875, when he sold it to Jasper Packard. Mr. Packard, being a resident of La Porte and editor of the


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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.


La Porte Chronicle, placed W. W. Smith in charge, who became business manager and local editor. He severed his connection with the paper October I, 1875, upon the purchase by Mr. Packard of the Mail and Magnet, who then became manager and local editor. During a portion of Mr. Packard's editorial career, Henry D. Stevens was connected with the paper. December 28, 1876, David E. Caldwell purchased the paper and published it until February 21, 1878, when he disposed of it to J. W. Siders and Walter L. Piper, both of Illinois. Mr. Piper left the paper October 10, 1878, and was succeeded by Howard Brooke. Mr. Brooke retired in October, 1879, and was succeeded by his brother, Ed S. Brooke, who, in connection with Mr. 'Siders, continued the publication of the paper until July 18, 1890, when Mr. Siders disposed of his interest to Ed S. Brooke and William G. Hen- dricks.


In May, 1897, Ed S. Brooke sold his interest to Rollo B. Oglesbee, who, with W. G. Hendricks, continued the publication of the paper until May, 1898, when R. B. Oglesbee sold out to W. G. Hendricks, who then became sole owner. Mr. Hendricks, October 10, 1901, changed the name from the Plymouth Republican to the Plymouth Tribune, under which name it has since been published.


The first daily newspaper published in Plymouth was issued by Ed S. Brooke, from the office of the Plymouth Republican, in April, 1896. It was called The Plymouth Evening News, and was continued until the name of the weekly Republican was changed to the Plymouth Weekly Tribune, when the daily was changed to The Plymouth Daily Tribune, and as such it is issued at the present time.


The Marshall County Democrat.


The Marshall County Democrat, an eight-column folio, weekly, demo- cratic in politics, was established by Thomas McDonald and his two sons, Daniel and Platt McDonald, the `first number being issued November 15, 1855, with the senior proprietor as editor. The office was located in the building on the east half of lot 46, in the original plat of Plymouth, now owned and occupied by Dr. Ely, immediately west of the State bank build- ing. The building had formerly been occupied as a carriage house, and was built by A. L. Wheeler, who owned the lot on which it stood. The material for the office was purchased in Cincinnati, and transported in wagons from Peru, the then nearest railroad station. November 13, 1856, A. C. Thompson and Platt McDonald leased the office and published the paper, Thomas McDonald continuing as editor until November 12, 1857. Daniel McDonald became local editor February 5, 1857, and continued as such until November 12, 1857. At this date Thomas McDonald gave the office to his sons, after which the paper was published in the name of McDonald & Brother. November 26, 1857, upon retiring from the editorial chair, Thomas McDonald said: "With an entire democratic government ; with the wounds of 'Bleeding Kansas' healed and the people about to make their own government; with success everywhere of the principles we have advocated; with the worst of financial crashes past and the current of trade setting in in our favor ; with universal peace and unbounded pros- perity around us, we shall leave our patrons and readers to the care of younger heads and more ready hands, and hope their bairns' bairn may


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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.


see no check to our nation's onward movement, nor clouds overshadow the brightness around us."


McDonald & Brother ended their connection with the paper August II, 1859. William J. Burns purchased the office and, being unable to pay for it, transferred it to A. C. Thompson January 26, 1860. No paper was published from December 1, 1859, to January 26, 1860. Mr. Thompson changed the name from The Marshall County Democrat to The Plymouth Weekly Democrat, Vol. I, No. I, and said: "We make our hasty bow and consider ourselves in." April 11, 1861, he sold the office to Thomas and Platt McDonald, and in his valedictory the spirit moved him to solilo- quise as follows: "Coming events are casting their shadows before, and the country stands amazed, confounded, and paralyzed. God only knows what is in store for us; but whatever it may be, it is certainly of such a nature that it will puzzle the brain and grieve the heart of all philanthropists and patriots. May the God of our fathers save us from the horrors of civil war."


That was a remarkably correct forecasting of coming events. Fort Sumter was fired on about that time, and "the horrors of civil war" were immediately upon us. Everyone knows the death and destruction that occurred during the next five years, and the disastrous effects of the Civil war which are felt even to this day, now nearly half a century since.


April 18, 1861, the paper appeared with Thomas and Platt McDonald proprietors, Platt McDonald editor, and John McDonald local editor.


July 17, 1862, D. E. Van Valkenburgh purchased the office, and John G. Osborne became associated with the paper as editor-in-chief, the propri- etor acting as local editor. Mr. Osborne left the paper November 13, 1862, and Mr. Van Valkenburgh became editor as well as proprietor. The war excitement was still raging with unabated fury; martial law, or what was about the same thing, had been declared in Indiana; "drafting into the army" had become what was declared to be a necessary war measure, and a public man, and especially an editor who criticised in any way the acts of the military authorities, hardly knew whether his soul was his own or not. In April, 1863, Gen. Milo B. Hascall, of Goshen, had been appointed to command the "district" of Indiana, and as such commander issued what was called "Order No. 9," virtually taking away the freedom of the press and subjecting the people to military rule. As the editor of the Democrat, Mr. Van Valkenburgh gave the order the benefit of his circulation and commented on the general in the following language :


"Brig .- Gen. Hascall is a donkey-an unmitigated, unqualified donkey, and his bray is loud, long and harmless; merely offensive to the ear ; merely tends to create a temporary irritation !"


This was more than Gen. Hascall could stand, and not long afterwards he sent a squad of soldiers to Plymouth and one morning, about 4 o'clock, Mr. Van Valkenburgh was found in his sleeping apartment, arrested and taken to Indianapolis, and from thence was ordered before Gen. Burnside at Cincinnati, who after a few minutes' examination decided that the offense was not very serious, and discharged Mr. Van Valkenburgh with the admonition never to call Gen. Hascall a donkey again.


Mr. Van Valkenburgh continued as editor until October 22, 1863, when he disposed of the office to John G. Osborne, who controlled it until May


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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.


9, 1865, when he sold it to S. L. Harvey, but still remained on the paper as one of the editors. Mr. Harvey sold it to John McDonald October 31, 1867, who conducted it until July 2, 1868, when failing health compelled him to abandon the business. He sold to Michael W. Downey, A. C. Thompson and D. E. Van Valkenburgh. Mr. Van Valkenburgh took charge of the paper March 25, 1869, when Platt McDonald again purchased an interest, and the new firm kept it going until June 12, 1873, when Mr. McDonald made the following announcement :


"Our connection with the Democrat, editorially and proprietary, ceases today. Let not the suddenness with which an editorial light has been snuffed shock your nerves, dear reader, for the thing has been done before and may be done again. We go with no grumblings and few complaints, conscious of having labored with good intentions toward our fellow man, and in turn of being the recipient of kind treatment from all with whom our business has brought us in contact. We bequeath whatever of good name we have to our family ; our fortune to our creditors, and our pencil, scissors and paste-pot to our successor."


Mr. Van Valkenburgh continued to edit the paper until October 9, 1873, when he sold an interest in the office to William Geddess. Messrs. Van Valkenburgh and Geddess continued the publication until July 2, 1874, when Platt McDonald again purchased the interest of Mr. Van Valkenburgh, who then retired from the editorial chair and to private life. Mr. Geddess sold his interest to Mr. McDonald, In 1874 Mr. McDonald sold one-half interest to his brother, Daniel McDonald, June 5th. New material was added, including a cylinder press, steam boiler, and other fixtures, and on September 23, 1875, the following announcement was made:


"This issue of the Democrat is printed on a cylinder press by steam power-the first newspaper ever printed in the county with the best and latest improved machinery. Our new steam engine, manufactured expressly for us by William J. Adams, machinist, of this city, was put in position last Saturday, and on Monday the first side of the Democrat was printed. To say that we are proud of this new addition to our printing facilities is to draw it mild; in fact, all who have seen it or heard of it are proud that our city contains an establishment alike creditable to the proprietors and the people who support it. The engine is of six horsepower, neatly and honestly made, and is capable of driving as many presses as we will probably have use for for some time to come. We are not only proud of the engine as an instrument for good, but because it is a product of our city, and is unsurpassed by those manufactured elsewhere."


On the twenty-second day of February, 1876, at the solicitation of the superintendent of public instruction of Indiana, the proprietors issued a mammoth double-page edition which afterwards came to be known as "The Centennial Democrat." It contained the most complete history of the county that had been written prior to that time-in fact it is the basis on which the present history is being writen. It was illustrated with cuts of the courthouse, public school building and engine house of Plymouth ; photogravures of Thomas McDonald and Ignatius Mattingly, the first editors of the Democrat and the Republican, and a fine map of the county. A personal letter to the proprietors from the superintendent of public instruc- tion, to whom copies of all papers in the state published at that date had


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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.


been sent for exhibition at the centennial exhibtion at Philadelphia in 1876, stated that the centennial Democrat was the handsomest among them all. The paper was issued at a loss to the proprietors over receipts of about $200.


October 1, 1877, Platt McDonald sold his interest in the paper to Daniel McDonald, who became sole proprietor. The office was at once put in a complete state of repairs, and a grand reception given on November 28th. The following copy of the invitation circular will give an idea of the char- acter of the reception :


Grand Reception.


" The Plymouth Democrat Steam Printing Establishment will be thrown open to the public on Wednesday evening, November 28, 1877, from 7 to 9 o'clock p. m. The steam cylinder press, capable of making thirty impressions per minute, will be in opera- tion. Papers will be folded and mailed as they come from the press, showing the manner of pasting the printed mailing slips on the papers by machinery. In the composing room the job press will be in operation, and compositors will be setting and distributing type, etc. Everything pertaining to the mechanical department of the office will be fully shown and explained. The office throughout, from the editorial room to the press room below, has been thoroughly painted, renovated and repaired. It is supplied with over 150 fonts of type, and is provided with everything else to make it a first-class printing office in every respect."


The reception was a grand success. The issue of the Democrat the day after contained the following in regard to it :


"Notwithstanding the snow and wind storm that prevailed during the evening, fully 1,000 people honored the invitation extended to take a bird'seye view of the Democrat Steam Printing Establishment in full operation. About 1,700 copies of the Restitution, a religious paper issued from this office, were printed on our steam cylinder press, and were all folded and mailed between 7 and 9:30 p. m. Arthur Underwood, the foreman of the composing and press rooms, printed a circular in five different colors at one impression, keeping the little jobber busy during the evening. The job was perfectly executed, and the operation gave delight to all who witnessed it. All the employes were busy doing their work faithfully and well, and every- thing connected with the office was explained as fully as could be done under the circumstances. We believe all went away satisfied with their visit."


About January 1, 1879, the office was bargained to H. A. Peed, who published the paper a short time, but failing to pay for it, it was not trans- ferred to him. About 1883 an interest in the office was transferred to Louis McDonald, son of the proprietor, who became business manager and assistant editor, and the management of the paper was continued as such until March 20, 1902, when the paper was sold to Hon. Clay W. Metsker, proprietor of the Plymouth Independent, who, since that time has published both papers, the Democrat as a weekly and the Independent as a daily. Upon the sale of the Democrat to Mr. Metsker, Daniel McDonald, after nearly thirty years continuous service as editor, retired to private life, and his son, Louis Mc- Donald, to other pursuits in Chicago.




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