USA > Maine > Sagadahoc County > Bath > History of Bath and environs, Sagadahoc County, Maine. 1607-1894 > Part 39
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Major Shorey has recently published a handsome volume, "The Story of the Maine Fifteenth," which has elicited highly compli- mentary notices from the Maine press.
He has been a resident of Bridgton since 1870. He married Ida D. Currier, at Bath, in 1864, and has five children living, the eldest being A. C. Shorey, recently managing editor of The Times.
William Henry Morse was a member of the Morse family who came from England at an early day and settled in Phipsburg, branches of which are closely identified with the history of Bath families. He obtained a good public-school education, was engaged in salmon trade, had a store, engaged in ship-building, and was selectman of Phipsburg, his native place. Going to California dur- ing the prevalence of the "gold fever," he lost his life heroically by entering upon a hazardous rescue of some men from a watery grave, resulting in a lung attack that ended his life while in the prime of his manhood. He married Eliza Hannah, daughter of Col. Andrew Reed, and they had a family of which Charles Carroll, mentioned elsewhere in this volume, and William Reed Morse are living. The latter resides at Clarks, Neb., where he has been in trade and banking, and has been postmaster and state senator. He married Mary Emma Thomas, and they have one son and four daughters living.
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HISTORY OF BATH.
BATH'S NEWSPAPERS.
To adequately cover the important subject allotted to this article would require much more space than the limits of this work will permit ; hence the writer must content himself with the merest out- line sketch of a fraternity of industrious workers, who, in the aggregate, have probably contributed as much to the city's moral and industrial upbuilding as any other profession; and, it is no doubt also true, that, as a whole, they have been quite as inadequately compensated.
It is an interesting historical coincidence that Bath's first venture upon the journalistic sea was in the identical year (1820) when Maine assumed the dignities and responsibilities of State-hood, and in which the city was honored in the election of one of its citizens as the new state's first chief magistrate. Since then Bath has never been without a paper. The local history of the ship-build- ing city to be found in the files of our newspapers, so far as they are complete, covers a period of nearly three-quarters of a century; and these furnish very valuable, and well-nigh indispensable, data for the historian of to-day.
The newspaper of fifty years ago was strikingly dissimilar to the enterprising and "hustling " journals of a later period. Then, to a much greater extent than now, they were called into being to serve the purposes of political parties and aspiring politicians; and the news of the day, local or general, and literary and miscellaneous matter were made secondary to the exigencies of the political situa- tion. They were almost uniformly weekly issues, printed upon hand-presses of ancient device, with very imperfect facilities for ink- distribution and application to the "forms," and were generally of limited circulation. The long-drawn-out political essay, or editorial "leader," with political or philosophical "correspondence," some " alleged poetry " and miscellaneous selections, a lengthy digest of "foreign news" of very ancient flavor, with abstracts of congres-
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John J. Partew
AKTOTYPE, E. BIERSTADT, N. Y
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sional and legislative reports, constituted the "matter," with the marine report, a few dull and unattractive advertisements, and the inevitable "deaths " and "marriages," as essential incidentals. A murder or a suicide or a destructive conflagration were about the only matters deemed worthy of local mention; and in those days to have chronicled the merry-makings and social festivities of the peo- ple, to have made a record of their comings and goings, or to have spoken kindly of any enterprise in which the business men were engaged, would have been regarded as infinitely unwise, if not person- ally offensive to the subject of such comment. It was not until many years later that the newspaper-man made the important dis- covery that the shortest road to the average newspaper reader's heart and purse was in the pleasant mentioning of the aforesaid patron's name in print; and by a singular coincidence, the record shows that it was at about that period that newspapers and news- paper readers began "to multiply and to cover the earth." The newspaper as an educator and a leader of public sentiment retired from business in some measure; and gradually its scope was rather conceded to be that of furnishing the people with the news, con- tributing to their entertainment, and catering to their vanities.
The pioneer Bath newspaper, The Maine Gazette, came at a period of comparative quiet in national politics, and at its inception took little part therein. It was during the Monroe administration, when there was little or no political excitement. It concerned itself more with matters of local and state politics incident to the formative period of "the State of the Pine Tree." Joseph G. Torrey was the chief man of the establishment, Mr. Simpson continuing with him only one year. Torrey, however, continued his labors for something like a dozen years. He had a clear field until the political pot com- menced to "sizzle" in the national field, when the paper was four years old. Then it vigorously advocated the cause of John Quincy Adams, and the supporters of William H. Crawford rebelled. They summoned, from the office of the Portland Argus, a practical printer, Thomas Eaton by name, and launched a rival paper, The Maine Inquirer. It run for nearly eight years. Meanwhile the old Gazette continued its course. It was subsidized by the national adminis-
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tration, being the recognized organ for publishing the Public Laws, while Adams was President, and Henry Clay Secretary of State. The rival paper gave its adhesion to the cause of Andrew Jackson, and was rigidly Democratic.
Mr. Eaton had for endorsers, such names as William King, Peleg Tallman, Peter H. Green, James McLellan, Joseph Sewall, Henry Tallman, and Nathaniel Groton. The Gazette contributors were William Thorndike, Benjamin Randall, and Joseph F. Wingate. The two papers thus continued to "dwell together," if not in brotherly unity. In 1832, a Mr. Harris came from Haverhill, Mass., and bought The Inquirer of Mr. Eaton, run it about one year, and he in turn gave way to J. S. Swift. Mr. Eaton was appointed post- master of Bath, serving from 1833 to 1850.
In 1832, under the Jackson administration, the two papers were merged in one, The Gazette and Inquirer. The publishers, suc- cessively, were Harris, Hamlet Bates, J. S. Swift. Elisha Clarke bought in 1836, changed the name to Lincoln Telegraph, greatly improved the paper and increased the business, and, occupying the entire Bath field for a greater portion of his term, placed the estab- lishment upon a satisfactory financial basis. In 1846, after ten years' service, Mr. Clarke sold to Messrs. Chamberlain, Haines & Plum- mer, and retired upon his laurels.
But, during these years, national politics were becoming very interesting, and the local politicians of the Democratic persuasion began to tire of the diet furnished them from the Whig tables. Since 1842, when The Maine Inquirer had thrown up the sponge, Bath Democrats had been without a paper, and the exciting national cam- paign of two years before - "Tippecanoe and Tyler too"-had stirred them up to renewed activity in this direction. So, in the spring of 1842, John J. Ramsay launched The Maine Enquirer as the Democratic organ. It run four years with fair success and was con- ducted with considerable ability. It supported James K. Polk; while The Telegraph valiantly fought for Henry Clay. Along in 1846, when the Mexican War fever was most intense, John T. Gilman became associated with Mr. Ramsay. Soon after Gilman came in Ramsay went out. The name of the paper was changed to
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HISTORY OF BATH.
Eastern Times, and, a year later, Gilman sold to Joseph F. Huston, an ex-professor of mathematics in the U. S. Navy. Three years later, 1850, an industrious, frugal, and enterprising printer came from Boston and purchased The Times, and added much to its value and influence. This was George E. Newman, still a resident of the city, and one of the very few survivors of the old-time fraternity of Bath newspaper publishers. Mr. Newman continued at the helm until about 1856, when he had the good sense to accept a tempting cash offer "to sell out" and to invest the proceeds in bank stock.
So, as will be seen, when Messrs. Chamberlain, Haines & Plum- mer essayed to give renewed life and energy to the old-time Whig organ, under the name of The Northern Tribune, they found a some- what formidable rival in the field, flying the Democratic ensign from its mast-head. But they made expensive and valuable improvements in their plant and entered upon their work with zeal and commend- able enthusiasm. In 1845, during the campaign in which Gen. Zach. Taylor was the Whig candidate for President, The Tribune issued a daily edition, The Daily Northern Tribune, which was Bath's first venture in the way of a daily newspaper. But the experiment proved unremunerative and was soon abandoned. In 1849 Haines retired from the firm and was soon followed by Chamberlain. Mr. Plummer was the sole survivor, but he had the good fortune to secure, as partner, an accomplished practical printer from abroad - Mr. George Ross-the firm then being Plummer & Ross. Soon Mr. Plummer sold to Benjamin H. Meder, of Brunswick. It was under the proprietorship of Meder & Ross that The Tri- Weekly Northern Tribune appeared in the place of the daily edition, the weekly being also continued. Soon Meder retired, leaving Ross as the sole proprietor. All these changes occurred prior to 1852.
But we have now reached the Franklin Pierce era in American politics. Two weeklies, rivals in politics, and one tri-weekly, did not appear to satisfy the Bath appetite for political newspapers. Like Oliver Twist it cried for "more "; and so, in 1852 or 1853, Rufus R. Haines and Hiram L. Wing put a new paper upon the field, The Mirror, weekly at first and afterwards daily and weekly. With a population of 8,020 Bath was then supplied with three week-
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HISTORY OF BATH.
lies, one tri-weekly, and one daily. The Tribune establishment was in the rooms over the D. T. Percy & Sons' crockery store ; The Mirror across the way, where are now the billiard-rooms; while The Eastern Times occupied a lofty perch in the third story of the brick block, corner Front and Arch streets. The Times was Democratic ; both The Tribune and The Mirror Whig, the latter with decided Free- soil proclivities. In its short career The Mirror had on its force of publishers, H. L. Whiting, Edwin Sprague, and Charles Cobb, in addition to its two founders. But The Mirror's career was brief though brilliant. In the spring of 1855 both Haines, of The Mirror, and Ross, of The Tribune, disposed of their respective interests in the two papers, to George A. Kimball and Charles Cobb. Their proprietorship continued just three months. In this short space of time they appear to have made the discovery that the newspaper field was over-crowded, and effected a consolidation. The Mirror and The Tri- Weekly Tribune were dropped out entirely, and The Tribune name retained for both the daily and weekly editions. In the fall of that year, 1855, The Tribune establishment passed into the possession of a wealthy syndicate of influential Bath citizens, old-line Whigs, whose rich and rare experience as newspaper pub- lishers will be long remembered, at least by the stockholders.
But there is still another newspaper enterprise of this period to go upon the record-the coming to Bath, and its establishment as a distinctive Bath institution, of The American Sentinel. Established at Damariscotta in the interest of the "American " or " Know Noth- ing " party, and having there a somewhat limited field, zealous adherents of that political "upheaval" interested themselves in bringing the paper to Bath. A well-known Bath printer - Joseph M. Hayes-was in charge of the mechanical department of the Damariscotta establishment, and had much to do with its coming to Bath. At all events, in the fall of 1854, at that "supreme moment" when patriotic men and political parties were placing themselves in line for the impending battle between the hosts of Freedom and the votaries of Slavery, a self-appointed syndicate of Bath "Free- Soilers " made a raid upon Damariscotta, and, in a very limited space of time, had purchased the establishment, placed the materials
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HISTORY OF BATH.
"upon wheels," and moved it to Bath. It first found refuge in a Centre street livery stable, and here a large edition of the paper was " worked off" and circulated broadcast among the enthusiastic "Native Americans." The episode created considerable of a sensa- tion in the local political world. After a few issues James M. - Lincoln was installed as editor and proprietor, the quarters vacated by The Mirror secured, and the regular publication of The Sentinel continued, with a large and constantly increasing constituency.
The year 1855, therefore, found Bath thus supplied with news- papers : The Tribune, the Whig organ, daily and weekly ; The Times, the organ of the Democracy ; The American Sentinel, the champion of the element which afterwards organized the present Republican party. "The Tribune Association," elaborately equipped with the most glit- tering array of talent ever employed upon a Bath newspaper, issued its first papers in September, 1855. They had made large invest- ments; had employed an able and thoroughly trained editorial writer in the person of Albert G. Tenney ; had installed, with liberal salaries, expert workmen in all the various departments; and, indeed, had given to Bath a newspaper and job printing establishment such as could only be supported in the larger cities, as they learned from sad experience. A year later another syndicate of Bath politicians, representing the Breckenridge wing of the Democratic party, had come into possession of The Times; while the make-up of the new comer, The Sentinel, has already been mentioned. During the politi_ cal campaign of 1856 The Sentinel issued a campaign daily, which was ably conducted, and had considerable influence in shaping results in the local field. After the presidential election of 1856 and the election of James Buchanan, the syndicates speedily dissolved. "The Tribune Association " suffered considerable loss, the stockholders being assessed one hundred per cent. In 1857 they sold, at a very great sacrifice, to Elisha Clarke and Elbridge Roberts. At about the same time The Times syndicate also sold to Clarke & Roberts ; and the papers of the two concerns were merged, under the name of The Northern Tribune and Eastern Times. The political flavor was Democratic and supported the Buchanan administration. This was not satisfactory to the admirers of Stephen A. Douglass, and to fur-
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HISTORY OF BATH.
nish them a mouth-piece, John T. Gilman established, September, 1857, a bright and sparkling weekly, called " The People's Organ," and for a season the warfare between the rival editors-Clarke of The Tribune and Times, Lincoln of The Sentinel, and Gilman of The Organ-was animated and spicy. In a few months, however, Clarke sold his interest in The Tribune and Times to Gilman, who consoli- dated the two establishments, continuing the name given to the papers by Clarke & Roberts; Roberts remained as business man- ager, with Gilman as editor. This alignment continued through the momentous political campaign of 1860 and after the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln. Then all political subdivisions were swallowed up in the patriotic purpose to protect and defend the government and to strengthen the hands of the lawfully elected chief magistrate. There was no place for an "anti-war" newspaper in Bath! In 1862 Mr. Gilman received a call to the Portland Daily Press as its first editor, The Tribune and Times establishment was sold to James M. Lincoln, The Sentinel establishment was transferred across the way, and, as "the survival of the fittest," Mr. Lincoln found him- self in undisputed possession of Bath's entire newspaper field. He named his weekly and daily issues, "The American Sentinel," and "Daily Sentinel and Times," thus preserving for the weekly the name under which it was established in 1854 and which it retained until the summer of 1893, a period of nearly forty years.
The Sentinel and Times held the Bath field, as distinctive Bath newspapers, for many years. For about four years, and during the war period, Mr. Lincoln was sole proprietor and editor, as he. had been of his paper prior to the consolidation, for eight years previous. A faithful, conscientious worker, wholly absorbed in his profession, and ever striving for still higher attainments, he sacrificed himself as a victim of over-work, "dying in the harness," August, 1866, sin- cerely mourned by the entire community. The property fell to the hands of the widow, who, the same year (December, 1866), sold the establishment to Elijah Upton and Maj. Henry A. Shorey. Mr. Upton had long been connected with the Bath press as an editorial writer and had occupied official position in the county for years; while Major Shorey, fresh from a long and creditable period of army
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HISTORY OF BATH.
service, resumed the vocation he but temporarily laid aside at the out- break of the war. He had entered a Bath printing-office at the age of 14 and followed the fortunes of Mr. Newman's Eastern Times until its consolidation under Gilman & Roberts in 1862. Messrs. Upton & Shorey made no essential change in the paper, following closely the lines pursued by Editor Lincoln, and, like him, contending earnestly for the ascendancy of Republican principles, and, incident- ally, for temperance and the impartial enforcement of our prohibi- tory laws. Their proprietorship continued three years and was reasonably successful financially. A favorable opportunity present- ing itself, in 1869, they sold the establishment to W. E. Whitman, then well known as "Toby Candor," of the Boston Journal. Mr. Whitman gave to the paper a new dress of type, changed the daily from a morning to an evening paper, and for thirteen months gave to the city very much more of a paper than it cared to pay for. His bank account sustained some shrinkage in consequence, and, in 1870, the establishment was purchased by Elijah Upton.
The Sentinel and Times continued to thrive under Editor Upton's proprietorship, and was published in the Upton family name for about eighteen years. The firm name, after a few years, was E. Upton & Son, the junior member being Mr. Joshua F. Upton, who had learned his trade in the office and ably assisted his father in the business and mechanical department. The elder Upton died in 1886, and from that period until 1888 the junior had entire charge of the establishment, the ownership being vested one-third in the active member of the firm and the remainder in the widow of the deceased.
For a brief period, in 1869, Maj. H. A. Shorey published a tem- perance paper, circulating in the state at large, under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of Good Templars, of which he was secretary. It was called The Maine Temperance Advocate. It supported the Hichborn "bolt" against Governor Chamberlain's fourth nomination as a candidate for Governor; but, upon the nomination of Sidney Perham by the Republicans, the next year, and the adoption of a prohibitory plank satisfactory to the temperance people of the state, the publication of The Advocate was discontinued.
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HISTORY OF BATH.
During the Upton administration the Bath newspaper field was again invaded by rivals. The Times had held undisputed sway since 1862, when Fen. G. Barker, a graduate of The Times office, estab- lished a sprightly weekly as a Greenback organ. The material was owned by active Bath Democrats. The venture proving unremuner- ative, its publication was suspended and the material lay dormant for some time. Charles D. Clarke established The Bath Independent -" The Little Green 'Un" as it was facetiously termed. It was a "local hustler," struck right and left, regardless of consequences, and soon built up a large constituency. It was printed in Rockland. When Mr. Clarke retired, in 1892, he sold the paper to Mr. E. C. Plummer, at that time the city editor of The Times.
On the first day of January, 1889, the Sentinel and Times estab- lishment was purchased by Messrs. H. A. Shorey, of Bridgton, his son, Albert C. Shorey, a recent Bowdoin graduate, and W. S. Shorey, a well-known Bath book-binder and blank-book manufacturer. Major Shorey, for a few months, took editorial control, and under his personal supervision the establishment was entirely reconstructed and the paper enlarged and greatly improved in general appearance and journalistic influence. The old rooms so long occupied by The Tribune and its successors were vacated and the establishment removed to capacious quarters across the way, the counting-room and press-room occupying the first floor. The terms of subscription for the daily were reduced from seven to five dollars per annum, at the same time that the paper was considerably enlarged. The pub- lishers forined a corporation known as the "Sentinel and Times Publishing Co." The circulation of the daily was soon doubled and the patronage bestowed upon the new publishers indicated that their pluck and enterprise were appreciated. At the end of the first six months of the new regime, Mr. Albert C. Shorey was installed as managing editor, which position he continued most acceptably to fill for three and a half years. W. S. Shorey was the treasurer and business manager, and also superintendent of the book-binding establishment. It is generally conceded in Bath, that Mr. A. C. Shorey's editorial connection with the Bath press was infinitely creditable to him. Though a young man, and of limited experience,
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he gave to Bath a clean, able, sprightly paper, and, although un- swervingly of the Republican flavor, all parties and individuals were accorded a fair hearing and treated with uniform courtesy. In fact, the Shoreys gave to Bath a much better paper than the field probably warranted. But they did a satisfactory business, and despite the large expenditures incident to the improvements introduced, their venture proved a success financially. After four years' experience they yielded to a tempting offer from Mr. John O. Patten, and sold the establishment to that gentleman, January 1, 1893.
Again, during the latter part of 1889, Mr. Joshua F. Upton estab- lished a paper, semi-weekly, entitled " The Bath Enterprise." Mr. Upton has built up a large local and suburban circulation, and has established a paper which is bright and readable, and no doubt fairly remunerative. This gave Bath, in 1889, one daily, one semi- weekly, and two weekly newspapers.
The dawn of 1893 found the old Times establishment in the pos- session of Mr. John O. Patten, a Bath-born boy, who was especially well-equipped in the fact of his having an ample private fortune at his command. He was financially able "to run a daily newspaper," and in that respect differed from either of his numerous predecessors. He is making a very lively newspaper, well-edited, thoroughly inde- pendent, and has largely increased the circulation of the daily. In April, 1893, he bought, of Mr. Plummer, The Independent property, dropped American Sentinel, which had stood as the name of the Sagadahoc weekly for forty years, and gave it the name of The Bath Independent, with which is consolidated The American Sentinel. Mr. Charles D. Clarke edits the weekly. At this writing, therefore, the Bath newspapers comprise The Bath Daily Times, The Bath Inde- pendent (its weely edition), and The Bath Enterprise.
For a few months, in 1853, J. S. Swift issued a daily and weekly called The Sagadahoc Review, and in 1837, Mr. James Nelson run, for about a year, a paper called The Telescope. Then the Bath High School boys have for some years issued an ably conducted school paper, called The Phi-Rhonian. The Y. M. C. A. Magnet, commenced in 1892, is also worthy of mention.
As a general rule, the Bath newspaper men have not been able to
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employ "managing editors," or editorial writers. This work they have performed themselves. But, in addition, there have at times been some able writers on the Bath press.
Following is a complete list of the newspapers and newspaper publishers of Bath, with the dates of the origin of the papers and the adoption of the name under which they are more familiarly known :
THE MAINE GAZETTE. Established 1820. Joseph G. Torrey and Mr. Simpson; Torrey sole pub- lisher 1821 to 1832. Whig.
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