A History of Northern Michigan and Its People, Volume I, Part 19

Author: Perry F. Powers
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 597


USA > Michigan > A History of Northern Michigan and Its People, Volume I > Part 19


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57


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President Johnson's administration was followed by his removal. On the accession of General Grant to the presidency he was re-appointed and continued to hold the office until his death. He was four times elected treasurer of Grand Traverse county, and would no doubt, have been again the choice of the people had he not declined the honor. In the fall of 1868 he was elected lieutenant governor on the Republican ticket, the office coming to him unsolicited as a worthy tribute to his character and services.


Mr. Bates was twice married. His first wife died in 1855; the sec- ond preceded him to the grave by a little more than a year. His own death occurred March 2, 1874, at the age of sixty-eight.


In December, 1867, less than five years before his death, Mr. Bates had sold the Herald to De Witt C. Leach, a man of wide public reputa- tion and strong character. In 1849 he had served as a member of the state legislature from Genesee county; in 1850 as a representative in the Michigan constitutional convention and for several years after- ward as state librarian. In the fall of 1856 he was elected to congress from the Fourth district which then embraced the northern portion of the Lower peninsula and all of the Upper and was reelected in 1858. In recognition of his splendid services for Unionism and his fine, stal- wart character, President Lincoln appointed him United States Indian agent for Michigan in March, 1861, in which position he served four years, moving from Lansing to Traverse City in the fall of 1865. In 1867 Mr. Leach was elected a member of the constitutional convention which met at Lansing, and shortly afterward purchased the Herald of Mr. Bates, conducting its publication for nine years. In 1876 he sold the Herald to Thomas T. Bates, who, by various purchases and consoli- dations, has since come into virtual control of the press of Traverse City, and is one of the best known and most influential journalists in Northern Michigan. His biography will be found elsewhere.


The Herald and Record Company was incorporated in 1904, its present officers being Thomas T. Bates, president; George G. Bates, vice president; J. W. Hannen, secretary; and Clara N. Bates, treas- urer. In 1910 this company secured control of the Eagle-Press, which had been incorporated in 1897, with M. G. Sprague as president, as well as the Fife Lake Monitor and Kingsley Echo, thus absorbing the second oldest newspaper established in the Northern Michigan covered by this work.


The Traverse Bay Eagle was the second newspaper published in the Lower Peninsula north of Big Rapids, Antrim county, the last of March, 1864, by E. L. Sprague, under the name of the Elk Rapids Eagle. It first appeared as a very small folio sheet, the size being only fifteen by nineteen inches. At the end of the first year James Spencer became part owner and publisher, and the paper was enlarged to twenty by twenty-six inches. On January 1, 1866, the name was changed to Traverse Bay Eagle and the paper was enlarged to twenty- two by thirty-two inches. In the spring of 1866 a power press was purchased, the first in the Grand Traverse region, and in the fall of the same year the paper was moved to Traverse City, and Lyman C.


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Wilcox was admitted as a partner, the firm being Sprague, Spencer & Wilcox. The paper was at this time enlarged to an eight-column folio. One year later Mr. Wilcox retired, Sprague & Spencer purchasing his interest. At the same time, a steam engine and boiler were purchased, to drive the press. Previous to this, however, at the time Mr. Wilcox became a partner a job press was added to the office, the first ever brought into this region. In 1872 Mr. Spencer's health failed, and the management of the office devolved entirely upon Mr. Sprague. The first of January, 1880, the paper was again enlarged to a nine column folio. In July, 1882, Mr. Spencer sold his interest to Mr. Sprague, the original owner and publisher.


These are the main facts in connection with the establishment of the Traverse Bay Eagle, whose daily edition was first issued in 1893. As stated the Eagle-Press was organized in 1897, and the Morning Record established the same year, the latter being changed to an evening edition four years afterwards.


Outside of Traverse City are published the Monitor, at Fife Lake, and the Echo, at Kingsley. On the whole Fife Lake has not been a fertile field for the growth of newspapers. In 1881 the Fife Lake Eye was started and succumbed in the following year. About the time of its decease E. B. Dennis commenced to issue the Fife Lake Comet, but its course was spent by March, 1884.


The Fife Lake Monitor was established in 1891 by Bert Hough. J. M. Terwilliger purchased it in 1893, selling the paper to W. A. Kent in 1902. Mr. Kent discontinued the Monitor in 1910, selling its subscrip- tion list to the Traverse City Herald.


MANISTEE A CLOSE SECOND


Manistee closely followed Traverse City as a newspaper town with a substantial future. The first newspaper in the county, the Manistee Gazette, appeared at the county seat December 17, 1864, and from that date until January, 1868, was published by Robert R. Rice. This pioneer in the journalistic field was established through the influence and active aid of Judge T. J. Ramsdell; was a small sheet devoted chiefly to local matters and was Republican. In 1868 Mr. Rice's fail- ing health forced him to relinquish its publication and sell his property to Hon. S. W. Fowler, then of Jackson. The new proprietor enlarged the paper and changed its name to Manistee Times. The village had then between two and three thousand inhabitants.


The first power press in the county was brought to Manistee in the summer of 1868 and placed in the office of the Manistee Times, which thereupon developed into a five-volumn quarto. Hon. E. L. Sprague, the veteran editor of the Traverse Bay Eagle, helped to place "the monster press," as it was then called, in position, and by his superior knowledge of the business proved a true friend of the Times.


The Manistee Tribune commenced its publication in 1869, edited by Geo. W. Clayton of Ludington for a time; afterward by John E. Rastell who continued it for two years. R. Hoffman also published a paper from 1871 to 1875 called Manistee Times; passing into the hands


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of App. M. Smith, it continued thus until 1881, when it was purchased by H. S. Hilton, enlarged and in 1886 consolidated with Manistee Sen- tinel, joint proprietors.


In 1875 the Manistee Standard, published by O. H. Godwin was bought by Colonel Fowler and merged with his paper into the Times and Standard. Ten years later this was sold to James Madison, who, in partnership with App. M. Smith, published it for a year under the name of Manistee-Sentinel, afterward Times-Sentinel.


In 1874 a small paper called the People's Advocate was issued for a brief period; a Democratic paper called also the Advocate, was pub- lished by E. J. Cady till 1881, when it changed proprietors, V. W. Richardson of Milwaukee taking charge for three years when J. P. O'Malley became its owner and later S. C. Thompson as joint proprie- tor and name changed to Manistee Democrat.


Early in the year 1894 twenty-five prominent business men of the Salt City, realizing that a daily newspaper was a necessity to the growth of the city, organized the News Publishing Company, which was in- corporated with a capital stock of $15,000 for the purpose of publish- ing a non-partisan daily and carrying on a general job printing business. The first board of directors were Edward Buckley, president; E. E. Douville, vice president; Geo. A. Hart, secretary; Robert R. Blacker, treasurer; H. W. Carey and A. J. Dovel. The plant of the Manistee Weekly Times-Sentinel was purchased by the News Company and a month later the Daily Democrat was absorbed.


The first daily newspaper that saw the light in Manistee was pub- lished during the noted Vanderpool trial in February, 1870, in the office of the Manistee Times, and gave the daily court proceedings in that famous case. Its publication continued for two weeks and the history as published was from the pen of the lawyer-editor, Colonel Fowler, with Mrs. Fowler as assistant and proof-reader.


Clarence W. Lee, city editor of the Traverse Bay Eagle, a thorough Ohio newspaper man who had assisted Mr. Sprague in the establish- ment of that paper, became managing editor of the Manistee Daily News at its founding in 1894, and continued to guide it, in that capac- ity until May, 1899, when Herbert Harley, still president of the News Publishing Company, succeeded him. In March, 1901, the office of publication was moved from the Fowler to the Engelmann block, and in 1907 Mr. Harley erected the building with special view to accommo- date the News and its semi-weekly edition, the Manistee Times. Upon taking possession of the new building, the News installed the first lino- type machine at Manistee; also the first press in the county to print from roll paper.


It was back in 1883 that the precursor of the Manistee Advocate had its beginning. In 1874 the first paper to bear the name of Advo- cate was issued under the title of the People's Advocate, suspending after a brief period. In 1878 it was revived by E. J. Cady, and in 1881 passed into the hands of V. M. Richardson. In 1884 J. P. O'Mal- ley and S. C. Thompson secured control, branching out into the Man- istee Democrat, which was later run separately and finally suspended in 1901. In 1883 the Labor Advocate came into the field, changing its Vol. 1-10


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name later to the Manistee Advocate, having since been issued contin- uously as a weekly paper until the present time. It was by a slow process that the paper was developed from its humble beginning into its present form. In October. 1892, James S. Madison, the present proprietor, purchased a half interest in the plant. Six months later, in March, 1893, he bought the remaining interest of John P. O'Malley, and has conducted the business independently since. Acting upon his own initiative, in April, 1895, Mr. Madison launched a daily edi- tion in addition to the weekly publication of the Advocate.


MASON COUNTY


Mason county has always been considered a good field for news- paper publications, both as a profession and a business, and the institu- tion was initiated about the time that Pere Marquette (Ludington) was born as a village. On September 17, 1867, the Record was estab- lished by George W. Clayton and the Appeal was founded by Messrs. Cole, father and son, June 27, 1873, shortly before the village of Pere Marquette became Ludington. Hopkins & Darr succeeded Mr. Clay- ton in the conduct of the Record, which was combined with the Appeal in 1903. Charles T. Sawyer, who had been identified with the business since 1899, purchased the interests, successively, of Messrs. Hopkins, and Darr, and April 1, 1911, purchased the News, which had been founded by W. Scott Luce as a daily in 1901. Mr. Luce had also es- tablished the Illustrated Saturday Sun, in 1907, which was also ab- sorbed by the new management, under the style of Record Company.


Besides the publications owned by the Record Company, of which Mr. Sawyer is president, the only newspaper in Ludington is the weekly Republican journal, the Chronicle, founded in 1901 and con- ducted by E. O. McLean.


Iosco COUNTY


The Iosco County Gazette was started at Tawas City in 1868, by James O. and C. H. Whittemore. In September, 1869, Charles S. Hil- bourn purchased the office and published the paper until October, 1873, when H. E. Hoard assumed control and continued the business until February, 1881, when he sold it to the present proprietor, Charles R. Jackson, who removed the office to the village of East Tawas. Mr. Jackson is a native of Shiawassee county, Michigan, where he learned the printer's trade. In January, 1877, he came to Tawas City, and was with Mr. Hoard in the Gazette office until he made the purchase. Mr. Jackson is an able journalist and a wide-awake citizen. For fur- ther particulars, of a more personal nature, the reader is referred to Mr. Jackson's biography published elsewhere.


Although Oscoda had a newspaper as early as 1877, the real pre- decessor to the existing Oscoda-AuSable Press was established in 1896. Will McGillivray, its editor and postmaster of Oscoda, is a bright, plucky young journalist, who has done much to maintain the courage of the community so stricken by the terrible fire of 1911.


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The Tawas Herald, of Tawas City, was founded in 1883, and is now conducted by Len J. Patterson.


CHARLEVOIX COUNTY


Charlevoix county is in the pioneer journalistic territory of North- ern Michigan, and in the person of the venerable Willard A. Smith, of the Sentinel, has the distinction of still maintaining one of the hon- ored fathers of the profession. He is, in fact, the veteran journalist of that section of the state, having been in harness, as a sturdy worker and thinker, for more than forty-two years. A sketch of his life and his long and honorable career as a newspaper man is published elsewhere in this work.


The Charlevoix Sentinel itself has been an important factor in the general development and progress of Charlevoix county and Northern Michigan. In 1869 the county of Charlevoix was organized. At that time DeWitt C. Leach was publishing the Grand Traverse Herald and Willard A. Smith was a compositor in the office of the Grand Traverse Eagle. Mr. Leach desired to establish a newspaper in the new county and selected young Smith as the proper person to come to Charlevoix and manage the enterprise. A satisfactory arrangement was effected and Smith took such material as he thought necessary from the Herald office and it was transported to the new field of journalism. An office was set up in the Althouse building, near the Fountain City House, and Saturday, April 24, 1869, the first number of the Charlevoix Sen- tinel was issued for DeWitt C. Leach by Willard A. Smith, with Major E. H. Green as editor. Its field was wide, for north of Traverse City there was no competition. Charlevoix village was scarcely a prophecy and even if every white family in that territory had each paid for one copy during the year, the publisher would not have grown rapidly rich.


Turning back the issues of fifteen years to the early numbers we find a well printed and well edited local newspaper. Public questions are there discussed with candor and ability, and the make-up of the paper displays the work of a printer skilled in his craft. The paper was a five-column folio and was printed on a Washington hand press. Thus the business of the village was fairly presented at that time. During the second year the office was removed to a building at the corner of Clinton and Bridge streets. On March 12, 1870, Mr. Leach sold the establishment to Willard A. Smith. Mr. Green continued editor until February 11, 1871, when he retired from a position which he had very ably filled and Mr. Smith became sole editor and proprie- tor, as at present. In 1874 the paper was changed to a six-column folio, afterward to a five-column quarto, and in 1881 to a six-column quarto. In 1871 Mr. Smith built an office on Main street. Subsequently that building was moved to Bridge street and occupied a time, when it was again moved and the present Sentinel building erected upon its site. Mr. Smith continued sole proprietor until August, 1883, when he sold


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a half interest to Ed. F. Parmelee, and the firm became Smith & Par- melee. At that time the paper was increased to a seven-column quarto. Mr. Smith afterward purchased Mr. Parmelee's interest.


When first established the Sentinel was the official paper of seven counties, including two of the Upper Peninsula. Since that time its field has narrowed, as population multiplied upon this inviting domain, but it has ever maintained a high standard of independence and its influence has been continuous, strong and elevating.


The Charlevoix Journal was established by Charles J. Strang, and the first number was issued in June, 1883. The paper is a five-column quarto, is Democratic in politics and is conducted with evident ability.


Charles J. Strang, founder of the Journal, was a son of the late James J. Strang, leader of the Michigan Mormons. He was born at St. James, Beaver Island, Michigan, April 6, 1851, and after the death of his father in 1856 he moved to Walworth county, Wisconsin, and three years later to Jackson county. In February, 1860, he located in Eaton county, Michigan. He was educated in the district schools of the county, and in March, 1868, entered the office of the Eaton Rap- ids Journal as an apprentice, where he worked one year. Subsequently he worked at Bay City, Michigan, three years, in western states one year, at Charlotte, Michigan, two years, and at Lansing eight years. In June, 1883, he located at Charlevoix and established the Journal as above stated.


The present editor and proprietor is C. E. Ramsey. A daily edi- tion, Evening Journal, was established in 1909.


Other long-established papers in Charlevoix county are the Citizen and Journal, of Boyne City, founded respectively in 1881 and 1883. The Standard, deceased, was first issued from that city by William Mears, March 11, 1881. At the beginning of the third volume the name was changed to the Statesman. Rev. T. J. Hill and P. A. Badour were editors of the Standard and the Statesman. The Boyne City Times was established in fall of 1911 and is edited by W. H. Grif- fin.


In the spring of 1882 East Jordan had become of sufficient import- ance to induce the establishment of a local newspaper. The Boyne City Enterprise had been started at Boyne in September, 1880, by Budd & Garrison, and on April 7, 1882, it was moved to East Jordan by E. N. Clink, who conducted it alone until April 14, 1883, when W. F. Palmiter purchased a half interest in the office. On October 11th fol- lowing Mr. Clink rented his interest to Thomas F. Nelson. On the night. of November 18, 1883, the office was destroyed by fire, and the publica- tion of the paper was suspended until February 21, 1884, when it was resumed by Palmiter & Nelson, the latter having purchased the inter- est belonging to Mr. Clink. The present editor and proprietor is C. L. Lorraine, who bought the paper in 1891. His son, R. L. Lorraine, has been in active charge for several years.


ALPENA COUNTY


The four newspapers published in this county are all issued from the city of Alpena. The Argus-Pioneer stands for both age and stabil-


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ity. Wrapped in it is the pioneer history of journalism in Alpena county.


On April 29, 1863, D. R. Joslin, a lawyer, issued the initial number of the Thunder Bay Monitor, the first paper published in Alpena county. It was a five column folio. In his salutatory the editor announced that he was in favor of a vigorous prosecution of the war, and would also dedicate his paper to serving the best interests of the village and county. Mr. Joslin, in 1866, sold the office to David D. Oliver, who employed James A. Case to edit the paper and manage the business. The name was then changed to Pioneer. Mr. Oliver afterward sold an interest to Robert S. Toland, and still later disposed of his remaining interest to James K. Lockwood. In the fall of 1868, A. C. Taft purchased the office and paper, which had been changed in name to Pioneer. Succeed- ing publishers have been Fred C. Fletcher and H. C. Hammel, who sold to the Evening News when it was founded in 1899.


The Alpena Weekly Argus was first issued on June 29, 1871, by John C. Viall. Mr. Viall was born at Pittsfield, New York, March 9, 1842, and in the fall of 1850 had removed to Michigan with his par- ents, who settled at Pontiac. He attended the Union schools until fifteen years of age, at which time he entered a printing office to learn the trade, which he followed for many years. In 1871 he came to Al- pena on a tour of observation. After looking over the field he became convinced that there was a good opening for a Democratic newspaper, and he proceeded forthwith to start an office. The Argus was first located in the McDonald block, a wooden building destroyed in the fire of 1872, and subsequently rebuilt of brick. The fire wiped out of existence every vestige of the Argus printing establishment, and left Mr. Viall only his debts and a good credit, which he had worked hard to earn. His clear grit came to his rescue, and scraping together what money he could, he immediately purchased a new outfit and opened a new office in two rooms of Mr. Bolton's residence on the north side of the river, which that gentleman kindly placed at his disposal. Although heavily burdened with debt, he resumed the battle with increased energy, and extricated himself from all his embarrassments. Mr. Viall con- ducted the Argus until December, 1908, and in September, 1909, a combination of Alpena citizens was formed comprising James Collins, the veteran journalist, W. B. Robertson and Thomas J. Ferguson. These gentlemen purchased the Pioneer, consolidated it with the Argus, and also bought the News, which had been started the previous month by A. C. Taft. The consolidated business is now owned by Mr. Collins.


The Evening Echo was founded by James Collins as the Daily Echo in April, 1890. It was sold by Mr. Collins to J. D. Turnbull in 1891, and came into possession of W. B. Dobson, its present proprietor, in 1898. The Farmer, also conducted by Mr. Dobson as a weekly. was es- tablished by the latter in 1898. The daily and weekly are issued under the corporate management of the Echo Printing Company, of which Mr. Dobson is president.


The Frolic was a journalistic enterprise started in August, 1873, by William Boulton, author of the "Centennial History of Alpena County." The office of the Frolic was located in the backwoods of


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Alpena county, a mile and a half from the nearest neighbor. It was afterward printed in the city and was continued up to 1880, when its publication was suspended.


The Michigan Labor Journal was established in Alpena, 1883, by Horton Williams. The publishers in June, 1883, were Williams & Metcalf. The Journal was a state paper, and ably conducted, but finally fell by the wayside and suspended publication in 1892. James Collins con- ducted it for eight years.


The Reporter, the first daily in the county, was started by A. Dins- more in February, 1882, and published by him until April, 1883, when he sold to Mr. Taft and merged into the Pioneer. Later in the spring Mr. Taft revived the daily, but after a few weeks its publication was again suspended, the patronage not being commensurate with the ex- pense and trouble.


WEXFORD COUNTY


Wexford was one of the first of the interior counties in Northern Michigan to welcome journalism and newspaper pioneers. The year 1872 was large with events for the county, as the Grand Rapids & Indiana railroad had by that time thoroughly bound its communities to the outside world, and its substantial future was assured. The old town, Sherman, and the new town Cadillac, or Clam Lake, blossomed forth with newspapers almost simultaneously.


In the early days of 1873 there came to Sherman, the county seat, two young and energetic men from Howell, Livingston county, Mich- igan, to see what encouragement they could get toward the establish- ment of a newspaper. Everybody was anxious to have a newspaper started and it did not take long to secure pledges enough to warrant the venture, and on the first day of May, 1872, the first issue of the Wex- ford County Pioneer was printed. The publishers were Charles E. Cooper, late editor of the Manton Tribune, and A. W. Tucker. This was the first newspaper venture in the county.


After running the paper together a few years, Mr. Tucker sold out his interest to Mr. Cooper, who continued in control until 1877, when he sold it to C. S. Marr, who conducted it for a little more than a year. It then went into the hands of H. F. Campbell and John H. Wheeler, where it remained until January, 1880, when Mr. Campbell sold his interest to Mr. Wheeler, who thus became the sole owner. Mr. Wheeler published the paper for twelve years, at the end of which time he sold it Reuben D. Frederick, who still retains it and is therefore one of the old war horses of the profession in Northern Michigan. Upon assuming the proprietorship of the paper in 1883, Mr. Frederick changed its name from the Wexford County Pioneer to the Sherman Pioneer.


Clam Lake was still a lumber camp deep in the woods when the News was founded. The Cadillac News and Express tells the story of its birth and growth: "About the middle of March, 1871, Clark L. Frazier, of Manistee, in company with Justice Ingram, Dr. John Leeson and George Butts, all then residents of Manistee, constituted a sleigh




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