A History of Northern Michigan and Its People, Volume I, Part 20

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 20


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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load who drove across the country and through the woods to the new settlement of Clam Lake. Mr. Frazier, who was conversant with the printing business, came to investigate the opening here for a newspaper and printing office. A conference with George A. Mitchell, the founder of the place, resulted in the donation of a desirable business lot on Mitchell street, the same being now owned by Dr. Leeson and E. F. Sawyer, and the residence lot, where now stands the dwelling of J. W. Cummer. Mr. Mitchell further arranged to subscribe for twenty- five copies of the proposed newspaper, and gave such other substantial assurance of business support that instead of returning with his com- panions to Manistee, Mr. Fraiser at once proceeded south by the new railroad to procure his printing outfit. The Clam Lake News had its birthplace in the first frame building erected in the bustling new settle- ment. On the fourth day of July, 1872, the printing office was removed to Doctor Leeson's building, and the printing office apartments for some time had neither doors nor glass windows.


"In 1873 Mr. Frazier sold his paper to J. A. and O. Whitmore, of Adrian, Michigan. Jayno A. Whitmore, the son, removed here and con- ducted the business until the summer of 1878, when C. T. Chapin brought on a job printing outfit from Toledo, Ohio, and assumed con- trol of the office. In January, 1879, John M. Rice purchased the in- terest of the Messrs. Whitmore, and the paper was published by Rice & Chapin for several months, when Rice sold his interest to Mr. Chapin. In the fall of 1880, H. H. Terwilliger, of Mason, Ingham county, be- came an associate owner of the News, but retired on January 1, 1881, to engage in the banking business at Montague, Muskegon county. On the tenth of February, 1882, the News was purchased by J. W. Gid- dings & Company. The political vigor and influence of the paper was largely enhanced by Mr. Giddings, who filled the editorial chair until he was honored with a seat in the state senate, serving as lieutenant governor in 1893-4."


It was while Mr. Rice was serving his constituents at the state cap- ital, in March, 1887, that the paper was sold to the News Publishing Company, E. E. Haskins filling the editorial chair until succeeded by John M. Rice, at the consolidation of the News with the Saturday Ex- press, May 16, 1887. The latter was first issued in December, 1886, by Chapin & Sill.


Perry F. Powers, the present publisher of the Evening News and News and Express, the weekly edition, succeeded the News and Ex- press Publishing Company, on December 1, 1887. Mr. Powers had but recently come to Cadillac, having within the previous two years, in association with George C. Smithe, made the Ypsilantian a representa- tive paper of Southern Michigan. Having faith in Northern Michigan, he transferred his activities to Wexford county. He has made the News and Express felt in the best sense of the word and the Evening News has also been molded into one of the influential dailies of North- ern Michigan. Mr. Powers has served as president both of the State Press Association and of the Michigan Republican Press Association, as president of the State Board of Education, as auditor general of the state, in 1901-4, and in 1911 was appointed by Governor Osborn


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as state commissioner of labor, his term expiring January 1, 1913.


The Daily Enterprise was a newspaper venture started in the sum- mer of 1880, and backed by A. K. Moyer, E. F. Sawyer, S. S. Fallass, George Holbrook, Daniel McCoy, J. G. Mosser and a number of other citizens, to aid in forwarding the removal of the county seat from Sher- man to Cadillac. John B. Rosevelt, an active and vigilant young at- torney, was the managing editor, and upon his vermilion head at that time fell the wrath of the "north half" fighters in the county seat struggle. This was the predecessor of the Enterprise, now published at Buckley.


The Wexford County Citizen had an existence from August 16, 1884, to June, 1885. It was printed at the job office of C. T. Chapin and was edited and published by Prof. H. M. Enos.


The first Democratic paper published in Cadillac was established by Alfred Rindge, at Mendon, St. Joseph county, Michigan, in June, 1882. It was afterward moved to Cadillac and named the Weekly Times. This paper was absorbed and succeeded by the Michigan State Democrat, a paper which had been first established in Detroit by M. T. Woodruff. Mr. Woodruff continued the publication of the State Dem- ocrat, with a single partial intermission in the summer of 1889, when Bright & Tweedie were publishers, until December 10, 1891, when it passed into possession of George S. Stanley, formerly of Columbiaville, Lapeer county. In 1884 Mr. Stanley began the publication of the Daily Citizen and in 1906 changed the name of his weekly publication, the State Democrat to the Weekly Citizen. In May, 1911, Mr. Stanley sold both publications to Perry F. Powers, and removed to Muskegon to assume the business management of a daily newspaper in that city.


The Cadillac Globe, weekly, was founded by John M. Terwilliger, on September 1, 1898. Mr. Terwilliger had had previous newspaper ex- perience as reporter and solicitor for the Cadillac State Democrat and as editor and publisher of the Fife Lake Monitor for five years. He was also the founder of the Boardman River Current. In July, 1899, Ralph W. Crawford became associated with Mr. Terwilliger in the pub- lication of the Cadillac Globe, and in July, 1909, the publication of an evening paper, The Daily Globe, was entered upon by a corporation or- ganized for that purpose with Messrs. Terwilliger and Crawford as majority stockholders and in full charge of the management and direc- tion of the publishing company's affairs.


The Manton Tribune was established in October, 1879, by Marshall McClure, but remained only a short time under his control. It then passed into the hands of A. J. Teed and soon afterward became the property of E. C. Cooper. In September, 1883, it passed into the hands of H. F. Campbell. Horace G. Hutzler, the present editor and proprietor, purchased the Tribune in 1892.


Before the list in Wexford county is exhausted mention must be made of the Enterprise, founded at Buckley in 1880, and of the Sun, established at Mesick in 1901.


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ANTRIM COUNTY


As an early settled section of the Grand Traverse region Antrim county put forth several pioneers of the Northern Michigan press. The first of the brood was the Elk Rapids Eagle, born March 31, 1865, un- der the fatherhood of Elvin L. Sprague. It was a three column folio, the size of the page being sixteen by thirteen inches. The Elk Rapids advertisers in the first number were as follows: Dexter & Noble, deal- ers in lumber, lath and shingles, dry goods, groceries and provisions ; James P. Brand, notary public; S. Edwin Wait, architect and builder ; George Goodhue, manufacturer of boots and shoes; Lemuel R. Smith, who offered 3,000 apple trees for sale; and Ada R. Sprague, milliner. The paper stated that four men were wanted as substitutes for the Union army by citizens of Elk Rapids. It was also mentioned that a dock would be completed at Elk Rapids during the following season. The Eagle was afterward removed to Traverse City and continued as the Traverse City Eagle.


Mr. Sprague was born in Gill, Massachusetts, December 22, 1830. In 1836 he removed with his parents to Washtenaw county, Michigan, where they settled. He remained at home and in the vicinity until 1853, when he came to the Traverse region where he afterward lived and bore an active part in its affairs. He first located at Elk Rapids, where he assisted in the erection of a grist-mill for the firm of Craw & Company. He worked in the mill after it was in operation until 1860, when he came to Traverse City and was in the employ of Hannah, Lay & Company as salesman in their store for three years. He then returned to Elk Rapids and started the Eagle as heretofore stated. From that time until his death he was in the newspaper business. He was treasurer of Antrim county six year and was prominently iden- tified with the early history of that county. He was one of the early school teachers of Elk Rapids, having taught two terms in 1858 and 1859. In the fall of 1864 he married Sarah E. Spencer, of Elk Rapids. Their wedding tour embraced a trip to Traverse City, where the mar- riage ceremony was performed, and the return to Elk Rapids which was their home until 1872, when they moved to Traverse City.


The Elk Rapids Progress was established in 1872, by E. L. Sprague, who sold it to H. E. Gemberling, and Mr. Gemberling, in turn, to B. F. Davis. Early editors were F. R. Williams, James Parkinson, E. L. Sprague, Giles Daubeny, H. E. Gemberling and B. F. Davis. The Progress was first published as a six-column folio, was changed to a five-column quarto, and then back to its original size and form. Since 1905 it has been edited and published by George W. Perry, one of the old and still active journalists who have done such fine "promoting" for Northern Michigan. Mr. Perry's detailed record will be found elsewhere in this work.


The Mancelona Herald was established in 1879 by Clark S. Ed- wards and L. E. Slussar. At that time there were but a few families in the village, and the outlook for newspaper success was not par- ticularly assuring. With the advent of a local paper, however, the pros- pects of the village began to brighten and the following year a tide of


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prosperity set in that soon made the village an established and grow- ing community. On April 1, 1882, Mr. Edwards retired and Mr. Slussar became sole owner and editor. It is now conducted by O. E. Hawkins.


The Antrim County News, of Elk Rapids, was established by its present editor and proprietor, H. J. Briggs, in 1909.


The Bellaire Breeze was an early journalistic venture, which has died down, it being established by Albert S. Abbott, September 29, 1881.


Another enterprise which failed to survive the buffets of the average pioneer journal was the Antrim County Record, whose first number appeared on November 7, 1883.


OSCEOLA AND LAKE COUNTIES


Osceola county has seven newspapers. The pioneers were in order named as follows: The Osceola Outline, Reed City Clarion and the Evart Review. The first named has passed out of existence.


The Osceola (Hersey) Outline was established June 5, 1871, by (D. A.) Blodgett & Teal; within a year John F. Radcliffe bought the Blodgett interest and also that of the other partner, and, with exception of one year when W. G. Cameron was editor, conducted the paper until a short time before his death in June, 1906. For several months the paper was not published; then the plant passed to the hands of M. Walls and the old paper was renewed. The good will of the paper was sold by Mr. Walls, in 1909, to the Osceola Publishing Company which had recently purchased the Reed City Democrat, and had established the Osceola County Herald at Reed City. The Osceola County News (Hersey) was then established by R. L. Lewis, and is now published by business men at the county seat, being edited and managed by J. T. Delzell.


The Reed City Clarion was established by C. K. Fairchild, in the spring of 1872, and the ownership passed during the next few years to T. D. Talbot, Minchon Brothers (G. W. and J. T.) C. E. Barnes and "Ren" Barker, who conducted the paper more than twenty years, then sold an half interest to E. Blair, the publishers now being Barker & Blair.


The Evart Review was established by W. R. Hess, October 20, 1872. In April, 1873, Irvin Chase, present judge of probate, purchased a half interest and in April, 1874, bought out W. H. Hess, and continued the publication as sole owner until January 1, 1881, when he sold to Min- chin Brothers (G. W. and J. T.) who published the same until January 1, 1884, when George W. Minchin became sole proprietor by purchase of his brother's interest and has continued as editor and publisher dur- ing the past thirty-one years.


The fourth paper to be established was the Tustin Advance, by H. C. McCollough in 1878, which was succeeded by the Echo by E. J. Luick. "Del" McGovern then became possessed of the plant and for several years published the Topics. The Times has also been lately issued by Will. A. McDowell.


A paper printed by O. H. Hovey, at Reed City, called the Times,


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was the first paper printed at LeRoy in 1883. Its successor was estab- lished by R. H. Allen in 1884, and continued for several years. George A. Glerum, at one time county clerk, was the owner, and the publica- tion ceased. After various attempts to keep it alive for a time, it is now succeeded by the Sun, C. A. Warren, publisher.


The Marion Dispatch was established in April, 1889, by George B. Howe, druggist. The paper was managed by Mr. Howe about two years, when C. T. Chapin, of Cadillac, became owner and publisher, who sold to W. H. Hess, the founder of the Evart Review. He was succeeded by C. T. Sadler, who published the paper for a number of years under the name of Dispatch-Leader. The paper passed to the hands of Lawrence & Reed, March 8, 1908, and to J. Clemens, June 8, 1908, and April, 1909, Dewey & Rouse, the present publishers, bought the plant who cut the hyphened name, which is now plain Despatch.


Lake county is represented in the newspaper field by the Lake County Star, founded in 1873, and the Observer, of Luther, established in 1892. They are both Republican.


KALKASKA COUNTY


The Kalkaskaian was the first newspaper published in Kalkaska county. It was first issued March 6, 1874. In January of that year Charles P. Sweet came to Kalkaska from Van Buren county with the view of starting a newspaper at the county seat. He first estab- lished his printing office in the Mapes building, where he carried on business until he erected a structure of his own called the Kalkaskaian building. He remained there until the new brick block was completed in 1880 when he removed to rooms in the second story. Mr. Sweet, the founder of the Kalkaskaian, had been twenty years in the business when he came to Kalkaska. In 1876 he platted an addition to the village and also engaged in the clothing business, amassing, in various lines, considerable property.


In May, 1878, the Kalkaska Leader was established at Kalkaska, by J. N. Tinklepaugh and E. B. Dennis.


The consolidation of these two papers, in 1911, under the manage- ment of J. N. Tinklepaugh under the name The Kalkaska Leader and The Kalkaskian, makes the latter the only newspaper in the county.


EMMET COUNTY


The middle and late seventies brought the first newspapers to Em- met county close on the heels of the Grand Rapids & Indiana rail- road; the clang of the press even slightly preceded the snort of the horse. It was on August 8, 1874, that Dr. William Little issued the Petoskey City Weekly Times, the first newspaper of the county, and although it was only a little sheet four by six inches and but a few circulars were struck off from an old proof press owned by the Doctor, it died with its first number. Two issues of the Emmet County Democrat had al- ready appeared, but they were printed in Chicago and "did not count" in local history. The first newspaper which was printed in Emmet


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county, and survived the first day of its birth, was that same Democrat, which was printed on an old Washington handpress at Petoskey by Roselle Rose, pioneer journalist, on the 14th of May, 1875. The Demo- crat was published for a few months in the Dickerson store and then the office was removed to a little building sixteen by eighteen feet in size, which stood just south of Mr. Rose's residence at the corner of Mitchell and Petoskey streets. The same building afterward performed the humbler duties of a woodhouse, at the rear of the editor's residence. He occupied that building for some time and then removed to the main street.


Mr. Rose was born in the town of Pike, Wyoming county, New York, in the year 1847. After beginning active life for himself he engaged in farming. In 1869 he was obliged to seek a change of occupation and climate on account of his health, and for that purpose removed to Michigan and settled in Plainwell, Allegan county. At that place he was engaged in the drug and insurance business and afterward was connected with the newspaper at that place. In 1875 he moved to Petoskey and started the first newspaper published in the county, as already stated. The first money he received in his business there was from the late Dr. Little, and the first job printing was a quantity of envelopes for James M. Burbeck, of Harbor Springs. In the winter of 1886, Mr. Rose sold the Democrat to a syndicate of Petoskey busi- ness men.


In 1878 the Emmet County Independent was started in what was then the Indian village of Little Traverse, now Harbor Springs. Charles S. Hampton, who had served as principal of the first graded schools in Petoskey and Little Traverse, was editor and proprietor of the Independent, which, despite the difficulties and obstacles incident to the publication of a paper in a new and sparsely settled region steadily grew in strength and public favor. It was started with less than a five hundred dollar outfit, and its office was the old weather- beaten trading post building, but within five years it occupied a spacious and convenient building of its own on Main street, and had a fully equipped newspaper and job office, including good steam presses. Dur- ing the summer of 1883 the publisher issued a six-column daily paper called the Daily Resorter, which was so well received by the public and especially by the summer visitors that it has never been suspended. It was at first published ten weeks during the year.


In December, 1887, the Independent was moved from Harbor Springs to Petoskey and consolidated with the Democrat. Soon afterward C. E. Churchill entered Mr. Hampton's employ and in April, 1900, with E. R. Goldsmith, he purchased the Democrat and Daily Resorter of Mr. Hampton. In 1902 they made a year-round-daily of The Resorter, under the name The Petoskey Evening News and Resorter. Mr. Gold- smith died in 1904, Mr. Churchill then becoming sole owner of the papers. In 1905 the name of the weekly was changed from the Inde- pendent Democrat to the Petoskey Independent and the policy of the paper was also changed from Democratic to independent.


The Petoskey City Record owes its origin mainly to James Buckley, a hardware merchant in the village of Petoskey. In the summer of


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1878 Mr. Buckley associated with himself, George A. Mosher, a prac- tical printer, and June 20th issued the first number of the Petoskey City Record, a seven-column folio paper, bearing the practical motto "For your good and our profit." The paper from its start presented a neat appearance, and was highly creditable as a pioneer enterprise. The first of January, 1879, Mr. Buckley withdrew to engage in other business, and Mosher & Gibson became proprietors. In the summer of 1879 the paper was enlarged to an eight-column folio. Mr. Gibson remained in the business but a short time, and was succeeded by Frank M. Pray. In December 1880, Mr. Pray withdrew and Mr. Mosher con- tinued the business alone for weeks. In January, 1881, C. E. McManus purchased an interest and the firm became Mosher & McManus, and in September of that year F. S. Freeman became proprietor. Capt. Joseph C. Bontecou assumed the editorship and ownership of the Record in April, 1883, and conducted it with courage and ability until his death March 25, 1904. Captain Bontecou went into the Union army be- fore he had graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University and resided in Chicago and Jackson, Michigan, before coming to Petoskey to purchase the Record. A biography of his eventful life is published elsewhere. At his death in 1904 the affairs of the paper were assumed with courage and success by his daughter, Miss Margaret C. Bontecou, who sold the business in October, 1911, to C. E. Churchill.


The Little Traverse Republican, the first newspaper published at Harbor Springs, was started in May, 1876, by Warren Bowen. L. A. Clark did the mechanical work, and the following September purchased the office, over which throughout most of the subsequent development of the enterprise, he has presided. The Republican was started as a six-column folio. The paper has been and is Republican in politics, and a stanch advocate of local interests. Mr. Clark continued as editor and proprietor from the time he purchased the office in 1876 until 1910, when he sold to M. L. Garland, its present owner. Mr. Clark is a native of the city of Cleveland, Ohio. At the age of thirteen years he began to work at printing at Hillsdale, Michigan, and has followed printing and journalism most of the time since. In April, 1861, he enlisted in Com- pany A, Twelfth Indiana Regiment, and was in service about two years. He was then transferred to the government bureau of printing at Nash- ville, Tennessee, where he remained until the close of the war. In the spring of 1876 he came to Harbor Springs from Missouri. In 1877 he was appointed postmaster which office he held until the spring of 1884. He also served as president of the Harbor Springs Novelty Works and Saw-Mill Company and has extensive farming interests in the county.


The Harbor Springs Graphic made its appearance in 1895; is Re- publican in politics; H. S. Babcock, editor and proprietor.


The Pellston Journal came to life in 1903, with L. A. Grayson edi- tor; The Pellston Journal Company, publishers.


The Levering Enterprise came to life in the spring of 1911, and is published by Merl Howard.


The Emmet County Appeal, a socialist paper, was launched in 1908 at Harbor Springs by Jos. Womock; and about a year ago was pur-


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chased by William Kilpatrick and his son Vernon, and the plant moved to Petoskey. The Square Deal, a daily effort by the Appeal, lived less than two weeks during the fall of 1911.


Emmet county is something of a graveyard for papers, having fur- nished a resting place for The Standard, a Democratic paper by Joseph C. Wright, which made its appearance at Harbor Springs early in the nineties; The Artesian Well, by Robert Wright, at Harbor Springs, after a short life in the early nineties; The Petoskey Herald by Robert Wright, lived about a year in Petoskey, in 1892-3; The Alanson Inter-Lake had a short career and was consumed by fire and never "Phoenixed;" The Lyre was a magazine adventure of J. C. Wright which lived only a couple of years, 1900-1.


OTSEGO AND ROSCOMMON COUNTIES


Gaylord, Otsego county is a point at which journalism became early rooted. The Herald, still flourishing, was founded in 1875, and the Elmira Gazette, now deceased, was started by C. S. Edwards in 1882. The second existing journal, the Times, is of recent birth, 1905.


Roscommon county also promised so well in 1875 that her News was founded, the Herald not appearing until 1907.


CHEBOYGAN COUNTY


Of the four newspapers published in this county three are issued from the city of Cheboygan. The first journal launched was the Mani- tawaba Chronicle, which Dr. W. P. Maiden put forth from Cheboygan village in 1871. It was a weekly, twelve by eighteen inches in size, and only twelve numbers were published. Another short-lived paper was the Cheboygan Free Press, started by Thomas Bentley and James J. Brown in January, 1876.


The Northern Tribune, which survives as the Tribune, was started by William Chandler, in July, 1875. In January, 1882, C. S. Ramsay and C. J. Hunt purchased interests in the office, and became actively identified with the paper, Mr. Ramsay as editor, and Mr. Hunt in the mechanical department. In the summer of 1882, Merrit Chandler be- came interested in the business. In the spring of 1883 the Tribune Company was organized, and Rev. R. M. Thompson, who had become a stockholder, succeeded Mr. Ramsey as editor, the latter of whom has been at the head of the Tribune since 1885. Miss Dora M. Ramsay, his daughter, has been in active editorial charge for some time.


The Cheboygan Democrat was first issued February 12, 1880, by two young men from Bay City, Edward Forsyth and Milie Bunnell. At that time Cheboygan had no railroad communication and the out- fit had to be brought in by sleigh from Petoskey at a cost of nearly three cents per pound, and those who know what printing material, presses, composing stones, lead type, etc., weigh can furnish their own estimates of costs. In the fall of 1883, Mr. Forsyth erected the building in which the Democrat is now located. Since February, 1911, on account of Mr. Forsyth's failing health, Al. H. Weber has been conducting the Demo-




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