USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > A History of Van Buren County, Michigan: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its. > Part 38
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AT GOBLEVILLE, COVERT, LAWRENCE AND LAWTON
In the village of Gobleville, five miles east of Bloomingdale, is located another private bank, called the Gobleville Exchange, which is also doing a flourishing and profitable business. This bank is under the management of Stanley Sackett, its president, assisted by his brother, Frank Sackett, who is its cashier. The "Bank Register" gives the amount of deposits in this institution as $65,000.
"The Bank of Covert," as its name indicates, is situated in the thriving little village of Covert. This bank is likewise a private institution, but has a very efficient organization. George C. Mon- roe is president and A. B. Chase cashier, both good business men and experienced in the intricacies of banking. This bank was re- ported by the same authority as that above mentioned as having a paid-up capital of $10,000 and an undivided surplus of $2,700. It amply provides for the banking requirements of the community, which, especially at the time of the fruit harvest, is quite heavy. paying annually over $100,000 on fruit checks alone.
The village of Lawrence is provided with the needed banking facilities by another private institution called the Farmers and Merchants Bank. The officers of this enterprise are as follows : J. H. Baxter, president; J. H. Clark, vice president; J. L. Welch, cashier. It has been in operation for quite a number of years and gives the community ample banking facilities and satisfaction. The reported capital of the bank is $10,000, with deposits of $53,000.
The banking house of Juan McKeyes & Company is situated in the village of Lawton. Juan McKeyes is the active manager of the business and Frank McKeyes, his son, is the cashier. This insti- tution does a very large business, especially during the grape harvest, at which season it disburses the funds to pay for thou- sands of carloads of that delectable fruit, situated as it is in the
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very midst of Van Buren's famous "grape belt." The "Bank Register" reports the capital of this firm at $10,000, with a sur- plus of $5,000 and deposits of $150,000. The institution has been in operation for a number of years and has been uniformly suc- cessful since beginning business.
SOUTH HAVEN LOAN AND TRUST COMPANY
Another financial institution of importance is the South Haven Loan and Trust Company (not incorporated), which is composed of W. P. Breeding, Mrs. L. S. Monroe, C. J. Monroe and C. O. Monroe, and represents a financial responsibility of upwards of $200,000. The business of the company consists principally of making loans on real estate and investments in bonds for the proprietors and other parties. W. P. Breeding, president and gen- eral manager, is the active member of the firm. He is the son-in- law of the late Lyman S. Monroe and succeeded to his interests, having been connected with him prior to his death. He is also a director of the First State Bank and vice president and secretary of the Monroe Realty Company.
Mrs. L. S. Monroe (capitalist) is the widow of Lymon S. Mon- roe. Her interests consist of real estate and other investments.
Hon. C. J. Monroe is president of the First State Bank of South Haven and of the Monroe Realty Company, a member of the board of directors of the Kalamazoo Savings Bank and a member of the banking firm of C. J. Monroe & Sons at Covert.
C. O. Monroe, son of C. J., is the editor and manager of the South Haven Daily Tribune.
FARMERS' MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY
The Van Buren County Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany is one of the valuable financial institutions of the county. It was organized thirty-seven years ago and has been doing business continuously ever since. Milton H. Pugsley of Paw Paw is president of the company and B. L. Breed of Paw Paw is the secretary. The recently filed annual report of the company shows that it has 3,207 members and that the amount of property at risk is $4,833,057. The losses paid during the year amounted to $6,518. The company generally meets all its losses and expenses by making one assessment of one-fourth of one per cent each year, thus providing for its patrons a cheap and secure insurance. The present board of directors are the following substantial citizens and business men of the county : Isaac Monroe, D. C. Hodge, C. B. Charles, S. A. Breed, M. H. Pugsley and M. D. Buskirk.
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TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE LINES
The Western Union Telegraph extends along the lines of every railroad in the county, bringing the entire population within easy reach of telegraphic communication.
There are a number of local telephone companies in the county. The first of these was the Kibbie, which was organized in 1898 and has its lines extended well over the county and into adjoining counties. The South Haven Mutual had its articles of association recorded in 1909. The Citizens was launched in the summer of 1910, and the Lawrence Mutual was organized in the month of March, 1911. Some of these companies reach into every community in the county, and the denizen of city, village or country that has no telephone connection is the exception rather than the rule. These lines connect with the great telephone system that traverses the state, so that oral communication from factory, office, store or home may be had with nearly every place of any importance in the state and in many parts of the states adjoining.
What would the pioneers of Michigan have said had anybody intimated that such a thing were possible? They would have thought that a man who entertained any such preposterous idea was crazy, and if a man had invented such a thing as a telephone in the day of Cotton Mather he would have been pronounced in league with the Devil and burned at the stake.
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CHAPTER XVI
THE PRESS
"PAW PAW FREE PRESS"-"PAW PAW FREE PRESS AND COURIER" -"THE TRUE NORTHERNER"-"DECATUR REPUBLICAN"-"THE LAWTON LEADER"-"HARTFORD DAY SPRING"-"THE BANGOR ADVANCE"-EARLY LAWRENCE NEWSPAPERS-"LAWRENCE TIMES"-"BLOOMINGDALE LEADER"-" GOBLEVILLE NEWS"- SOUTH HAVEN NEWSPAPERS.
The first attempt at publishing a newspaper in Van Buren county was in January, 1843, when H. B. Miller of Niles, sent his brother-in-law, one Harris, with a press and printing outfit, to Paw Paw, ostensibly to start a newspaper, but chiefly for the pur- pose of getting the job of printing the delinquent tax lists, which at the date was quite a valuable "plum." Harris started a six column folio sheet and named it the Paw Paw Democrat. He died soon afterward and that ended the career of the paper, the press and material being taken back to Niles.
"PAW PAW FREE PRESS"
For two years thereafter Van Buren county had no newspaper. In January, 1845, Samuel N. Gantt, one of the early lawyers of the county, and a printer named Geiger, brought by wagon from De- troit to Paw Paw, a wooden Ramage press, and the other neces- sary material for establishing a printing office, and started a five column four page weekly sheet, which they christened the Paw Paw Free Press. After a few months had elapsed, however. Geiger, for some reason, became dissatisfied with the course of events and more especially with his partner, against whom he har- bored some kind of a grievance, real or imaginary, and in order to "get even" he removed the screw of the press and threw it into the Paw Paw river and himself fled to Detroit. Gantt did not care at all for the loss of his partner, but he mourned over the loss of the screw, without which the press could not be worked. He offered a reward of ten dollars for its recovery and return, and A. V. Pantlind, who chanced to know where Geiger had thrown
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it, fished it out of the river, greatly to the satisfaction of its owner.
Mr. Gantt continued the publication of the Free Press until the spring of 1846, when he disposed of it to John McKinney, then county treasurer. Mckinney did not long retain the ownership of the paper, but soon sold it to Emory O. Briggs, who published it for a little more than a year. In January, 1848, S. Tallmadge Conway became its owner. Mr. Conway had been a compositor in the office for a considerable length of time and had also done some work on the Paw Paw Democrat during its brief existence. He retained the ownership of the Free Press until the summer of 1854, when it passed into the hands of a stock company, but the stockholders not finding it to be a bonanza, transferred it to Isaac W. Van Fossen, who is yet a resident of Paw Paw. Soon after becoming possessed of the plant, Mr. Van Fossen changed the name of the sheet by dropping out the word "Free" and the paper became the Paw Paw Press, but this change was not satis- factory to the proprietor. It seemed to be too limited in scope and so he soon made another change and called it the Van Buren County Press. Under this name, and by this same publisher, the paper was issued until January, 1868, when the office was de- stroyed by fire and the publication was discontinued for a few months. However, it was soon revived by Mr. Van Fossen. who continued its publication until 1872, at which time he leased the plant to Frank Drummond. The paper had always been Dem- ocratie in its politics and during the campaign of 1872 it supported the Liberal Democrat ticket of Greeley and Brown. Soon after the close of that campaign, the publication ceased to exist and some of the material was purchased by Messrs. G. W. Matthews and E. A. Landphere, who utilized it in the publication of a new sheet which they launched under the name of the Paw Paw Courier.
The Courier was a Republican journal, and continued as such while owned by its originators. In 1877 Messrs. Blackman and Park became the owners and changed its political complexion and made it an exponent of the Democratic party.
In the meantime, and while Matthews & Landphere were publish- ing the Courier, Messrs. E. K. Park and George F. Sellick, job printers, started a new Democratic paper, to which they gave the old name of the Van Buren County Press.
"PAW PAW FREE PRESS AND COURIER"
Perhaps this venture of Messrs. Park & Sellick might be con- sidered as a resuscitation of the suspended paper the name of which they assumed. It is said that a man who once gets his
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fingers thoroughly daubed with printer's ink never again gets them thoroughly clean, which is but another way of saying that there is a certain fascination about the business that once engaged in makes it difficult to wholly abandon. At any rate, be this as it may, the business and the name of the sheet with which he had so long been identified, so attracted Mr. Van Fossen that he again became its owner. However, he did not long retain its ownership, but transferred it to O. D. Hadsell, who again changed its name to the Paw Paw Free Press, the name by which the sheet had been first christened-that is, if it be considered as a direct continuation of the original paper. Under this name Mr. Hadsell continued to publish the paper until the summer of 1877, when he sold it to the Paw Paw Courier. The two papers being thus consolidated, there was also a consolidation of names and the publication be- came the Paw Paw Free Press and Courier, under which name it has since been and still is published. In 1878 Mr. Park withdrew and E. A. Blackman became the sole editor and proprietor. After the consolidation the sheet was published as a semi-weekly for a few months, but soon returned to its once-a-week issue.
The next change of ownership was a transfer of a half interest to Mr. James F. Jordan. Mr. Jordan is now the credit man of a wholesale drygoods house in Minneapolis, the largest establishment of the kind in the northwest.
About the year 1883, Hiram A. Cole, a practical compositor and job printer, became the owner of Mr. Blackman's interest in the plant and for a time the firm was Jordan & Cole. The property soon afterward passed into Mr. Cole's individual possession and the paper has been managed and published by him down to the pres- ent time. It is the only Democratic newspaper in the county and is one of the leading Democratic weeklies of western Michigan. Through all these vicissitudes and changes of name, the publica- tion claims lineal descent from the Paw Paw Free Press, mak- ing it the oldest publication in Van Buren county, the last issue being labeled "Volume 67, No. 46." The presses of the Courier as the paper is usually spoken of are run with a gasoline engine.
In the spring of 1851, James N. Gantt launched a paper called The Paw Paw Journal. This sheet had a comparatively brief existence, but just how long, it is impossible to say, as there is no record of its career, although Dr. O'Dell of Paw Paw, has two or three of the earlier issues, the earliest being No. 5, issued in June 1851.
"THE TRUE NORTHERNER"
The True Northerner, a weekly publication, was established at Paw Paw in 1855, and is nearing the end of fifty-seven years of
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continuous publication without change of name and, so far as can be ascertained, without the omission of a single number, although the entire plant was destroyed by fire in January, 1888, which is a record of which its managers may well be proud. The question is sometimes asked why the paper was christened the True North- erner. To those who can remember the antislavery agitation of the years before the Civil war, the bitter contests that were waged and the animosity that was thereby engendered between the north and the south, the answer to that query is self-evident. The paper was founded as an advocate of the principles of the new Repub- lican party that had then recently been organized under the his- toric oaks at the city of Jackson, Michigan, and it has ever since been an unwavering champion of that party.
Its founder was George A. Fitch, who was at the time publish- ing the Kalamazoo Telegraph. Mr. Fitch sent John B. Butler to edit and publish the new paper.
The first issue, which by the courtesy of Dr. B. O'Dell is now in the hands of the compiler, bears date April 25, 1855. It is a five-column quarto, well preserved and creditably printed. The opening paragraph of Mr. Butler's salutatory, entitled "To the Public," is as follows: "Citizens of Van Buren county, we have spread before you a Newspaper. We have come among you to advocate the cause of Popular Sovereignty and of human rights. You may call our politics, Fusionism, Republicanism, or any other 'ism, so long as you connect the idea of the name you apply with that of equal rights and the welfare of our whole country. We will adhere to no party which has not for its aim the good of the country, nor advocate any cause which seeks triumph for the sake of the spoils of office, regardless of the rights and liberties, the happiness and prosperity of the people at large If such are your sentiments, citizens, you will support this print ; if not we have mistaken the feelings and views which have long actuated the True Northerner, north of Mason and Dixon's line, and which has been so successfully exemplified in your late elections, both in state and county." Further along, Mr. Butler adds: "It is our desire to place our paper on as high and truly independent grounds as pos- sible and, although enlisted in the cause of the Republican party of this State, we will in no manner be tied down by party tram- mels, or led at the caprice of any political faction."
The only local items in the paper are two marriage notices-to- wit, the marriage of Joseph W. Luce and Miss Martha Richmond, of LaFayette, on the 17th instant, and of William Hodges and Miss Caroline Blowers on the 25th, the day of the birth of the paper ; and a notice of the meeting of subscribers to the stock of the Al- legan and Paw Paw Railroad, a road that never materialized.
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The notice stated that about $30,000 had been subscribed toward the projected road and was signed by the following board of directors : John R. Kellogg, F. J. Littlejohn, Charles L. Mixer, E. D. Follet and John Clifford, Jr., of Allegan county, and John Smolk, Silas Breed, F. M. Manning, F. H. Stevens and S. G. Grimes of Van Buren county. Some of the other articles in the paper were "Scenes in the Kansas Election," "War with Spain," "Loss of the Propellor Oregon," "Arrival of the America" on the 13th of April, with the latest European news, among which appears this item: "The demolition of Sevastopol was not demanded, but a reduction of the Russian power in the Black sea was called for, the recompense being the withdrawal of the allies from Russian territory."
Mr. Butler retired from the management of the paper in the latter part of the summer of 1855, and Fitch sold it to John Rey- nolds and Edwin A. Thompson. Rufus C. Nash was employed as editor but did not long remain in charge, being succeeded the next January by L. B. Bleecker and S. F. Breed. Soon afterward Mr. Breed and Samuel H. Blackman became the sole proprietors of the paper. In 1858 they sold it to Thaddeus R. Harrison, who continued in its ownership until 1866, although during the latter part of that period it was leased to Charles P. Sweet. Mr. Har- rison transferred the publication to Thomas O. Ward, who con- tinued it until August, 1870, at which time S. Tallmadge Conway, formerly owner and publisher of the Paw Paw Press, became the owner of the plant and sole editor and publisher of the paper. He retained the ownership for a period of ten years, when he transferred it to Henry S. Williams, who had been county clerk and school superintendent. Mr. Williams retained the property until May, 1882, at which date he sold it to Messrs. A. C. Martin and O. W. Rowland, Mr. Martin becoming the manager of the concern and Mr. Rowland assuming the editorial chair. This ar- rangement continued for six years, when Mr. Rowland parted with his interest in the plant, and Mr. Martin became sole owner, although Rowland was retained as editor for a year after the dis- solution of the firm of Martin & Rowland. In the fall of 1889, Charles L. Eaton purchased an interest in the plant and the firm be- came Martin & Eaton, with Eaton as the editor. Two years after- ward Eaton retired from the business and Mrs. A. C. Martin, wife of the proprietor, became the editress of the paper. In No- vember, 1892, the property was capitalized at the sum of $10,000 and converted into a stock company and as such it still remains. Mrs. Martin was succeeded in the editorship by M. O. Rowland, a son of one of the former editors. He managed and edited the paper for several years, when he disposed of his interest and removed
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to Lansing, having been appointed to a clerkship in the state insur- ance department. He was afterward appointed deputy insurance commissioner and later insurance commissioner, an office which he resigned on the coming in of a new administration. He is now president of the Detroit National Fire Insurance Company. E. A. Wildey, a former commissioner of the state land office, succeeded Mr. Rowland as editor of the paper, but remained in control only about a year. Frank N. Wakeman, formerly county clerk, has been editor and manager for nearly seven years.
The True Northerner has long been recognized as one of the in- fluential weekly publications of the state and has been a success- ful business enterprise from the date of its first appearance. Its equipment of presses, type and material is very complete. Its machinery is run by an electric motor.
The National Independent was established at Paw Paw in March, 1878, by Dr. Charles Maynard, as an exponent of Greenbackism. The founder continued the paper until January, 1879, when he sold it to Rufus C. Nash. Mr. Nash did not long remain in pos- session, but transferred the sheet to Messrs. Smith & Wilson. Mr. Wilson soon retired from the firm and W. E. Smith became sole editor and proprietor. The Independent met with sudden death in the latter part of December, 1879, its proprietor leaving the town under somewhat of a dense cloud.
The Paw Paw Herald followed after the Independent, but had but a brief, precarious existence.
"DECATUR REPUBLICAN"
The first attempt at publishing a newspaper in the village of Decatur was made by Rufus C. Nash, about the year 1859 or 1860. His paper was printed in Paw Paw and circulated in Decatur. "Rufe" did not find the venture to be such as to warrant a finan- cial success and only a few issues were ever printed, and even tradi- tion does not preserve the name of this pioneer sheet.
So quickly it was done for, We wonder what it was begun for.
Some time in 1860, C. P. Sweet inaugurated the Decatur Trib- une, which he conducted until about 1864, when it was allowed to depart in peace, and for a time Decatur was without a newspaper.
In the summer of 1865, Moses Hull came from Kalamazoo and launched the Decatur Clarion on the journalistic sea. Mr. Hull conducted this sheet for about six months and sold it to A. W.
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Briggs, who published it about the same length of time, when it met the fate of its predecessors and sank peacefully out of sight.
Unawed and undeterred by these previous newspaper fiascos, E. A. Blackman and Prof. C. F. R. Bellows, the latter at the time being superintendent of the Decatur schools, in 1867 founded the Van Buren County Republican, which proved to be a healthy youngster and has continued until the present time. Prof. Bel- lows did not remain long connected with the paper, and on his withdrawal, Mr. Blackman became sole proprietor. As indicated by its name, the new journal was an advocate of Republicanism. It continued in that political faith until the presidential cam- paign of 1872, when, along with its proprietor, it "Greeleyized" and the next year became a straight out Democratic sheet.
In 1876, Mr. Blackman disposed of the plant to H. C. Buffing- ton, who had formerly been engaged in the newspaper business in Cass county. Under the administration of Mr. Buffington, the paper returned to the Republican fold where it has ever since re- mained. In 1879 Buffington transferred the property to A. M. Wooster and he, in turn, sold it to Robert L. Warren and he to Andrew Johnson. About 1890 the paper was purchased from Mr. Johnson by O. W. and M. O. Rowland, father and son. The father had had several years experience as editor of the True Northerner and the son was an expert compositor and pressman and had had considerable experience as a reporter on different daily papers. The father afterward transferred the plant to the younger man, who, after conducting it successfully for a considerable time, re- moved the plant to Paw Paw, and once more Decatur was with- out a paper.
When the Messrs. Rowland assumed charge the name had been changed to the Decatur Republican, but they restored the old name. dropping "Decatur" and substituting "Van Buren County" in- stead. The paper was conducted at Paw Paw under that name until its owner became connected with the True Northerner, when it was suspended and its list of subscribers transferred to the Northerner. Shortly afterward, Messrs. Secord & Dewey pur- chased the presses, type and material and took them back to Deca- tur and started the Decatur Independent. This was soon trans- ferred to A. N. Moulton, who dropped the name "Independent" and resumed the old appellation of Decatur Republican and such it has since remained. Mr. Moulton is still the proprietor and editor and under his direction and management the paper has been pros- perous and profitable. It is well equipped with power presses and all the material required for first class newspaper and job print- ing.
The first newspaper in Lawton, the Iron Age, was founded in
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1860 by one Joseph Twell. The name was derived from the fact that about that time a large blast furnace was established in the place that for a number of years did a large and prosperous busi- ness. The Age lived until 1867, when it peacefully breathed its last.
After the demise of the Age Judge Geo. W. Lawton began the publication of the Lawton Gazette, a weekly sheet the printing of which was done in Paw Paw. The Gazette lived less than two years when it surrendered to the inevitable.
In September, 1869, J. H. Wickwire founded the Lawton Trib- une, which passed in succession through the hands of Cowgill & Jennings, Ambrose Moon, Orno Strong and Ezra Haydon and came to an inglorious end in 1873.
"THE LAWTON LEADER"
In 1887. A. E. Marvin established another weekly in Lawton, under the name of the Lawton Leader. In the month of May, 1890, the list of subscribers and the "good will' was purchased by Messrs. C. E. Lewis and E. Drury, who put in new presses and material and continued the publication of the paper. Drury parted with his interest about 1898, Lewis at that time becoming sole owner and continuing as such for about eight years. In 1906 he took in as a partner, Rev. W. K. Lane, but Lewis has recently again become the sole proprietor, which, under his administration and management, has become one of the fixed and valued institu- tions of the town, and which, having survived the usual vicissitudes of the life of a village newspaper, has gained strength with age and bids fair to have a long and useful life. The paper is not attached to any political party, but is strongly in favor of tem- perance and is a consistent and persistent advocate of the local op- tion law that has been in force in Van Buren county for the past twenty-one years. In this regard, with only one or two excep- tions, it does not differ materially from the other newspapers of the county which have almost unanimously accorded their sup- port to that phase of the temperance question.
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