USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > A history of Van Buren County, Michigan a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests Volume I > Part 38
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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 Truc 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 final- 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.
"HARTFORD DAY SPRING"
The first newspaper to make its appearance in the thriving vil- lage of Hartford was the Hartford Day Spring. Its first issue ap- peared on the 16th day of November, 1871. Its founders were Messrs. O. D. Hadsell and A. H. Chandler, the latter, however, retiring from the venture when the paper was but a few weeks old. It was continued by Mr. Hadsell, who gained a great degree of notoriety, by reason of the quaintness, sarcasm and bluntness
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of his writings, until October 28, 1876, when it was purchased by William H. H. Earle. Mr. Earle edited and published the Day Spring about a year, when Luther Sutton assumed the editorship, Mr. Earle continuing as publisher. In 1888 Charles C. Phillips acquired the paper by purchase and remained in its editorial charge until 1893, when the paper again experienced a change of owner- ship, L. S. Johnson becoming editor and manager. In 1898 H. F. Cochrane assumed charge of the paper under a lease, having as- sociated with him his son, Donald F. Cochrane. A year later a stock company was formed, which purchased the publication from Mr. Johnson. Complete ownership was later acquired by Editor Cochrane and his son, although the Day Spring still appears under the name of the Day Spring Publishing Company. With the for- mation of the stock company began a period of development, in which the old hand press and meager equipment that had sufficed during a succession of ownerships gave way to new machinery, until the Day Spring has today one of the most modern equip- ments possessed by any of the weekly newspapers.
Editor H. F. Cochrane died February 25, 1905, after which the editorship passed to his son, Donald F. Cochrane, who has since continued as editor and owner.
Of all the men who were identified with the early publication of the Day Spring, none survives except A. H. Chandler, who, then as now, is a lawyer located in the village. Editor Hadsell died in Chicago in 1892, where he had pursued a successful business career. Mr. Earle died while in charge of the paper; Sutton passed away in 1903. Mr. Phillips, who purchased the property of the Earle estate, is now quartermaster at the Michigan Soldiers' Home, Grand Rapids.
The Day Spring is now a six-column paper of from eight to twelve pages, all printed on its own presses, and is a lively ex- ponent of its field.
Mr. Hadsell was a schoolmaster with a limited newspaper ex- perience when he and Mr. Chandler planned the launching of Hartford's first newspaper. The venture was conceived and planned in a day, and so they christened the paper the Day Spring. Under the editorship of Mr. Hadsell, it was an aggressive Dem- ocratic sheet, reflecting the personal opinions of its editor with the emphasis characteristic of the times. With advent of Editor Earle came a change of political policy and the Day Spring has since been continued as a Republican journal, although it is first concerned with the unbiased publication of the news of its im- mediate field and of the county. The paper has been closely identified with the development of Hartford and few villages are represented by a more aggressive exponent.
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During the time when the people of the country were all wrought up over "greenbackism," "free silverism," the crime of '73 ( ?) and other evanescent political issues, another newspaper, The Peo- ple's Alliance was established in Hartford by Sullivan Cook, who was an ardent advocate of what he, with many others, thought was necessary for the welfare of the people, a radical change in the cur- rency system of the country. The Alliance lived for a number of years, but with the decline of the money controversy the paper also declined, until it finally shuffled off its mortal coil and was peace- fully laid to rest, another unsuccessful venture in the uncertain field of rural journalism.
The first attempt at journalism in the village of Bangor was made by Charles Gillett in February, 1873, who started a news- paper which he christened the Bangor Journal. The venture did not prove a success from a financial standpoint and in the fall of the same year the Journal gently breathed its young life away, un- honored and unsung, and it has practically passed out of mind and memory.
Out of the remains of the Journal arose another and more vigor- ous plant. W. W. Secord purchased its remains-that is its type and other material-and established the Bangor Reflector, the first issue of which appeared in the month of December, 1873. The new project met with only a limited success under the direc- tion of Mr. Secord, who managed it until April, 1875, when it was purchased by Charles C. Phillips, who made it a valuable prop- erty and a paper of influence and fair circulation.
"THE BANGOR ADVANCE"
The West Michigan Advance was started by G. F. Burkett, in 1881, and was purchased by L. S. Russell the next year, at which time his son, M. F. Russell, started in to learn the printer's trade, and he has never since got the ink off from his fingers. In 1888 Mr. Phillips leased the Reflector to Mr. Russell, who consolidated the two papers, under the name of the Advance and Reflector. On the first of January, 1891, Mr. Russell turned over the busi- ness to his son, M. F. Russell, who found the venture to be profit- able, and after managing it for a year purchased the entire plant and it still remains in his possession. The name was changed to the Bangor Advance, the "Reflector" disappearing from view. The paper was originally started with a Washington hand press. Mr. Phillips purchased a "Prouty," which has been succeeded by a "Potter drum cylinder." The outfit of the Advance is modern and consists of the newspaper press, two job presses, a five-horse
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power gasoline engine, abundance of type and all the equipment needful for a first class newspaper and job plant.
Bangor had, at one time, three newspapers, the other two being the Bangor Breeze and the Van Buren County Visitor. The local- ity proved to be too breezy for the Breeze and after a brief career it blew away. There was, for a considerable length of time, a fierce rivalry between the Visitor and the Advance, but the strife ended in 1907 by the amalgamation of the two papers, Mr. Rus- sell purchasing the Visitor outright, its publisher, Mr. B. F. Harris, entering the employ of the Advance as foreman where he has since remained.
EARLY LAWRENCE NEWSPAPERS
It was not until 1875 that the village of Lawrence could boast of having a newspaper. That year Theodore L. Reynolds estab- lished the Lawrence Advertiser. Mr. Reynolds continued this paper until some time in 1877, when he sold it to Robert L. Warren who published it for three years longer. In 1880, Mr. Warren. becoming the owner of the Decatur Republican, removed the Ad- vertiser plant to Decatur and consolidated the two papers, leav- ing Lawrence as an open field for some other venturesome news- paper aspirant. A job printing office was continued in the village by different parties, but it was not until November, 1882, that any further effort was made to establish a newspaper, and that effort proved to be exceedingly weak. Messrs. Wilson & Moon started a sheet that they christened the Lawrence Times, but it did not live long enough to learn its own name. Its ambitious originators had no press and their "forms" had to be taken to Paw Paw, nine miles distant, to be printed. Only three issues of the Times ever saw the light of day, and for about three years no further effort was made to publish a paper in Lawrence. In the spring of 1885 G. M. Vining began the publication of a little six-by-nine paper called the Basket of Locals and continued the little sheet until mid- summer, when he revived the Times which he continued for five years, but it was too much up-hill traveling; and the Times fol- lowed in the wake of its predecessors and lay down and died.
For a short time, in 1890, Messrs Cash & Vining published a paper called the Lyre, but it was not a success. Possibly people not up in orthography mistrusted the name and so refused to give it their confidence.
The Van Buren County Visitor, mentioned as among the Ban- gor papers, was first established at Lawrence in 1895 by W. E. Thresher and by him removed to Bangor in 1897.
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"LAWRENCE TIMES"
After so many abortive attempts to provide the people of Law- rence and the adjacent country with a local newspaper, it seemed that the time was ripe for a successful effort along that line. On the first of January, 1898, Ernest G. Klock, a newspaper man from Holland, Michigan, brought his outfit to Lawrence and started a new paper, taking the old name of the Lawrence Times. It was rather "hard sledding" for the paper and in the fall of 1899 Mr. Klock sold his plant to Miss Vera P. Cobb, of Middleville, Michi- gan, who conducted it until January, 1901, at which time she dis- posed of it to James G. Jennings. Mr. Jennings succeeded in giving the paper some prestige and continued to publish it until November, 1909, when he sold it to G. S. Easton of Onsted, Michi- gan. Mr. Easton has shown himself to be a hustler, has made the Times one of the foremost newspapers in the county and has spared no pains to advance the interests of the town. He has put in a large amount of new material, including a typesetting ma- chine. The business men of the village have accorded him a liberal support and the paper has every appearance of having become one of the well-established, permanent and paying newspaper plants of the county.
The first effort at the publication of a newspaper in the little village of Bloomingdale was made in the early seventies when a paper was started at that town, by Mr. W. W. Secord, under the name of the Bloomingdale Tidings. Mr. Secord continued the publication of this paper for a few years, but it did not prove to be a financial success, finally "lay down and died," and was buried in the newspaper cemetery of the county among numerous other unsuccessful aspirants for journalistic fame and fortune.
"BLOOMINGDALE LEADER"
On the 10th day of June, 1881, undaunted by the fate that over- took the Tidings, Messrs. M. A. Barber and C. F. Smith founded the Bloomingdale Leader, which proved to be possessed of a greater degree of vitality than the Tidings and which is yet, after the lapse of thirty years, still in the ring and doing a prosperous business. Originally, the paper was a five-column folio. Messrs. Barber & Smith continued to publish the Leader for a couple of years when Barber sold his interest to Smith, who became the sole proprietor, and who, in 1892, added new material, put in new presses and enlarged the paper to a five-column quarto, which it ยท has since remained. In 1895 Mr. R. D. Perkins purchased the plant from Mr Smith, and has successfully managed the property
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