USA > Michigan > Genesee County > History of Genesee county, Michigan. With illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 13
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latter, on the discontinuance of the Herald, in 1839. The Advocate expired in 1842.
Next came the Genesce Gazette, a weekly Democratie paper, published at Flint River by S. W. Denton & Co. It first appeared April 16, 1842,-the press used being that on which had been printed the Northern Advocate. No further facts concerning this paper have been gathered, execpt that it was short-lived.
The Genesce Herald made its first appearance on Satur- day, Jan. 7, 1843. It was a Whig paper, published weekly at Flint River by J. Dowd Coleman, and edited by Perry Joslyn. It continued to exist here for a year, but at the end of that time it was discontinued, and in January, 1844, Mr. Coleman removed his press to Pontiac, where, on the 7th of February of that year, he issued from it the first number of the Oukland Gazette.
The Genesee County Democrat was a weekly paper, pub- lished by William B. Sherwood at Flint River. Mr. Sher- wood had before published the Shiawassee Democrat and Clinton Express, at Corunna, Shiawassce Co., for a short time, but discontinued it in the spring of 1843, moved his press and material to Flint, to use in the publication of the Democrat, as above mentioned, and issued its first num- ber on the 6th of June, 1843. The period of its duration cannot be given.
The Genesee Republican, a Democratie paper, made its first appearance on the 17th of April, 1845. It was printed at Flint, aud was understood to be owned, wholly or prin- cipally, by Gen. Charles C. Hascall, though no proprietor's name appeared at the head of its columns. It is proper to mention here that one or two prominent citizens of Flint, who have resided here for more than forty years, and who are generally regarded as good authority in such matters, assert positively that no such papers as the Genesee Re- publican or Genesce County Democrat were ever published in the county ; but the account which we here give of them is based on still stronger proof, namely, the fact of having seen and read copies of both these papers, which copies are now in possession of the Hon. George M. Dewey, of Flint.
The Flint Republican, of which two or more copies are also in the possession of Mr. Dewey, was first issued in December, 1845, by Daniel S. Merritt. The office of pub- lication was " iu the building north of Lyon's hotel, oppo- site the court-house, up-stairs. Terms, $1.50 cash, or $2 in produce, in advance."
This paper came under the proprietorship of Royal W. Jenny,* in 1848. One of the copies of this paper which we examined, as before mentioned, bears date Sept. 20, 1840, and is entitled " Flint Republican, Vol. 4, No. 42, published by R. W. Jenny, weekly on Thursday mornings." Mr. Jenny ceased to publish the Republican on the 30th of September, 1853, and immediately commenced the pub- lication of the Genesee Democrat. Whether this was merely a change of name, or the establishment of a new journal, we do not know, and therefore express uo opinion. Mr. Jenny continued to publish the Democrat until his death, which occurred nearly a quarter of a century later.
# Mr. Jenny had started the Lapeer County Whig, at Lapcer, Feb. 23, 1842. This fact we ascertained from examining a copy of that paper published in that year.
53
THE PRESS.
The Western Citizen was a paper published at Flint, and owned by O. S. Carter. Its date cannot be given, but its existenee was short, and it was succeeded, Feb. 23, 1850, by the Genesee Whig, Francis II. Rankin, proprietor, F. Il. Rankin and N. W. Butts, editors.
The newspapers of Flint City at the present time are the Genesce Democrat, the Wolverine Citizen, the Flint Globe, and the Flint Journal, historical sketches of which, fur- nished by the proprietor of each journal respectively, are given below, without any attempt on our part to reconcile conflicting opinions regarding seniority.
THIE WOLVERINE CITIZEN .*
The Wolverine Citizen, the oldest living newspaper in Genesee County, was founded by its present editor and proprietor, F. II. Rankin, as a Free-Soil Whig paper, in 1850, the first number appearing on February 23d of that year, as the Genesee Whig. Upon the final dissolution of the Whig party, the name " Whig" ceased to have any political significance, and without any change in its prin- eiples or policy, the proprietor deemed it advisable to adopt another title. The paper was accordingly published as the Wolverine Citizen and Genesee Whig from January to December, 1856, when the latter half of its designation was dropped, and it has appeared from that date to the present as the Wolverine Citizen.
The history of the paper is intimately connected with the history of the county during the last thirty years. Under the agitation caused by the repeal of the Missouri Com- promise, the Genesee Whig strongly favored the formation of the Republican party, organized at Jackson, in this State, in 1854, and from that time to the present has been known as a distinctively Republican journal of the " stalwart" type. Its editor was actively instrumental in reorganizing the anti-slavery elements of the old Whig and Democratic parties of Genesee County ; having been, while chairman of the Whig County Committee, also chosen chairman of an Independent Central County Committee, at a mass con- vention of electors of Genesee County, held on Sept. 21, 1854, for the purpose of uniting the anti-slavery strength against the attempted encroachments of the slave-power upon the guaranteed free territory of the nation ; the lan- guage of the eall for the meeting, inviting all electors "opposed to the 'Nebraska swindle' and the extension of slavery in the national domain."
The Citizen is now in the thirtieth year of its existence, during which time there has been no change in its owner- ship or management. In its career, it can boast of having been the graduating school of a number of young men, who have been more or less prominent as journalists in this State and elsewhere. Among them may be named Hon. W. R. Bates, late of the Lumberman's Gazette ; C. B. Turner, of the Pontiac Gazette ; R. L. Warren, of the Lawrence Advertiser ; Morgan Bates, Jr., late of the Marshall States- man ; E. D. Cowles, of the Saginaw Daily Courier ; W. A. Smith, of the Charlevoix Sentinel ; Harry Hall, of the Stuart Locomotive ; Charles Fellows, of the Flint Journal ; Orlando White, of the Linden Record ; A. M. Woodin, of the Lansing Sentinel.
* By Francis II. Rankin.
The Wolverine Daily Citizen was started by Mr. Rankin in August, 1859, and continued until November, 1860. After sinking considerable money in its publication, and becoming satisfied that a daily paper in Flint could not be made to pay its expenses, the enterprise was abandoned after fifteen months' effort.
During the twenty-four years of the corporate existence of Flint, the Wolverine Citizen has been for seventeen years of that period chosen annually as the official paper of the city.
The jobbing department connected with the office is the most complete and extensive in this part of the State. The steam-engine of the establishment-boiler and all-was con- structed in Flint, and is a model of its kind. It was built for the Citizen by II. W. Wood, of Flint, and the Wicks Brothers (now of Saginaw), when the Genesee Iron-Works were owned by those parties.
The paper was originally a twenty-four by thirty-four folio sheet of twenty-four columns. In 1857 it was en- larged to twenty-six by forty, and twenty-eight columns. In 1867 its form was changed to quarto, and still further enlarged to twenty-nine by forty-four, and forty-eight col- umns, which is its present shape.
The business department of the office is now well man- aged by the proprietor's son, Franc, who assists his father editorially ; as does also his son George, in the local col- umns and reporter's provinee.
THE GENESEE DEMOCRAT.+
At the head of the editorial columns of the Genesee Demo- erat this sentence is to be found : " Oldest paper in Gen- esce County. Established in 1848, by Royal W. Jenny." For all practical purposes, this line is all that is necessary to be said concerning the foundation of this paper, but as another journal published in the city lays elaim to what- ever honor attaches to the " oldest paper," a few words in explanation may make the disputed point elear. It is not disputed that Mr. R. W. Jenny, the founder of the Demo- erat, published a paper in this city before any of the papers now published were issued. For some years Mr. Jenny published the Flint Republican, a Democratic paper, and during those years the Wolverine Citizen was started. Iu 1853 the Flint Republican was changed to the Genesee Demoerat. The Democrat, after a few issues, was dated back to correspond with the Republican. It is plain, therefore, that the Genesee Democrat is not nominally as aged as is its contemporary, the Citizen, but in everything but name it is the oldest paper in Genesee County ; yet the point in question is hardly worth the quantities of printer's ink that have been, at different times, spent in its discus- sion.
The vicissitudes of journalistic life in those early days can only be appreciated by those who experienced them, and the varying fortunes of our county papers are so iden- tified with the personal characters of their proprietors that a history of the one is a biography of the other. The Democrat was no exception. Even the name Genesee Democrat is so intimately connected with its founder, Royal W. Jenny, that few of the residents of Flint can
t By Arthur J. Eddy.
54
HISTORY OF GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
think of the former without recalling the eminently popu- lar nature and friendly disposition of the latter. Mr. Jenny continued editor and proprietor up to the time of his death, in 1876, though at several times he had associated with him different gentlemen as partners, the last being Mr. Fellows, now publisher of the Journal. For some weeks after her husband's death, Mrs. Jenny conducted the paper, when it was purchased by H. N. Mather. Mr. Mather enlarged the paper, improved it in many respects, and added a Sunday edition to it. After a most success- ful management of over two years, Mr. Mather sold the paper, in December, 1878, to Jerome Eddy, then mayor of the city. Mr. Eddy's son, Arthur J. Eddy, took charge of the establishment and now publishes and edits the paper. However it may be about the age of the Genesee Democrat (weekly), the managers of that paper can justly claim the unprofitable honor of starting the first daily in Flint. For a few months, in 1859, a daily was issued, but its remem- brance was all it netted its proprietors. The Democrat is now issued from the Eddy Block, on Kearsley Street.
THE FLINT GLOBE .*
The Flint Globe was established at the city of Flint in August, 1866. The original proprietors were Charles F. Smith, Henry S. Hilton, and Robert Smith, the firm-name being Charles F. Smith & Co. The office was located in the second story of what was known as the " Union Block," on Saginaw Street, now occupied by Walter's restaurant and Charles Crawford's tailoring establishment.
Mr. Hilton was the managing editor, Mr. C. F. Smith having more immediate charge of the jobbing department and the general business of the office. W. II. H. Brainard and Sumner Howard were successively engaged as local editors on the Globe.
The coneern was purchased by the present proprietor, Almon L. Aldrich, in August, 1869. In the summer of 1870 the office was moved to the third story of the Covert Block, corner of Saginaw and First Streets, for the sake of additional room, and in order to give the editor a sanctum separate from the composition- and press-room, one apartment having served that purpose up to that date. Here the office remained until .October, 1873, when the demand for new machinery, which could not be gotten up to the office in the third story, nceessitated its removal to some building in which the first floor could be used for the presses. No such building offering itself for a reasonable rent, the proprietor purchased a lot on the corner of Kearsley and Brush Streets, and in the month of July commenced the ereetion of a building to be used as " The Globe Office." In October a brick structure twenty by fifty-six feet on the ground, and two stories high, with a deep basement, known as " The Globe Building," was completed, and the office was removed thither. The front of the building, first floor, is used as the editor's room and business-office. The rear part is used for jobbing purposes and as a press-room. The entire upper story is used by the compositors. The brick-work on this building was done by contract by Andrew J. Ward, and the carpentering work by John McBurney.
* By A. L. Aldrich.
The office is still located in the building, and is likely to remain there.
The Globe has always been Republican in politics, and has exereised its due share of influence in directing public affairs and making public sentiment, having always been recognized as an organ of the Republican party in its locality. It has several times been chosen as the official paper of the city.
The present proprietor was appointed to the office of resident trustee of the Michigan Institution for Educating the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind in October, 1873, which office he still holds.
The former proprietors of the Globe are now located as follows: Charles F. Smith resides in Chicago, and is en- gaged on 'Change. Soon after leaving the Globe he re- moved to Kansas, and for two years held the office of treas- urer of Labette County.
Henry S. Hilton is editor and proprietor of the Clinton Republican, at St. John's, Clinton Co., Mich. He also holds the office of register of deeds in that county.
Robert Smith is owner and editor of the Gratiot Journal, published at Ithaca, Gratiot Co., Mich., one of the most ably conducted and successful papers in the State.
Among the gentlemen who have been connected with the Globe as local editors, during the ownership of the present proprietor, may be mentioned Mr. Lonis R. Pome- roy, now dead ; Mr. M. L. Seeley, now residing in Genesee township, in this county; Mr. Will F. Clarke, now deputy collector of internal revenue in this district ; Henry H. Gibson, of Grand Rapids; and Harry Snedicor, of Chi- cago.
The following is a list of the gentlemen who have aeted as foremen in the office, either in the news or jobbing de- partment, or both : James Estes, now publisher of the St. John's Independent ; W. W. Howard, of Flint; N. L. Moon, now a Methodist clergyman at Caro, in this State ; James Gray, of Bay City ; Erastus Dodge, now a leading photographer of Flint; and F. C. Jeudevine and John Henry, the former in the news department and the latter in the jobbing-rooms.
THE FLINT JOURNAL.+
This paper, now in its fourth year, is published by Charles Fellows. Democratic in politics ; is published every Wednesday. It is an eight-page paper; enjoys a liberal patronage and an extensive circulation, its column of " Flint Chips" being a feature that makes the Journal popular with all classes.
THE DEAF-MUTE MIRROR.
This is a small paper published in Flint on Fridays, being most creditably edited by inmates of the Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind.
JOURNALISM AT FENTON.
The Fentonville Observer was started in that village in the fall of 1854, W. W. Booth, proprietor, Perry Joslin, editor. It was issued weekly for several months and then discontinued.
+ By C. Fellows.
55
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
The Fenton Gazette was first issued on the 17th of October, 1865, by W. H. II. Smith, who had removed with his press and material from Monroe Co., N. Y., to Fenton, and who is still its proprietor. It was established as an independent family newspaper, neither pledged to nor de- pendent on any political party for support, and it has main- tained this character through nearly fourteen years of pros- perous existence. Mr. Smith now has his son associated with him in the proprietorship, and it is their design in the condneting of their paper to keep place with the progressive spirit of the age, and with the demands of the enlightened community in which the Gazette has its circulation.
The Christian Index, an Episcopalian journal, was eon- meneed in December, 1868, by the Rev. O. E. Fuller, rector of St. Jude's Church in Fenton, and principal of the Trinity school. It was a valuable paper, but not of very long continuance.
The Fenton Independent was established in May, 1868, by F. N. Jennings as editor and publisher, and has now (June, 1879) entered upon its twelfth volume, under the same proprietorship and management. It is a seven-column folio, independent in politics and religion, published weekly on Tuesdays, and has a good circulation in Fenton and throughout the county.
OTHER JOURNALS IN THE COUNTY.
The Linden Weekly Record, published at Linden, Fen- ton township, was started by its present proprietor, Orlando White, Jan. 16, 1878, as a five-column quarto. It is now a five-column folio, independent in politics, and has a good circulation.
The Flushing Patrol was established in the village of Flushing, Jan. 16, 1878, by its present proprietor, D. C. Ashmun. It is a seven-column folio, printed on a hand- press of Mr. Ashmun's own manufacture, and has a good subscription list. A job-office is connected with the establishment.
THIE MEDICAL PROFESSION IN GENESEE COUNTY.
EARLY PHYSICIANS.
Before any physician had established in practice in Genesce County, the settlers here who needed medical attendance were served by Doctors David L. Porter, J. B. Richardson, and Olmstead Chamberlain, of Oaklaud County, and possibly by others. Of these the one who was most frequently employed was Dr. Chamberlain. He was then a middle-aged man, though an old physician in practice. lle was born in Richmond, Vt., in 1787, and settled in Pontiac in 1821. Ile was probably the first physician who ever set foot within the territory of Genesee County, having passed through here in 1823 on his way to Saginaw, whence he had received an urgent summons to attend the soldiers of the garrison, among whom an alarming epidemic had broken out. The only road was the Indian trail through the woods, but the doctor at once mounted his horse, and traveling night and day, at times obliged to dismount and feel for the trail on his hands and knees, arrived in due time, and rendered good service to the sufferers. And for the early settlers in Grand Blanc and at Flint River he
was always equally willing and ready to give professional assistance, although he was not compelled to rely on his profession for a livelihood, and did not follow it as a regular business. Ile was present with Col. Cronk in the fatal sickness of the latter at Flint River, in 1832, and on this occasion, as in other critical cases at Grand Blane and on the Flint, remained for two or three days, never quitting his patient until out of danger or past hope of recovery. He remained in Pontiac until 1864, when he went to live with a son in Waupun, Wis., and died there Oct. 10, 1876, aged eighty-nine years.
The first physician to locate and practice in Genesee County was Dr. Cyrus Baldwin, who came from Onondaga Co., N. Y., and settled in Grand Blane in the spring of 1833. Ile was a deacon in the Presbyterian Church at that place. In 1837 he removed to Atlas, being the first physician in that township, and remained there in practice for a number of years.
Dr. John W. King eame to Genesee County in 1834, and located at Grand Blane. After the removal of Dr. Baldwin from that town, in 1837, Dr. King remained as the only physician of the settlement until the spring of 1848, when Dr. H. C. Fairbank became bis business part- ner. This connection continued till the winter of 1849-50, when Dr. King withdrew almost entirely from practice, and soon afterwards removed to Flint village, where he engaged in the foundry business, but, after some two years, returned to Grand Blane and passed his remaining years in com- parative retirement upon his farm. In 1873 he expe- rienced an attack of paralysis, from which he never fully recovered, and died on the 12th of November, 1876.
At the funeral of Dr. King a short address was made, at the request of members of the profession, by Dr. George W. Fish, of Flint, who was an associate and friend of the deecased during a period of more than thirty-seven years. It has been thought appropriate to give in this place the following extraet from that address :
" Dr. John W. King, so well known to the citizens of this town and county, has contributed his full share towards redeeming this beautiful country from the savagery of an unenltivated wilderness, and building up the institutions and developing the physical resources of a most prosperous and happy commonwealth. You, my friends, the neigh- bors of him whom we to-day mourn, will, I am sure, bear me out in saying that whatever you have in this commu- nity that is good and true and pure and of good report, whatever tends to mental, moral, and religious culture, whatever has been calculated to make vice and immorality odious, and to cherish and foster education, morality, and religion, has always found an active friend in Dr. King. Of him it may truly be said, he has done what he could to elevate the raee and to make men and women better. Such men do not live in vain. They are a blessing to the community where their lot is cast, and the death of such is a publie calamity.
" As a medical man our friend laid no claim to profound crudition or especial brilliancy. He was laborious, pains- taking, and absolutely conscientious. He was, moreover, more than ordinarily well read in what we call the general principles of the profession ; he was familiar with the old
56
HISTORY OF GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
text-books, and an admirer and, to some extent, an imi- tator of such noble Christian men as De La Mater, Muzzey, and Willoughby. With these as his models, and his abso- lute honesty and sterling common sense, he soon became a safe and successful physician.
" Were you to ask me wherein his great strength lay which gave him access to the people, I should answer, in his true manliness of character. Removed alike from the simpering of the silly fop and the imperious bluster of the professional autocrat, he cultivated the golden mean of a noble manhood. There was in his nature such an inex- haustible supply of pleasant sunshine that his visits to the sick were always welcome. He was a Christian gentleman of the old school, entirely above the petty tricks and jeal- ousies of the charlatan. In all this he was worthy of imitation by the members of the profession of the present day. He was always ready to extend a helping hand and speak a word of cheer and encouragement to young men of the profession who might be under a cloud. Neither provocation nor hope of reward would tempt him to do a mean or unprofessional act to one of his brethren in the profession.
" My acquaintance with Dr. King has been somewhat intimate, and has extended over a period of nearly thirty- eight years. We were associated in the struggles of pro- fessional life in this (then) new country. On horseback we found our way to the log cabins of the early settlers, and not unfrequently, by day and night, we met by the rude couch of the sick and suffering. Most of the men and women of that generation have passed away. A few still linger among us, and they will remember the fierce contest that was waged with poverty and sickness in the new settle- ments. Dr. King and the other physicians of that day were in perfect sympathy with the people and suffered with them."
Dr. John A. Hoyes, a graduate of the medical school at Fairfield, Herkimer Co., N. Y., was the first resident physi- cian iu Flint, where he settled in 1835,* and continued in an extended and successful practice until about the year 1847, when his failing health caused him to seek relief in the South. He experienced little benefit, however, from the Southern climate, and not long after returned to Flint, where he died, Dec. 20, 1849, aged forty-three years. He was widely known and a trusted and popular physician.
Dr. Robert D. Lamond, a graduate of the medical school at Castleton, Vt., and also of the Fairfield Medical College, in Herkimer County, N. Y., came to Flint, about 1838, from Pontiac, where he had commenced practice soon after 1830. In 1835 he was a member of the Oakland County Medical Society, and its secretary. Afterwards, he was one of the original members of the first medical society of Genesee County (as were also Drs. King and Hoyes). He continued to reside in Flint during the remainder of his life, and was for many years the most prominent physi- cian in the county. He represented Genesee County in the Legislature in 1844, and died in Flint in 1871.
Dr. George W. Fish-came to this county in 1836, locating in the township of Genesee, where he practiced for two or three years, and then removed to Flint, where he remained in practice till 1846. At that time he removed to Jack- son, Mich., and three or four years after-on account of his health-to Central America, in the employ of the Panama Railroad Company. Upon the completion of that work he went to China, and remained there seven years in the medi- cal service of the Board of Missions. While there, he filled, for a time, a vacancy in the United States consulate at Hong-Kong. Upon the opening of the war of the Rebel- lion he returned to the United States, and entered the army as brigade-surgeon, holding that position till the end of the war, after which he returned to Flint. He served for a time on the board of trustees of the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind, and also one term in the State Senate. He is now United States consul at Tunis, Africa.
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