USA > Michigan > Montcalm County > History of Montcalm County, Michigan its people, industries and institutions...with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families Volume I > Part 37
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"Eighteen years ago the middle of last summer ye editor was dismissed from the services of the Morley Tribune because the publisher of that paper
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was not making enough money to pay our wages. For several months fol- lowing that your humble servant was 'on the hog' and go where we would and try as hard as one may it was impossible to secure a job. We were not alone in that predicament; there were thousands in the same boat and if misery enjoyed company we had lots of it. It was the panic of '93-97. As a last desperate attempt to make a living we conceived the idea of start- ing a newspaper in Coral. A mention of the thought to several met with a hearty response and advertising and subscription contracts sufficient to guarantee the venture were signed up.
"Being busted and having no friends who were in position to advance us the money to launch, it made the wheels in our head go some to raise the necessary cash. . A widow at Shepard had inherited a small printing outfit from her husband's estate, which she offered to sell on very liberal terms. To get the money to make the first payment of $75 was what was sticking ns. We went to first one and then another to get them to back our paper for Stoo for ninety days. The subscription and ad contracts we had were mighty poor collateral but was the only thing we had to offer. Having been a fairly respectable boy and young man stood ns in good hands in this time of need. The late Hon. L. L. Church had been our Sunday school superintendent and had evidently gotten a favorable impression of us for he backed the note that gave us a boost. After securing the money we bor- rowed a wagon from the late Thomas Kain, another horse from W. R. Wright and a wagon from the late Robert Owen. Putting the three together we drove across country to Shepard, where we closed the deal with Mrs. Hurst for the printing outfit. We got that plant into Coral Friday night. Jannary 22, 1897, and the next Thursday, January 28, issued the first copy of The Neres.
"Everything and everybody was on the hog in these days. Potatoes were selling for seven to thirteen cents a bushel ; corn was ten cents a crate; beans were fifty cents a bushel : good dry beech and maple wood. seventy- five eents and a one dollar a cord: eggs seven cents a dozen and butter ten cents a pound. We took everything and anything on subscription and man- aged to get hold of enough money to pay our bills and in seventy-five days payed the note Mr. Church had so kindly endorsed.
"We will have to relate the interest that good gentleman took in our progress. He lived on the farm where his son Frank now resides and made Coral his marketing place. Whenever he came to town he would stop in to see how we were getting along. We always told him it was going fine but did not tell him that every extra dollar we got hold of went to the Howard
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City bank to reduce that note. It was one beautiful day the first part of My ril we met Mr. Church in front of where Chapple & Skeoch's office is now located that he took us by the hand and inquired as to how we were getting along. Proud as a boy with a pair of new boots we took the note he had indorsed out of our pocket aud showed it to him. We will never forget his congratulations. He said : 'Allow me to congratulate you, Fred. This is the first note I have indorsed the past ten years I haven't had to renew from one to ten times, and some I have had to pay.'
"We took so much wood on subscription one would of thought we were running a wood-yard instead of a newspaper. Having lots of room in the second story of the house we occupied we filled it with corn on subscription at ten cents a crate. Frank Johnson brought in two bushels of beans to pay for a year's subscription. William A. Blanding brought in a sack of four and flour looked so good to your humble servant then that we find we made an item of it in the first issue. In thirteen months we handed Mrs. Hurst the balance due on the outfit.
"The paper has passed through all the trials and tribulations of the aver- age country journal and has had its part in many questions of public inter- est. One question we are most proud to have entered the Vezes has been that of temperance. The paper helped blaze the trail for the success of the temperance cause in this county. Whether it got credit for that or not is of matter of little concern to us. It has helped nominate and elect candi- dates for public favor and assisted in defeating others. The entrance of the News in the fight for the temperance cause brought the combined efforts of the liquor traffic and its sympathizers to put it out of business. A boy- cott was declared but what has happened to the boycotters is a matter of history with which our readers are well acquainted. Several in other lines of business then selling wet goods discontinued their ads, failed in business to the 'jag' cure and went other ways that too close an association with the cup that cheers ( ?) takes men.
"We have damned Grover Cleveland's big panic high and low many times and it never dawned on us until very recently that probably it was the best thing that ever came along for we might still be working as a journey- man printer had conditions not developed as they did. The little we made during the intervening years we will have to credit to this paper. The con- tinuing of the Votes is nowhere near as essential to our well being now as it was at that time. Those who have dammed it up hill and down, did every- thing they could to put us in the bone-yard. have our profound sympathy. They could have employed themselves better with a greater degree of suc-
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cess. To the friends who have ever stood loyally by the paper we owe a debt of gratitude."
HOWARD CITY PUBLICATION.
The Howard City Record was first established by Wayne E. Morris, the first copy coming from the press on August 17. 1872. It was first pub- lished as a four-page folio. The paper has never changed name and has had an important part in the development of its field.
From time to time improvements have been added which now bring it into the class of the best weekly newspapers in the state. It is now an eight-page, seven-column quarto, printed all at home. The Record was the second paper in Montcahn county to add power to its equipment and now has one of the finest plants to be found in a town of the same size. Its circulation has grown to 1,400 copies circulated weekly and it maintains one of the cleanest subscription lists extant.
After abont two years, the paper passed into the hands of V. W. Bruce. a trenchant writer, and an abolitionist of the first water. In about 1877 James IT. ITallack became its editor and three years later sold it to Ed F. Smith, who in turn sold it to Berry J. Lowrey in 1885. Mr. Lowrey was the sole owner and proprietor until January 1, 1903, and under his able management the paper made great strides forward. On this date he sold a half interest to James B. Haskins, a Howard City young man, who had been associated with Mr. Lowrey for some three years. The firm was con- ducted under the name of Lowrey & Haskins for three years and three months, Mr. Haskins assuming entire control on April 1, 1906. Since that time the paper has been strengthened and improved until it has reached an enviable position among the papers of the county and state.
The Record is Republican in politics and has always subscribed itself to the best interests of that party. On several occasions it has been active in seeking to purify local and county conditions and has been mainly suc- cessful. It never enjoyed more influence than at the present time and is considered by the press at large to be a model country weekly. The Record has lent itself strongly in the past few years to the cause of community development and has been most interested in serving its own immediate territory in every way possible, promoting every legitimate enterprise and making a feature of circulating modern and approved "better farming" doctrine.
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NEWSPAPERS OF EDMORE.
The first newspaper printed in Edmore was started by a Mr. Harrison. This began in 1878-about the time the town was started-and existed for about two years, when it finally ceased for lack of support. This was a six- or seven-column folio and was published weekly.
The Edmore Journal was brought forth in the village of Edmore on September 1. 1879. by Dan Youngs. Mr. Youngs was editor and proprie- tor of the paper, which at that time was a five-column quarto, until Febril- ary, 1883. when it passed into the hands of William White. Mr. White, being a man of newspaper experience, soon placed the Journal on a firm basis and it began to be a part of the village of Edmore. It was run under this editorship for sixteen years, or until 1899, when it was purchased by A. N. Demory, who was ex-county school commissioner. Mr. Demory being a man inexperienced in the newspaper field, soon saw that he was not adapted for this line of work and sold it to J. R. Warren, after serving as its editor for only eight months. Mr. Warren published the Journal from that time until the final copy was issued, March 28, 1908. At that time it was a six-column quarto. Mr. Warren gave as his reason for closing out the business the passing of the law which does not permit country news- papers to send paper at pound rate to subscribers who are more than one year in arrears. Thus closed a very important chapter in the newspapers of Montcalm county.
The Edmore Times, which is the only active paper in Edmore at the present time, began its career on April 1, 1908. This paper was launched by William White, who has continued editor since its establishment. It formerly was published on Saturday as an eight-colunm folio but later was changed to a six-column quarto, published on Friday. Mr. White has been one of the chief boosters of Edmore, and through the columns of the Times, the interests of Edmore are always herakled. The Times has an actual circulation of 800 copies, and besides a fully-equipped electric news- paper plant also has an up-to-date job printing department, which is one of the largest in the county.
LAKEVIEW ENTERPRISE.
The first newspaper published in Lakeview. called the Lakeview Citi- son, was established by Rev. C. J. Massey. January 21, 1876. Its publica-
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tion was continued for two years, when it was given up. A year later Thomas Rogers established the present paper, the Lakeviere Enterprise, and the first issue was distributed on July 2, 1879. It has changed hands many times. Mr. Rogers was the editor nutil 1888, when he sold it to Clarence C. Gilleo, but he remained in charge only until 1896, when he sold it to 1. 1). Taviland. Then a co-partnership was formed, consisting of F. E. Moore and Leroy Stebbins, in 1902. Stebbins retired from the firm of Stebbins & Moore about three years later. Moore published the paper until September 1. 1910, when it was purchased by the present publisher. Harry C. Tlolmes. Mr. Holmes gets out a very interesting paper, with a circula- tion of 700 copies a week. It has grown to be a six-column, eight-page paper. At first it was only a five-column, four-page. The plant is for- nished complete, having both publishing and job equipment, and takes a leading part in the business and development of the community.
THE CRYSTAL MAIL.
The first issue of the Crystal Mail was published on January 18, 1900. It was founded by W. I .. LaDu and F. T. Massey, who had charge of it for three weeks, when it went into the hands of George J. LaDu and W. L. LaDu. They published the paper about nine months, when the present owner and publisher. C. W. LaDn, purchased the business and has since conducted the same. The circulation is good, Mr. LaDu printing and send- ing out 650 to 675 copies a week. The paper was at first a six-column folio, but has since grown to be a six-column quarto. The equipment of the plant is excellent, having installed up-to-date machinery and all possible conven- iences. Mr. L.aDu owns the building, which was erected expressly for the business. This paper takes a leading part in business and political history of its community, and is a power for good. Its editor is ever alive to the best interests of the people, and always ready and willing to champion their cause.
M'BRIDE REVIEW.
The McBride Review was founded by W. C. Shannon, and the first issue was sent out on December 13, 1893. The first paper was only nine by sixteen inches, but now it is a six-column quarto. Mr. W. C. Shannon is still the editor and gets out a very interesting paper, which has a circula- tion of 480 copies per week -- a goodly number for a small town. The plant
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is fully equipped for doing newspaper and job work. Mr. Shannon is a hustler and has made his paper a power for good in his community.
CARSON CITY GAZETTE.
Along back in the seventies there was a man by the name of Arms who. started a paper in Carson City. Dick Arms, who came up there from Port- land, having worked on the Portland Observer, and wanted to branch out in life for himself, started the paper. I do not know what he called it, but I can remember seeing an old heading around the shop with the word "Commercial" on it. Well, things were too warm for Dick, so he sold to Julian Newman, another Portland boy, and also a pupil of the Observer office. Newman lasted quite a while. He had a thousand dollars and it had to be spent. Newman changed the name of the paper and did some other stunts to try to make it hive. But he got swamped and the property got into the hands of George Stone, then a lawyer of that town. Stone had no use for a newspaper plant, so he looked for a purchaser. This time it was a man by the name of C. F. Hager, another Portland printer, and also a graduate of the Observer. It was in 1883 that Hager went to Carson City and started to make his fortune. He changed the name of the paper to the Bee, and started right out with a red hot political sheet. He took the Republican side, and got every Democrat in the town against him right on the start.
That was the condition as I found it when I landed in Carson City via stage from Pewamo on the ist of November, 1884. I worked for Hager for nearly two years, at the end of which time I bought him out. The office was then located in the second story of the Cummings building, and the equipment was not very great .. In order to keep up with my predecessors and also because I did not like to be called the "Buzzard," I, too, changed the name of the paper. It took me a week to settle that name, and that was in 1886, and I am glad to see it a sticker. But I must not forget to say in this bit of history that I. too, was from Portland and also a type slinger in the Observer office. Four of us went the same road to a certain extent. July 1. 1890. I sold the property to A. L. Bemis, who was then teaching school in Nashville, Michigan.
The improvement in the Gasette has. I think, kept up with the times and the town. When I bought it the sheet was printed on a little army press, one page at a time. It was a seven-column folio, two pages printed at home. I enlarged it to a five-column quarto, four pages printed at home.
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Now you have a six-columnm quarto, and it is nicely printed and a very wel- come caller. It is the wish of the writer to see the Gasette live long and prosper, as we cannot help but have a soft spot in our heart for the enter- prise that we helped put upon the map of commercial industry and guided it through its first years of existence.
The above is written by former Editor C. G. Bailey, who is now employed on the Belding Banner, and who sold the Gazette to A. L. Bemis, who died on August 5. 1912.
1I. E. Cowdin purchased the Carson City Gazette on July 1, 1911. Mr. Cowdin's father. C. H. Cowdin, established the Rockford ( Michigan) Register in 1871, which paper his brother, C. R. Cowdin, took charge of in 1883. owing to the father's ill health. He left it in 1889 to establish the Belding (Michigan) Banner. H. E. Cowdin took the management of the Register and conducted it until September, 1910. Mr. Cowdin. when he began editing the Register, was but eighteen years old. This paper was conducted by the Cowdin family for nearly forty years.
The Gaseite is a good newspaper property and is better equipped than an ordinary office in towns the size of Carson City and even larger. It has an average subscription list which has been increased over 200 in the past two years and a half and is still growing.
Mr. Cowdin issnes special holiday numbers each year and frequently is obliged to use twelve pages for his paper. The paper has a fine adver- tising patronage from the home merchants, which shows their appreciation of its quality. It is a fine example of a successful weekly paper, conducted with care and foresight and made valuable by its high quality, which meets the approval of all its readers. The Gazette has practically always used the Western Newspaper Union Service.
CHAPTER XXXIL.
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
The medical profession in Montcalm county has invariably been char- acterized by that high regard for the demands of a great profession, one which more closely, perhaps, than any other calling touches the lives of a people. The physician comes into the home at a time when the human heart is most susceptible to the sympathies and the tenderness of loving trust and confidence. The art of healing comprises not only the technical knowledge and skill of the scientist, but the human and intimate ministrations that are above and beyond the reach of science.
The physicians of Montcalm county, from the days when the resources of the county were undeveloped, roads wanting and population sparse, have labore d quite unselfishly for the most part to fulfill their high mission as comforters in the hours of distress. As the county has grown in wealth and population, physicians have settled here in greater numbers. Their skill today far surpasses that of those good men who ministered to an earlier generation, but. generally speaking, the devotion of the profession has not changed. The same high sense of honesty and the same rigid standard of professional ethics prevail. Perhaps the professional standard is even higher today than ever before. Whether it is or not, Montcalm county physicians have always worked together in harmony. Professional jeal- onsies are little known. For a number of years they have gathered together several times each year as members of the Montcahn Medical Society. Before this society was organized there was the Union Medical Society of North- ern Michigan, with which many of the Montcalm county physicians were long affiliated. Certain members of this society living outside Montcalm county were made members of the Montcalm society, when the latter was organized.
The Montcalm County Medical Society was organized on September 17. 1902, at a meeting of the physicians of the county held at Stanton, when the following physicians were enrolled as charter members: Doctors W. H. Belknap, S. M. Gleason, A. W. Nichols, H. L. Brower, C. O. Jenison, D. K. Black. C. S. Hudlurn, William H. Lester and John Avery, Greenville; L. S.
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Crutser and James Purdon, Edmore; William P. Gamber and N. E. Bach- man, Stanton; G. S. Townsend, Six Lakes; A. P. Culbertson, Vickeryville; F. R. Blanchard and J. T. Joslin, Lakeview; A. E. Savage, Gowen; R. H. Blaisdell, Sheridan, and C. C. Sayles, Langston.
At the first meeting of the society Dr. John Avery, of Greenville, and Dr. H. L. Bower, of Greenville, were elected president and secretary, respectively. Doctor Bower also acted as treasurer. Dr. N. E. Bachman was named first vice-president; Dr. F. R. Blanchard, second vice-president ; Dr. George O. Stanton, of Belding, third vice-president, and Dr. L. S. Crotser, fourth vice-president. Doctor Bower continued to serve as secre- tary-treasurer of the society from year to year until r915, when he was chosen president. Doctor Avery was re-elected president of the society in 1903, and continued to act as president until the annual meeting of the society in 1900, when he was chosen president emeritus of the society. At this time Dr. F. R. Blanchard was elected president; Dr. J. O. Nelson, first vice-president ; Dr. F. M. Highfield, second vice-president; Dr. W. H. Belk- nap. third vice-president, and Dr. Walter A. Lee, fourth vice-president. In 1910 Dr. J. O. Nelson succeeded Doctor Blanchard as president, and the first. second, third and fourth vice-presidents were Drs. E. M. Highfield. W. H. Belknap, W. A. Lee and I. E. Kelsey. In 1911 Dr. Walter A. Lee was elected president, and Drs. L. E. Kelsey, D. K. Black, A. W. Martin and M. E. Danforth, first. second, third and fourth vice-presidents. In 1912 Dr. L. E. Kelsey was elected president, and Drs. D. K. Black, M. E. Danforth, A. B. Penton and A. J. Bower, vice-presidents. In 1913 Dr. D. K. Black, of Greenville, was elected president; Dr. James Purdon, of Edmore, vice-president, and Dr. Horace L. Bower, secretary; the offices of second, third and fourth vice-presidents having been abolished. The present officers of the society, elected at the annual meeting held on October 8, 1914, at the Greenville city hall, are Dr. Horace L. Bower, president; Dr. M. E. Danforth, vice-president, and Dr. F. J. Fralick, secretary.
The present members of the Montcalm County Medical Society are as follow : Drs. L. F. Bracey and W. A. Lee, Sheridan; E. P. Bruce, Trufant ; I. E. Kelsey and H. N. Flexner, Lakeview; James Purdon, Edmore; J. O. Nelson and N. W. Miller, Howard City: A. B. Penton, Smyrna; R. B. Smith, Crystal; E. W. Bolio, Coral; A. E. Savage, A. S. Barr. C. O. Jeni- son, W. H. Lester, F. A. Johnson, D. K. Black, F. J. Fralick, H. L. Bower and A. J. Bower, Greenville; M. F. Danforth, Stanton; John R. Hansen, McBride, and G. S. Townsend, Six Lakes. Dr. A. W. Woodburn, of Entri- can, until recently a member of the society, has removed to Hastings.
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EARLY PRACTITIONERS.
The earliest practitioner in the hamlet of Greenville was Dr. Thomas Green, brother of the founder of the city, who came from Chautauqua county, New York, in 1845. and began his professional labors. His resi- (lence, however, was brief. He speedily succumbed to the ravages of the ague, and returned to the East. Later years found him again a resident of Michigan, though not among the scenes of his early pioneer experiences.
Dr. J. B. Chamberlain came from Macomb county in 1850, and estab- lished himself as the second practitioner, and for a brief time was the only one in the primitive settlement. He remained until his death, in 1860.
Dr. Israel B. Richardson, a former resident of Ionia county, arrived in 1852, and remained several years in the practice of his profession. He subsequently moved to Saginaw, and there engaged in professional labor.
Dr. W. E. Darwin closed his career as a practicing physician in Green- ville in 1852, having been for two years a resident of the place.
Dr. f. F. Skinner arrived in 1851, and soon gained a lucrative prac- tice, which was continued until his death. in 1853.
Dr. Comfort Slawson, a former resident of New York state, chose Greenville as a place of settlement in 1853. He remained many years, dur- ing which a large and successful practice was enjoyed. He later moved to Maple Valley, and died there.
Dr. W. H. Ellsworth early pursued his studies at Woodstock, Vermont. and completed the course in Montreal, Canada. At the solicitation of friends he made Greenville his home in 1855. His practice, which was large and successful, extended over a period of eight years, when failing health compelled a temporary residence in a more genial climate. His death occurred in the year 1864.
Dr. J. B. Drummond was a graduate of the Albany, New York, Medi- cal College, and on the completion of his studies moved to Oakland county, Michigan, where he engaged in practice. At the expiration of one year he came to Greenville. where he pursued his profession until failing health obliged him to relinquish it. His death occurred in 1876.
Dr. E. Rogers came from Ohio to the city in 1864. He at once began the practice of medicine, which was continued until his death, in 1872.
Dr. H. I .. Bower studied his profession and was graduated at the Albany Medical College in 1864, becoming a resident of Greenville in 1865. He continued in practice until his removal from the city, in 1869. He
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returned in 1879. and is now actively engaged in professional work with his son, Dr. A. J. Bower. An extended sketch of Dr. H. L. Bower appears in the biographical section of this volume.
Dr. C. F. Morgan, having graduated at the Yale Medical College, New Haven, in 1866, moved soon after to Mount Morris, New York, where he followed his profession until his removal to Greenville, in 1868. For many years he was the surgeon for the old Detroit, Lansing & Northern railroad.
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