USA > Michigan > Oakland County > History of Oakland County, Michigan, with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, palatial residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and important manufactories > Part 20
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The excitement over the election of 1837 was intense, and the editorials were hot and intemperate in both papers. The trial of Irish vs. Wisner, brought to recover the stakes of a bet, was reported at length in the Courier, and the doings of the witnesses and parties were spread before the readers of the paper, and commented on by the exchanges east and south just in the vein their political sympathies biased them. One Prosser was given a ticket to read, to identify it with one he claimed to have voted. He looked it over awhile, and, being urged by Wisner to read it, handed it back and said, "If you want it read, read it yourself, G- you !" Gantt drew a chair and threatened to knock Wisner down during the progress of the trial, which bit of pleasantry Wisner called on the court, Esquire Henderson, to protect him from, but which the court declined of do, whereupon Wisner drew a pair of pistols from his pocket and proceeded with his argument unmolested. The excitement all died away and has been forgotten, except to be laughed over by the old pioneers.
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J. Dowd Coleman succeeded Fletcher & Co. in the ownership of the paper in the early part of 1840, the name of which he changed to the Jeffersonian. Coleman, soon after the election of 1840, sold the paper to W. M. Thompson, who restored its former name of the Courier, and continued its publication until November 23, 1842, when one William Sherwood succeeded to the proprietary, and removed the material first to Corunna, where the paper appeared as the Shia- wassee Democrat and Clinton Express, and after a time to Flint.
Mr. McCracken, of Detroit, who is at present engaged in compiling a valuable work, entitled " Michigan in the Centennial," was a 'prentice in the Courier office, under Thompson.
THE PONTIAC ADVERTISER AND DEMOCRATIC BALANCE
was first issued in the summer of 1836, shortly after the suspension of the Patriot, by Nicholas S. Gantt, editor and manager. It was Democratic in its politics, and spoke its sentiments without reserve or polish. It and the Courier carried on a wordy war through the columns of the respective sheets during the entire exist- ence of the Balance, which finally suspended December 20, 1837.
THE PONTIAC HERALD
was established in the winter of 1838 by W. S. Stevens, who conducted it as a Democratic paper until June, when he sold his interest in the same to Benjamin Irish, who continued its publication until January 1, 1839, when Irish disposed of the office and material, and it was removed to Flint. A. W. Hovey, Esq., edited the Herald, while Irish published it.
THE PONTIAC REFORMER
was issued for a short time' in 1840 by Samuel Cudgel (an appropriate name for a reformer); but the great fire which devastated Pontiac business houses, June 30, 1840, laid waste the Reformer so thoroughly it never appeared again.
THE PONTIAC JACKSONIAN
was established in the spring of 1838, the first number appearing March 24. Its founders were Eldredge and Denton, the former being afterwards judge of the county court of Oakland County. In 1840, Eldredge disposed of his interest in
the paper to Augustus W. Hovey, who, with Denton, continued the publication until the spring of 1844, when the firm of Denton & Hovey sold the Jacksonian to Julius C. Smith and A. W. Adams (known then, as now, as " Wash" Adams). The new proprietors continued to issue the paper for a time,-two or more years, -when they disposed of their interest, and from 1851 to 1855 the Jacksonian was under the control of Wm. W. Phelps, an eminent politician and writer, and who afterwards removed to Red Wing, Minnesota, where he became prominent in the politics of that State. After Mr. Phelps retired from the paper Judge A. C. Baldwin was for a time owner of the paper, and sold it to Mr. Peabody in 1862- 63. In 1864, D. H. Solis acquired a half-interest in the Jacksonian, and soon after became sole owner, and so continued until his death, in June, 1871, H. M. Look, Esq., editing the same in 1865-67. On the death of Mr. Solis, his widow continued the publication until September following, when she disposed of a half- interest therein to Wm. B. Cole, and for a time the paper was issued by Cole & Solis, Mr. Cole succeeding to the sole management and ownership of the same in 1872. In May of that year a Mr. Sheridan purchased a half-interest in the Jack- sonian, and in the fall succeeding the paper and material was removed by the new firm to Ludington, where it soon after appeared, and is still published, as the Ludington Appeal. The Jacksonian was ably edited during a portion of its ca- reer, and held an influential position in the councils of the Democratic party, of whose policy and measures it was ever a stanch advocate. Ransom R. Belding was the associate editor in 1840, and on the opening of the new volume, No. 3, the sheet was enlarged and provided with a new dress and clean face. It was then a six-column folio.
In the Jacksonian of March, 1840, a catechism appeared, impeaching General Harrison's military genius, taken from the Nashville Union, and from that time forward, during the fierce political campaign that followed, there was but little local news in its columns. In fact, both the Courier and Jacksonian filled their columns with politics, to the exclusion of almost everything else interesting. The marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert was duly chronicled, and thenceforward the squibs and jokes at the royal couple's expense flew fast and furious. Caleb Buck- nam, sheriff of Oakland County, was removed from office by Governor Wood- bridge for alleged malfeasance, but the people took him up and re-elected him to fill his own vacancy. In the fall of 1840, however, he proved to be a defaulter, indeed, and ran away with certain funds, and the Jacksonian "went for" him without gloves. On the burning of the " Caroline," and murder of Woods by Captain McLeod, which provoked so much diplomacy between Great Britain and the United States, the Jacksonian came down strong on any disposition to give McLeod up. He was tried in the Utica (New York) court, and acquitted. In the issue of May 7, 1841, appeared some poetry (?), one verse of which was as follows :
" Gone, gone forever am the hope For which I long have thirsted ; Ann Maria has taken slope, And I am done and busted."
The issues of June, 1841, contained the conjectures of the press on the loss of the steamer " President" at sea, with all on board. It was stated in one of the July issues that " a man by the name of Grouse had been stealing pigeons from Mr. Quail. Constable Hawk pounced on him, and carried him before Justice Wolf."
In June, 1841, General Macomb, "general-in-chief" of the United States armies, died, and General Scott was appointed his successor.
The first page of the issue of October 1, 1841, was displayed after this fashion :
DEMOCRATIC NOMINATIONS:
FOR GOVERNOR, JOHN S. BARRY.
FOR LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, ORIGEN D. RICHARDSON.
FOR SENATORS,
ISAAC WIXOM,
D. B. WAKEFIELD. ·
For Representatives,
ALFRED H. HANSCOM, JOHN S. LIVERMORE, JOSEPH ARNOLD, SAMUEL AXFORD, JR.
HENRY S. BABCOCK, JOHN A. WENDELL,
FOR COUNTY COMMISSIONER, WM. M. AXFORD. Motto: SPECIE-PAYING BANKS, OR NO BANKS.
In February, 1842, Robert Golden offered one mill reward to any person who would apprehend and return to him a certain apprentice who had " walked away" from him, provided the party returning the same came prepared to make his own
56
HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
change, and added an intimation that no extra pains need be taken to effect the apprehension of the walk-away.
The issue of March 18, 1842, reported the decision of the supreme court of the United States declaring unconstitutional the laws of free States giving run- away slaves the right of trial, and the editor said the decision " knocked the linch-pin out of the main wheel of the abolition car, and would have a salutary effect in repressing the incendiary movements of the abolitionists, and in quieting the just apprehensions of the South." Subsequent results hardly justified the prediction. That spring the abolitionists of Pontiac nominated a full town ticket, but, of course. came nowhere near of electing them.
The Jacksonian waxed facetious over its report of Congressional news, and gave the national body a palpable hit. Thus, " Congress .- Messrs. Stanley and Wise had a bit of a fight while returning from a horse-race, and it is supposed a duel will grow out of it. No other Congressional news."
May 12 a frost cut off the fruit prospects of the year almost entirely, and June 10 another visit of the " eager and nipping" norther killed much of the late- sown wheat.
In the July 29 issue the editor published some extracts of a " pome," entitled " Euphalia," wherein, through sixteen stanzas, " Euphalia" pictured her woes, brought upon her by an unfortunate union with a " brute of a man ;" but the "poetry" was not appreciated by the unappreciative soul of the Jacksonian man, who thus waved his farewell to his correspondent : " There, Euphalia, you may go now. Darn your husband's stockings; hang your harp on the pig weeds, and never attempt to write poetry again." In justice to the editor we quote one of the two verses he published :
"I cannot leave my child in his hands ; He forced me to give him a deed of my lands ; The deed I burnt, the land to save, For my boy when I am in the grave."
It is, perhaps, just as well that the editor nipped that sprouting genius in the bud.
On the 24th of August, James G. Birney addressed a large anti-slavery gather- ing in Pontiac. "Tariff" and " no tariff" were the party slogans from 1842 and forward till after the campaign of 1844.
In July, 1843, Mrs. J. Durkee and Miss Susan Dickinson spun one hundred knots of woolen yarn each, and reeled it all on one reel, between sunrise and five o'clock of the same day, and the Jacksonian pointed the lady readers of the item to the fact, as worthy of their emulation.
THE PONTIAC GAZETTE.
On the first day of January, 1843, J. Dowd Coleman issued the first number of the Genesee Herald at Flint, and continued to publish the same at that point as a Whig paper until January, 1844, when the Herald ceased, and Coleman brought his material to Pontiac; and on Wednesday, the 7th day of February, 1844. he issued the first number of the Oakland Gazette, upholding the same po- litical sentiments. On the 1st of March following, W. M. Thompson succeeded to the paper, and continued its publication for some years, and was succeeded by J. B. Seymour for a time, Thompson re-entering into possession April 1, 1850. In January, 1854, Z. B. Knight succeeded to the proprietorship of the Gazette, and changed the name to its present title, and conducted the same until some time in the year 1858, when he disposed of the office to M. E. N. Howell and R. H. Hosmer, the latter retiring in June of the same year. Charles B. Howell was associated in the ownership and editorial management of the paper in 1861, and in 1863 the Howells were succeeded by Beardslee & Turner, who found but an apology for an office, the establishment being run down and badly managed. Beardslee was succeeded by Rann in 1867, and the latter by Tomlinson in 1868, who retired in June, leaving Mr. Turner sole manager for a short time; Mr. Rann coming into the paper again in September, and continuing therein until 1872, when the present proprietors. C. F. Kimball and C. B. Turner, under the name and style of the Pontiac Gazette Company, became the owners of the office. Mr. Turner became first connected with the paper in 1863, and found it had been conducted by non-professional printers, and was scarcely worthy the name of a newspaper, and the new firm at once began to renovate the office and build up the business of the same. They removed into new and clean quarters, added new material as the demands of the office called for it, and these improvements were continued throughout Mr. Turner's entire connection with the establishment, the present proprietors adding, in 1874, steam-power to their office. The Gazette is now printed on a first-class Potter cylinder press, and is a sheet thirty-six by forty-eight inches, eight pages of seven columns each. Its mechanical appearance is neat and clean, and its advertising columns well filled and displayed. The job office is second to none in the State, outside of Detroit, in point of equipment,
and its press facilities are even equal to those of the city. The circulation of the Gazette is nearly sixteen hundred copies weekly, and it is the largest paper in the congressional district. It is ably conducted by Mr. Kimball, whose labors in behalf of the Republican cause have been acknowledged by his appointment to the postmastership of Pontiac. The politics of the Gazette have been Whig and Republican, " without variableness or shadow of turning." It is high-toned in its editorials and radical in the defense of what its editor deems the right.
THE BILL-POSTER.
The first number of the Bill-Poster was issued January 14, 1868, by William P. Nesbett. It was continued by its founder as a gratuitous advertising sheet, under the compound cognomen of Bill-Poster and Monthly Visitor, until the July number, when it was enlarged from its original size of a folio, sixteen by twenty-two inches, and fifty cents per annum charged for its subscription price. Two thousand copies had been distributed monthly. March 1, 1869, it was en- larged again to nearly double the size of its first appearance, and in April, J. C. Vial bought a half interest, and the firm of Nesbett & Vial continued the publi- cation to March 20, 1871, when Nesbett succeeded to the sole ownership again. On July 7, 1869, the first weekly issue appeared. On June 28, 1871, the paper was enlarged another column, and Nesbitt continued the publication alone until January 1, 1874, at which date Elbert J. Kelly purchased a half-interest, and this new firm continued to issue the paper until January 1, 1876, when Mr. Kelly became sole proprietor, and so continues at the present time. On the 30th of May, 1877, he enlarged the paper to nine columns, the sheet being twenty- eight by forty-four inches. In February, 1877, the Bill-Poster was furnished with a new dress throughout, and presents a remarkably neat and fresh appear- ance. From very small beginnings, and against the combined prestige of two old-established papers, the Jacksonian and the Gazette, which had for many years occupied the field, the founder of the Bill-Poster, by persistent energy, placed the new candidate for the public favor on a sound and prosperous basis. Its office is now furnished with steam-presses, and a well-selected assortment of job and news type and material, and has every facility required for turning out all kinds of job work with neatness and dispatch. Previous to July 19, 1871, the Bill-Poster had not meddled with politics, being neutral and silent on that subject, but in the issue of that date the editor announced the paper as thereafter an advocate of the Democratic policy and measures, and it is at the present time the only paper advocating that policy in the county. For six years it has been the official paper of the city of Pontiac, and since January 1, 1877, it has occu- pied the same relation to the county.
THE PONTIAC COMMERCIAL
was established in 1876, the first number appearing June 20, by Charles H. Chapman & Brother. It was, at first, a six-column folio, but enlarged April 10, 1877, to eight columns. It is independent in politics, and the prime object of the publishers is to make their sheet a spicy, fresh, local newspaper. It is well patronized, having already a circulation of one thousand copies weekly, besides a fair share of the advertising patronage of the community.
THE COMMERCIAL PRINTING HOUSE
was established in December, 1876, by Egbert Champlin, in the same building with the Pontiac Commercial, 136 Saginaw street. It does a general jobbing business, and makes a specialty of printing transparent cards. The office is now located on East Lawrence street, whither it removed the fore part of July, 1877.
THE HOLLY REGISTER
was the first newspaper established at Holly. Its first issue appeared in 1865, under the control of a Mr. Crawford, who continued its publication about a year, and then sold the paper to E. Frank Blair. On the 29th of May, 1869, Henry Jenkins purchased it, and has continued its publication since to the present. The Register is a seven-column folio, and its weekly edition numbers some five hundred copies. It is printed on a hand-press, said to be the first one introduced into Oakland County, having been long used in Pontiac. It is a " patent," one side being printed in Chicago and one side printed at home.
THE HOLLY CIRCULAR
was started in 1872, by Fish & Frain, who ran it six months, when Frain stepped out and Fish continued to circulate the Circular alone for half a year longer, when the circle of its first year and the Circular also was completed, and the publication ceased for a time. Le Roy O. Fallis, a tip-top printer, then took possession of the office and resuscitated the Circular, and sent it out among the people for eighteen months or thereabouts, when it was again suspended and the office material scattered by piecemeal over the country. Fallis made the Circular
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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
a very readable and spicy sheet, but was so radical on temperance he lost his patronage.
THE HOLLY TIMES,
an eight-column folio, was established in December, 1875, by Thomas V. Perkins. It was a live sheet, and had sixteen columns of home advertisements. It was all printed at home, and had a circulation of about five hundred copies weekly, but, owing to unforeseen difficulties, it dwindled away, and finally ceased to be.
THE OAKLAND ADVERTISER,
a four-column folio, was established May, 1877, by Fred. Slocum. It is neutral in politics, and issues an edition of about one thousand copies monthly. It reaches the hearts (and pockets) of the business men, as appears by its large advertising patronage.
THE ROYAL OAK EXPERIMENT
has but just started out on its career, being but six months old, and is as yet an undemonstrated experiment. It is conducted by a young gentleman and lady (brother and sister), and is somewhat of an amateur adventure.
THE OXFORD ENTERPRISE
was the first attempt at journalism in the village of Oxford, but it was a feeble effort, and the enterprise was of short duration, and after a few issues the publi- cation was suspended.
THE OXFORD TIMES
was a second venture, as brief in its existence as its predecessor. S. A. Fitzpat- rick brought the weakling to the birth, and successfully accouched it, but it proved to be of insufficient vitality to weather the adversities of journalism, and soon ceased to be.
THE OXFORD WEEKLY JOURNAL
made its appearance on the 15th day of May, 1875, as a neat seven-column folio, published by Waggott & Stair. In May, 1876, Mr. Stair disposed of his interest in the paper, and the publication was continued by Waggott & Stoddard, who en- larged the sheet to eight columns. In January, 1877, the Journal passed into the ownership of the present proprietors, Stoddard & Wait, who are conducting it in a satisfactory and popular manner. The circulation has steadily increased from the first issue until at present its weekly edition numbers one thousand copies. Its typography and general mechanical appearance is neat and tasteful, and it is printed in a fine building erected especially for its use.
THE MILFORD TIMES
was established by I. P. Jackson, its present proprietor, in 1871, the first num- ber appearing February 18 of that year. It was first printed on a small cottage press, and in size was about twelve by eighteen inches. At the expiration of six months a No. 6 Washington hand-press and other printing-material were added to the office, and the paper enlarged to an eight-column folio. The Times is the pioneer paper, being the first one published in the village. In politics it is inde- pendent, and is liberally patronized by both political parties. It has a good, healthy circulation, and a fair advertising patronage.
In August, 1871, T. B. Fox, of Saginaw, located at Milford, and established
THE MILFORD WEEKLY ERA.
It was first issued as a six-column folio, and was subsequently enlarged to eight columns. After an existence of about a year and a half, its publisher received .an advantageous offer, and accepted the same, and removed the paper to Rochester, where he issued it as
THE ROCHESTER ERA,
the first number appearing May 22, 1873. It is at present a neat eight-column folio, twenty-six by forty inches, independent in politics, has a good, healthy, in- creasing circulation, and fair advertising patronage. It is mainly devoted to local news and the interests of Rochester, which latter it advocates freely and fearlessly, according to the editor's idea of the fitness of things.
THE ROCHESTER SUN
began to shine May 19, 1876, under the manipulation of Van Burget & Macoy, the latter being a practical printer who writes its editorials and sets 'em up, and works the press, being editor, typo, pressman, and Mephistopheles at one and the same time. The orbit of the Sun is a fair one and gradually increasing in area, and its advertising patronage is also fair for the business of the village. It " shines for all" politically, being independent in that direction. Its mechanical appearance is neat, and its columns are devoted to the interests of the village of Rochester mainly.
THE ORION GOOD NEWS
was the first newspaper published in Orion. It was established in or about 1873 by Rev. J. R. Cordon, editor and proprietor, and was devoted to temperance and 8
religious reform and local news. It was a small sheet, published semi-monthly, and its publication was continued by its founder for about two years, when the publication passed into the hands of James W. Seeley, who continued its issue for about a year longer. In September, 1876, Mr. Seeley began the publication of a live seven-column folio, called
THE ORION WEEKLY TIMES.
It is independent in politics, and casts its influence on the side of temperance and reform, and is well patronized, both in advertising and subscription.
CHAPTER XI.
× LITERARY.
LEGEND OF ME-NAH-SA-GOR-NING-POEMS AND ADDRESS BY HON. HENRY M. LOOK-SELECTIONS FROM THE PIONEERS' RECORD.
LITERARY excellence belongs theoretically to regions where man has attained his highest development ; where all the avenues of knowledge known to earth are open to him who seeks the heights
"Whence Fame's proud temple shines afar ;"
where civilization has become crystallized by gradual processes into that condition which men call enlightenment. The wild life of the pioneer is not favorable to the cultivation of luxuries, either physical or mental ; and. the critic who should demand results which attach only to an ancient order of things from a young and undeveloped people would be as foolish and inconsistent as he who should expect " figs from thistles," or the exquisite melody of the organ from the harsh war-drum of the Dah-co-tah.
It is true that a certain love for the beautiful and the ideal is sometimes present amid the roughest and most uncultivated community, like the glittering diamond in the muddy waters of Caffraria, but it is the exception which only proves the general rule. The grand old English "Elegy," the "Thanatopsis" of our own veteran poet, and that master-piece of English composition, "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage," could never have been produced from the surroundings of the back- woodsman, independent of the influences of a higher civilization.
All composition is en rapport with the antecedents and present surroundings of its author. An intuitive taste, knowledge obtained by extensive travel, and ripe scholarship are necessary to the production of those exquisite models of literary composition which, " like the lovely master-piece of the Grecian artist," blend all the perfections in one marvelous ideal.
But we may, perhaps with truth, believe that the development and progress of the present inhabitants of the United States of America has been without pre- cedent or parallel in all those branches of human industry which tend to elevate and adorn the race. A nation has sprung, as it were in a day, into the full vigor and understanding of mature years. The arts and sciences flourish in mighty rivalry of the Eastern world, and the cultivation of poesy is advancing with won- derful strides to the proud position once the glory of Greece and Rome. Where lately stood the rude wigwam of the savage rises the finished and beautiful tem- ple, and the appliances of civilization are fast replacing the rougher accompani- ments of border life.
In support of these propositions we append a chapter, compiled from the pro- ductions of various individuals who were " native, to the manor born," or adopted citizens and residents of Oakland County. There are passages in this collection as fine as any in the English tongue, and others which are given merely as char- acteristic samples of primitive literature.
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