History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 14

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1168

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The second paper was the Amoskeag Memorial, be- gun January 1, 1840, by Joseph C. Emerson. Jan- uary 6, 1841, its name was changed to Manchester Memorial. Joseph Kidder became its editor February 17, 1841, at which time he sold to Mr. Emerson the People's Herald, which he had published at Pembroke for two months previous, having issued four numbers. The Memorial then assumed the double title of Man- chester Memorial and People's Herald and kept it till June 5, 1842, when the latter half was dropped. May 26, 1841, Mr. Emerson associated with himself as publisher O. D. Murray, and in the succeeding Jan- uary, when Mr. Kidder resigned the editorship, the publishers announced themselves as editors. The establishment was bought, September 2, 1842, by Samuel F. Wetmore and A. A. Wallace, who con- tinued its publishers till August 21, 1844, when Mr. Wallace retired and left the paper in the hands of Mr. Wetmore, the senior partner. Its name was changed, September 6, 1844, to that of Manchester American. In September, 1845, Mr. Wetmore started the Semi- Weekly American, of which John H. War- land was editor. April 17, 1846, the establishment passed into the hands of James O. Adams, who at once discontinued the semi-weekly issue. He re- mained the publisher and editor of the American till May, 1852, when, having another weekly paper upon his hands, he sold the American to General Joseph C. Abbott and Edward A. Jenks. A few weeks later they bought the Saturday Messenger, Henry A. Gage, one of the owners of the latter, being admitted to part- nership, and they published the American and Messen- ger under the name of Abbott, Jenks & Co., Mr. Abbott being the editor. A daily had been issued during the campaign of 1848, and again in 1850 during the progress

of the Parker murder trial, but the first regular issue of religions and temperance journal, under the name of

1 Resigned April 15, 1856.

3 Died May 31, 1865.

2 Elected to fill vacancy.

4 Elected to fill vacancy.

the Manchester Daily American occurred September 4, 1854. Charles G. Warren subsequently bought the in- terest of the two junior partners, and the publication was continued by Abbott & Warren. Both the daily and weekly were sold in 1857 to John H. Goodale, of the Manchester Democrat, and united with that paper.

Upon the appearance of the Memorial, in January, 1840, John Caldwell, of the Representative, began the publication of a neutral and literary paper of the size of the new sheet, with the title of the Manchester Magazine, whose matter was selected from what had once appeared in his own paper. This was continued but three months.

July 4, 1840, Joseph C. Emerson, of the Memorial, began the publication of the Manchester Workman.

The Star of Bethlehem was established January 2, 1841, and was continued here about one year and removed to Lowell.

The Literary Souvenir was a weekly paper which was begun in Lowell, in 1838, by A. B. F. Hildreth, but in its fourth year was removed to Concord, and four months later to this city. Emerson & Murray, of the Memorial, were its publishers, and S. H. Napoleon Bonaparte Everette was its editor. He was an eceen- tric man, who styled himself "Rag Emperor," and his name was printed in the paper with that title. The Iris and Literary Record was a monthly magazine, which had been published at Hanover by E. A. Allen, but in the summer of 1842 was bought by Emerson & Murray and removed to Manchester. Mr. Everette was the editor of both this and the Sourenir. These two were united the 1st September and pub- lished under the name of the Iris and Souvenir. Mr. Murray soon after retired, and left Mr. Emerson in sole possession of the business. The latter, in De- cember, 1842, began the Semi- Weekly Advertiser, which was edited by Colonel Isaac Kinsman, of Pembroke, and was continued but four or five weeks. In January, 1843, Mr. Emerson sold all his newpaper property to Willard N. Haradon, who bought at the same time the interest of the senior partner in the Manchester Allodium, whose first number was issued, January 14, 1843, by James Bursiel and a man of the name of IIamlet, the second number bearing the names of Hamlet & Haradon. The Allodium was a neutral and literary paper, ornamented with cheap engravings on wood. This firm continued its publication till April 8, 1843, when E. D. Boylston, now the editor of the Farmers' Cabinet at Amherst, purchased it of them, and also bought the Iris and Sourenir of Mr. Haradon, continuing both papers under different names and in a different fashion. The _Illodium became the Mun- chester Transcript, which was removed a few months later to Great Falls and there deceased, and instead of Iris and Souvenir, he established, in August, 1845, a the New Hampshire Magazine, which was published for a year and was then discontinued.

In 1857, J. H. Goodale bought the Daily American

HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

and American and Messenger, continued the publica- tion of the former and united the latter with the Democrat, under the name of the Democrat and Ameri- con. Soon afterwards Simeon D. Farnsworth, then a school-teacher of Concord, came to this city and entered into partnership with Goodale, and the

1861 the latter bought out his partner and continued the sole proprietor till April, 1803, when, having be- come a paymaster in the army, he leased the daily and weekly to Gage, Moore & Co. Henry A. Gage, Orren . Moore, James O. Adams), and the name Democrat was dropped from the title. In August, 1863, O. C. Moore sold his interest to Sylvester C. Gould. In December. 1563, Mr. Farnsworth bought back the lease and sold both papers to John B. Clarke, who united them with the Mirror. The last issue of the Daily American was dated December. 26, 1863.

The Gleaner was issued November 12, 1842, its pub- lisher being William 1. Hall and its editor John Cald- well. It was suspended in the latter part of 1845.

The Manchester Palladium, another of Mr. Cald- well's enterprises, was begun May 21, 1846, and continued about six months.

The White Mountain Torrent was published here a few months in 1843.

The Manchester Operative was begun Saturday, December 30, 1843, by Willard N. Haradon, and discontinued November 16, 1844.

The Independent Democrat was begun in this city May 1, 1845, by Robert C. Wetmore. It was re- moved after a few weeks to Concord, and was subse- quently united with the Independent Statesman.

July 3, 1845, was issued the first number of the Manchester Mercantile Advertiser, published by Charles H. Chase. It was suspended after an ex- istence of nearly five months, and then Mr. Chase began the publication of the Manchester Saturday Messenger, November 29, 1845. The Messenger ap- peared March 28, 1846, with J. E. Davis, Jr., and Israel P. Chase as publishers. E. D. Davis took Mr. Chase's place in the firm on the 15th of August of the same year. They continued its publication till March 20, 1847, when they disposed of the es- tablishment to William H. Gilmore and Israel P. Chase. Joseph Kidder, who had been its editor from the start, resigned his charge at the close of the second volume, November 20, 1847. Mr. Chase was thereafter the principal editor till he retired from the paper, Inne 24, 1548. Subsequently, Henry A. Gage bought Mr. Gilmore's interest, and May 26, 1849, associated with him Francis F. Forsaith, who then became the editor. He withdrew January 25, 1851, and was succeeded by Benjamin F. Wallace, who had been for several years the principal of Piscata- quog Village Academy. In 1852 it was sold to Abbott, Jenks & Co. (Joseph C. Abbott, Edward A. Jenks and Henry A. Gage), the owners of the American, and united with that paper.

The New Hampshire Temperance Banner was es- tablished in 1847, and in about three years removed to Concord.

The Old HIero, a short-lived campaign paper, was issned in 1848 from the office of the Manchester American, in advocacy of the claims of General firm became Goodale & Farnsworth. In the fall of Zachary Taylor for the Presidency.

September 9, 1848, the first number of the Man- chester Telescope was issued by Haradon & Kiely. After an existence of about two years its name was changed by Mr. Haradon, who had become its sole proprietor February 19, 1849, to that of Haradon's Weekly Spy. A subsequent change made it the Man- chester Spy, and under this title it was published till the beginning of 1852, when it was sold to the pub- lishers of the Farmers' Monthly Visitor, and incor- porated with that paper.

The Merchants' Oun Journal was begun in No- vember, 1848, by Haradon & Storer, and was issued for a short time.

About 1849 the late Dr. Thomas R. Crosby, then a practicing physician in Manchester, conceived the idea of publishing an agricultural paper in the city, and at length having associated with himself James O. Adams as publisher, issued the first number of the Granite Farmer February 26, 1850. It was a weekly of eight pages, and, according to the an- nouncement on its first page, was " published under the patronage of the New Hamphire State Agricul- tural Society." At the beginning of the fourth volume, in January, 1853, the Rev. A. G. Comings, of Mason, became associate editor, but he removed from the State about March, 1853, and the twelfth number was the last which bore his name. The paper was sold, October 5, 1853, to the Hon. Chandler E. Potter, and was united not long afterwards with the Farmers' Monthly Visitor.

The Manchester Daily Mirror was started as a morning paper, Monday, October 28, 1850, by Joseph C. Emerson. With the seventh number appeared the name of F. A. Moore as that of the editor. He was succeeded as editor, December 16, 1850, by Edward N. Fuller. Monday, June 23, 1851, it was changed from a morning to an evening paper. Mr. Emerson began, Saturday, February 22, 1851, under the name of the Dollar Weekly Mirror, a weekly paper, made up from the columns of the daily, of which also Mr. Fuller was the editor. In February, 1852, he retired from the editorship, and his place was filled by John B. Clarke. He held the position till September 1st, when Mr. Emerson, who had been engaged in the manufacture of fireworks, lost heavily by fire, and became financially embarrassed. He struggled along till October 20th, when he sold at auction the daily and weekly, which were bought by John B. Clarke, who has owned and edited them ever since. He bought, in 1863, of S. D. Farnsworth, the Daily and Weekly American, in which the Manchester Democrat had been swallowed up, and united the latter with

John 13. Clarke.

MANCHESTER.

the Dollar Weekly Mirror and the former with the Daily Mirror, which has since been known as the Daily Mirror and American. In 1863 he bought of Francis B. Eaton the New Hampshire Journal of Agriculture, which had already absorbed the Granite Farmer and the Farmers' Monthly Visitor, and united it with the weekly, under the name of the Dollar Weekly Mirror and New Hampshire Journal of Agriculture. July 8, 1865, its name was changed to that of Mirror and Farmer, and under this it has since been pub- lished.

COLONEL JOHN B. CLARKE,1 editor and proprietor of the Manchester Mirror .- Among the business en- terprises in which the men of to-day seek fortune and reputation, there is scarcely another which, when firmly established upon a sound basis, seuds its roots so deep and wide, and is so certain to endure and pros- per, bearing testimony to the ability of its creators, as the family newspaper. Indeed, a daily or weekly paper which has gained by legitimate methods an im- mense circulation and a profitable advertising patron- age is immortal. It may change owners and names, and character even, but it never dies, and if, as is usually the case, it owes its early reputation and suc- cess to one man, it not only reflects him while he is associated with it, but pays a constant tribute to his memory after he has passed away.

But, while the rewards of eminent success in the newspaper profession are great and substantial, the road to them is one which only the strong, sagacious and active can travel, and this is especially true when he who strives for them assumes the duties of both publisher and editor. It requires great ability to make a great paper every day, and even greater to sell it extensively and profitably, and to do both is not a possible task for the weak. To do both in an inland city, where the competition of metropolitan journals must be met and discounted, without any of their ad- vantages, requires a man of grip, grit and genius.

In 1852 the Manchester Mirror was one of the smallest and weakest papers in the country. Its weekly edition had a circulation of about six hundred, that of its daily was less than five hundred, and its advertising receipts were extremely small. Alto- gether, it was a load which its owner could not carry, and the whole establishment, including subscription lists, good-will, press, type and material was sold at auction for less than one thousand dollars.

In 1885 the Weekly Mirror and Farmer has a cir- enlation of more than twenty-three thousand and every subscriber on its books has paid for it in advance.

The Daily Mirror and American has a correspond- ingly large and reliable constituency, and neither paper lacks advertising patronage. The office in which they are printed is one of the most extensive and best equipped in the Eastern States out of Boston, In

every sense of the word the Mirror is successful, strong and solid.

The building up of this great and substantial enter- prise from so small a beginning has been the work of John B. Clarke, who bought the papers, as stated above, in 1852, has ever since been their owner, man- ager and controlling spirit, and in spite of sharp ri- valry at home and from abroad and the lack of oppor- tunities which such an undertaking must contend with in a small city, has kept the Mirror, in hard times as in good times, steadily growing, enlarg- ing its scope and influence, and gaining strength with which to make and maintain new advances ; and at the same time has made it yield every year a handsome income. Only a man of pluck, push and perseverance, of courage, sagacity and industry could have done this; and he who has accomplished it need point to no other achievement to establish his title to a place among the strong men of his time.

Mr. Clarke is a native of Atkinson, where he was born January 30, 1820. His parents were intelligent and successful farmers, and from them he inherited the robust constitution, the genial disposition and the capacity for brain-work which have carried him to the head of his profession in New Hampshire. They also furnished him with the small amount of money neces- sary to give a boy an education in those days, and in due course he graduated with high honors at Dart- mouth College, in the class of 1843. Then he became principal of the Meredith Bridge Academy, which position he held for three years, reading law mean- while in an office near by. In 1848 he was admitted to the Hillsborough County bar, from the office of his brother, at Manchester, the late Hon. William C. Clarke, attorney-general of New Hampshire, and the next year went to California. From 1849 until 1851 he was practicing his profession, roughing it in the mines, and prospecting for a permanent business and location in California, Central America and Mexico.

In 1851 he returned to Manchester and established himself as a lawyer, gaining in a few months a prac- tice which gave him a living, but in October of the next year the sale of the Mirror afforded an opening more suited to his talents and ambition, and having bought the property, he thenceforth devoted himself to its development.

He had no experience, no capital, but he had con- fidence in himself, energy, good judgment and a wil- lingness to work for the success he was determined to gain. For months and years he was editor, reporter, business manager, accountant and collector. In these capacities he did an amount of work that would have killed an ordinary man, and did it in a way that told ; for every month added to the number of his patrons, and slowly but steadily his business increased in volume and his papers in influence.

He early made it arule to condense everything that appeared in the colums of the Mirror into the smallest

I From the Bay State Monthly.

HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

possible space, to make what he printed readable as well as reliable, to make the paper better every year than it was the preceding year, and to furnish the weekly edition at a price which would give it an im- mense circulation without the help of traveling agents or the credit system ; and to this policy he has adhered. Besides this, he spared no expense which he judged would add to the value of his publications, and his judgment has always set the bonds far off on the very verge of extravagance. Whatever machine promised to keep his office abreast of the times, and in- crease the capacity for good work, he has dared buy. Whatever man he has thought would brighten and strengthen his staff of assistants he has gone for, and, if possible, got, and whatever new departure has seemed to him likely to win new friends for the Mirror he has made.

In this way he has gone from the bottom of the ladder to the top. From time to time rival sheets have sprung up be-ide him, but only to maintain an existence for a brief period or to be consolidated with the Mirror. All the time there has been sharp competition from publishers elsewhere, but this has only stimulated him to make a better paper and push it successfully in field- which they have regarded as their own.

In connection with the Mirror, a great job-printing establishment has grown up, which turns out a large amount of work in all departments, and where the State printing has been done six years. Mr. Clarke has also published several books, including "Sanborn's History of New Hampshire," "Clarke's History of Man- chester," "Successful New Hampshire Men," " Man- chester Directory" and other works. Within a few years a book-bindery has been added to the establish- ment.

Mr. Clarkestill devotes himselfclosely to his business six hours each day, but limits himself to this period, having been warned by an enforced rest and voyage to Europe, in 1872, to recover from the strain of over- work, that even his magnificent physique could not sustain too great a burden, and he now maintains robust and vigorous health by a systematic and regular mode of life, by long rides of from fifteen to twenty- five miles daily and an annual summer vacation.

In making the Mirror its owner has made a great deal of money. If he had saved it as some others have done, he would have more to-day than any other in Manchester who has done business the same length of time on the same capital. But if he has gathered like a man born to be a millionaire, he has scattered like one who would spend a millionaire's fortune. He has been a good liver and a free giver. All histastes incline him to large expenditures. His home abounds in all the comfort- that money will buy. His farm is a place where costly experiments are tried. He is pas- sionately fond of fine horses, and his stables are always full of those that are highly bred, Heet and valuable. He loves an intelligent dog and a good gun, and is known far and near as an enthusiastic sportsman.

He believes in being good to himself and generous to others, values money only for whatit will buy, and every day illustrates the fact that it is easier for him to earn ten dollars than to save one by being "close."

A business that will enable a man of such tastes and impulses to gratify all his wants and still accumulate a competency for his children is a good one, and that is what the business of the Mirror counting-room has done.

Nor is this all, nor the most, for the Mirror has made the name of John B. Clarke a household word in nearly every school district in Northern New England and in thousands of families in other sections. It has given him a great influence in the politics, the agriculture and the social life of his time, has made him a power in shaping the policy of his city and State, and one of the forces that have kept the wheels of progress mov- ing in both for more than thirty years.

In a word, what one man can do for and with a newspaper in New Hampshire John B. Clarke has done for and with the Mirror, and what a great news- paper can do for a man the Mirror has done for John B. Clarke.

The Manchester Union .- The first Democratic newspaper in Manchester was the Amoskeug Repre- sentatire, started in October, 1839, by John Caldwell. A few months later its name was changed to Man- chester Representative. In 1842 the course of the Representative on important party issues became so dis- tasteful to a majority of the Democrats in the town that measures were taken to establish a new organ, and in April of that year William H. Kimball and Joseph Kidder started the Manchester Demoerat. A few months later Mr. Kidder sold his interest to George W. Morrison and Moody Currier, Mr. Mor- rison subsequently disposing of his share to Mr. Cur- rier, who became associate editor with Mr. Kimball . In October, 1843, Mr. Currier's interest was pur- chased by E. B. Davis, and in the spring of 1844 the paper passed by purchase into the hands of Chand- ler E. Potter, a graduate of Dartmouth, and at that time a practicing attorney. The Representative was discontinued soon after the Democrat was started, and Mr. Caldwell established the Gleaner, a scurrilous sheet, the conduct of which involved the proprietor in numberless difficulties and lawsuits, and finally drove him from the town.

In 1848, Judge Potter, who was a forcible writer and an earnest advocate of Democratic principles, sold the Democrat to John H. Goodale, a native of Deering and a graduate of Wesleyan University, at Middletown, Conn. Mr. Goodale conducted the paper in full accord with the principles of the Dem- ocratie party until 1850, when he evinced a decided tendency to espouse the doctrines of the Free-Soil party, then becoming a prominent factor in national politics.

At the Democratic State Convention in December, 1850, John Atwood, of New Boston, who had been a

MANCHESTER.

Baptist minister and for several years State treasurer, was nominated as candidate for Governor. In the platform adopted by the convention the question of slavery was not specifically mentioned, but the com- promise measures which had just been passed by Con- gress were fully indorsed. Soon after the convention Mr. Atwood, in answer to a letter addressed to him by John H. White and other Free-Soilers, expressed sentiments similar to those held by the leaders of the Free-Soil party. This letter was not immediately published, but when its contents became known to some of the Democratic leaders there was great ex- citement. General Pierce, who believed that Mr. At- wood had written the White letter without due con- sideration, endeavored to persuade him to retrace his steps, if he could conscientiously do so. Thereupon Mr. Atwood signed a letter in which he substantially revoked the sentiments contained in his letter to White. Upon the publication of this letter the Free- Soilers printed his communication to White, though Atwood declared he never gave his consent to its publication. Naturally, Mr. Atwood soon found himself in a most melancholy predicament through his attempt to please both parties. The Democracy, finding there was no way of escaping from the di- lemma in which Atwood had placed them, except by throwing him overboard altogether, immediately called a new convention, repudiated their former can- didate and renominated Samuel Dinsmore, who was then serving his second term as Governor.

Mr. Goodale, as editor of the Democrat, had be- come thoroughly imbued with Free-Soil principles, and sustained Mr. Atwood in the controversy. In this state of affairs the leaders of the Democratic party in Manchester held a meeting on the 28th of December, 1860, to consider the question of starting a new paper which should correctly reflect the prin- ciples of the party. James McK. Wilkins presided, and Joseph Kidder was chosen secretary. On motion of William C. Clarke, it was voted that a committee be appointed to establish a paper which should advocate sentiments in harmony with those of the Democratic party, and the following gentlemen were chosen such committee : Richard H. Ayer, Walter French, Mace Moulton, John S. Kidder, Warren L. Lane, William C. Clarke, A. G. Gale, Isaac C. Flanders, Charles Stark, William A. Putney, S. H. Ayer, I. N. Hays, Silas Tenney, G. P. Prescott, Samuel Dame, James MeQueston, William Boyd, E. W. Harrington, S. W. Parsons, D. P. Perkins, John L. Fitch, J. D. Emer- son, Leonard Lyon, Thomas Rundlett, William B. Johnson, Edward Hall, Lorenzo Dow, S. W. Jones, Charles Rundlett, W. S. Morey, James S. Cheeney, Charles B. Gleason, Sherburne Fogg, Thomas P. Pierce, Isaac Marshall, J. L. Keniston, C. E. Potter, J. McK. Wilkins, Moody Currier, Joseph M. Rowell, Leonard Rundlett, Samuel N. Bell, Robert Ayer, John Stark, Isaac Currier, Franklin Tenney, Nehe- miah Chase, A. Hatch, S. P. Greeley. D. F. Straw,

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History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 14

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis Number of Pages: 1168

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1168