The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 50

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards
Number of Pages: 1220

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The West Jersey Press was bought by the present owner, Sinnicksou Chew, in April, 1862, the negotiations for the purchase being conducted by the late Charles P. Smith, clerk of the New Jersey Supreme Court, and a brother-in-law of the then owner, Colonel S. C. Harbert, who was at that time a pay- master in the army. Colonel Harbert en- tered the editorial field well equipped for its duties by a long and active participation in State and national politics, but whose connec- tion with the army rendered his retirement from newspaper work, in his judgment, im- perative. The first number under the pres- ent ownership was issued May 7, 1862. The office was at that time equipped with a Wash- ington hand-press and an antiquated Ruggles press, they constituting the entire printing machinery of the establishment. The new

proprietor met with a generous support from the beginning, which has continued and in- creased until the present time, and until he has been compelled to enlarge his equipment by the addition of six of the latest improved printing presses, with other material to cor- respond in the various departments, making the West Jersey Printing House one of the largest establishments of the kind in the State. In 1870 the building, fifty by ninety, was erected, the entire third floor being used for newspaper, book and job printing, while the corner room on the first floor is used as a stationery store and business department. Every expense incurred or improvement added to meet the wants of a growing city, have met with popular approval, as has been shown by a marked and permanent increase of business. The West Jersey Press has al- ways been a stanch and outspoken advocate of Republican principles and a firm supporter of the Republican party, its long and con- sistent career having obtained for it a wide influence in political circles. Its original size was twenty-four by thirty-eight inches, but it has been successively enlarged until now it is a thirty-six-column sheet, thirty by forty- six-the third largest paper in the State. Its circulation was never so large as at present.

SINNICKSON CHEW was born January 27, 1830, in Mannington township, Salem County, N. J., where his parents then re- sided. His Christian name indicates his ancestry as being of the Swedes, who settled along the shores of the Delaware River as early as 1638, long before the English or Dutch saw the land. Among those who received deeds from John Fenwick to con- firm their title, the names of Sinnic, Sinnica and Sinnicker occur, and the records of Up- land Court (on the opposite side of the river), which date back to 1676, show this name among the litigants before that tribunal. The blood of the early comers was diffused among the English families, and as a conse-

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quence the name followed the line of rela- tionship and was gradually changed to the present spelling. The direct and collateral branches of the family have always been prominent in the affairs of church and State and still have a firm hold upon the confi- dence and good opinion of the people in Southern Jersey. Equipped with such edu- cation as could be gathered there from the country schools and fancying the business of a printer, Sinnickson Chew, in 1845, entered the office of the Constitution, published at Woodbury, N. J., by A. S. Barber. Here he soon mastered the " art and mystery," and in due time became the " post-boy " to the office. With a horse and sulky he rode the length and breadth of the counties of Camden and Gloucester, distributing the news of the week at every store and cross- roads, where he was a welcome visitor. Per- haps the poet can better describe him as he-

" Who whistles as he goes,-light-hearted wretch, Cold, and yet cheerful, messenger of grief Perhaps to thousands, and of joy to some : To him indifferent whether grief or joy."

In 1851 he left his master's employ and went to Philadelphia, in the composing de- partment of the type foundry of L. Johnson & Co., but the same year he became connected with the National Standard, of Salem, N. J., Charles P. Smith, editor. In a short time, associated with William S. Sharp, he pur- chased this paper and continued its publication, under the firm-name of Sharp & Chew, until 1862, when he made overtures for the pur- chase of the State Gazette, at Trenton, N. J. In this he was defeated by Jacob R. Freese, at that time the lessee, and soon after (May, 1862) he bought the entire interest of the West Jersey Press, of Camden, and became its editor and publisher. He soon infused new life into this journal and made it the leading Republican paper in the western part of the State. Although a forcible writer, and firm in his political convictions, yet he concedes to his opponents the right to their own line

of thought. He never loses sight of the great moral necessities of the times, nor will he sacrifice them even when a political ad- vantage is at stake. His paper is always a means to discuss local or general topics, but not open to personalitics or questionable cor- respondence. With such a reputation, the West Jersey Press is regarded as a safe me- dium of county news, and is read by all who are in full faith with its political notions, and by many who neither think nor vote as the editor would advise.

For three years, from 1872, he was con- secutively elected by the House of Assembly of New Jersey to the responsible position of clerk of that body, and was conceded by his political opponents to have been courteous and polite to all. His fidelity to his political friends is strong and lasting, and his devotion to the principles of the political party of which he is an honored member, is well known throughout his native state. His tact and energy are evidenced in the erection of the "Press " building, where lie conducts an active business, giving personal attention to the details of the various kinds of work, and not neglecting improvements that aid so much in speed and finish.

As one of the active members of the Edi- torial Association of New Jersey, Mr. Chew has brought about many improvements in the working of that body. The business meetings bring the members into closer in- tercourse, and the annual excursions are pop- ular and make friendships where otherwise none would exist. On May 8, 1860, Mr. Chew married Sarah A., daughter of Samuel W. Miller, then sheriff of Salem County. His surviving children are,-Lillie M., the wife of Oliver Smith, Jr., and William H. and Eddie H.

THE CAMDEN DEMOCRAT. - The first number of the Camden Democrat, under that name, was published Saturday, January 3, 1846, by Charles D. Hineline. It was a well-printed, carefully-edited four-page pa-

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per of twenty-eight columns. Its office of publication was the second story of a frame building (since destroyed by fire), which stood at the southeast corner of Second and Federal Streets. Hineline was a man of considerable ability, as handsome as he was able, and the Democrat, under his adminis- tration, soon took front rank among the newspapers of the day. Mr. Hineline con- tinued as publisher of the paper until 1853, when he disposed of his interest to Colonel Isaac Mickle, who held the editorial reins of the publication until his death, in 1855, when it passed into the hands of his cousin, Isaac W. Mickle. Colonel Miekle was per- haps the brainiest of the many able men whose intellects have illumined the pages of the Democrat during its forty years of life. He was a lawyer of acknowledged ability, but a reformer for all that. He was also known to have been the author of several well-written dramas, which, however, his innate modesty prevented from appearing on the stage, and this same trait, or lack of self- assertion, is shown in his " Reminiscences of Old Gloucester," an invaluable contribution to the historical data of West Jersey, in which the name of Mickle does not appear, although his ancestor, Archibald Mickle, was one of the first settlers, and contem- poraneous with William Cooper, William Royden and John Kaighn. His successor was familiarly known as " Captain Ike " and " General Ike," both titles being his of right -that of captain not for service in the Mex- ican War which he rendered, but from his being the commandant of the Caniden Light Artillery, a crack military organization of a generation ago, and also because of his ser- vice as a company commandant in the War of the Rebellion. His title of "general " came with the Governor's commission ap- pointing him brigadier-general of the militia of Camden County. Captain Mickle was a well-educated lawyer, of more than ordinary merit, but he cared nothing for literary work,

and under his management the Democrat lost ground. Twelve months later James M. Cassady became possessed of an interest, and, under his aggressive direction, would have soon retrieved its declining fortunes, but other arrangements interfered, and he, in turn, made way for John Hood, who became, in 1858, the sole proprietor of the paper. The period was a fateful one to Democratic newspapers.

The all-absorbing Kansas-Nebraska contro- versy, disintegrating the party, made it diffi- cult to steer clear of the many reefs protru- ding above the surface of the political waters, and Mr. Hood's case was not an exception to the rule. But the Democrat, however it may have erred in opinion, was never a cowardly neutral on any question, and, amid the cross-seas of those troublous times, the helm was set hard a-port, and the colors of the "Little Giant "-Stephen A. Douglas- were floated to the breeze. This led to a rupture with some of the Democratic leaders, and, although Hood was fully able to take care of himself, he cared little for fraternal strife, and was induced to relinquish the property to parties in the interest of Colonel Morris R. Hamilton, the present State libra- rian. Colonel Hamilton assumed charge of the Democrat in 1860, but only for a short tine, being offered a more responsible posi- tion on the Newark Journal.

The Democrat's next editor was Charles N. Pine. Ile was a brilliant writer, but his stay was brief, and for years thereafter the career of the paper was of varied and gloomy uncertainty. William Zane was, for a time, its foreman and business manager, and, nn- der his care, the mental pabulum of the in- stitution was supplied by a multitude of vol- unteers, and yet it managed to survive. In 1867 Colonel Alexander Donelson, formerly of the Somerset Messenger, took editorial charge, but he died a few months afterwards, and the veteran Zane again found himself dependent for editorial matter upon volun-

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teers, whose offerings were in too many cases worth no more than they cost.

In 1870 a company was formed as the "Camden Democratie Co-Operative Associa- tion," the incorporators being Thomas Me- Keen, Isaiah Woolston, James M. Cassady, Chalkley Albertson, Cooper P. Browning, John Clement, William Sexton, Richard S. Jenkins, Henry Fredericks and James S. Henry. John H. Jones, editor of the American Banner, the organ of Native Amer- icanism in Philadelphia, was appointed ed- itor, aud Lyman B. Cole, manager. Finan- cially, the business of the office was not a success, but Jones was a man of unpolished power, talking to the people in language and of subjects they understood, and with au earnestness which carried conviction to those appealed to. He was a large-hearted man, and an earnest advocate of the cause of the laboring classes. Under his régime the Democrat became quite popular, and wielded its old-time influence in the community. In 1874 Jones was elected mayor, but did not live to serve his term out, his death taking place in 1876. The paper was then con- ducted for a time hy Dr. Thomas Westcott and Charles G. Dickinson, stock-owners in the company, aud, in 1878, was sold to Messrs. Wills & Semple, the former at that time as now publisher of the Mount Holly Herald. Mr. Semple assumed editorial control, and con- tinued to direct the fortunes of the paper un- til June, 1884, when Mr. Wills purchased his interest. The following . January the paper passed into the hands of Messrs. Courter & Carpenter, who, in turn, six months later, transferred the property to C. S. Magrath, who, for fourteen years, had controlled the interests of the Cape May Wave. Under his management the Demo- crat was enlarged to a thirty-six-column folio.

The first attempt to publish a daily in Camden was made by Judge Grey. The name of this sprightly little journal was

the Camden Daily, and the name was soon changed to the Camden Evening Daily. It was started January 4, 1858, and continued until March 6th of the same year.

THE TRIBUNE was a daily paper started in September, 1875. It continued to be pub- lished for two short weeks and then collapsed, its effects having fallen a prey to an officer of the law. It gently succumbed and never recovered from the disaster that so defiantly caused its untimely death and burial.

THE POST, the first daily of Camden that succeeded and became a permanently estab- lished journal, was founded on October 2, 1875, by Henry L. Bonsall, Bartram L. Bonsall and Jacob C. Mayhew. It was first issued as an independent daily and sold at two cents a copy. Its office was originally at 205 Federal Street, where the type was set, and the paper was run off at the Camden Democrat office.

The edition for the first year was small, and the patronage was not very encouraging. The enterprising publishers, however, held that if they could continue the publication of the paper one year, the public would con- elnde that it had come to stay. The office was moved to 116 Federal Street and a new press purchased. At the close of the first year the circulation was not more than three hundred. The price was reduced to one cent per copy and the patronage was thus greatly increased. Jacob C. Mayhew retired from his connection with the paper, and Charles Whitecar and W. E. Schoch, now editor of the Woodbury Liberal Press, be- came members of the firm. The Bonsalls soon afterward became sole proprietors. The determined policy of the Post, in bold and defiant attacks upon public wrong-doing, gave it prestige and popularity and won for it many firm friends. It became an Independent Republican paper and has maintained that policy to date, being recog- nized as a fearless advocate of the rights of the people and a faithful chronieler of

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February 24, 1886, by James M. Fitzgerald and Alvah M. Smith. The paper is Democratic in politics. A feature of the enterprise was the construction of a telegraph line from the office, 95 Federal Street, to Coopers Point, where connection was made with the Balti- more and Ohio cables. By this means the journal secured, in fact, became a part of, the eastern circuit of the United Press system, and by locating an operator in their office, received dispatches direct. It is the only journal in the State having a direct tele- graphic news service. On September 16th, Mr. Fitzgerald purchased the one-third in- terest of Mr. Smith, and the latter retired from the business.

THE NEW JERSEY TEMPERANCE GAZETTE was established in 1869 at Vineland, as a monthly publication, under the name of the New Jersey Good Templar, N. P. Potter, editor. With varied success and failure, the paper continued to be published under the above name until 1875, when it was pur- chased by J. B. Graw, and its name changed to the New Jersey Good Templar and Tem- perance Gazette ; its place of publication was changed from Vineland to Toms River. In 1881 the paper was moved to Camden and its name changed to the New Jersey Temper- ance Gazette. From 1881 to 1883 it was published as an Independent Prohibition newspaper. In 1883 it began to advocate the principles of the Prohibition party and supported Rev. Solomon Parsons for Gov- ernor of New Jersey. From that time on- ward it advocated and defended the princi- ples of the Prohibition party. In 1884 A. C. Graw was admitted as a partner, and the Gazette is now published by J. B. Graw & Son, at 131 Federal Street, Camden.

REV. J. B. GRAW, D.D., editor of the Temperance Gazette, was born in Rahway, N. J., October 24, 1832, and was educated at Rahway and Bloomfield Seminaries, and in New York High School. He was ad- mitted into the New Jersey Annual Confer-

ence in 1855. He entered the United States service as chaplain in September, 1861, having taken a prominent part in organizing a company of volunteers. For a few months, while in the service, he had command of a regiment. He has taken a deep interest in the temperance cause, assisting in the State organization in 1867, and occupying one of the highest positions for five years. He represented the State organization in various places in the United States, and was sent to London as a delegate in 1873. He also edited the New Jersey Gazette for several years. He was a delegate to the General Conference of 1872 and 1876, and has been a member of the book committee since 1875. He has served as trustee of Pennington Seminary and as a trustee of Dickinson Col- lege. He has also been presiding elder on the Burlington and New Brunswick Districts.

The CAMDEN COUNTY JOURNAL is a weekly, printed in German, and was established by Alexander Schlesinger, in March, 1883, as the first newspaper published in that lan- guage in Southwestern New Jersey. The publisher, who had thirteen years' experience as a managing editor, both in the Fatherland and in this country, moved from Philadelphia to Camden, for the purpose of giving the German citizens of this district an organ printed in their own language. It was first issued as a four-page six-column sheet. It seemed, indeed, to meet a long-felt want, for fifteen weeks later it came out regularly with a supplement of the same size. After four more months it was enlarged to eight columns, and after an existence of eleven months it greeted its readers as a nine-column sheet. The paper gained popularity when it en- couraged the Germans in America to cele- brate the 6th day of October, 1883, the bi- centennial of the foundation of Germantown, and advocated German emigration to this country. The German citizens, aided by the mayor, the police and the Fire Department, turned out a splendid section to the parade

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teers, whose offerings were in too many cases worthı no more than they cost.

In 1870 a company was formed as the " Camden Democratic Co-Operative Associa- tion," the incorporators being Thomas Mc- Keen, Isaiah Woolston, James M. Cassady, Chalkley Albertson, Cooper P. Browning, John Clement, William Sexton, Richard S. Jenkins, Henry Fredericks and James S. Henry. John H. Jones, editor of the American Banner, the organ of Native Amer- icanism in Philadelphia, was appointed ed- itor, and Lynian B. Cole, manager. Finan- cially, the business of the office was not a success, but Jones was a man of unpolished power, talking to the people in language and of subjects they understood, and with an earnestness which carried conviction to those appealed to. He was a large-hearted man, and an earnest advocate of the cause of the laboring classes. Under his régime the Democrat became quite popular, and wielded its old-time influence in the community. In 1874 Jones was elected mayor, but did not live to serve his term out, his death taking place in 1876. The paper was then con- ducted for a time by Dr. Thomas Westcott and Charles G. Dickinson, stock-owners in the company, and, in 1878, was sold to Messrs. Wills & Semple, the former at that time as now publisher of the Mount Holly Herald. Mr. Semple assumed editorial control, and con- tinued to direct the fortunes of the paper un- til June, 1884, when Mr. Wills purchased his interest. The following January the paper passed into the hands of Messrs. Courter & Carpenter, who, in turn, six months later, transferred the property to C. S. Magrath, who, for fourteen years, had controlled the interests of the Cape May Wave. Under his management the Demo- crat was enlarged to a thirty-six-column folio.

The first attempt to publish a daily in Camden was made by Judge Grey. The name of this sprightly little journal was

the Camden Daily, and the name was soon" changed to the Camden Evening Daily. It was started January 4, 1858, and continued until March 6th of the same year.

The edition for the first year was small, and the patronage was not very encouraging. The enterprising publishers, however, held that if they could continue the publication of the paper one year, the public would con- clude that it had come to stay. The office was moved to 116 Federal Street and a new press purchased. At the close of the first year the circulation was not more than three hundred. The price was reduced to one cent per copy and the patronage was thus greatly increased. Jacob C. Mayhew retired from his connection with the paper, and Charles Whitecar and W. E. Schoch, now editor of the Woodbury Liberal Press, be- came members of the firm. The Bonsalls soon afterward became sole proprietors. The determined policy of the Post, in bold and defiant attacks upon public wrong-doing, gave it prestige and popularity and won for it many firm friends. It became an Independent Republican paper and has maintained that policy to date, being recog- nized as a fearless advocate of the rights of the people and a faithful chronicler of

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

ence in 1855. He entered the United States service as chaplain iu September, 1861, having taken a prominent part in organizing a company of volunteers. For a few months, while in the service, he had command of a regiment. He has taken a deep interest in the temperance cause, assisting in the State organization in 1867, and occupying one of the highest positions for five years. He represented the State organization in various places in the United States, and was sent to London as a delegate in 1873. He also edited the New Jersey Gazette for several years. He was a delegate to the General Conference of 1872 and 1876, and has been a member of the book committee since 1875. He has served as trustee of Pennington Seminary and as a trustee of Dickinson Col- lege. He has also been presiding elder on the Burlington and New Brunswick Districts.

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The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 50

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards Number of Pages: 1220

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards
Number of Pages: 1220