USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > History of Rochester and Monroe county, New York, from the earliest historic times to the beginning of 1907 > Part 24
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Corinthian hall was not intended for a theater nor was it at all adapted to dramatic perform- ances until it was remodeled. but it was occasion- ally used for such purposes and the audience on those occasions, forsaking the regular play-house, would overlook the narrowness of the stage and the utter absence of all "properties." It was meant for kvtures and concerts of the higher class and as such was opened with a formal dedication on June 24th, 1810. Throughout the remainder of that war and all of the nest there seem to have been no appearances there that require mention, except those of the Athenaum course of lectures. These had been begun in 1846, and held at different places, but after Corinthian hall was built they were all delivered there for the next twenty years, after which they were given up; among those who spoke there were Lewis Cass, John A. Dix, Richard HI. Dana, President Hopkins of Williams college, Bishop Hopkins of Vermont, Salmon P. Chase,
Horace Greeley, Henry J. Raymond, Horatio Sey- mour, George William Curtis, John B. Gough, Prof. Silliman, Prof. Agassiz-in fact, the whole line of popular and scientific lecturers of those days. One month is peculiarly marked in the mu- sical annals not only of this house but of the city. In the first week of July, 1831, Madam Anna Bishop gave a grand concert after having been received at the railroad station by the mayor in his official capacity and escorted to her hotel; in the second week Madame Teresa Parodi appeared for two nights, with Maurice Strakosch, her mai- ager, also in the program, as well as his wife, the eldest of the Patti family, and a few evenings later the well-known Hutchinson family regaled a large andience with their well-worn songs.
In the third werk Jenny Lind came. To say that the whole town went mad over her sounds extravagant, but it is really rather mild. So great was the wish of the populace to see her that she left the cars at Goodman street and was driven t. the Eagle Hotel by a roundabout way to avoid the throng. Tickets were placed on sale at higher prices than were ever known here before, two. three and four dollars, but they were all sold as fast as they could be handed out from the teni- porary box office that had been erected on State street. That was for the 22d, and the disappoint- ment of the would-be but unsuccessful purchasers was so great that for the second evening, the 24th. the seats were auctioned off and were again all disposed of, many of them at a large advance. Fortunately for outsiders both evenings were warm, so that the windows of the hall were wide open and all those in the neighborhood were oe- cupied by listeners who had rented them at hig'ı prices, while the streets, not only adjacent but at some distance, were filled with silent crowds; how well they were rewarded may be judged from the statement, apparently well authenticated. that some of the notes of the great Swede in her fa- mons "Echo Song" were distinctly heard on Elm street and at the corner of Clinton and Andrews streets. But the sweetness of her voice was equaled by that of her heart, nud she insisted on distribut- ing among the local charities the premiums paid for the second evening above the regular price of tickets; it came to more than twenty-five hundred dollars and was given, in different proportions, to the Female Charitable society, the Rochester and
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the Catholic orphan asylums, the Home for the Friendless, the German Lutheran church and the Cartmen's and Firemen's benevolent associations. Mentioning only the more celebrated of the artists that delighted their audiences in this hall-Thal- berg, Matilda Heron, Gottschalk, Alhoni, the great Parepa, both alone and in connection with the English opera company ; Davenport, James W. Wallark, Charles Dickens, Ole Bull, Adelina Patti, anticipating here her brilliant future, when she was but eight years old; Ristori, queen of trage- dians; Charlotte Cushman, Fanny Kemble, Maggie Mitchell (but there is no end to them)-and the soldiers' bazaar in 1863, with which perhaps the memory of the room will be longest associated, we cone to the close of Corinthian liall as it originally was. In 1865 it was sold and enlarged at the north end to provide for a stage and in 1879. as the un- reasoning hostility to the drama that has been noticed as characteristic of the carly times had given place to an equally indiscriminate demand for anything that was theatrical, a gallery was pui in and it became a regular play-house, so that somne old Rip Van Winkle, coming back from his long sleep, would never have recognized it ; its name wa+ then changed to the inappropriate title of Corin- thian Academy of Music, and as such it continued till December 2d, 1898, when it was completely burned down; it was rebuilt in a different style a few years later, and since then, under the simple name of the Corinthian, it has been devoted to the higher class of vaudeville.
Not as a rival to Corinthian hall. but rather as the successor to Minerva hall, which, standing on the corner of East Main and South avenue, was burned in 1858, Washington hall was put up, on the corner of East Main and North Clinton streets, about 1800, and was used mainly for concerts and balls till it went the way of its predecessor in 1867; it was rebuilt shortly after and for some time was known as the Empire theater and then as Wonderland, giving a number of variety shows not always of the best character, and getting into frequent trouble with the authorities from viola- tion of its license. It stoud till a few years ago, when it was torn down to give place to a great dry goods block.
The turf was late in asserting its claim to popu- l'ar favor. Fifty years ago there was a race-course outside the city limits in Irondequoit, the entrance
being on North St. Paul street, but its patrons and frequenters were not of the highest class in the community, nor was it calculated to advance the interests of the sport in any way. A little later there was a track in Brighton, on the old fair grounds, where several meetings of the New York state trotting circuit were held and where some good speed was developed. But there was nothing like a first-class course bere till 1872, when one was laid out on MeCracken street, the name of which was at once changed to Driving Park avenue, thereby obliterating from the city map the name of one of the oldest families in this region. The track was an excellent one, of a full mile, and the grounds were capacious, with creditable buildings appropriate to the purpose and unusually ample, for the grand stand alone would cover and seat ten thousand persons, the cost of the whole affair being nearly seventy thousand dollars. George J. Whitney was the first president of the association and continued so till 1878, when the Equitable Life foreclosed its mortgage on the premises and the company was reorganized, with Frederick Cook in the presidency, from which he retired in 1886. The last grand circuit meeting was held there in 1895, after which the property lay idle till 1903, when, another mortgage being foreclosed, it came into the hands of its present owners, by whom it has been recently converted into builling lots. What few races are now run take place in the old Brighton fair ground, which goes by the name of Crittenden park.
Four world records made on the MeCracken street track will perpetuate its memory. On the day of its opening, August 12th, 1874, Goldsmith Maid reduced the rate of all previously known trotting speed by making her mile in two minutes and fourteen seronds. On the sixth anniversary of that day. Angust 12th. 1580, when several of the best horses in the country were here, the rate was lowered twice, first by Maud S., who trotted in 2:11%, and then, later in the afternoon, by St. Julien, who did it in precisely the same time. Even then it was felt that Maud S. had not done her possible best, and a year later, she having in the meantime passed into the hands of William H. Vanderbilt, it was determined to give her 9 chance to excel herself on the same track. The program was extensively advertised and on the 11th of August. 1881, a great number of horse-
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men, owners, breeders, trainers and jockeys, as- sembled here to witness the supreme trial ; expec- tations were realized and a mighty shout went up when the little mare passed under the wire in 2:1014. The driving park proved so attractive and so well adapted for large gatherings that the State Agricultural society used to give its annual exhibition there und the Western New York Agri- cultural society also held its fairs there occasion- ally, and it was often the scene of ball-playing, prize shooting and bicycle races.
Base ball was for several years so popular here that it might almost be considered a special Rochester amusement. Before the Civil war there were the Loue Stars, the Live Oaks, the Olympics and other clubs, none of which had any regular arena but they played on vacant lots or anywhere else as convenience might dietate. Then came the Flour City club, and after them the Execlsiors, composed of a younger set of men. In their day base ball was in its highest, its fairest and its best estate. Their regular field for playing was Jones square, and there they sometimes gave friendly en- counter to the Atlantics of Brooklyn, the Athletics of Philadelphia and other clubs, all amateur, of course, except as they might be considered profes- sional from the fact that they devoted all their time to it. But no admission fee was elarged, which may have been one reason, though it cer- tainly was not the only one, for the large attend- ance that was always present at that northern parl :. Between the Excelsiors and the Niagaras of But-
falo there was a steady though invariably amicable rivalry, and many were the games that they played against each other, alternating in the two places, at which time the visiting club would always be attended by an escort of enthusiastie sympathizers from their own city, and sometimes, when the honors were even, the tie contest would be pulled off at Lockport, as being neutral territory. But the war finally took away most of those players, as it had previously drawn off a large proportion of the older clubs, and then the Alerts, a still younger set, came to the front. They were the last of the Romans, for after their short life base ball got into the hands of professionals and its glory was departed. It may be played more scientifically, as well as more craftily, than it was in by-gone days, and the crowds at Culver park may work themselves into a state of frenzied self-delusion over the plays, but their enthusiasm is not sincere, for the con- testants are all strangers to them, known only by the name of the city where they are hired, and the plaudits lack the true ring of the olden time. Base ball seems to be giving place to foot ball, and the largest crowd ever gathered at Culver park to wit- ness an argument in that line was on November 11th, 1906, when seven thousand persons assembled there to behold the games between the pupils of the two high schools here and those from similar acad- emies in Syracuse and Buffalo. Perhaps the change is as well; if the newer sport is more bru, tal, it is more genuine.
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CHAPTER XIV
THE PRESS OF ROCHESTER.
Country Newspapers in the State-Early Papers Here-The Rochester Gazette-The Rochester Telegraph-Thurlow Weed-The Daily Adver- tiser-The Union & Advertiser-The Roches- ter Democrat -- The Democrat & American- The Democrat & Chronicle-The Daily Amer- ican-The Daily Chronicle-The Evening Er- press-The Post Express-The Morning Herald -The Rochester Herald-The Times-German Newspapers-Sunday Journals-Papers of the Soil-Religious Periodicals-Labor Journals.
In no respect has the evolution of civilization produced greater changes than in journalism. In- stead of the newspapers of the present day, with their comprehensive knowledge, compassing sea and land and putting a girdle around the earth in forty seconds to get information of events the instant they have occurred, the press of a century ago was content to put before its readers long ar- ticles descriptive of ancient and modern history, correspondence from foreign countries that ha-l been months on its journey and that had passed through several hands before its final appearance with extended extracts from books of greater or less antiquity. Anything like what we should con- sider news was unknown to them, perhaps it would have been abhorrent if it had been suggested. One might suppose that the smaller the place in which A newspaper was published the more profuse would be the account of social gatherings and the de- scription of buildings that had been recently erected, but the contrary was the case. for such things were never mentioned at all, and the patient
searcher of to-day must be satisfied if he can find the record of anything before many years after it had transpired. The only explanation for this anomalons course lies in the hypothesis that the editors considered that anything that happened yesterday must be known already to all their poy- sible readers and therefore there was no need of printing it, while a generation later it had been forgotten by everybody and then was the time to give the narrative, with all the mistakes and omis- sions incident to the imperfect memory of the writer.
Before anything of the kind appeared in Roches- ter there were, of course, many sheets of consider- able influence in the eastern part of the state and a few in the western portion in places that had be- come well settled before the Maryland proprietors came riding up this way. But these were all weeklies, for the daily did not come till long after, and of the hebdomadal issues there were only some eight or nine, such as the Gazette at Buffalo, the Cornucopia at Batavia, the Citizen at Perry, the Repository and the Messenger, afterward consoli- dated, at Canandaigua ; the Gazette at Geneva, the Times at Maulins, the Lynx and the Register, both at Onondaga Valley, the latter of which was founded by Lewis H. Redfield in 1814, on the for- mer of which Thurlow Weed served his earliest apprenticeship.
Augustine G. Dauby came here in 1816, from Utica, where he had already learned the rudiments of his trade in the office of the Patriot. Giving up his first intention of settling in Geneva, he pitched his tent in this smaller village, where there were then only some three hundred souls, and
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here he founded, that year, the first newspaper, a weekly, called the Gazette. It was started in a building on the present site of the Democrat & Chronicle, which was unfinished, lathed inside but not plastered, the printing-office occupying the second story, while the ground floor was used for the butcher's stall of Smith & Davis. The next year the office was moved to the building of Abner Wake- lee, just east of the Areade, and there it remained till destroyed by fire in 1819. It was while in that location that Edwin Serantom became con- nected with it, first as an apprentice at the case and afterward going through all the grades of journalism till he retired from the profession many years later; he did not, however, abandon all con- nection with it, for, like every one who has once worn the harness, he felt uneasy when he was free from it, and for a long period he contributed to the daily press a series of articles recalling the former days, from which, in fact, the materials for the carly part of this chapter are largely drawn. After the fire the resources of the Gazette were so much impaired that it suspended publica- tion for three months and then resumed it, greatly improved in appearance, on Exchange street in a building that afterward became Filer & Fairchild's school-house. As it did not, however, prove finan- cially successful, Mr. Dauby sold the paper in March, 1821, to Derick and Levi W. Sibley and went back to Utica, where he died long afterward, with the esteem of all who knew him. The Messrs. Sibley immediately changed the name of the Gazelle to the Monroe Republican and continued to run it till November, 1825, when they passed it over to Whittlesey & Munford, who, with Edwin Scrantom as editor, condneted it until 1827, when its independent existence came to an end. While it flourished, the Gazette paved the way for the political advancement of more than one of its sitecessive owners, for Derick Sibley represented his district for three successive terms in the As- sembly and Frederick Whittlesey, after serving two terms in Congress, became vice-chancellor of the state.
In the same year with Mr. Dauby, Everard Peck, a native of Berlin, Conn., came to Rochester. Having learned the book-binder's trade at Hart- ford he continued that here, adding to it that of book-selling, and on the 5th of July, 1818. he en-
larged the business still further by establishing a weekly paper named the Rochester Telegraph .*
The proprietor was the sole editor for the first four years, when, in 1822, Thurlow Weed came along from the eastward, already burdened with a small family, young as he was, and applied for work, work of any kind. His request was granted, and during the first year of his employment he and his family lived with his employer, a not uncon- mon thing in those days. Although engaged at first in a mechanical capacity he soon assisted in the editorial work, of which he took charge in 1824, and the next year purchased the whole es- tablishment, Mr. Peck retiring to devote himself to banking and other pursuits; his relationship to the writer precludes anything like laudatory men- tion of his services in connection with the various institutions of the city from that time until his death in 1854. Mr. Weed soon acquired a reputa- tion as one of the most forcible aud vigorous news- paper writers in the country, and having formed a close political and personal friendship with Fred- erick Whittlesey. Thomas Kempshall and, a little later, William H. Seward, he was able to wield an influence in the counsels of the Whig party, and afterward of the Republican, never reached by any other private citizen, which, though powerful locally while he lived here, was increased after his removal to Albany to such an extent as to cover the entire state and to go far beyond it. While residing here he was induced to accept the only political office that he ever held, that of member of Assembly for one term, that of 1825, and it is noteworthy that in the winter before that, when he was acting as the Albany correspondent of his little paper, he wrote home several letters in ad- vocacy of the nomination of John Quincy Adams for the presidency, in consequence of which the Telegraph was the first paper in the United States to put his name at the head of its columns, the legislature was induced to follow suit and he was subsequently elected to the chief magistraey. A
"The writer has often been asked why that peculiar title should have been used at that early day, when the invention to which the word is now solely and universally applied did not exist, even in The Imagination, till long afterward. The fact in that the word-meaning, literally, "far writing"-was sometimes, though very rarely, employed to denote any kind of mechanical contrivance, such as a heliograph or a semaphore-for transmit- ting information to a distance. The earliest use of the word that can be found, and there it occurs as the finite form of a verb. is in Soutlay's "Life of Nelson," written in 1>13, where the author saya: "A little before sunset, however, Blackwood, in the Furyalos, telegraphed that they appeared determined to go to the westward."
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partnership having been formed with Robert Mar- tin the paper was issued as a semi-weekly till 1827, when Mr. Weed soll out his interest and removed to the state capital to become the editor of the Albany Evening Journal, in which he continued for nearly forty years, becoming afterward for a short time toward the close of his life editorially connected with the New York Times. After that the Telegraph absorbed the Rochester Albuen (which had been started by Marshall, Spauhhng & Hunt two years before), and, having been pub- lished as a daily for oue year, became merged with the Advertiser in 1829.
This brings us to the establishment of the first daily newspaper in the United States west of Al- bany, which still retains its identity, though it has in the meantime absorbed and been amalga- mated with several other journals. On the 25th of October, 1826, the Rochester Daily Adrertiser was started by Luther Tucker & Co., its weekly clition, begun at the same time, being known as the Rochester Mercury. Three years later it took in the Telegraph, the name of the weekly edition being then changed to the Rochester Republican, and the year after that Hoyt & Porter assumed the publication, with Henry O'Reilly as editor, which he continued to be till 1838, when, on be- ing appointed postmaster, he retired and Thomas W. Flagg took his place. Thomas H. Hyatt bought the establishment in 1810, after which it passed successively through the hands of Hiram Bum- phrey, Cephas S. McConnell, Joseph Curtis, Isaac Butts and Harvey L. Winants. The two last named conducted it, as the firm of I. Butts & Co., during the exciting political campaign of 1848, when the Advertiser espoused the fortunes of Mar- tin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams, who had been nominated by the Free Soil convention at Buffalo in opposition to Cass and Butler, the regular nominees of the Democratic party. That caused the establishment of the Daily Courier, As the advocate of the latter section, with Horatio G. Warner as editor: after the election was over the two papers became merged and, though the title of the older journal was retained, the edi- torial writers were Judge Warner, Samuel L. Sel- den and E. Darwin Smith, Joseph Medbery and Joseph Sibley being associated with them as pub- lishers.
This position of the Advertiser as the sole organ of the Democratic party in this part of the state naturally attracted rivalry and before long it hal to buy out the Daily News, a paper that never ex- isted, though the prospectus for it had been is- sued, which brought George G. Cooper into the staff as associate editor. A little later Mr. Butts zepurchased an interest in and again became tue editor of the Advertiser, which then changed from « morning to an evening journal, but in 1831 he again retired, the editorship being assumed by Thomas H. Hyatt, who had obtained a controlling interest after his return from China, where he Ind been the consul at Amoy for some years, M -. Curtis also coming back from Milwaukee, where he had engaged in business, to become again a partner and the business manager. In the presi- dential campaign of 1852 the Daily Union came into existence on the 16th of August, with Jarvis M. Hatch, Orsamus Turuer and George G. Cooper, who had in the meantime been on a short-lived pa- per called the Times, as the editorial writers. A few months later it was sold to Mr. Butts and Mr. Curtis, the former becoming the editor, the latter, who left the Advertiser for the purpose, the presi- dent and business manager of the new concern.
After five years of competition it became evident that Rochester could not at that time maintain with financial success two Democratic dailies, 89 the two were consolidated, the name taken being the Union d' Advertiser, which has remained uu- changed during the well nigh fifty years of its existence. The two named, together with John E. Morey, were the original publishers, Mr. Butts being of course the editor, in which position he remained till December, 1861, when he retired permanently, selling his interest to William Pur- cell. George G. Cooper and Lorenzo Kelly, and the firm becoming known as Curtis, Morey & Co. Mr. Butts was an exceedingly forcible writer, with an extensive knowledge of political history and political science, and it was under his leadership that the journal assumed the commanding position in the Democratic party that it has always en- joyed. He was succeeded in the editorship by Mr. Purcell, whose abilities in the same line have been alluded to in the preceding chapter. At the time of the consolidation Mr. Cooper berame the city editor (the local editor, as it was then called), in which position he remained for about twenty-five
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years, when the impairment of his health com- pelled his retirement; it is no disparagement to those who are now living to say that he has never been surpassed in that peenliar line, combining a wide personal acquaintance and intimate knowl- edge of municipal affairs with clearness of ex- pression and tireless industry ; his phee was taken by the late George H. Lane, who well upheld the traditions of the department. Without attempt- ing a list of all those who have since then been connected with the newspaper in various ways, it will be sufficient to state that it is now issued by the Union & Advertiser company, printers, pub- lisbers and engravers, the officers being Eugen? T. Curtis, president ; Thomas Flannery, vice-presi- dent ; Wendell J. Curtis, secretary and treasurer. The managing editor is Pierre Purcell, the as- sociate editors are Albert Roland Haven and Her- vey Smith Tomer, the city editor is Duncan Till- son, the state editor Edmund Redmond, the tele- graph editor James O'llare Lovel, the reporters are Byron W. Chamberlain. Albert M. Flannery, Jo- soph Curtis, A. R. Tucker, George S. Tilroe and Alphonse J. Sigl.
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