The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II, Part 130

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345

USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II > Part 130

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If the proprietors of the Anzeiger had possessed a sufficient amount of capital, the solution of this dilemma would have been easy enough, and the publication of a daily paper the very next thing. But the publication of a daily paper would not only increase tho running expenses of the paper to very nearly double the amount; it might, also, if the enterprise should turn out unsuccessful, carry down with it the hard and unceasing labor of eight years. After, however, taking everything into consideration, and fully believing that the

German people would also fully support the daily, as it had heretofore given its unstinted help to the earlier publications, it was finally resolved to publish the paper daily, and Sep- tember 30, 1872, was decided upon as the day, from whence the paper should so greet its readers.

The paper up to this time, with its name of Long Island Anzeiger, had been principally known as an Eastern District enterprise, and as an organ of the Germans of that district; and in order to give it, with its entrance upon the field of daily journalism, a wider scope, and make it the representa- tive of the Germans of the whole city, it was resolved to change the name to the Brooklyn Freie Presse, and an office was established in the Western District. The price of the paper was fixed at 15 cents per week, and a Hoe double- cylinder press was procured for the press-work. The publi- cation office remained at No. 61 Montrose avenue.

The expected success of the daily issue, however, did not come, and Col. Roehr about this time did some of the hardest work of his life. He not only attended to the business part of the concern almost alone, but also superintended the job printing room, procured advertisements, and even personally cauvassed for subscribers among the Germans, and paid due attention to the editorial conduct of the paper; and last, but not least, commanded the 32d Regiment of the National Gnard. In the year 1873, he purchased his father's interest in the business, and became the sole owner of the paper.

Slowly the paper kept growing in circulation; the publica- tion office, however, being about two and a half miles . away from the City Hall and the Court-house, the Post Office a mile distant, it soon became apparent that, to make a real success of the paper, a change of base was necessary, and that to the Western District, near the public offices of the city, and its mercantile and political centres.

After looking about for some time, the house, No. 30 Myrtle avenue, was at last secured, and, in May, 1875, the erection of a two-story brick extension was begun and other alterations made to prepare the house for its new use. As the publication of the paper at the old office had to be con- tinued, a new steam boiler and engine had also to be bought. On Saturday night, June 5, 1875, the presses, type, &c., were moved from 61 Montrose avenue to 30 Myrtle avenue. Everything having carefully been previously arranged, on the following Monday, June 7, 1875, the Freie Presse, for the first time, was issued from its present location, No. 30 Myrtle avenue, a block away from the City Hall, Court-house, and Municipal Department Building.

This " change of base " proved to be of great service to the paper, for it not only enabled it to publish the latest munici- pal news, but it also gave it a position of influence and prominence. The circulation also at once commenced to grow, and has done so steadily up to the time of this writing, and will no doubt do so in future.

To the Freie Presse also belongs the distinction of having been the first paper to come out with a Sunday edition. This occurred on April 19, 1873, when the Long Islander made its first appearance. It was given gratis to the readers of the Freie Presse, and consisted only of four small pages. But it was so much favored by the public, that on December 6, 1874, it was enlarged to eight pages. On April 14, 1878, it was again enlarged, and the price for the same fixed at three cents, while that for the daily issue was reduced to two cents. On January 14, 1880, the paper was again increased so its size was 28x42 inches. One page was devoted to Masonic matters, this page taking the place of the Triangel, mentioned above, which, after an existence of 25 years (and in the latter years being edited by Colonel Roehr), was merged into the Long Islander.

Bernard Paleis

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THE PRESS.

This venture, however, not finding that appreciation which it was expected it would, the Masonic page ceased to exist on January 1, 1881, having had an existence of just two years. On September 22, 1882, another enlargement took place, and a column being added to each page, its size measured 33x46 inches, making it one of the largest and best Sunday papers published in the German language in the United States.

The increased circulation of the paper made it necessary to look for some better facilities to do the press-work. After examining a number of presses, it was finally resolved to order one of Hoe's web perfecting presses, which prints di- rect from type, cuts and folds the paper at the rate of 12,000 copies an hour. This press was put in operation in the month of December, 1882, and proved itself a great success. It necessitated an outlay of nearly $18,000, but gave the paper the opportunity to supply all the demands for it in seasonable time.

Thus, Col. Roehr has the proud distinction of being at an early age (42 in 1883), at the head of a paper which is, in a great measure, his own work, and which bids fair to become, in the near future, one of the best German papers in the United States.

His rank as Colonel, Mr. Roehr has earned by eight years of service in the National Guard of the State of New York. In the summer of 1868, he was authorized to raise a battalion of Infantry of four companies, in the Eastern District of Brooklyn, for the 11th Brigade, at that time commanded by that genial soldier and gentleman, General Jere. V. Meserole. In October of that year, the battalion was mustered into the state service, designated as the Battalion of Infantry, 32d Regiment, with six companies. Mr. Roehr was elected Major, and rose to the position of Lieutenant- Colonel; and when the Regimental organization was com- pleted, he was elected Colonel, and retained command until November, 1876, when he resigned his commission. It must be said that the Regiment has never again maintained that degree of perfection in drill, discipline and appearance it en- joyed under the command of Col. Roehr.

In politics, Col. Roehr early espoused the Republican cause but with many others, in 1872, joined the "Liberal " move-

ment. After the collapse of that attempt to reform party politics, he again joined the Republican forces and served as member of the General Committee and delegate to nu- merous conventions. In 1879 he acquiesced in the wish of a great number of his party-friends, and accepted the Repub- lican nomination as State Senator against the Hon. John C. Jacobs, one of the most prominent Democrats of the Empire State. Of course he did not expect to be elected; but the great number of votes he received, under especially unfavorably circumstances, astonished even his political enemies.

A German paper called The Anzeiger was started by A. Fries, in 1851, three years before its name- sake by Mr. Roehr, and was afterward published as a daily under the name of the Long Island Zeitung, but it died in 1854, the year Mr. Roehr first started his paper.

Another and more recent Anzeiger was published at 14 Boerum Place in 1880, by H. Soshinsky.

The Brooklyn Times .- On the 28th of February, 1848, the Williamsburgh Daily Times first appeared. It is now known as the Brooklyn Daily Times. It was published by George C. Bennett and Aaron Smith. It sprang up from a quarrel among the proprietors of the Morning Post, which was issued about a year be- fore by Thomas Devyr and Messrs. Bennett and Smith. The Times was at first neutral and independent, but soon became Whig and afterward Republican. The paper was a success from the start. In 1856, Mr. Bennett was the sole proprietor and became wealthy. A few years ago he sold it to Messrs. Bernard Peters and George H. Fisher, in whose hands it is now in a prosperous condition. Mr. Peters edits it with ability and eminent success.

BERNARD PETERS.

BERNARD PETERS .- The work of editing a daily newspaper is peculiarly exacting, requiring special gifts in him who at- tempts it. He must be quick to choose the right course in the difficult situations that constantly occur, must foresee the effect of every move upon the political chessboard; must judge correctly the drift of popular sentiment; in short, must in every sense, know everything and make no mis- takes. Moreover a Brooklyn newspaper has peculiar diffi- culties. Published in a city suburban to the metropolis, its field is necessarily limited, while it is compelled to cope on its own ground with the metropolitan journals that are sure to have a field so much more extended; its price must be as low, its enterprise must equal, and its quality and literary standard must compare favorably with the best New. York papers. The successful growth of the Brooklyn Times, in the face of such disadvantages, to its present commanding posi- tion in the journalistic field, is a monument to the ability of its editors. Its phenomenal prosperity since 1869 is largely due to the clear-headed, liberal, intelligent management, and the talents, honesty and enterprise of its editor, Mr. Bernard Peters.

Mr. Peters is a native of Dürckheim, in the Rhine Palatin- ate, a region noted for the beauty of its natural scenery, and the intelligence, the thrift, and the progressive spirit of its citizens. He inherited from his ancestors a love of liberty, those progressive ideas, and the breadth of intellect which have given him the strength that served to crown him with success in after years. He came to this country as a child with his father, John Philip Peters; he grew to manhood in Marietta, Ohio, receiving a thorough education. By his father's desire he began the study of the law, but when sixteen, reverses com- pelled him to take a clerkship in a dry-goods store. A youth of his ambition could not tamely relinquish his plans for a profession, so in spare moments he read the elementary text-books of the law, under the direction of a preceptor, Ferdinand Buell, Esq. He also took a deep interest in the political history of this country, mastering its early records, perusing attentively the lives and works of the fathers of the Republic, familiarizing himself with constitutional questions, and studying the speeches of contemporary political orators. These studies strongly influenced his mind in the direction of

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

the work which he was destined to perform in future years. But new influences turned his course from his first inten- tions. He became an intimate friend of Rev. T. C. Eaton, at that time the genial, popular, and kindly Pastor of the Universalist Church in Marietta, and the clergyman in turn became solicitous that the young student's bright intellect and aptitude for public speaking should be used in the service of the church. After months of thought, and not without his father's consent, he decided to study for the ministry, enter- ing in August, 1848, the Clinton Liberal Institute, at Clinton, N. Y., then in charge of Rev. Dr. T. J. Sawyer, who was for many years Pastor of the Orchard Street Universalist Church in New York. In 1852 Mr. Peters was ordained, soon there- after taking charge of the Second Universalist Church in Cincinnati. In 1856 Mr. Peters was called to All Souls' Church, Brooklyn, E. D., where his pastorate lasted for eight years, during which time, however, he made an extensive tour in Europe. While abroad he wrote letters to the Brooklyn Times and other journals. Soon after his return the war broke out. Mr. Peters' political studies made him thoroughly conversant with the constitutional questions in- volved, and he ardently embraced the Union cause. His clear and intelligent discussion of the important themes of the day drew crowds of eager hearers to his church on Fourth st., while his services as a patriotic speaker were in great demand. But in time his health gave way under the stra'n of such active and continuous labor. The result was, that in 1864 he was called to and settled over a church iu Hartford, Ct., in the hope of better health from the change. The startling events of 1865, the end of the war, President Lincoln's assassination, President Johnson's extraordinary course soon thereafter, and the problems of reconstruction interested Mr. Peters intensely; he freely expressed his views on national questions, and this to the satisfaction of men of both parties. About this time, David Clark, Esq., proprietor of the Hartford Post, applied to Mr. Peters to take editorial charge of his paper and make it an advanced Re- publican organ. The latter wrote the leading articles in his study for some months, then resigned his pastorate, notwith- standing the earnest remonstrances of his people, and gave his time wholly to editorial work. This work he found not only every way congenial, but in the highest degree satis- factory; and particularly so, as he was in the prosecution of it restored to the best possible condition of health.

After two years, the Post changed hands and Mr. Peters returned to the ministry, taking charge of a church at Read- ing, Pa. But his health, after a short but successful pastor- ate, again broke down. It became evident to him then that if his life was to be preserved he must permanently abandon the ministry. Therefore, in 1868, he bought a half interest in the Brooklyn Times, which had been founded, in 1848, by Hon. George C. Bennett.

The estimation in which Brooklyn people held Mr. Peter's is evinced by a business man's remark at the time : "That adds twenty-five thousand dollars to the value of the Times." For six years Messrs. Bennett and Peters managed the paper jointly, when the latter purchased his partner's interest and became sole director. The paper's remarkable success shows his wisdom, forethought, political sagacity and literary skill. Three times he enlarged it, and increased its facilities. Within three years the Times building has been doubled in size; two Scott weh presses of large capacity have been put in, and an outfit provided equal to that of any evening paper in the country. In fact, the Times is one of the few successes, both financial and literary, among newspapers. A large fire-proof building, with an entrance on South Eighth street, has been built during the current year. In this the improved

presses, with a capacity of sixty thousand copies per hour, are to be placed, and on which all the work pertaining to the printing of the Times is hereafter to be done.

Mr. Peters' characteristics as an editor are widely known. At once liberal and cautious, enterprising and careful, he has never spared any outlay for improvements that would advance his purpose of making a thoroughly good newspaper. He has always had strong faith in the people, believing that the masses of men are honest and true to their convictions of right. Himself a man of principle, upright and truthful, he gauges the opinions and feelings of others by his own; hence he voices popular opinion with remarkable accuracy. He is no trimmer, but a courageous advocate of his ideas of right. His writings are firm and dignified in tone, not vacillating or temporizing; hence they have the weight with men that the words of an honest, earnest man always carry. The Times is a leader of public sentiment, and its course has ac- corded with the views of the better class of citizens. Its at- titude in reference to the third term, the stalwart move- ment, civil service reform, " bossism," and business methods iu municipal affairs has been in favor of a pure government "of the people, for the people, and by the people." It was one of the first to advocate a sound currency founded upon the national banking system. It believes in the inherent right of government to restrain corporations within proper limits, and it deals with the problems of the day in a wise and fearless way. With all facilities for gathering foreign news, it by no means neglects local interests, its columns being a faith- ful chronicle of life in the City of Churches.

The people of Brooklyn are to be congratulated upon hav- ing in their midst a journal that with such alertness guards their interests at home, in Legislature and Congress; while the Times is equally to be congratulated upon the support given it by the people, and its signal success under the management of its conscientious and far-seeing editor. Judging from the past, the fondest anticipations may be indulged in as to the future of the Brooklyn Times.

Brooklyn Daily Union .- During the War of the Rebellion the need was felt of a newspaper which should more perfectly reflect the sentiment of the dom- inant party in the Nation's struggle for life; and, therefore, on Sept. 14, 1863, S. B. Chittenden, A. A. Low, and some sixty other prominent Republicans es- tablished the Union, in an office on Front street. The paper met with great success ; and, after a time, the building on the corner of Front and Fulton streets, was erected, into which it moved in 1869. Mr. Edward Cary was then the editor. Owing to unwise management the Union was not so prosperous after the war, and was purchased by Henry C. Bowen and his sons, Henry E. and Edward A. Bowen, on the Ist of January, 1870. Gen. Stewart L. Woodford was editor and H. E. Bowen, publisher. Mr. Woodford retired May 1st, 1870, and was succeeded by Theodore Tilton. The Union, under Mr. Bowen's management, increased rap- idly in circulation and influence. In 1872, Jan. 1st, Mr. Tilton retired from the editorial chair, and was succeeded by Henry C. Bowen. After a time certain Republicans made offers for its purchase, and on the Ist of October, 1873, it was bought by Benjamin F. Tracy, F. A. Schroeder, John F. Henry and others;

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THE PRESS.

William Burch became its editor. After several changes it came into the hands of Loren Palmer, who then became its editor and publisher. In February, 1877, the Union purchased the name and good will of the Brooklyn Argus, owned by Demas Barnes, and its name was changed to the Union-Argus. More recently it has passed into new hands, with Mr. John Foord as editor, and assumed its old name, the Union .* It is now much improved in every way and promises a pros- perous future. During its progress, a number of vig-

orous writers have been employed on its editorial staff. Sept. 28, 1867, and again in 1875, attempts were made to establish a Morning Union. The first continued for over two years, the second with less success.

*The certificate of the Incorporation of the Brooklyn Union Publish- ing Company was filled March 19, 1884. Incorporators: Eugene G. Blackford, Alexander J. C. Skene and John Foord. The objects of the company are to print and publish a newspaper and carry on a general printing and publishing business. Capital stock, $100,000, the number of shares 100. The time of the existence of the company is fifty years. The trustees are three in number, and for the first year the gentlemen named above.

JOHN FOORD.

JOHN FOORD, editor of the Brooklyn Union-Argus, was born in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1842. While yet quite young he was employed on several Scotch and North-of- England newspapers. As traveling correspondent he visited France and Germany, and his letters are said to have attract- ed attention by their freshness of view and original observa- tions on a well-trodden field. In 1868, he went to London, where, for a short time, he was editorial contributor to one or two newspapers; but his heart was set on the New Repub- lic beyond the seas, and early in 1869 he embarked for New York.

His first work in the United States was the contribu- tion of editorial matter to the New York Times and the Tri- bune. In the latter part of 1869, he was appointed Brooklyn reporter for the Times, which place he held until he was called to an editorial position on the regular staff of the paper; Mr. L. J. Jennings being then the editor-in-chief.

During the struggle against the Tweed ring, in which the Times soon after engaged, Mr. Foord did distinguished and telling work. His accurate knowledge of municipal affairs and his tenacity of purpose served him in good stead, and his

share of the labor, although necessarily confined to the priv- acy of the editorial room, was of the greatest value. It may be claimed for Mr. Foord, that he contributed handsomely to the campaign which brought the Tweed ring to ruin. In 1876, Mr. Jennings withdrew from the management of the Times, and was succeeded by Mr. Foord, then the senior editorial writer on the staff, many changes having meantime occurred. Under his direction, the Times won an enviable name for fearlessness, courage, honesty, fairness and ability.

In March, 1883, Mr. Foord assumed the editorial manage- ment of the Brooklyn Union-Argus, to which he brought a ripe experience and a reputation only to be acquired by years of faithful and arduous service in one of the most exacting callings of the age. As a newspaper editor, he has won the re- spect and regard of his associates, both by his gentle man- ners and his firm grasp of the details of the complex duties devolving upon the chief of a great journal. Under his management the Union-Argus has shown a marked improve- ment. Its editorial columns have been absolutely free from every thing that would stain a journalistic record, and the general tone of the paper has been lofty and pure.

ROBERT H. ANGELL.

ROBERT H. ANGELL, managing editor of the Union-Argus, was born in New Haven, Ct., in 1840. When he was eight years of age his parents removed to Huntsville, Ala., where his boyhood days were spent, first in school and afterward in the office of the village newspaper as apprentice. At sixteen he was a compositor. Two years later he came to New York and soon to Brooklyn, where he went as compositor upon the Eagle. This was in 1859. Thomas Kinsella worked op- posite him at the same case. At the breaking out of the war, Mr. Angell enlisted on board a man of war, and saw consid- erahle service off the Carolinas, much of the time aboard the Monitor Catskill, which was struck a hundred times from the enemy's guns. He was in all the engagements off Charleston, Port Royal, and that part of the coast.

After the close of the war Mr. Angell returned to Brook- lyn to the Eagle. He had before contributed to the paper, and now he was appointed, in 1865, on the reportorial staff and continued three years, when he went on the staff of the

Union for a time, and then back to the Eagle office. He was appointed Secretary to Mayor Kalbfleisch during his last term, and then returned to the Eagle. In 1873, he went to the Union as city editor, where he has since remained, acting as managing editor and editor-in-chief at times. By seniority of service he is now the oldest editor in Brooklyn.

As an indication of the growth of journalism in this city, it may be stated that when he first went into the composing room of the Eagle, that paper had the services of a city editor and half the work of two reporters, who also reported for the New York journals. Now, the Eagle needs the whole services of sixteen reporters and the Union the same number also.

It is worthy of note that while Mr. Angell was serving in the U. S. Navy, his brother, who was a strong secessionist, was in the Confederate ranks. His father, an ardent Union man, was forced to leave the South in 1861, stripped of his property.

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

The Brooklyn Record .- A law and real estate journal, was first issued by J. R. McDivitt, Feb. 13, 1882, on the plan of the New York Daily Record. It contains notices of the sittings of the courts, causes on the day calendar, synopses of decisions and orders entered; also transfers of real estate by deed and mort- gage; judgments and liens entered of record. After a few weeks, Mr. McDivitt sold his interest to a stock company of which he is manager and principal editor.

The Brooklyn Daily Programme has been quite an interesting paper. Started on the 1st of October, 1863, by E. L. Briggs; chiefly devoted to places of amuse- ment.

The Echo was established in 1877, at Bath, in Steuben County, and removed to Brooklyn in 1880; devoted to the advancement of the colored people. Its founder and present editor and proprietor is Prof. J. R. B. Smith.

Brooklyn Advance. The first number of this magazine was issued in September, 1877, as a sixteen- page monthly, under the name of Our Neighborhood. In September, 1878, the name was changed to the Brooklyn Advance. In May, 1879, it absorbed the Brooklyn Monthly. In March, 1882, its form was changed to a 48-page magazine. A feature of this publication is the large space devoted to local and his- torical articles, and the prominence given by its illus- trations (which are of a very high artistic merit) to home matters. Its editor and proprietor is Charles D. Baker, and Mr. Allen Forman its assistant editor.

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The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II, Part 130

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co Number of Pages: 1345

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345