History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume I, Part 57

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1202

USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume I > Part 57

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The Sunday Capital first made its appearance February 17, 1878, G. W. Hen- derson and Arnold H. Isler being the publishers and proprietors. It was first issued as a folio, with eight columns to the page. In polities it was Democratic. The agreement between the partners was to the effect that Mr. Henderson should put iv $500 cash and take the editorial management, while Mr. Isler should furnish three hundred paid subseriptions and attend to the advertising and circulation. The terms of the agreement were faithfully kept and the eoneern prospered almost from the start. After the campaign of 1878, Mr. Isler sold his interest to Mr. Henderson, but in the following January he, in conjunction with John Byrne, bought the paper back. A year of hard and not altogether successful work followed, but in the third year the business improved. Claude Meeker, later private secretary to Governor Campbell, began work on the Capital in 1881 and continued until February, 1882, when the paper was sold to W. J. Elliott. On March 8, 1884, the Capital absorbed the Sunday Tribune, which had been founded in the fall of 1883 by J. J. Lallie, who sought to build up a paper without recourse to advertising. The Tribune was a handsome eightpage paper, but its beauty could not save it. For some time after the consolidation, the Capital printed a supplement under the name of the Tribune, but this was soon abandoned and the word " Tribune " was added to the Capital heading.

December 1, 1878, witnessed the birth of the Columbus Democrat, an eightpage morning daily with a Sunday edition. It was established by Allen O. Myers and Solon L. Goode, under the firm name of Allen O. Myers & Co., Mr. Myers being

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editor, W. A. Taylor associate editor, J. H. Hewitt city editor, and Mr. Goode being the business manager. In April, 1879, Mr. Myers retired and the paper was published by the Columbus Democrat Company, with Solon L. Goode as manager and W. A. Taylor as editor. Mr. Taylor remained in editorial charge only until June, and then gave place to James L. Goode, a brother of the manager. In July, the Democrat and the Ohio Statesman were consolidated under the name of the Columbus Democrat and Ohio Statesman, which was published for a time in morn- ing and evening editions.

In the latter part of 1878, the Brown Brothers, then abstractors of titles, con- ceived that there was need for a more perfect publication of the transactions at the Franklin County Courthouse, than was given in the daily newspapers. So they began the publication of n little daily which they called the Law Bulletin, which was designed to furnish lawyers, bankers and real estate dealers with the news of the courts in detail. This did not prove a paying enterprise, and the Brown Brothers were glad enough to sell the Law Bulletin in January, 1879, to Jonathan Linton, who had conceived the idea of publishing a weekly paper, partly ou the same plan, for the information of the people of the county. Mr. Lintou's idea took form in an eightpage weekly which he called the Franklin County Legal Record, and which he published until March, 1881, when he sold it to Brown Brothers, James Finley Brown assuming the editorship and W. P. Brown the busi- ness management. Shortly afterward, Mr J. F. Brown transferred his interest to Mr. W. P. Brown, who has published the paper ever since, the former continuing as editor. About the first of January, 1889, the name was changed to the Columbus Record, and on January 1, 1890, the form, which had been for some time a folio, was changed to a quarto and a new dress of type was bought for it. The Record is an independent Democratie paper and makes a specialty of Courthouse and county news.

The National Greenback Leader, a paper devoted to the interests of the Greenback party, was removed to Columbus from Canal Dover, in April, 1879. It was published by the Phelps Brothers as a daily and a weekly. In the follow- ing July it suspended publication.

The Commonwealth was established in the fall of 1878, as the organ of the Prohibition party, and died in the summer of the following year.

In February, 1879, a number of Union printers, encouraged, doubtless, by the success of the Dispatch, formed a company and began the publication of the Daily Labor, a fivecolumn evening paper. A. A. Braddock was editor. The company was incorporated in April, by James M. Boyle, A. A. Braddock, Frank W. Raymond, James A. Miner and A. H. Handiboe. In the following few months. several changes took place in the company, Braddock and Handiboe retiring and George H. Ross and W. A. Taylor coming in. The number of stockholders was increased and the name of the paper was changed to the Daily Courier, with James M. Boyle as business manager and W. A. Taylor and George H. Ross editors. Before the end of the year, however, the company got into financial straits and the publication was discontinued.

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The Ohio Way, by Liston McMillen, of Iowa, an advocate of temperance, and the Little Buckeye, by Milton R. Scott, of Newark, Ohio, were very shortlived daily ventures of 1881.

The Ohio State Sentinel, John T. Shryock editor, was a Greenback organ which was published here in 1881.

Several efforts have been made to establish a colored people's paper. Among the first of these was the Afro-American, by E. J. Waring, early in the eighties. David Jenkins began the publication of the Palladium of Liberty in 1884, and D. A. Rudd started the Ohio State Tribune in May, 1885. None of them lived long. In 1887, the Free American was established by George M. Dickey and Walter S. Thomas to champion the same cause, but followed its predecessors to an early grave.

The Bohemian was founded by A. H. Isler, in March, 1882. It was a Satur- day paper, eight pages, with five columns to the page. Its mission was to criticise the stage, society and politics. At the ontset, Mr. Ister was the editor, Claude Meeker associate editor, and Edward Noble business manager. The paper started with a boom and gave promise of a future which was not altogether realized. At the end of the first year of publication, the finances were in a bad state, and Mr. Meeker left to go to Cincinnati, where he had been offered a place on the News- Journal. At the same time Mr. Noble also quit, and Mr. Isler, with the aid of his wife as writer and office assistant, continued the publication into the third year, when he made an assignment. This ended the Bohemian. Its epitaph is thus written by Mr. Isler: "The only mistake that I made in the Bobemian, was in allowing it to see daylight. There was never any excuse for it. There was never anything in it worthy of a live journalist, and I cannot for the life of me see how it lived so long. It only goes to show that the Columbus reading public is very kind and merciful."

The Telegram, an eightpage Saturday publication, was founded in October, 1886, by Enos W. Barnes, Horace G. Dobbins and Willard Barnes. It was a branch of the Elmira, New York, Telegram, half of the paper being printed there and sent to this city. The other four pages were filled with local correspondence from nearby towns and some special feature articles. It was intended to put it on a nonadvertising basis, but a circulation of four thousand, the result of a year's work, did not make it a paying investment, and the paper was sold in November to Hooper & Connelly, proprietors of the Sunday Morning News, by whom it was consolidated with the News. Mr. Barnes returned to his home in New York, and in a few months died.

The publication of the Evening Post, Democratic, was begun December 4, 1888, by the Post Printing and Publishing Company, which was incorporated November 23, 1888, by S. G. McCullongh, A. D. Heffner, Frank C. Smith, Edward Denmead and Dundon & Bergin. The authorized capital stock is $50,000, but only half that amount was issued. The company was organized as follows : President, A. D. Heffner ; Secretary and Treasurer, Frank C. Smith; Directors, A. D. Heffner, Frank C. Smith, Edmund Smith, S. G. Mccullough and Edward Denmead. The first editor was H. S. Chapin and the first city editor was S. N. Cook. The first

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publication office was on East State Street in the Converse Block. There it remained for about two years, when it was removed to the southwest corner of State and Wall streets, where better accommodations for the growing business were secured. Early in 1891, Judge Joshua Seney, of Toledo, made a contract for the purchase of a controlling interest, and a few numbers of the Post were issued under his management, but the deal was never consummated and he soon retired, and the matter was taken to the courts where it still awaits adjustment. On April 13, 1891, Charles Q. Davis bought stock to the amount of $15,000 and became the general manager, a position he still retains. After two years of editorial work, Mr. Chapin resigned to return to newspaper work in Toledo, from which city he had come to edit the Post. Ile was succeeded by David S. Tarbill who, after five months' service, resigned to take a position on the Cincinnati Enquirer. Henry Apthorp then became the principal editorial writer, being assisted by John 1I. Mackley. Soon after, Mr. Davis assumed the management, Mr. Cook was trans- ferred from the news to the business department and R. J. Bancroft became city editor. At the present time, W. P. Huntington is the managing editor, and Messrs. Apthorp and Mackley, assistants ; George E. Kelley, city editor; S. N. Cook, dramatic editor; Charles Q. Davis general manager, assisted by B. F. Gayman.

The Post retains its original form, a sevencolumn folio, except on Saturdays, when it is issued in eightpage form. A weekly edition was also established at the same time as the daily, but on October 1, 1891, a semiweekly edition was begun, taking the place of the weekly and being furnished at the same price. The Post is now under contract for the morning and evening franchises of Dalziel's News Agency, assuring it a good telegraph service.

A humorous illustrated weekly called at first The Owl but afterwards Light, made its first appearance the last week in March, 1888. Opha Moore was the editor and O. A. Macy was the business manager. It was a very bright publica- tion, practically all the matter being original and fully up to the standard of Eastern publications of the same character. The cartoons and illustrations, too, were of a high order. Everything about it was firstclass and expensive, and the paper failed because too much had been attempted at the very outset. It was pub- lished for six months, most of the time as a twelvepage paper, but occasionally in sixteenpage form. Other persons took the name and the subscription list and attempted to establish a pictorial weekly at Chicago, but they, too, failed after $50,000 had been sunk in the venture.

The Sunday World was an outgrowth of a Saturday labor paper, established in the summer of 1889 by James Bergin and David Boyer, and called the Trades Ledger. In December of the same year, the day of publication was changed to Sunday, and the name became the Sunday World and Trades Ledger. The paper continued to be an advocate of labor interests, but it became more distinc- tively a newspaper of Democratie politics. In February, 1890, it was bought by Charles Q. Davis and F. W. Levering, who dropped the Trades Ledger from the title and conducted it as a Democratic organ. It was published for a time as an eightcolumn quarto, but is now a ninecolumn folio.

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS,

The United Mine Workers' Journal is, as its name indicates, the organ of the miners and the mine laborers. It was established early in April, 1891, and is pub- lished weekly by the National Executive Board of the United Mine Workers of America. It is a paper of eight pages, six columns to the page. Its first editor- was Mr. W. E. Prine, who resigned a position on the local staff of the State Journal to accept the place. Mr. Prine retired the first of November, 1891, and was suc- ceeded by John Kane, of Indiana, a member of the Executive Board of the Miners' organization.

Among suburban ventures was the North Side Enterprise, which was pub- lished for several years under that name, and in 1891 became an organ of labor under the name of the Labor Courier. The East Side News, which is still flourish- ing, made its advent in September, 1890, and is devoted almost entirely to matters pertaining to that section of the city.

The Irish Times, by J. B. O'Reilly, now dead, and the Express, by Stephen W. McFarland, have appeared at varying intervals.

Clarence C. Waring published in 1889 a few numbers of a monthly called Our School Youth.

The Industrial Union was another short-lived paper of 1888. It was a chan- pion of organized labor.

The Ohio Fish and Game Protector is a small eightpage monthly devoted to fishing hunting and sports in general. It was established in March, 1890, by the Ohio Fish and Game Protector Publishing Company, with Colonel Horace Park as editor.

Notwithstanding the large number of papers, the careers of which have been outlined in the foregoing pages, there are still others that repose in the newspaper graveyard, with naught but the name recorded to tell that they existed. Among these are the following: The Independent Press, by Hugh M. Espy & Co., about 1832-3 ; the Budget of Fun, by the same; the Ohio Freeman by Captain John Duffy, and then the Columbus Herald, by the same, both in 1842-43; the Eclectic, by Horton Howard, edited by William Hance ; the Ohio Intelligencer (German). published in 1834; the Daily Enquirer, which was published a short time in 1855 by John M. Kinney & Co. ; the Ohio Convention Reporter, in 1870, by J. G. Adell ; Shadows, by A. C. Osborn, early in the eighties. The Veteran, Grand Army of the Republic paper, S. S. Peters, editor ; Junia Banner, by Ivor Hughes and John C. L. Pugh ; the Rural Call, by Charles W. Harper.

The Emigrant was the first German paper published in this city. It was begun in 1833, and discontinued in the following year. Henry Roedter was the editor.

The Ohio Staatszeitung was a Whig paper established in 1840. It was discon- tinned after the Presidential election of that year.

The Ohio Eagle (Adler) was published for about eighteen months by V. Kastner, beginning in the spring of 1841.

The failure of the Eagle suggested to Jacob Reinhard the idea of trying his hand at newspaper publishing, and he immediately set about the preliminary work which resulted in the establishment of the Westbote, in October, 1843. F.

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Fieser, who was then in Cincinnati, as the editor of the Volksblatt, thus tells the story of the establishment of the Westbote, the oldest living and the most success- ful German paper of Columbus :

" In the summer of 1842, Jacob Reinhard came to Cincinnati to broach the subject of starting a German paper in Columbus, as the Ohio Eagle was a thing of the past. I had become acquainted with Mr. Reinhard when he was the engineer of the National Road, between Springfield and Columbus. The prospects were good, and so I consented. Reinhard returned to Columbus, and I looked after the numerous small details, in which Stephen Molitor assisted me. Several names for the new paper were suggested, and we decided the question by writing the names on separate slips of paper and putting them all in a hat. A daughter of Stephen Molitor drew the name (Der Westbote) out of the hat. It has been stated that the Westbote was printed with the type of the defunct Eagle, but such is not the fact. I bought the type in Philadelphia and no secondhand material was ever used. The first number of the Westbote was issued on the second day of October, 1843, the publication office being on East Main Street, in a frame structure which has since given way for the handsome residence of Isaac Eberly. Columbus was in 1843 quite small and the German population not very numerous. You could count the German business men on your fingers. Besides that, the Whigs were in the majority in both county and city, and the establishment of a German Democratic newspaper was therefore not an easy task. The difficulties were not overcome for years; but when once the turning point was reached, the improvement was rapid. The field of the Westbote gradually extended into other States and its influence steadily grew stronger until, in many localities in the State, the paper was con- sidered the 'Democratic Bible.'"

Reinhard & Fieser continued the publication of the Westbote until May, 1884, a period of more than forty years, when Mr. Fieser sold his balf interest to William F. Kemmler, George J. Brand and Peter Hinterschitt, all of whom bad for many yeurs been in the service of the firm of Reinhard & Fieser. Mr. Kemmler's service dates back to 1862, Mr. Brand's to 1855, and Mr. Hinterschitt's to 1847. The busi- ness of the Westbote was continued by the new firm until February 25, 1885, when a joint stock company was incorporated with a capital stock of $100,000, Jacob Reinhard, Henry A. Reinhard, William F. Kemmler, George J. Brand, and Peter Hinterschitt being the principal stockholders and forming the board of directors. Mr. Jacob Reinhard is president of the company ; his son, Henry A., is business manager ; Mr. Kemmler, managing editor; Mr. Brand, superintendent of the book and job department, and Mr. Hinterschitt, foreman of the composing room. The business, since the change from a partnership to a corporation, has greatly increased, and much material, including a stereotyping outfit, has been added. Seventyeight men are now regularly employed about the establishment. The Westbote was at first, and for the major portion of its career, a weekly. It became a semiweekly while in the hands of Reinhard & Fieser, and is now a tri- weekly, having been made such when the stock company was formed. Henry A. Reinhard, the present business manager, has been actively connected with the Westhote for a quarter of a century, though he is yet a comparatively young man.

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

In 1852, Reinhard & Feiser published a Democratic campaign paper called the Sharpshooter.

The Volkstribune, a paper of abolition tendencies, was started in 1854 by George Hessenauer & Co. It lived about eighteen months.

The Columbus Republican was a shortlived publication, the first number of which was issued March 16, 1859. Philip Croissant, a native of Germany, who came to Columbus from New Philadelphia, was the editor.

The Republikanische Presse was published for a short time, beginning in 1858, by John Siebert and Henry Lindenberg. Herman Ruess was the editor.

John H. Orf began the publication of the Allgemeine Volkszeitung, a weekly independent paper, July 20, 1872. The publication offce was at 165 East Friend (now Main) Street. This paper lived only a few months.

The Ohio Staatszeitung, a daily evening paper, began a short career May 21, 1883. The persons interested financially in the publication were : Frank Hem- mersbach, Theodore Landien, F. A. Wayant, and Joseph Voll. The paper was not a success, and after several thousand dollars had been sunk in the venture, was discontinued April 21, 1884.

The Ohio Sonntagsgast, a Sunday paper, was founded in April, 1878, by L. Hirsch, who is still its editor. Heury Raab, Adolph Hirschberg and Albert Guthke at different times had a financial interest in the publication, but Mr. Hirsch has always held a controlling interest in it, as well as being its editor. The Sonntagsgast has always been Republican in politics, and has exercised during its career not a little influence in behalf of the Republican party. When the publica- tion was begun, the paper was a fourpage, ninecolumn paper, but five months later its form was changed to a quarto of seven columns to the page. To the regular eightpage paper is now added a fourpage literary supplement. A fourpage edition of the Sonntagsgast is also printed for circulation at a distance, and to meet the needs of other than city subscribers.

The first religious paper published here was the Cross and Journal, a Baptist weekly, which was moved to this city in 1838 and published here for the eleven years next following. Its publisher and editor at the time of the removal was George Cole, who conducted it alone until 1845, when Rev. D. A. Randall became associate editor. In 1847 the paper was sold by Mr. Cole to Mr. Randall and Rev. J. L. Batchelder, who changed its name to the Western Christian Journal. This partnership continued until 1849, when Mr. Batchelder became sole proprietor and removed the publication office back to Cincinnati, where the paper is still published under the name of the Journal and Messenger as the organ of the Baptists of the States of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia.

There are published in this city twelve Lutheran papers and magazines, the oldest of which is the Lutheran Standard, a weekly of eight pages now in its forty- eighth year. Its editors are : Professor M. Loy and Professor G. H. Schodde. The paper is devoted, as its name implies, to the interests of the Lutheran Church, and has a circulation of about four thousand. It was established in 1842, and was then published at New Philadelphia, Ohio, with Rev. E. Greenwald as its first editor. Two years later, Rev. S. A. Mealy was elected as its editor by the Capital Univer-

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sity Board, and its place of publication was changed to Zanesville, where Rev. Mr. Mealy was then engaged in pastoral work. The following year, Rev. C. Spielman took charge, and the paper was removed to Somerset. He remained editor until 1848, when Professor F. Lehmann was chosen editor, and the paper was brought to Columbus, where it has remained ever since. Rev. Mr. Greenwald served as editor from 1851 to 1854, and Professor Worley from 1854 to 1864. In the latter year, Professor M. Loy was elected editor, in which capacity he has continued to serve until now. In 1879, Professor Schodde was chosen as associate editor, a relationship which he still sustains.

The Lutherische Kirchenzeitung (Lutheran Church Paper) is a semi-monthly of eight pages which was established in 1860. It is printed in German. Its first editor was Professor F. Lehmann, now dead. He was succeeded in 1880 by Pro- fessor W. F. Stellhorn, who is still its principal editor. He is assisted by Professor E. Schmid.

The Lutheran Child's Paper, a monthly publication intended for Sunday- school children, was established in 1878, with Rev. H. A. Becker as editor. Ile served in that capacity until 1886, when he was succeeded by Rev. G. W. Lose, who is still its editor. It is a small fourpage paper, of which about six thousand copies are printed monthly.

A German paper corresponding in character and purpose with the foregoing, is the Kinderfreude, which was established in 1884, and has a circulation of 8,000. Its editor is Rev. E. A. Boehme.

The Little Missionary dates its existence from 1885. It is a fourpage monthly, devoted to the reports of missionary efforts and to the work of sustaining the mis- sions of the church. Its editor is Rev. E. Pfeiffer.

Lesson Leaves for Sundayschool workers, published in English and German, is edited by Rev. P. A. Peter.

Kinderlust is a sixteenpage monthly, devoted very largely to religious stories. It was established in 1882 and is edited by Rev. G. F. H. Meiser. It has a circulation of 4,000.

The Columbus Theological Magazine is a sixtyfour page bimonthly devoted to the discussion of theological themes. It was established in 1880, and is edited by Professor M. Loy.

A kindred periodical differing from the foregoing principally in the fact that it is printed in German, is the Theologische Zeitblätter. It was established in 1882, and is edited by Professor F W. Stellhorn.

The Christliche Erziehungsblätter is a German monthly devoted to the interests of the Lutheran parochial schools. It was established in January, 1890, and is edited by Professor John L. Fehr.

The Blumen und Garben ( Flowers and Sheaves) is a bimonthly devoted to church history and religious news. It is an eightpage publication, which has been in existence since 1889. Its editor is Rev. C. HI. Rohe. Its circulation is about four thousand.

The Western Missionary of the German Reformed Church in America was the name of a semimonthly, the publication of which began in November, 1848.

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Rev. J. H. Good was its editor, and it was published by the Board of the Synod of Ohio and adjacent States.

The New Church Herald, edited by Rev. S. Hough, was removed to this city in 1858, and began its third volume in September of that year.

The Ohio Waisenfreund was founded in 1872, at Pomeroy, Ohio, by its pres- ent editor and proprietor, Rev. J. Jessing. Its name was then simply Ohio. In 1877, the establishment was removed to Columbus, the name of the paper changed to that which it now bears, and its scope extended over all the States. It rapidly grew in favor, and about four years ago attained its present circulation, about forty thousand copies. It is a religious weekly for Catholics, containing a synop- sis of the political news, religious and historical instruction, and selections of read- ing matter for the family. The proceeds of the Ohio Waisenfreund have been used for the establishment of the St. Joseph's Orphans' Home - a home for desti- tute or homeless boys - and are still used for the support of its inmates.

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History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume I, Part 57

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co Publication date: 1892 Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1202

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1202