USA > Pennsylvania > Fayette County > Connellsville > Centennial history of the borough of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, 1806-1906 > Part 11
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CHAPTER V.
THE PRESS.
It is not possible to write the history of Connellsville without reference to the Press. It ranks with the Church and the public school as a maker of history. It stands in close touch with the moral, social, intellectual and political life of the community ; it furnishes the media through which public sentiment is expressed and by which public policies are definitely determined.
The press is not only an important factor in the making of history, but also in recording it. It is the public news gatherer. Few items of historic value escape its keen re- porters. Were it possible to secure full files of all the papers of Fayette county from the fifth day of December, 1797, when the first number of the "Fayette Gazette and Union Advertiser" appeared, to the present, they would furnish us with a perfect cyclopedia of Fayette county history. But who has these files? Their rich values were not fully real- ized at the time, and no one took the trouble to preserve them. We are delighted when we can lay our hands on a few stray copies of the earlier editions. Even their adver- tisements are read with interest and photographed as curios.
Fayette county enjoys the distinction of having the second oldest newspaper published in western Pennsylvania. The initial number of the "Pittsburg Gazette" appeared on the twenty-sixth day of July, 1786; the "Fayette Gazette and Union Advertiser," of which the "Genius of Liberty" of Uniontown is the legitimate successor, made its first appearance on the fifth day of December, 1797.
This enterprise of Fayette county journalism will be the better appreciated when it is remembered that, at this time, the entire county could not have had a population of
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more than sixteen thousand, and these were so widely scat- tered and hard to reach as to make the circulation of a news- paper exceedingly difficult. The town of Connellsville was then little more than a cluster of ten or twelve log houses with a population of not more than sixty souls.
This pioneer newspaper, as published by Messrs. Stew- art and Mowry, the first proprietors, was a four-column folio, ten and one-half by sixteen and one-half inches in size, and ultra-Federalistic in politics. The earliest copy of this paper, now in existence, is a copy dated August 23, 1799. It gives evidence of the fact that the path of the editors was not one of roses. News items are scarce. Dis- cussions of long-forgotten public issues fill its columns. Ad- vertising undoubtedly furnished its chief source of revenue. In spite of all obstacles however, the little paper lived and prospered, and the Fayette county press has consequently a continuous history of one hundred and nine years. In 1805, the paper was sold to Messrs. Allen and Springer, who published it under the name of "The Genius of Liberty and Fayette Advertiser," having for its motto the words of Gov- ernor Mckean, "the charms of novelty should not be per- mitted so to fascinate as to give to mere innovation the semblance of reform." It was about the same size as its predecessor, but was later cut down to a three-column folio eight by twelve inches. It was hard to make a pioneer newspaper a financial success as the frequent changes of ownership seem to indicate. On May 5, 1812, the paper passed into the hands of Jesse Beeson, who published it with the motto :
"Here shall the press the people's rights proclaim
With truth it's guide, the public good it's aim."
Since that time, there have been many changes in the own- ership and management of the paper, but it has never failed to make its regular visits to the news-hungry public, and today enjoys a large circulation.
Another pioneer paper of the county that circulated in Connellsville homes was the "Pennsylvania Democrat" of
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Uniontown. This paper was a six-column folio, and was first published by Jacob B. Miller, in 1827. It was founded as the advocate of the re-election of President John Quincy Adams. It was also strongly anti-Masonic in principle. The subscription price of the paper was $2.50, but inasmuch as the advertising was limited it was not a money-maker. The merchants of those days were not much given to printer's ink and only those advertisements that were re- quired by law enabled the proprietor to continue its publi- cation. The subscription list of each of the Uniontown jour- nals at this time was about five hundred, but the money was hard to collect and often left unpaid. For a while, the "Democrat" was edited by J. C. S. Goff and Samuel L. Yarrell, printers in the employ of the first proprietor. In 1830, John F. Beazell became a partner in the ownership of the paper, and four years later it was sold to Samuel and William McDonald who published it for ten years. Since then it has changed hands several times, and since 1893 has been published as "The News Standard."
Other pioneer paper that circulated in this vicinity were: "The Fayette and Green Spectator," published in Uniontown, from 1811 to 1814, "The American Telegraph" published in Brownsville, from 1814 to 1818, and "The Western Register" first published in Washington, Pa., in 1816.
The first local newspaper was "The Connellsville Her- ald" published in 1815, but it is not known who was its editor, or where it was printed. Indeed we would not know that such a paper ever existed if it were not for certain news items copied by the older county papers. Located at such a distance from the county-seat, enjoying but a small part of the legal patronage of the county, and ministering to a comparatively small constituency, this pioneer journal was soon forced to suspend publication. For forty years after this failure, the people of Connellsville were satisfied with the service of the Uniontown papers. Occasionally some local wit would get up a pen-paper, and tack it up
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at some prominent place to the great amusement of the public, but that was the nearest approach to a local news- paper the people enjoyed. The papers of the Franklin Lit- erary Society, edited by Joseph T. McCormick, J. D. Still- wagon and others, show that there was plenty of journalistic talent in the community. Quite a number of these interest- ing papers, known as "The Scorpion," "The Ephemeris," "The Jews' Harp" and "The Blue Hen's Chicken" are still preserved by our older citizens.
The second attempt to establish a newspaper in Con- nellsville was made by Lafayette Markle, who, in August 1855, published the first number of "The Connellsville Enter- prise." This was really a good paper for those days, and deserved a liberal patronage. The first editor was a man of some historic talent, and the loss of the files of his paper is a distinct loss to the history of the town. The second editor of "The Enterprise" was S. S. White. In 1859, R. Lyle White assumed the management and editorship of the paper, publishing it as "The Fayette Patriot." But for some reason it was not a financial success. The town did not seem able to support a first-class paper and its publica- tion was soon discontinued. To Daniel Peter Stentz, now of Pittsburgh, Pa., belongs the credit of establishing the first permanent newspaper in Connellsville. "The Fayette Monitor and Youghioghenian" was first issued under his management, April 12, 1820. It was a seven-column folio, and was Democratic in politics. The peculiar conditions that obtained in the Democratic party of Fayette county at that time secured for the paper liberal financial assistance and enabled it to succeed in a field where all its predecessors had failed. At no time during the twenty-six years of the paper's publication did the number of regular subscribers exceed eight hundred, but Editor Stentz was engaged in other busi- ness at the same time, and was not dependent upon "The Monitor" for his support. The offices of the paper were located at first on the ground floor of the old frame building adjoining the Roman Catholic Church, then they were re-
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moved to the Odd Fellows building, still later they were removed to the second floor of the building at first occupied. In 1896, Mr. Stentz leased his plant, at $26 a month, to two young printers in his employ, A. H. Shaffer and D. S. Trim- ble, who published the paper for two years as "The New Monitor." The attention of these young men, however, was given chiefly to job work, and the paper never had a very extensive circulation. In 1898 they entered the employ of "The Connellsville News," and sold their subscription list to that paper. In 1899 L. G. Raymond, a New York jour- nalist of considerable experience, came to Connellsville for the purpose of establishing a Republican paper. He was given much encouragement and at once started to work. Leasing the old "Monitor" plant on East Main street, he issued the first number of his paper, "The Fayette County Republican," in April of that year. Mr. Raymond, like Editor Stentz, was a practical newspaper man of the old school, working out the larger part of his editorials at the composing bench. He was an ardent. Republican and his trenchant political articles are still vividly remembered by local newspaper men. The circulation of the paper steadily increased. Its strong political sentiments gave it consid- erable public favor. But just when success seemed sure the editor was stricken with typhoid fever and died. During his illness the paper was edited and managed by his gifted daughter, Miss Mabel G. Raymond. Much of the mechan- ical work of the paper was also done by her. After her father's death she was repeatedly solicited to take up news- paper work in the town, but refused all overtures and removed to New York with the rest of the family. On the eleventh day of May 1901 William Kooser leased the Mon- itor plant from Mr. Stentz. On the fifteenth day of July, 1902, Mr. Kooser and James C. Begley formed a partner- ship known as The Fayette Publishing Company, purchased the outfit, exchanging the greater part of it for a new press and other needed materials. An up-to-date plant was estab- lished in the Odd Fellows' building from which the publi-
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cation of "The Fayette County Republican" was resumed. Under the new management the circulation was greatly increased, especially in the outlying country districts. On January 25, 1906, the plant was sold to "The People's Trib- une," the Prohibition paper of Fayette county, and removed to Uniontown.
In December 1874, about five years after D. P. Stentz had succeeded in establishing "The Fayette Monitor and Youghioghenian," the first number of "The Connellsville Tribune" was issued. Its first editor was R. M. Sibbett, and in politics it was Republican. After four years of service Editor Sibbett was succeeded by S. J. Hayes, who espoused the cause of the Greenback party. A few months later, it was purchased by Tilghman Hawes, a newspaper man from Meyersdale, Pa., who for some reason could not make it a financial success, and, in May 1879, the doors of its office were closed by the Sheriff of Fayette county. On the four- teenth day of June of the same year the Keystone Publish- ing Company, Limited, was organized for the purpose of purchasing the plant of "The Tribune" and establishing the paper on a sound financial basis. The company was cap- italized at eleven hundred dollars, and the original stock- holders were: Porter S. Newmeyer, James T. Greenland, E. V. Goodchild, Isaac W. Rutter, Joseph T. McCormick, Kell Long, Joseph Soisson and Henry P. Snyder. The enterprise was purely public-spirited. The members of the company did not want to see one of Connellsville's news- papers perish, but they were Democrats, and wanted to change both the name and the policy of the paper. The first number appeared July 17, 1879, under the name of "The Keystone Courier." After a short time the word Keystone was dropped. It was an eight-column quarto and was printed on a Washington hand-press, which with a jobber comprised the press facilities of the plant. E. V. Good- child was elected business manager and Henry P. Snyder, editor of the paper. The editor was then a young man, twenty-three years of age, who had little or no experience
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in the newspaper business and who believed that he could write up the editorial and news columns of the paper during his spare moments while prosecuting his law studies. The press of work, however, soon compelled him to choose one or the other; the law books were laid aside, and he em- barked permanently upon his journalistic career. He was a Connellsville man by birth and sympathies, and, during the twenty-seven years of his public service as an editor, has done much to advance the material and business inter- ests of the town. The first few months of his labors as a journalist did not make his fortune. He and the business manager had agreed to run the paper for the profits. At the close of business, December 31, 1879, these profits amounted to exactly sixty-four dollars, or six dollars and forty cents a month for each man. But this was a time of foundation building. Large profits were not expected at the beginning. As the months went by, however, it soon became apparent to all that "The Courier" was growing in influence and favor and that it had come to stay. On March 13, 1880, the capital stock of the company was increased to twenty-four hundred dollars, and a Campbell country press was purchased. It was a great improvement over the hand press formerly in use, but it turned with a crank and took lots of muscle to crank off an edition of a thou- sand papers. In October of the same year the capital stock was increased to three thousand dollars, and an Otto gas engine was purchased. This was one of the first gas engines installed in western Pennsylvania, and for a time was quite an object of curiosity. It was operated with artificial gas and was a cheap and convenient power, even at the com- parative high price of gas. Mr. Snyder and Mr. Goodchild continued as editor and business manager, respectively, until December 29, 1882, when they bought out the other stock- holders and formed a partnership under the name of Snyder & Goodchild. On February 1, 1885, Mr. Goodchild sold out his interest to A. M. Claybaugh, of Uniontown, and the publishers became Snyder and Claybaugh. The firm con-
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tinued so until April 1, 1886, when Mr. Claybaugh's inter- est was purchased by J. H. S. Stimmell, and the firm was changed to Snyder & Stimmell. Just two years later John L. Gans acquired Mr. Stimmell's interest and the firm was again changed to Snyder & Gans. It so continued for three years, when, on April 11, 1891, Mr. Gans' interest was purchased by Mr. Snyder, who became sole proprietor. He continued to be the editor and publisher for a period of twelve years, when, on March 14, 1903, the property was transferred to The Courier Company, a corporation formed for the purpose of purchasing it. Mr. Snyder is the president and managing editor and the chief stockholder of the com- pany. J. H. S. Stimmell, secretary and treasurer of the com- pany, has been with "The Courier" since 1885, and now has charge of all the mechanical work. The growth of the paper has been steady. It started as an eight-column folio, and was of the regulation country newspaper pattern. A story or miscellany made up the first page, editorial the second, local the third and miscellany the fourth. After a few years it was found necessary to enlarge it to a nine- column folio. In the meantime Mr. Snyder had become progressive, cleared the front page of advertising and devoted it to local news. The coke trade was beginning to loom up and this was made a feature of "The Courier." Since 1883, his weekly reviews of the Connellsville coke trade have been accepted as authority in manufacturing cir- cles and by State and Federal statisticians. The Courier office was gutted by fire April 1, 1884, but the paper never missed an issue, though for two weeks it was diminutive. Out of the ashes of the fire sprung a better equipment. A new two-revolution press was purchased, and a new build- ing was erected for the plant on the corner of Water and West Apple streets by the Thomas R. Davidson heirs. On June 8, 1888, a larger press was installed and the form of the paper was changed from a folio to a quarto, the new paper being a seven-column, eight-page paper. This was an enlargement from thirty-six to fifty-six columns. For
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years "The Courier" was a paper of such high excellence that it was generally recognized as the model country weekly of Pennsylvania. But Connellsville was growing and the time came when it was necessary to issue a daily as well as weekly. The first daily issue appeared November 10, 1902. It was a modest little five-column quarto, but like its mother weekly soon began to grow, and in less than two years became a seven-column, eight-page paper, with occasional editions of twelve to sixteen pages. To publish such a paper required modern machinery. When the daily was started a linotype machine was bought, but the increase in the size of the paper soon made it necessary to add a second machine and a Scott perfecting press to the plant. Under these conditions an edition of five thousand copies can now be printed in about half an hour. The new equipment also enabled the publishers to issue extra editions with ease. During the California earthquake excitement, April 19-20, 1906, three editions were printed each day.
When it was decided to publish a daily paper, the Water street quarters were found to be too small, and in September 1902, the plant was removed to the new building erected by Michael Hurley in the rear of his premises at 127 West Main street.
The credit for establishing the first daily paper in Con- nellsville belongs to The News Publishing Company. This company was organized January 12, 1898, with a capital stock of ten thousand dollars. It was incorporated under the laws of Pennsylvania May 26, 1898. The men most deeply interested in the establishment of this journalistic enterprise were John F. Soisson, John Duggan, J. S. Bryner, L. A. Carroll and Raymond S. Coll. Captain H. A. Crow was made general manager at the start, but with the out- break of the Spanish-American war went with the Tenth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers to the Philippines. He was succeeded by W. D. McGinnis, who assumed his position May 17, 1898. The first weekly was issued March 10, 1898, and, on the afternoon of May 10, 1898, the news-
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boys began to sell the first daily on the streets of Connells- ville. Its first appearance was greeted with many dire pre- dictions of failure, but the public soon manifested its pleas- tre and the paper lived and prospered.
The first editor of "The News" was Raymond S. Coll, who was called to the position from Pittsburgh, Pa., where he was a member of "The Times" staff. Mr. Coll already had considerable experience in Connellsville journalism, as the industrial reporter and assistant editor of "The Courier," and was well qualified for his work. He held this position until March 1, 1900, when he was succeeded by W. D. McGinnis. Editor McGinnis is the son of Joseph W. and Eliza Jane (Cooley) McGinnis and was born in Franklin township, Fayette county, April 8, 1869. He was a teacher in the public schools of the county for a period of ten years. He came to Connellsville in 1894 to accept the position of principal of the New Haven schools, which position he still held when called in 1898 to the managership of "The News." The double work of manager and editor assumed in 1900 was too heavy for one man, and, on October 10, 1905, Rob- ert D. North was placed in charge of the editorial depart- ment. Mr. North already had considerable practical experi- ence in newspaper work as a member of the reportorial staff of "The News," and later as manager and editor of "The Jeannette Dispatch," and is a strong man in his place. For several years the following directors have been in charge of the affairs of the company: E. C. Higbee, presi- dent ; W. D. McGinnis, treasurer; H. A. Crow, secretary ; E. T. Norton and H. M. McDonald. The daily issue of the paper is eight pages, six columns in size ; and that of the weekly eight pages with seven columns. The mechanical department is equipped with linotype machines, five job and two newspaper presses, while in the front offices five type- writing machines are kept busy grinding out the copy to feed the typesetting machines.
"The News" circulates throughout all sections of the coke region. In politics it is rock-ribbed Democratic, in
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principles it is independent, always advocating what it be- lieves to be right. It enjoys the favor of the churches because of its cleanness and its strong stand on many moral questions.
The first offices of the paper were located in a frame building on the corner of West Apple and North Arch streets, but were later removed to the present larger quar- ters on East Main street. Both of Connellsville's papers now have first-class facilities and can be depended on as efficient builders of her prosperity.
CHAPTER VI.
MILITARY HISTORY.
The history of Connellsville cannot be written without the mention of "wars and rumors of wars." It is in a his- toric region. At no great distance from it, Washington fought his first battle. Within rifle shot of its present boundaries, Braddock passed on his ill-fated expedition to Fort Duquesne, and not many miles away his tragic and pathetic death occurred. Over the mountains that rise in majesty round about us, through "the primeval forests," and across these winding streams, armies have marched,-small armies, indeed, but self-sacrificing and brave, and taking part, unwittingly though it may have been with some of them, in events of world-wide importance. Whether on their way to expel French intruders or to quell Indian upris- ings, they were helping to solve the problem: What shall be the future of the Western Country? By what power shall it be held and ruled? Fort Necessity was a prelude to the Seven Years' war in which almost every nation in Europe was sooner or later involved. The story of the expeditions which one after another passed to and fro through the pres- ent counties of Westmoreland and Fayette in the second half of the eighteenth century is a vital part of the gigantic and prolonged contest between England and France for supremacy both in the old world and in the new.
Three years after Braddock's defeat, another expedi- tion was sent by the English government to expel the French from the "Forks of the Ohio," and capture Fort Duquesne. The force was composed of about six thousand men, regulars and colonials, and was commanded by General John Forbes. Contrary to the advice of Washington, Forbes chose a route north of the Braddock road, cut a new road,
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afterward called the Glade road, came into Bedford county in September, 1158, and sent Colonel Henry Bouquet, with an advance column of two thousand men, to the Loyalhanna. river. Bouquet, in turn, sent Major William Grant, with eight hundred men, most of them Scotch Highlanders, to reconnoiter and, if the way was clear, to seize Fort Duquesne. Grant pushed on until he came to a hill near the fort, where he was attacked by a much superior force of French and Indians, and was defeated with great slaugh- ter, losing more than one-third of his men, and being him- self taken prisoner and sent to Montreal. The hill on which this disastrous engagement took place is in the present city of Pittsburgh. On its summit the county court house stands and. in memory of the unhappy event that occurred on it that September day in 1:58, the hill is to this day known as "Grant's Hill." while the thoroughfare passing over it bears the name, Grant street.
On November 25th, Forbes reached Fort Duquesne with his army, and found that the fort had been abandoned. and burned the day before. The French garrison, reduced to not more than five hundred men, hearing of Forbes' approach, had fled down the Ohio in boats. Forbes at once hoisted the British flag over the spot. Leaving two hundred men as a garrison, the valiant commander returned to Phil- adelphia, where he died the following March.
Fort Duquesne was forever lost to the French. A new structure took its place, to which the name Fort Pitt was given, in honor of the great English statesman who was at the time in control of public affairs as Prime Minister.
In the Forbes expeditionary force, there are said to- have been 2,200 Pennsylvanians and 1,600 Virginians. Among the Virginians, there was a man who was destined seven years later to settle on the banks of the Yough, and to become famous as the leader of an expedition himself. We refer to William Crawford, at this time about twenty-six years of age and a resident of Berkeley county, Virginia. In 1155, the Governor of Virginia had commissioned Craw-
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