History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 90

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 967

USA > Pennsylvania > Bedford County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 90
USA > Pennsylvania > Fulton County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 90
USA > Pennsylvania > Somerset County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 90

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

CHAPTER LIV. THE PRESS.

An early German Newspaper -Gen. Ogle's Proposed "Hornet" - The Old Somerset " Whig "-" People's Guard" - Somerset " Visitor " - Somerset " Democrat " - Extracts from Old Pa- pers, etc. - Somerset " Herald " - Changes in Names and Proprietorship-Somerset " Whig" (New)- " Herald and Whig " - Somerset "Standard " - Salisbury "Indepen- dent " - Valley "Independent" - Dale City "Record" - "Christian Family Companion " - Meyersdale "Indepen- dent" - Meyersdale "Commercial " - Berlin "Republika- ner "- Berlin "Bulletin" -The "Times."

A' S early as 1800, a German newspaper, known as the Somerset Gazette,* was pub- lished in the town of Somerset, but by whom

* In May, 1807, the commissioners of Somerset county ordered that lists of unseated lands upon which taxes are due be pub- lished in the Somerset Gazette.

Digitized by Google

Coq, Stratymon

DR. C. G. STUTZMAN.

Dr. C. G. Stutzman is the descendant of one of the oldest, most prominent, public-spirited and progressive families of this section, he being a son of Hon. Jost J. Stutzman, a biography of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. Dr. Stutzman was born October 2, 1829. In addition to instruction received from his father he was the pupil of his brother, Joseph J., and therefore became well versed in the classics, a knowl- edge of which is so desirable to a member of the medical fraternity.

Having arrived at the age when one must mark out his future course in life, he decided to become a disciple of Esculapius, and at once repaired to Cin- cinati, where he became a student in the Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati, from which institution he graduated in 1851.

He commenced the practice of his profession in Meyersdale, but one year subsequent he matriculated in the University of Pennsylvania, he attending one session. Returning to his native county, he estab- lished himself in practice at Sand Patch, as physician to the tunnel which was then commenced but abandoned before it was completed. From this place he removed to Petersburg, where he practiced but one year, when he, in company with Barnard D. Holbrook, went to Nebraska and surveyed a large tract of land for the government. After remaining

for a time in Nebraska he went to Iowa and there took up the line of march for Pike's Peak, which was then the objective point of thousands attracted west- ward by the golden prize so temptingly described by those interested. The bubble having burst at Pike's Peak, he continued on westward and located at Hum- bug mine, in Northern California, in 1859, where he continued the practice of his profession for three years, when he, like the migratory Arab, "folded his tent " and went to Idaho City when the embryo city contained but a few houses. Here he engaged in mining for two years with the varying success of a miner, the ultimate result not being entirely profit- less. The doctor then returned to his native village after an absence of eight years, having experienced both the pleasures and hardships of a frontier and miner's life so full of adventures and attractions. Having decided to resume the practice of his pro- fession, he purchased the practice of Dr. M. A. R. F. Carr, and has since been engaged in the arduous labors of his profession with marked success. Since 1875 Dr. Theo. F. Livengood has been associated with him in his practice. Being a man of generous nature and noble impulses, he contributes to the needy and to worthy causes with no unsparing hand; eminently social and friendly in all his relations, he possesses many friends who hold him in high esteem. He still remains a bachelor.

Digitized by

Google

Digitized by Google

435

THE PRESS.

published, when established, or when its publica- tion ceased, are matters which we have not been able to learn.

According to a brief paragraph which appeared in the columns of the Bedford Gazette early in 1806, Gen. Alexander Ogle, of Somerset, proposed to commence the publication of the Somerset Hornet on June 1 of that year. It was to be an exponent of the principles of the republican-democratic party of that day, a party opposed to the federalists, of which the Bed- ford Gazette was an advocate. Hence Gen. Ogle's proposed paper was attacked in advance of its issue, by McDowell, of the Bedford paper. It is probable, however, that the Hornet never appeared, and that for some years thereafter the General continued to fight and ating his political enemies after the old style, without the aid of an organ, for the "oldest inhabi- tant " has no recollection of the Hornet's appear- ance.

The Somerset Whig was the next newspaper established in the county, and the first of which definite knowledge is now obtainable. In the editorial columns of No. 1, Vol. XXX, of the Somerset Democrat, a paper dated Wednes- day, July 4, 1883, we find the following inter- esting sketch of the Whig and other Somerset publications :

FRIENDS AND PATRONS :

* * * At this time in its history, when the recollections of the past are fast fading away, we deem it of interest to take a brief retrospect of the rise and progress of democratic journalism in the county. The Democrat itself is yet, comparatively speaking, in the vigor of its youth. Today it attains but its thirtieth birthday, while the democracy in the county had long before the founding of this paper a party journal that advocated and maintained its prin- ciples,- a paper founded in the earliest days of the republic by a man who has long since passed from the scenes of his active life. It was a true and earnest exponent of Jeffersonian democracy, but after an existence of years was at last suspended.

The first democratic journal published in the county was called the Somerset Whig, published and edited by John Patton, who started it in 1810, fifteen years after the county had been taken from a part of Bedford county, and just twenty-seven years after the close of the war for independence. James Madison, democrat, the fourth President of the United States, was then in the midst of his first term, having been elected in 1808, over C. C. Pinckney, federalist, and, the county giving a democratic majority in those days, the Whig, it may be guessed, had'fair sailing. Mr. Patton continued at the head of the paper for nine-

teen years, or until 1829, when he sold out to John Y. and Jacob M. Glessner, both of whom have died in recent years in their homes in Ohio. The Messrs. Glessner published the Whig from 1829 until 1883 or 1834, when they disposed of it to Daniel Weyand, Esq., who, too, has passed over the Rubicon of death, but whose memory yet lingers with the present genera- tion.

Although Somerset county from its earliest history had been democratic, it now began to waver and to desert the faith of its fathers. The scarecrow of Masonry was at its hight and alarmed the people, and, as it was used against the democrats, soon began to tell in their ranks. Voters went to the opposition thick and fast, making this probably the most trying period in the career of the Whig, but through it all Mr. Weyand passed with honor to himself and credit to his journal. He continued its publication until 1840, after the election of Gen. Harrison, the whig candidate for president, when it suspended. Until 1842 there was no democratic paper published in the county, but in that year William P. Ankeny (who died several years ago in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he had long resided), leased or bought the material of Mr. Weyand and started up the paper again under the name of the People's Guard. This advocate of democ- racy lived until the fall of 1844, when its publication was suspended.

In February, 1846, the office material came into the possession of Hon. A. H. Coffroth, who started up the paper again under the name of the Somerset Visitor. Mr. Coffroth continued the publication of the Visitor until 1851, when he disposed of it to Robert R. Roddy, Esq., and entered upon his career as a lawyer. The publication of the journal was continued by R. R. Roddy, Esq., until 1853. In that year Mr. C. F. Mitchell purchased the office, and, adding largely to its stock of material, came out in July with the Somer- set Democrat, in an entire new dress of type and much enlarged and improved over the old Visitor. That was the founding of the present journal published under the same name. Since then, now thirty years ago, it has been continuously published, although by several different parties.

After publishing the Democrat for seven years, in July, 1861, Mr. Mitchell was succeeded by H. G. and G. F. Baer, who by purchase became its owners. The Messrs. Baer remained in the newspaper business but two years. The war coming on, they enlisted and went to the front to fight the battles of their country. In 1863 they sold the Democrat to Valentine Hay, Esq., who published it four years, or until 1867. During the proprietorship of Mr. Hay its present owner be- came warmly attached to it as an apprentice-boy in the office.

In 1867 Mr. Hay sold the office to Mr. John J. Hoffman, who in three years afterward, or in 1870, bought an entire new outfit for the paper and pub- lished it in an enlarged form, changing it from & twenty-four column to a thirty-two column paper. The disastrous fire of May 9, 1872, swept nearly the

Digitized by Google

436

HISTORY OF SOMERSET COUNTY.

entire office out of existence, at that time one of the best offices in Western Pennsylvania. Although Mr. Hoffman did not have the material insured, and in consequence his loss was a very heavy one, he did not surrender, but purchased more type and again en- larged, adding a column to each page and making it a thirty-six column paper.

Under the management of Mr. Hoffman the Demo- crat was published eight and one-half years, or until December, 1875, when he sold it to Hon. A. H. Cof- froth. The same day Mr. Coffroth sold it to A. H. Cof- froth, Jr., and J. K. Coffroth, who published it under the firm name of A. H. & J. K. Coffroth. On January 1, 1880, Mr. J. K. Coffroth retired, having previously disposed of his interest in the paper to his partner, its present proprietor.

THE SOMERSET WHIG.

This paper was first issued about October 1, 1812. No. 21 of Vol. II bears date Thursday, March 9, 1815 (a small four-column folio). It informed its readers that the Whig is " printed by John Patton, in Main street, opposite the postoffice.". . The brave Capt. Lawrence's words, " Don't give up the ship," served as its motto. The same paper, besides containing Gen. Jack- son's congratulatory address to his army, issued immediately after the battle of New Orleans, said, concerning the turnpike road : "We are sorry to learn, by information from Harrisburg, that a law changing the route of the turnpike road from Somerset to Stoystown has actually passed both houses of the legislature. The cause of this change is said to be this, that the citizens on the Somerset route have not in due time subscribed the requisite number of shares to entitle them to letters of incorporation. This change, we are persuaded, will operate very injuriously to Somerset and its neighbor- hood. Who are to blame in this business it is not for us to inquire at present ; but it is cer- tainly a matter of very serious consideration to our citizens generally." The death of Robert Fulton, the inventor, was also noticed. The firm of Isaac Ankeny & Co. advertised that they had "just received a quantity of salt, which they would sell at the reduced price of four dollars per bushel, at their store in Somerset, formerly kept by James Johnston."

Number 1 of the first volume of the Somer set Herald bears the date Tuesday, Septem- ber 16, 1828. During its first years the Herald was a small four-column folio sheet, edited and published by George Mowry. Its tone was

strongly anti-masonic. The following is an extract from an advertisement appearing over the editor's signature in the first number :

" Disclaiming all party names, the Herald will be conducted on principles purely Ameri- can. Though a friend to the election of Gen. Jackson, the editor will have no objection to giving the adverse party a hearing ; moderate essays on both sides of the presidential ques- tion, based on principle, and free from abuse, will therefore be admitted to its columns. And besides the usual matter appertaining to a news- paper, the Herald will contain a circumstantial account of the kidnapping of Capt. Morgan, a Mason, of the State of New York, by the frater- nity, and other Masonic outrages, together with a full exposition of the principles of Free- masonry."

Mr. Mowry also issued a German edition of the Herald. But how long he continued in con- trol we have not been able to ascertain. It was, however, for a number of years.

No. 28 of Vol. I of the Somerset Herald, Samuel D. Witt, publisher, bears the date of April 17, 1838. The same number refers to bills due the firm of Moorhead & Witt (publishers of the Herald and Republican) for the year ending in September, 1837. Thus it would seem that Moorhead & Witt were the successors of Mowry, and began with a new series of numbers when the term Republican was added to the title. The same word was dropped before the expiration of two years, when the old name, the Somerset Herald, was again adopted. The Herald was an advocate of whig principles. Subsequently Joseph J. Stutzman became its editor and proprietor.

Edward Scull, Esq., became a resident of Somerset in 1846. A few months later he estab- lished the Somerset Whig, chiefly for the pur- pose of assisting his brother-in-law, A. J. Ogle, to a seat in the national house of representa- tives. Soon after the establishment of the Whig, it was consolidated with the Somerset Herald, published by Joseph J. Stutzman. The title of the paper was then changed to that of the Herald and Whig, a name which was adhered to until 1870, when the word Whig was dropped and the present name, Somerset Herald, adopted. Mr. Stutzman retired from the firm about the year 1853.

In July, 1871, Mr. Scull purchased the Somer-

Digitized by Google

437

THE PRESS.

set Standard" from the Messrs. Schrock, and merged its subscription list into that of the Herald. Soon after that event the Somerset Printing Company was formed, which, com- posed of Edward Scull, Frank Stutzman, James C. Postlethwaite, George W. Kimmel and John I. Scull, existed until dissolved by the conflagra- tion of May 9, 1872. Everything pertaining to the office was then destroyed. Immediately after the fire Mr. Scull resumed the publication of the Herald alone, and has continued it until the present time. Since 1878, however, his sons, Edward B. and George R., have been asso- ciated with him. As the Whig, the Herald and Whig and the Herald, this publication has ever been considered one of the leading weekly jour- nals of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

THE MEYERSDALE COMMERCIAL.

The history of the Meyersdale Commercial embraces the entire history of journalism in southern Somerset county. On February 1, 1872, the Salisbury Independent, a six-column weekly, was ushered into existence. The pro- prietors, publishers and editors were George H. Suhrie and Luther A. Smith. In the summer of the same year a weekly newspaper, entitled the Dale City Record, was established in Dale City, now Meyersdale, by Henry R. Holsinger, who was also publisher of the Christian Family Companion, a Dunkard church journal of large circulation and influence.

At the close of the first year the Salisbury Independent enlarged to a seven-column folio, and in July of the same year (1883) Mr. Smith purchased for Messrs. Suhrie & Smith the Record, when it was rechristened and published at Meyers' Mills under the name of the Valley Independent. Meyers' Mills was the name of that portion of the district that had refused in- corporation with Dale City. A few weeks later, about the 1st of September, the publica- tion of the Salisbury Independent was discon- tinued. Its material was added to that of the new office, and its list and business merged with . the new concern.

The Independent stemmed the tide bravely until September 1, 1874, when Messrs. Suhrie &

Smith made an assignment to J. O. Meyers, Esq. The publication was continued by him, with Mr. Smith as business manager and editor, and Mr. Suhrie as foreman, until January 1, 1875, when the office and material were sold to the Independent Printing Company, composed of J. O. Meyers, Col. M. D. Miller, G. D. Lichty, Dr. Wm. H. Meyers and E. M. Lichty. The paper was enlarged to an eight-column folio, and Messrs. Smith and Suhrie were retained in their former positions.

Meanwhile Rev. Holsinger had sold the Christian Family Companion to Bishop Quin- ter, who subsequently merged it with the Pil- grim at Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, and con- tinued its publication at the latter place under the title of the Primitive Christian. It is now published at Mount Morris, Illinois, as the Gos- pel Messenger.

In the spring of 1877 Mr. Smith severed his connection with the Independent and was suc- ceeded by Mr. Suhrie in its management. Its existence had long been precarious, and in the vain hope of strengthening it the size was re- duced and the ready-print (patent outside form) adopted. In the fall of 1877 the office and material were sold to Mr. T. Hawes, who discon- tinued the publication until the succeeding February, when he resumed, but abandoned the field in May, 1878, removing the concern to Connellsville, where he for a time published the Chronicle. But the tender grip of the sheriff put a quietus on the bantling, thus veri- fying the proverb, "the good die young."

THE COMMERCIAL.

In January, 1878, shortly after Mr. Hawes' pur- chase of the Independent, a few business men of Meyersdale met, per invitation of Mr. Smith, and the question of starting a new paper was dis- cussed. Before that meeting dispersed a line of policy had been agreed upon, four hundred dol- lars' worth of stock taken, and another meeting on the following evening arranged for. The even- ing (Saturday) came, and the little room was crowded. Shares of stock were rapidly sub- scribed, and in fifteen minutes the Commercial was established. On the following day Messrs. Smith and Suhrie started for New York tu pur- chase the outfit. On their return, the stock- holders leased the material to Lou A. Smith for a term of three years, he being alone financially responsible for all debts incurred. He was

* The Somerset Standard was established by E. M. & W. M. Schrock, January 15, 1870. It was an eight-column folio, and at that time the largest newspaper published in the county. The Messrs. Schrock were also the first to place in position a job press. They continued the publication of the Standard until July, 1871, when the office, fixtures and a subscription list of fifteen hundred subscribers were sold to Edward Scull, Esq., of the Somerset Herald.

Digitized by Google

438

HISTORY OF SOMERSET COUNTY.

further to add to the material a like amount in value during the three years of the lease, and then purchase the stock with accrued interest. The original value of the office was about fifteen hundred dollars ; by the terms of the lease this was doubled in three years, making its value in March, 1881, three thousand dollars.

The Commercial made its appearance March 15, 1878, as an eight-column folio, without a solitary subscriber. About six hundred copies were printed and distributed. The week follow- ing it had one hundred paid-up subscriptions, and at the close of the year its list had in- creased to nearly four hundred, all paid up. At the close of the third volume, the entire concern passed into the hands of Mr. Smith by purchase, and the company, by public notice of its secretary, was dissolved. Up to February, 1882, a. Washington hand-press was used, when & Damon & Peets hand cylinder press was purchased, and a few weeks later the paper was enlarged and brightened with a partial new dress of minion type. The same year a lot of ground (37×99) was purchased on Center- the business street of the borough - through the agency of Mr. William Slicer, a sidewalk put down, well sunk, and other improvements made. The business had so increased that the quarters above the postoffice were too contracted for comfort, and in the summer of 1883 the new Commercial building was erected. This struc- ture is one of the best and most substantial of the kind in the state. Mr. Smith removed the Commer- cial material into its new home September 27 of this year, where it is now permanently housed. The building is brick, metal-roofed, heated by steam, and practically fire-proof. The outer dimensions are 26×50, two stories in hight. A handsome porch, reached by an easy flight of steps, admits the visitor to the counting-room, 18X19. To the rear of this is the pressroom, 24×30 feet, and to the left the editorial-room, also 18X12. Copy elevators and speaking-tubes lead to the second floor from either room, while the pressroom is supplied with a large form elevator, which rapidly and easily conveys the heavy type-forms to and from the press. In the basement is the ten-horsepower boiler, which furnishes heat and power for the establishment. A broad, easy flight of steps leads to the com- posing-room, 43X25, by eleven feet in hight. Twenty-seven windows give ample light, and

the space over the stairway is utilized as a stor- age room for jobbing papers.

The financial policy of the paper is tersely summed up in the one word - " cash." Its strik- ing success is, in a great measure, due to this rigid requirement. Politically it is republican, but its proprietor distinctly disavows that it is an "organ." While the Commercial and its editors are republican to the core, the paper has become a " free lance in political journalism." During the hot political fight of 1882 the Com- mercial espoused the independent republican cause, and was the first interior paper in the state to hoist the name of John Stewart to its masthead. The close of that notable campaign left the Commercial with an average circulation of fifteen hundred and sixty, the number at one time ` reaching an aggregate circulation of over nine- teen hundred. It is a local paper in its widest sense. Local correspondents at all important points are alert and watchful, and furnish its columns the freshest news from their respective districts. But while this is the distinctive feature of the paper, attention is also paid to literature and the general news, excluding carefully what is unclean and demoralizing.

The proprietor, Mr. Smith, was born in Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania, in 1833, and is consequently in the fifty-first year of his age. He came to Somerset county in 1860, and was among the first to enlist in 1861. He was a member of Co. A, 10th Penn. Res., and went through all the campaigns of that famous corps, from Drainesville to Bethsaida church, except- ing South Mountain, Antietam and Fredericks- burg, by reason of injuries received at the second battle of Bull Run, and after recovery by camp fever at Alexandria. He is a light, spare man, a tireless worker, energetic, com- bative and courageous, and a man of superior business qualifications-qualities that have been of the greatest value to him in the journalistic profession. He was educated at the Marietta, Pennsylvania, Academy, afterward becoming an accountant, then a public school teacher, and finally drifting into journalism, where he has found congenial employment for his talents.

Mr. Geo. H. Suhrie, the associate editor, is of Somerset county birth and parentage, having been born in Milford in May, 1848. He was educated at Bethany College, Virginia, where he also acquired a practical knowledge of the art of printing in the office of the Millennial Har-

Digitized by Google

....

The Commercial.

COMMERCIAL PRINTING HOUSE, MEYERSDALE , PA.

Digitized by Google

439

THE SCHOOLS OF SOMERSET COUNTY.

binger. He is a fluent and graceful writer, and, when occasion requires, satirical and incisive. Both the editors are in the prime of life, thoroughly understand and dearly love their profession, are full of fight, aggressive, believe in the Commercial and mean to put it at the top, if energy, skill, brains and money can do it. Every dollar not required to meet current ex- penses goes into material, and helps build up the paper. The result of this policy is seen in the handsomest and best appointed printing- office in the interior of the state. The improve- ments contemplated will include, however, a new power press, most likely the Cincinnati cylinder, a new engine and new type. The en- larged sheet will, we think, be modeled some- what after such favorite journals as the Phila- delphia Press, Pittsburgh Dispatch or Lancaster New Era.

The first and only paper ever published in Salisbury was the Salisbury Independent, estab- lished in 1872 by George H. Suhrie and Luther A. Smith. It was published for a year and a half and was then merged into the Valley Inde- pendent and printed at Meyersdale by the same firm.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 90

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co. Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Number of Pages: 967

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 967