History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 90

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1162

USA > Pennsylvania > Chester County > History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches > Part 90

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NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS.

While Mr. Pearce conducted the paper, the Democratic party, whose organ it had always been, became divided in sentiment. He followed the fortunes of those known as the Douglas Democrats, and as a consequence lost a con- siderable number of his subscribers. The paper eventu- ally became Republican in its politieal sentiments, and has so continued. Mr. Kinnard published it from November, 1864, until January, 1866, when he sold it to Maj. Ed- ward B. Moore. Maj. Moore was proprietor until June 1, 1878, when he disposed of it to Walter E. Hall. Sinee April 1, 1881, Robert P. Sharples has been part proprie- tor, and it is now published by the firm of Walter E. IIall & Co.

The American Republican was a weekly paper until July 29, 1876, when it became a semi-weekly, under the proprietorship of Edward B. Moore. This method of pub- lication continued until July 1, 1878, when it again became a weekly, and at the same time the then publisher (Walter E. Hall) commenced the issue of the paper as a daily, as well as a weekly, which is still continued. The daily was an afternoon paper until Nov. 1, 1878, since when it has been a morning paper.

The Republican, after its removal from Downingtown to West Chester, was published for many years in a building which stood on the north side of Gay Street, . between Church and Darlington, about where Thomas Travilla's store now is ; next on the south side of Market Street, east of the Mansion House; then on the east side of Church Street, between Gay and Market, a short distance north of the present office of the Village Record; then on the east side of North High Street, near Chestnut, and ad- joining the agricultural warehouse; then, in 1860, again in an office on Market Street, east of the Mansion House, now occupied by the Messrs. Hickman, bankers ; and then, on the purchase of the Chester County Times, in 1863, it was removed to the office occupied by that paper, on Mar- ket Street, over the present law-office of William E. Bar- ber, and after its purchase by Maj. Moore it was removed to its present location, on Market Street, opposite the soutli- west corner of the court-house yard.

The next paper established in the county was the Ches- ter and Delaware Federalist, by Dennis Whelen. It was published in the borough of West Chester, and the first number was issued June 8, 1809. Its publication was ap- parently suggested by the circumstance of the Temperate Zone having been started the previous year in Downing- town by Charles Mowry. The Federalist was, as its name indicates, a party newspaper, and was conducted in the in- terest of the Federal party. The printed page was in size ten by sixteen inches. It was the establishment of this paper as a political organ which induced Charles Mowry to convert his neutral paper, the Temperate Zone, into a party paper, and to make it the organ of the opposite party, which he did Aug. 1, 1809, under the title of the Ameri- can Republican, as already stated. The Chester and Del- aware Federalist was conducted by Dennis Whelen until Aug. 6, 1817, when he sold the paper to Charles Miner. Mr. Miner conducted it under the same title until Jan. 1, 1818, when he changed the name to the Village Record, adding the former name of Chester and Delaware Feder-

alist as a sub-title. He also enlarged the size of the printed page to twelve by eighteen inches. In 1824, Charles Mi- ner had as a partner, for a time, John S. Bryan, a son-in- law of William Wollerton, and the paper was conducted by Miner & Bryan. In 1825, Asher Miner, a brother of Charles Miner, removed to West Chester, and from July of that year he was associated with his brother in the ownership and management of the paper.

Asher Miner was a native of Connecticut, where he was born March 3, 1778, and whenee he emigrated to the Wyoming Valley in 1800. He published a paper in Wilkesbarre for a time, in connection with his brother Charles, and in 1804 removed to Doylestown, and estab- lished there the Pennsylvania Correspondent, of which he remained in charge twenty-one years. He sold the paper in 1825 and came to West Chester. Ile was a practical printer, and devoted all his time to the practical working of the Village Record office, while Charles was chief editor, and infused into the columns of the paper a great amount of vigor and energy. Charles Miner was a man of scholarly tastes and a polished writer, and the paper under his editorship acquired a high character, and did much to promote intelligence among the people. In 1830 the size of the page was enlarged to fourteen by nineteen inches, and at the same time the sub-title of Chester and Delaware Federalist was dropped, and that of And General Advertiser substituted. Asher and Charles Miner con- ducted the paper until April 1, 1834, when they disposed of it to Henry S. Evans and returned to Wilkesbarre, where they spent the remainder of their days, Asher dying in 1841 and Charles in 1865.

It may not be inappropriate here to refer to the way in which the newspapers of the county were delivered to their subscribers in early days. Post-offices and mail-agents through the county were few and far between. An ap- prentice of the printing-office was mounted on a horse, and under him a pair of leather bags that would hold a quan- tity of newspapers in each end, and a tin horn fastened to his neek by a tape-string. . Thus equipped, he started on a familiar route of two days' travel through the coun- try. Whenever he came to a house, store, or blacksmith- shop where a package of papers was to be left, he put the horn to his lips and blew a blast which brought some one to the door to receive the package, or it might be a single paper. He was often met at the door by a kind lady with smiles, a piece of pie, or some apples and a drink of eider ; in addition to these chances of good luck, he had regular places for dinner and staying over-night, where himself and horse were well taken care of at the expense of the pro- prietor. At the same time one or more other boys, simi- larly equipped, traveled other routes. In many instances, where the houses of the subscribers were back from the publie road, they erected boxes at the roadside, in which the papers were placed by the riders. In process of time post-offices were established by the government along these routes, and the proprietors of the several newspapers were the contractors for carrying the mails; these were farmed out among themselves in due proportion.

Henry S. Evans conducted the Village Record from 1834 until his death, Feb. 9, 1872. In this period it was

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HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

enlarged several times, the first soon after its purchase, and it continued, under his management, to be the most influ- ential paper in the county.

In 1854 he purchased from John S. Bowen the Register and Examiner, which he, in connection with James M. Meredith, had conducted for some years, and united it witlı the Village Record, publishing the paper from that time semi-weekly, under the title of the Village Record and Register and Examiner, the latter as a sub-title.

On the death of Mr. Evans he was succeeded by his sons, Barton D. and Willie D. Evans, who have from that time conducted the paper. Sinee Aug. 8, 1878, in addi- tion to their weekly issues, they have published a daily edition.

The Village Record, in its political character, was the organ of the old Federal party during its existence. On the downfall of that party and the organization on its ruins of the party known as the National Republican it advo- cated its principles, and also those of its successor, the Whig party. Since the latter has ceased to have a naine it has advocated the principles of the present Republican party.

The Village Record and its predecessor, the Chester and Delaware Federalist, were first published in an office situated where Thomas G. Peirce's drug- and hardware- store now stands, on High Street, two doors north of the Bank of Chester County. The next location of the Record was on the north side of Gay Street, a short distance west of Church, on the property now owned by Malin Hoopes, whence it was removed to its present location, on Church Street, between Gay and Market.

The office of the Village Record has been noted for the number of its graduates who became known in after-life, and who have filled positions of prominence and useful- ness. A few of them will be mentioned.

Among its earlier graduates was Henry S. Evans, who became its proprietor in 1834, and in whose family it still continues. Elisha B. Jackson and James Kelley in 1827 became proprietors of the Bucks County Intelligencer, and so continued for several years. They were among the first to inaugurate the stirring appeals to voters on the eve of elections, now so common with newspapers. They were enterprising men, and the paper prospered under their management. Caleb H. Kinnard was editor and proprietor of several newspapers mentioned in this sketch. William Butler became a prominent member of the bar, was presi- dent judge of the Fifteenth Judicial District of Pennsyl- vania from 1861 to 1879, and since then has been judge of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Edward M. Paxson was for sev- cral years a judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Phil- adelphia, and is now a judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Of Bayard Taylor, traveler, poet, novel- ist, it is enough to mention his name. Charles Cook, at one time editor and proprietor of a paper in Danville, Pa., and Frederick E. Foster, who was connected with Bayard Taylor in establishing and conducting the Phoenixville Pioneer, were also graduates.

Enos L. Prizer entered the office at the age of fifteen years, and at the expiration of his apprenticeship he re-

mained for several years as foreman, reporter, and sub- editor. In connection with Henry T. Darlington, who had entered the Record office in 1849, and there learned the printing business, he purchased the Bucks County Intelli- gencer, and they conducted it together from 1855 until the death of Mr. Prizer, in 1864, when Mr. Darlington became sole proprietor, and conducted it until his death, in 1878. Mr. Prizer was of a restless and nervous temperament, pos- sessing activity, energy, and industry. These qualities, with more than ordinary abilities, made him a successful journalist. Personally he was social and genial, and had many warm friends. He was a son of Frederick Prizer, who resided in the northern part of Chester County. Henry T. Darlington was a nephew of Dr. William Darlington, and was a man of education and business enterprise.

Columbus P. Evans, a brother of Henry S. Evans, after learning his trade, served as a captain in the Mexican war, and was subsequently one of the editors of the Wilmington Republican. Maj. William B. Darlington, a son of Dr. William Darlington, was in the war of the Rebellion, and there lost a leg in the Wilderness. He was subsequently postmaster at West Chester for several years. Henry W. Carruthers, after completing his apprenticeship, became a member of the bar, and subsequently died from exposure in the service during the war with the South.

Among others is Enos L. Christman, at one time foreman in the Record office, now editor and proprietor of the Washington (Pa.) Reporter; George Stout, at one time a partner of Mr. Christman ; George W. Vernon, of the Wilmington Republican; Henry L. Brinton, of the O.c- ford Press ; William H. Whitehead, of the Bloomington (Ill.) Pantagraph ; James P. Taylor, of the Montrose Independent Republican ; William Baker, now deputy sheriff of Chester County ; William H. Dock, present fore- man in the Village Record office, with which he has been connected about thirty years; and Walter E. Hall, now proprietor of the American Republican.

In 1833, Henry S. Evans and William Jenkins com- menced the publication of a paper in Waynesburg (now Honeybrook), Chester County, called the Waynesburg Press and Chester, Berks, and Lancaster Advertiser, the first number of which was issued Sept. 25, 1833. After condueting it for six months, Mr. Evans purchased the Village Record, of West Chester, of which he took charge in April, 1834. The management of the Press then de- volved upon Mr. Jenkins, who conducted it for the firm until May 28, 1834, when Mr. Evans sold his interest to Caleb H. Kinnard. Mr. Kinnard and Mr. Jenkins then discontinued the publication of the Press in Waynes- burg, and removed the printing-press and materials to Downingtown, and there, on June 10, 1834, established the American Spectator and People's Friend. This was published until April 1, 1835, when it was purchased by Henry S. Evans, and managed by him in the Village Record. Caleb H. Kinnard then purchased the interest of George Fisher in the American Republican, as has been stated.

In the year 1814, Nathan Blackman, Jr., a native of New England, established in the village of Edenton (or, as it was then spelled, Edentowu), in Upper Oxford township,

HENRY S. EVANS.

Bug? by AR TOM & S."s " Barclay Ot NY

NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS.

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a weekly paper, called the Eden Star, the initial number of which was issued March 28, 1814. At that time the village of Edentown consisted of a public-house, store- house, and a building in which the paper was printed. The village was owned and the tavern and store kept by John Downing. The name of Edentown, it is supposed, was conferred at the time the paper was established, by reason of that event, as the local habitation of a newspaper must needs have a name.

The paper was published at Edentown about two years, when the building in which it was printed was accidentally burned, and, there being no other suitable place there, the office was removed to Russellville, about one mile distant, and the publication continued there, under the title of the American Star, for some time longer ; but, the business not being sufficiently remunerative, it was discontinued, and the publisher removed to the West.

The paper was Democratic in politics, and during the war waging with Great Britain, in the earlier period of its career, it advocated the measures of the administration of President Madison with vigor and ability. It was in the usual folio form, the pages being ninc and a half by sixteen inches in size, and having each four columns. It had at its head a representation of a printing-press, and under- neath it the words " salus populi," and this motto: " An enlightened and virtuous country must be a free country."

The Independent Journal was established in Downingtown by Dr. George A. Fairlamb and George Plitt, and the first number was issued Aug. 29, 1827. It was a Jackson paper, and from its first issue advocated his election to the Presidency. Many of its patrons and supporters, how- ever, had been members of the old Federal party, and the American Republican, which had always been theretofore the recognized organ of the Democratic party, taunted it as not being precisely the "Simon pure." It maintained its position, however, and was, in addition to being a Jack- son paper, also the organ of that portion of the party which eventually succeeded in nominating George Wolf for the governorship of Pennsylvania over Gen. Isaac D. Barnard. Gen. Barnard was a citizen of Chester County, and a mem- ber of the bar, and his nomination was warmly advocated by his friends. It was, however, opposed by a portion of the party, and a very bitter, and to some extent personal, contest ensued, the nomination of Barnard being advocated by the American Republican, and that of Wolf by the Independent Journal. Two sets of delegates were sent to the State convention from Chester County, one in favor of each of those candidates. After a heated contest, those in favor of Wolf were admitted as members of the conven- tion, and this determined the nomination in favor of Wolf. Had the Barnard delegates bcen admitted, he would have been nominated by one majority, and have been the Gov- ernor of the State, instead of Wolf.

Dr. Fairlamb, one of the proprietors of the Independent Journal, died April 10, 1829. It was then conducted by George Plitt alone until April 13, 1830, when he sold out to George Fisher and George W. Crabb. The latter had been for some time previously associated with Mr. Plitt in the editorship. Messrs. Fisher & Crabb discontinued the Independent Journal, and established in its stead the

Chester County Democrat, the first number of which was issued April 20, 1830. In 1831, Fisher purchased the interest of Crabb, and contioued the publication of the Democrat until 1832, when he removed it to West Chester, and it was soon thereafter united with the American Re- publican. This union took place Jan. 29, 1833, and has been referred to in the notice of the American Republican.

When Fisher & Crabb started the Chester County Demo- crat, Dr. John D. Perkins was publishing in Coatesville the Anti-Masonic Examiner. He noticed the advent of the new paper in rhyme, which is here given as a sample of newspaper poetry in Chester County fifty years ago :

" A ' Fisher' and a ' Crab,' forsooth, Puff'd up with self-conceit, Resolved in Co. to publish what Is called a weekly sheet.

" They took a press in Downingtown, Which locally is flat, From whence they issue for their friends The miscalled Democrat.

" The name's assumed too late, I fcar, For 'tis as plain as day Democracy has changed To Anti-Masonry.

"Let Masons and their servile Jacks Cry out persecution ; And let their ' Fisher' and their ' Crah' Land the institution.

" We'll show them in October next Of our free wills a sample, And at the ballot-boxcs Dethrone the hand-maid's Temple."

In March, 1829, Alexander Marshall and Nathan Sieg- fried commenced the publication at the Yellow (now Ches- ter) Springs of a paper entitled the Literary Casket and General Intelligencer. Mr. Siegfried was a practical printer, and Mr. Marshall assumed the editorship. After a few months Mr. Siegfried retired, and Mr. Marshall be- came sole proprietor. The printing-office was in the hos- pital building, erected during the Revolutionary war, and familiarly known as the Washington House. The paper was purely literary in its character, entirely eschewing politics, and was the vehicle through which the lucubra- tions of many of the young aspirants to literary fame in Chester County first saw the light.

At the end of the first year, in February, 1830, the paper was sold to Morris Mattson and Cheyney Hannum, and by them removed to West Chester. Mr. Mattson soon sold his interest to James A. Hemphill, Esq., and it was conducted by Hannum & Hemphill until the fall of 1830, when it was merged into the National Republican Advo- cate and Literary Gazette, a new weekly paper established by them at West Chester in advocacy of the principles of the National Republican party, then the party opposed to the Democratic party, the first number of which was issued Nov. 30, 1830. Mr. Haanum was a teacher, and Mr. Hemphill was a rising young lawyer of the Chester County bar.

Messrs. Hannum & Hemphill conducted the Advocate until April 3, 1832, when Mr. Hemphill sold out his interest to John Hickman and William Whitehead, and

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the names then nailed to the mast-head as publishers were Hannum, Hickman & Co. This arrangement continued but a few months, as on July 31, 1832, John T. Denny and William Whitehead became editors and proprietors. On June 18, 1833, Mr. Denny retired, and was succeeded by John Bicking, and the paper was conducted by Bicking & Whitehead until April 8, 1834, when it was sold by them to a company of gentlemen in the interest of the Whig party, then just coming into notice. The Advocate had strongly urged the elevation of Henry Clay to the Presidency.

The National Republican Advocate was discontinued, and a newspaper called the Whig was started, the first num- ber bearing date the 15th of April, 1834, and having at its head as the editor and proprietor Simeon Siegfried, who had formerly been one of the proprietors of the American Republican. While Mr. Siegfried was the publisher and the ostensible editor, the political matter was largely, if not wholly, furnished by others, notably by Dr. William Dar- lington, William H. Dillingham, Townsend Haines, and William Williamson. It was proposed at first to call the paper the Independent Democrat, but that was changed for the Whig, it being thought that this name, which was associated with the patriotic memories of the Revolution, would be popular and draw supporters. Its motto was, " True to the principles of '76." Mr. Siegfried, the pub- lisher of the new venture, had always theretofore been a Democrat, and had supported Gen. Jackson for the Presi- dency ; but he was not satisfied with the course of the President in making war upon the Bank of the United States, and was willing to publish a journal which was an- tagonistic to him. Mr. Siegfried published the Whig in West Chester until May, 1835.

The office of the Literary Casket in West Chester was on the east side of Church Street, three doors north of Market Street, and immediately south of the present drug- store of Joseph S. Evans. Its successor, the National Re- publican Advocate, was for a time published in the same place, and then removed to the basement of the row of of- fices east of the Mansion House, then called the Chester County Hotel, on Market Street, under the late office of John H. Brinton, Esq. The Whig was also published in the latter place, and the sign " Whig office" can still be read on the lintel over the door leading to the basement.

In 1835 the Democratic party had become divided on the subject of the nomination for Governor of Pennsylvania. One wing of the party had nominated Henry A. Muhlen- berg, and the other George Wolf, who had then been Gov- ernor six years, and both were in the field as candidates for the suffrages of the people. The American Republican was in the interest of Muhlenberg, and its editors supported its claims. The Wolf wing of the party desiring an organ in Chester County, they arranged with Mr. Siegfried that he should discontinue the Whig and establish a paper which should advocate the claims of Wolf. The Whig was not self-supporting, there being two other papers of the same party or combination of parties in the county,-the Village Record and Register and Examiner,-and Mr. Siegfried readily consented to do so, as he was really in principle a Democrat.

Mr. Siegfried, in pursuance of this arrangement, discon- tinued the Whig and removed his establishment to Down- ingtown, and there, in May, 1835, started the Republican Standard and Democratic Journal in the interest of Wolf. It was published in the firm-name of George W. Mason & Co., Mr. Siegfried being the other member of the firm, and was edited by Nimrod Strickland (among others) ; but the names of the editors were not announced,-simply that of the publishers. It was very ably edited, but after the elec- tion, which, owing to the division in the Democratic ranks, resulted in the election of Joseph Ritner, the publication of the paper ceased. George W. Mason, one of the pub- lishers, then removed to Elmira, N. Y., and became con- nected with the Elmira Gazette, which he published with success for several years.

Each wing of the party during the contest which com- menced with the strife between the friends of Barnard and of Wolf, and which continued with more or less acri- mony until after the election of Ritner, called itself the Democratic party. Those who were represented by the American Republican, however, always spoke of the other wing as " Protestants," from their publishing a " protesta- tion" against the proceedings of a county meeting naming Barnard as a candidate, and electing delegates in his favor to the State convention. The other side represented that the meeting was not called at the usual time and manner, and that it did not truly represent the party. The result was the calling of another meeting, and the naming of delegates in favor of Wolf, who were admitted to seats in- the State convention, as has been already mentioned. The next year after the election of Ritner the divisions in the party were healed in the election of Van Buren to the Presidency.

In September, 1831, Simeon Siegfried commenced the publication in West Chester of the Temperance Advocate. This paper he conducted in West Chester until May, 1835, when he removed it to Downingtown, and continued its publication there until September, 1835, when it was merged into a paper published in Philadelphia, called the Philanthropist.

Mr. Siegfried, who, it will be seen, was thus at different periods connected with the publication of the American Republican, Temperance Advocate, Whig, and Republican Standard, was a native of Bucks Co., Pa., where he was born Sept. 23, 1797. He learned the printing business with Asher Miner, in the office of the Correspondent, at Doylestown, and, after conducting papers at different points for limited periods, he came to West Chester in 1824 and purchased the American Republican. He was ordained as a Baptist minister on April 14, 1827, and was pastor of the Goshen Baptist Church, in Chester County, for several years, finally ceasing to be pastor there in July, 1835. After he ceased to publish the Republican Standard he removed to Philadelphia, and from there, in 1839, to West- ern Pennsylvania, where, and in Western Virginia and Ohio, he was at different periods connected with papers in the interests of religion and temperance, and was also en- gaged in ministerial labors. In 1872 he returned to Chester County, and resided here until October, 1873, when he returned to Ohio, and, after being pastor of a

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History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with genealogical and biographical sketches, Part 90

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts Number of Pages: 1162

Author: Futhey, John Smith, 1820-1888; Cope, Gilbert, 1840-1928
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, L. H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1162