USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including > Part 26
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The Citizen was purchased in 1859 by William Burgwin and Floyd C. Ramsdell; the latter sold his interest to J. H. Smith in 1861, and in 1864 the paper was acquired by N. B. Smiley, by whom the name was changed to Venango Citizen. Alexander McDowell acquired an interest in the prop- erty in 1865; N. B. Smiley retired in 1867, and on the 1st of January, 1869, J. W. H. Reisinger became individual owner. He was succeeded on the 1st of April, 1870, by E. W. Smiley, who associated with him H. S. and F. D. Smiley, and has continued the publication until the present time. On the 1st of January, 1884, the Independent Press was consolidated with the Citizen, and from that date it has been issued under the name of the Citizen-Press. It is a six-column quarto and has a large circulation.
The Independent Press, founded in January, 1876, was at that time the only Prohibition party paper in the state, and is the only organ of that party that has ever been published in this county. It was established by S. P. McCalmont and successively edited during the period of his ownership by J. R. Patterson, Miss Sue Beatty, and W. H. Whitaker. It circulated extensively in all the northwestern counties of the state and to its influence the growth of a strong sentiment in this region favorable to Prohibition is largely attrib- uted. Mr. McCalmont was the principal contributor to the editorial columns while the Press remained a Prohibition paper; but in 1878, failing health obliged him to relinquish the project, and the paper was transferred to the Independent Press Association, Limited, of which W. R. Crawford was chair-
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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
man, B. W. Bredin, secretary, and E. W. Echols, treasurer. Under the new regime the editors were J. J. McClaurin and H. May Irwin. The paper be- came Republican in politics, and was continued under the auspices of this association until merged into the Citizen-Press in 1884.
The Franklin Herald, a Greenback organ, printed at Corry, under the editorial management of Frank S. Heath and W. A. Moore, with S. E. Phipps as local manager, made its final appearance on Thursday, January 13, 1881, after an existence of several months.
Pencil and Shears, a six-column quarto, published by the Pencil and Shears Printing and Publishing Company, is the latest journalistic venture. The first number appeared September 14, 1889.
The Daily Citizen, the pioneer daily of the county, expired on Tues- day, December 31, 1862, after a brief career of ten days.
The Evening News was issued for the first time on the 18th of February, 1878, by James B. Borland. It was then a two-column folio about the size of an ordinary hand-bill and was regarded as a merely amateur effort. Evi- dences of permanency early developed, however; James B. Muse, now of the Vindicator, Tionesta, became associated in the publication, retiring in 1880 in favor of H. May Irwin, who disposed of his interest in 1887, but is still retained on the editorial staff. The News has been several times enlarged and reached the proportions of a six-column folio, its present size, in the summer of 1886. It was a one cent paper until October 17, 1887, when the price became two cents. The circulation is practically coextensive with the local field, while public enterprise is manifested in a liberal advertising patronage. It is independent in politics, energetic in the advocacy of local improvement, replete with home news, clean, readable, humorous, and pop. ular.
Every Evening was published from July 9, 1878, to March 1, 1879. Frank W. Truesdell, now publisher of the Titusville Sunday World; E. E. Barackman, and A. G. McElhaney were the projectors. A two-thirds interest was acquired, September 1, 1878, by W. H. Whitaker, Truesdell and Barackman retiring, and under his management the paper attained a fair degree of prosperity.
The Morning Star was published several months in the year 1880 by H. B. Kantner, and enjoys whatever distinction attaches to the fact of having been the only morning paper ever published in Franklin.
The Penny Press was published by Samuel P. Brigham from the spring of 1886 to the summer of 1887. It advocated the principles of the Green- back party.
There are few points of resemblance in the newspaper of to-day and its prototype of fifty or sixty years ago. Early numbers of the Democrat and Herald are small in size and unattractive in appearance; the texture of the paper is coarse and its color could scarcely be considered white.
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THE PRESS.
Mechanical apparatus for printing did not permit the typographical excel- lence since attained; the screw-press was still in use and the Ramage press with its toggle-joint was regarded as a great improvement. The editor usually combined the functions of that position with work at the case; he was of necessity a practical printer, sometimes a journeyman who had reached the town depleted in purse and thankful for the opportunity to recuperate. He brought with him a fund of anecdotes acquired at offices visited in the course of his pilgrimage, and a certain facility of association that rendered his popularity almost assured. Sometimes he was convivial in his habits, but this did not detract materially from his standing in the community, and was almost regarded as a social virtue. He was not ex- pected to get rich. At intervals of three months he was paid by the county commissioners for advertising election notices, tax sales, etc., and this enabled him to order paper until similarly renumerated at the expiration of a corresponding period. It was from this source, in fact, that the "sinews of war" were principally derived, which accounts for the difficulties en- countered by the opposition paper in sustaining an existence. Receipts from subscription were exceedingly vague and indefinite. The circulat- ing medium was scarce and payment was frequently made in farm or garden produce. Business advertising was limited to the more enterprising of the few local stores, the county printing alluded to, and the perennial patent medicine notice. Professional cards generally appeared from all the doctors and lawyers in the county. The newspaper, regarded as a mechan- ical product, its financial administration, and the personnel of the editorial profession have greatly changed. .
It was not unusual for the paper to be issued irregularly. Various causes were assigned in explanation-failure to receive a consignment of paper, in- sufficient office help, etc:, Occasionally the editor took a vacation or relin- guished his duties to seek a more congenial field. An instance of this kind occurred in May, 1839, when John W. Shugert transferred the publication of the Democrat to Doctor Connely and went to Pittsburgh with the idea of improving his fortunes. The first side of the paper was printed and dated May 7th and the inside May 21st, after his return, the temporary publisher having been unable to procure compositors. The following characteristic note appeared in explanation of his return:
I have just happily escaped from the smoke, dust, and aristocracy of the city and now resume the publication of the Venango Democrat. I discovered (not quite soon enough, by the by), that Venango county, with its pure air, pure streams, and pure principles was best adapted to the constitution of my mind and habits. * * * I never could abide this thing of being hemmed and jammed in-nor of being smoked to death-nor of having one's mouth and nose filled with coal dust-those fond of such amusement are welcome to its enjoyment. I shall make Venango my abiding place- here I have my full complement of elbow room, and, what is better, here potatoes thrive and Democracy flourisheth. I am at home again. JOHN W. SHUGERT.
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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
The newspaper has changed in the character of its contents no less than in its appearance. There was practically no local matter in the Democrat or Intelligencer of fifty years ago, the body of the paper consisting of legis- lative and congressional reports, reprints of speeches by prominent public men, editorial discussions of constitutional questions, original and selected, and foreign news obtained from metropolitan exchanges, usually printed a month after their occurrence. When public meetings were held their proceedings were reported for publication by the secretaries and not by a representative of the newspaper. Local happenings were almost absolutely ignored. Con- troversy afforded the only criterion of editorial efficiency; it was the editor who was most accomplished in the use of sarcasm and invective, whose eru- dition enabled him to marshal history and poetry, science and fiction, Latin phrases and English polysyllables, in defense of his position, who was re- garded with most favor in popular estimation. And hence the motive that inspired the editorial utterances of the press in this county at an early date seems to have been a blending of hatred, prejudice, and personal animosity, attributable largely to the general feeling that existed between the great pol- itical parties of the country. There was, however, one point upon which there was practical unanimity-the canal question; and even in this case it was only a transfer of vituperation and condemnation to the state administra- tion rather than a cessation of hostilities between the local editors. Whether Whig or Democratic, no paper published in this county while the French Creek canal was a subject of discussion took any other ground than that the state had violated an important public trust in its abandonment of that work.
Through all this period of controversy nothing is more noticeable than the utter absence of anything even remotely humorous. Perhaps the first scintilla of pleasantry occurs in an advertisement of the sale of Van Buren furnace by John W. Howe. Beginning with the alliteration, "Van, Van, Van, is a used up man," from a campaign song then popular, the author proceeded to expatiate upon the advantages of the furnace tract, enumer- ating the huckleberry bush among its varieties of timber and the rattle- snake among its productions; after stating the quantity of land, he added that there was considerably more, as much of it stood edgewise; and closed with the request that persons wishing further information should call on his agent, who would use all reasonable diligence to drive a sharp bargain. The humorous features of the county press are among its most attractive, and have given to several of its journals a wide reputation; the prominence given to this at present affords a wide contrast with the paper in which it was necessary to search the advertising columns for something amusing.
A local department first appeared in the Spectator December 18, 1861. In the great interest centered upon the progress of pretroleum develop- ments the dissemination of local news became from that date an important function of the county press, and in this respect its newspapers rank with the best in the state.
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THE PRESS.
EMLENTON PAPERS.
Peter O. Conver, the pioneer journalist of Emlenton, came to Franklin in 1849 and served an apprenticeship in the office of the Advocate and Journal. Three years later he went to Kansas, and being an ardent and enthusiastic Anti-Slavery advocate, readily secured the means necessary to establish a paper in the support of the principles of that party at Topeka. At that time the state was in the first stages of a political agitation which it was not the part of a man with Conver's temperament to allay. Within a short time he was compelled to suspend; and after making several ventures with no better success at various other points in the territory he returned to Venango county. In the active, growing village of Emlenton, almost equi- distant from the seats of justice of four counties, he saw a favorable open- ing for journalistic enterprise. Having received a sufficient amount of local encouragement he secured the materials for an office, and in October, 1858, published the first number of the Allegheny Valley Echo. Though small
in size the typographical appearance was creditable and the local advertis- ing patronage large. Occasionally a week would pass by without any issue, which was usually explained by the sudden disappearance of the "jour," the non-arrival of paper, or some other unexpected mishap. But the editor was known to be convivial in his habits, which may perhaps have accounted in part for such irregularities. The editorial and local columns were some- times graced by witticisms of rare sparkle and originality, in which, how- ever, the ordinary requirements of propriety were not always rigidly ob- served. The paper had entered upon its third volume and was giving prom- ise of permanency when the civil war broke out, and Conver promptly en- listed in the Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry, serving through the war. In 1867 he established the Forest Press at Tionesta, of which he was owner and editor at the time of his death, March 19, 1878.
R. F. Blair purchased the Echo in 1861. In 1863 the materials were secured by J. W. Smullin and removed to Oil City.
The Rising Sun, by Walter L. Porter; The Emlenton Register, edited by W. R. Johns; the News, by P. McDowell; the Telegraph, by Samuel Young, and the Times, by M. Hulings and D. D. Moriarty, were the local papers that followed, but journalism does not seem to have been a profit- able avocation during the period that they were published.
On the 23d of March, 1877, Needle & Crowley issued the initial number of the Register. Within a few months they were succeeded by Wands & Hulings. The paper passed successively to Samson, Kittell & Dean and A. A. Hulings; in 1881, the publication having been suspended, T. W. West, formerly of the Clarion Jacksonian, purchased the materials and es- tablished the Edenburg National.
The Emlenton Critic, a semi-weekly published by M. Gouchler & Brother, was the next local paper. It suspended in July, 1887.
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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
The Home News, a two column folio with a page nine inches long and six inches wide, made its first appearance May 14, 1885. E. H. Cubbison is editor and publisher. It was enlarged June 18th and July 27th, of the same year, and early gave evidence of being more than an amateur effort. With the close of the first volume the name was changed to its present style, the Emlenton News. For a time it was issued semi-weekly but in May, 1889, became a weekly and has so continued. The News is a valu- able exponent of local interests, in every way creditable to its constituency and to the enterprising publisher.
THE PRESS OF OIL CITY.
The initial number of the Weekly Register, the first newspaper of Oil City, was issued by W. R. Johns, January 14, 1862, at a temporary frame building in the Third ward near the location of the Lake Shore depot. The printing outfit was obtained at Monongahela City, forwarded by boat to Pittsburgh, by rail to Kittanning, and by wagon to the final destination, where it arrived in December, 1861. The paper was an eight-column folio, credit- able in typography and general appearance, and replete with matters of in- terest in relation to the progress of oil developments. It was the first news- paper devoted especially and exclusively to the oil regions and while under Mr. Johns' control was active and efficient in its advocacy of the interests of the oil industry. Upon the retirement of Mr. Johns, in 1866, he was succeeded by Henry A. Dow & Company, with whom the Daily Register, the first daily of the city, originated.
In June, 1863, J. W. Smullin began the publication of the Monitor at the city hall, corner of Center and Seneca streets. Mr. Smullin had en- tered the office of the Clarion Democrat in 1848; he was a compositor on the Register, and purchased the materials of a paper at Emlenton in the spring of 1863. This outfit was moved to Oil City by flat-boat several months later. O. H. Jackson, - Watkins, and C. P. Ramsdell were associated in the ownership of the Monitor at various times. Mr. Ramsdell became sole proprietor in November, 1864, and at a later date was followed by Jacob Weyand. The plant was finally absorbed by the Venango Republican.
The later years of the decade ending 1870 were prolific in journalistic ventures. The Petroleum Monthly appears to have been published with the idea of treating the oil industry in a scientific manner and of presenting statistical, biographical, and miscellaneous matter not properly within the scope of the daily or weekly press. W. H. Bowman originated this publi- cation and was the principal contributor to its columns. In striking con- trast with its dignified character were the Sand Pump and Bulletin which enjoyed an ephemeral existence under the proprietorship of O. H. Jackson. Mr. Johns re-established the Register and added a daily edition, the Evening Register. He also published the Semi-Weekly Petrolian. The Venango
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THE PRESS.
Republican, the first newspaper of pronounced political views in Oil City, also made its appearance during this period.
In December. 1867, the plant of the Register, Petrolian, Republican, and defunct Monitor were purchased by Andrew Cone and F. F. Davis and " consolidated under the name of the Republican, which was published by Cone & Davis several years; it was ably edited, received a liberal patronage, and yielded large returns. They were succeeded by a stock company, in which H. H. Herpst and George V. Forman were largely interested; the name was changed to the Times and - Metcalf of Meadville placed in charge as editor. The management was not characterized by remarkable efficiency; the plant sustained serious damage from fire, and having sub- served the political purposes which determined its inception, the daily edi- tion was suspended. The weekly was continued by Mr. Herpst, who had secured a controlling interest and finally became individual owner.
The collapse of the Daily Times may be said to mark the termination of experimental journalism at Oil City. A gradual but permanent change- material, financial, and social-is noticeable about this time. The organiza- tion of an oil exchange in 1869 had tended to localize and concentrate trans- actions in that commodity at this point. The incorporation of the borough and surrounding suburbs under a city charter two years later conferred an autonomy no less desirable than necessary. Increased railroad facilities in- sured a continuance of its prestige as the commercial center of a populous territory. The town itself had passed the experimental stage and was re- garded as a permanent factor in the development of the Pennsylvania oil field and the distribution of its products. A newspaper of metropolitan scope devoted to the special industry of this region, was the natural out- growth of these conditions.
The Oil City Derrick was issued for the first time on the 11th of Sep- tember, 1871, from a frame building at No. 28 Seneca street, by Bishop & Longwell, with whom H. H. Herpst afterward became associated. W. H. Longwell had previously published the Pithole and Petroleum Center Rec. ord and assumed the business management, and C. E. Bishop, formerly editor of the Journal, Jamestown, New York, continued in that capacity with the Derrick. His style was characterized by force and originality, and rapidly gained for the new venture the respect of its contemporaries. The business management displayed conspicuous ability, and within a compara- tively brief period the paper was the recognized "organ of oil," with a cir- culation and advertising patronage coextensive with the great industry to which it sustains such an important relation. Associated press reports were secured, thus placing the general news of the day before its readers hours in advance of the city dailies. The system of correspondence from every part of the oil regions, inaugurated by J. J. McClaurin and continued by H. Mc- Clintock, has done much to increase its interest and extend its usefulness.
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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.
Its monthly reports of operations and production are invaluable to all con- cerned in the petroleum trade.
Mr. Bishop retired from the editorship of the Derrick in 1873, and was followed by Frank H. Taylor, who was succeeded in 1877 by R. W. Cris- well. A prominent feature of the paper during his connection with it was a humorous department, quoted all over the world. On the 3rd of April, 1882, the proprietorship of the Derrick passed from W. H. Longwell & Company to the Derrick Publishing Company, with Edward Stuck as editor and man- ager. In the following December he retired in favor of William H. Siviter. P. C. Boyle became lessee and publisher, August 11, 1885, bringing to the enterprise a somewhat extended experience in oil country journalism. R. W. Criswell became associated in the publication February 11, 1887, and from that date until June, 1889, the paper was published by the firm of Boyle & Criswell. Mr. Criswell is now on the staff of the New York World and Mr. Boyle continues the publication individually. Charles H. Harrison of Pittsburgh had editorial management for a brief period after Mr. Cris- well's retirement. Robert Simpson, the present incumbent of that position, assumed charge August 1, 1889. J. N. Perrine has been business manager since August, 1885. The paper was enlarged from an eight-column folio to a six-column quarto, its present form, September 16, 1886.
The Oil City Sunday Call made its first appearance on the 8th of April, 1877, and was published until the autumn of the following year by Frank H. Taylor & Company, and Mr. Taylor individually. Local correspondence from the different localities throughout the oil regions and a humorous de- partment under the head of " Puts and Calls " were its leading features. For a time a special train was run between Oil City and Parker for its distribu- tion. The Call was deservedly popular and enjoyed a large circulation.
The Oil City Blizzard was founded by three young men from the Derrick staff whose confidence in the success of an evening paper led them to issue their first number on the 22nd of May, 1882. F. W. Bowen, whose humor- ous pen had long found exercise on the "Stray Sand" column in the Der- rick, was editor-in-chief; H. G. McKnight had charge of the mechanical part, and B. F. Gates was intrusted with the job department as it afterward developed in 1885. Notwithstanding the incubus of a small capital and other obstacles, the paper was enlarged from a five to a six-column folio about a year later and a six-column quarto weekly edition was started on the 1st of January, 1885. Mr. Gates withdrew in November, 1886, and the pub- lication has since been in the hands of Bowen & McKnight. Special humor- ous and local features render the Blizzard popular and valuable. Robert Simpson, editor of the Derrick; A. R. Crum, of the Pittsburgh Post; E. A. Bradshaw, editor of the Jamestown, New York, Journal; E. C. Bell, of Titusville, and F. F. Murray, of Oil City, have been employed on the staff of the Blizzard at various times.
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THE PRESS.
The Critic, published in South Oil City, issued its first number, a two column folio, July 22, 1886. The editor and proprietor, Will H. Harris, conceived the idea of building up a general family paper to be issued every Thursday, and that he has succeeded is amply proved by it present propor- tions as a six-column quarto with a circulation throughout Venango and sur- rounding counties, and far beyond. April 2, 1887, it became a Saturday paper and is so continued.
The Venango Democrat, B. F. Gates, editor and proprietor, made its debut June 8, 1887, but suspended after the issue of the fourth number.
PAPERS AT PITHOLE CITY, PLEASANTVILLE, ETC.
The Pithole Daily Record, the pioneer successful daily of the county, was issued for the first time on Monday, September 25, 1865, by Morton, Spare & Company. Lee M. Morton was editor. The paper was a five- column folio, and found an extensive patronage at the modest price of thirty cents per week. The contents were largely made up of advertisements and the revenue from this source was evidently considerable. The local columns were occasionally rendered more than ordinarily interesting by communi- cations from "Crocus," in which the ludicrous side of oil country life was described in felicitous style. The Record seems to have had strong faith in the future of Pithole City; it was active in advocating measures of local improvement and in supporting the municipal authorities. The important happenings of the surrounding territory were briefly chronicled, thus ren dering the paper a valuable epitome of contemporary history during an eventful period. W. H. Longwell became associated in the publication in May, 1866, when the style of the firm became Morton, Longwell & Company. Charles H. Vickers and W. C. Plummer were also interested at a subsequent period, but Mr. Longwell ultimately acquired the controlling interest and was connected with the paper until its final discontinuance. In May, 1868, the place of publication was changed to Petroleum Center and the name of that place substituted for Pithole in the caption. The city in the valley of Oil creek was then at the height of its prosperity, and the change conferred upon the Record a new lease of life. It was published there for some years.
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