USA > South Carolina > Charleston County > Charleston > The newspaper press of Charleston, S.C.; a chronological and biographical history, embracing a period of one hundred and forty years > Part 12
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The Miscellany, which was printed at different times by THOMAS MARTIN, jr., JOHN HEALEY, JEREMIAH DENNE- HY, WILLIAM J. MOSEMANN, WALKER & JAMES, and last- ly by the then well known firm of HARPER & CALVO, had among the priesthood, many able contributors. The most prominent were Bishops ENGLAND and REYNOLDS, Reve- rend R. S. BAKER, Vicar General under Bishop ENGLAND, Reverend J. F. O'NEILL, Very Reverend Doctors CORCO- RAN and LYNCH-the latter now the highly intellectual and esteemed Bishop of the Diocese, appointed to the See of Charleston, in January, 1858-and BIRMINGHAM, the present Vicar General, and others.
Bishop ENGLAND's chief literary labors were bestowed upon the paper he was so devoted to. Its editorial columns were continually supplied with the fruits of his clear and gifted intellect.
JOHN ENGLAND was born in the City of Cork, 23d Sep- tember, 1786. At an early period he entered the College of Maynooth, in the vicinity of the Irish metropolis ; after leaving college he placed himself under the tutorship of an eminent barrister, with whom he studied law for about two
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years. He then relinquished the legal profession for the ministry, and entered the Theological College of Carlow, where he completed his ecclesiastical course of studies with distinction. He was ordained a priest in 1808, at the early age of 22, and entered on the duties of the ministry in Cork.
This young priest, with eight different functions already enjoined upon him, became the editor of the Cork Morning Chronicle, in which office he mastered the typographical art. "With the same promptness to perceive, and daring to perform, which always marked his subsequent course, he wielded his pen in one bold denunciation of the moral deg- radation of his unhappy country, the corruption of judges, and the packing of juries. He stemmed the political tor- rent which had already swept before it, many that were dear to him. In that denunciation, this patriot priest made issue with the tory Lord Lieutenant Earl TALBOT, the English representative. Though this Catholic editor. had, in that article, engraven upon the people their rights, it was, nevertheless, at a cost of five hundred pounds." The Court before which he was summoned, in addition to the fine, decreed, also, his close confinement, until the pecuniary penalty was paid. So firmly did the people de- termine to protect these rights, that the mother of Mr. ENGLAND, from the gallery of ladies above, at the close of her son's masterly defence, exclaimed : " Well done, my dear son. In my hand I have a check for the amount ; write but another essay, expose again the tyranny of the persecutors of your church, and your country, and I shall meet the forfeit, though it be double the amount of this !"
This editor and priest is said to have allowed his name to be placed among those who were willing to go forth to new fields of labor. But he affixed this condition, that he should be sent to some country over which the English
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held no control. This proviso to the priest's name, at- tracted the attention of Pope Pius 7th, at the time a new See for the Carolina's and Georgia was about being made. The Pope knew the priest's record, and appointed him, in 1820, to the new prelacy, though only in his thirty- fourth year. He came from Belfast, in the ship Thomas Getston, and arrived in Charleston, on the last day of that year. Under these circumstances was it, that this man, whose name is one of the proudest in the list of prelates, distinguished for strength of mind, power of argument, deep and various learning, and a bold and impressive elo- quence, was transferred to our, then, unoppressed land, and became one of the literary ornaments of our City.
In private life also, this distinguished editor was greatly esteemed, and the author well remembers how wonderful was the charm he threw around it. He possessed a na- ture, warm and overflowing to a class who revered him. And yet, the regard for him was not bounded by monastic vows or rules, for among the immense throng who visited the remains, until the interment of this pious defender of his church, there were to be seen the Catholic, the Hebrew, the Episcopalian, the Lutheran, the Baptist, the Congre- gationalist, the Methodist, the Universalist, the Unitarian, and the Presbyterian-the various sects into which our people are divided. Bishop ENGLAND was taken from his field of labors, by the Providence of God, on the 11th April, 1842, in the 56th year of his age.
The Miscellany was printed in octavo form, and was the first regular organ of the Catholics in the United States, receiving as it did, the support of Catholics, generally, throughout America. It was changed to a super-royal sheet in 1824. It was, at that time, the strong advocate for a modification of the laws then in force against aliens, before they could possibly acquire the benefits of citizen-
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ship. Its discontinuance was owing entirely to the de- struction of all its material, in the great fire of December, 1861.
The first Methodist weekly newspaper published in the South, and the second, in point of time, in the United States, was published in Charleston, under the title of The Wesleyan Journal. It was projected by the late dis- tinguished STEPHEN OLIN, D.D., then a resident of this State, and subsequently, President of the Wesleyan Uni- versity. The South Carolina Conference then embraced Georgia, and this body adopted the Journal as its organ, and made arrangements for a more extended publication. The Wesleyan Journal made its debut on the 1st October, 1825, under the editorial supervision of Reverend Doctor WILLIAM CAPERS, of South Carolina. The health of Doc- tor OLIN having failed him, it was, after a couple of years, merged in The Christian Advocate, a coherent journal which was started in New York, during the autumn of 1826; thence it was, that it took the title of Christian Advocate and Journal. The lapse of ten years showed that a great central organ at New York, however ably conducted, could not supersede the home demand for religious literature and representation. Accordingly, resolutions were adopted at the General Conference, held at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1836, authorizing the publication, in this City, of a weekly reli- gious journal, called Southern Christian Advocate. Doctor WILLIAM CAPERS was elected as editor. The first number was published June 21, 1837. The paper had no printing office, but was "worked off" at the job printing establish- ment of Mr. JAMES S. BURGES ; and the editor acted as his own clerk. The Advocate came out, in form, vastly superior to The Wesleyan Journal. The leading editorials were more elaborate, the selections more varied, and adapt- ed to the popular taste. Doctor CAPERS stood up, firmly,
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for the rights of his portion of the ecclesiastical connection. " He was earnest," says his biographer, " and high-minded in his advocacy of all the great measures subscribing to the spread of Christian influence-educational, missionary, and literary. But he did not warm to a work which was not, to him, a labor of love."
At the General Conference, held in Baltimore, in May, 1840, Doctor CAPERS resigned the editorship of the paper. He was succeeded by Reverend Doctor WM. M. WIGHT- MAN, who was, by the same Conference, appointed his suc- cessor. Dr. WIGHTMAN entered upon his duties in No- vember, 1840. During the interval, Reverend Doctor WHITEFOORD SMITH, who was then stationed in the City, assumed the editorial chair pro tem. Dr. WIGHTMAN was a native of Charleston, and a graduate of the College of Charleston. He had youth and enterprise in his favor ; wielded a facile and polished pen. With the increasing income of the paper, an office was fitted up in Pinckney Street, and a HOE's cylinder press purchased, and the reg- ular routine of a first class journal was entered upon. Subsequently-June 7, 1850-the press was propelled by steam. It was the second application of this motive power to newspaper press-work in this City.
In 1844, the Methodist Episcopal Church was divided, by mutual consent, into its present Northern and Southern organizations. During the perilous times which ensued, the Southern Christian Advocate was one of the great sheet- anchors of the South. The judicious course of the, editor was commended by the General Conference.
BENJAMIN JENKINS, a native of Bermuda, was the first foreman of the Advocate. He quitted a similar position in the office of The Charleston Courier, to accept that, a less arduous one. He was a good Hebraist and classical scholar ; was master of the principal modern languages, and, alike,
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master of his own business. Having been appointed a missionary to China, he took orders in 1848, and sailed from Boston to Shanghai. He subsequently held the posi- tion of Interpreter in the United States Consulate General. Mr. C. CANNING, of Ireland, succeeded Doctor JENKINS, in the foremanship of the Advocate, and still retains the position.
In 1850, Reverend Doctor THOMAS O. SUMMERS, an En- glishman by birth, was appointed assistant editor of the Advocate, and was associated with it four years. His crit- ical acumen, and sensitive poetic taste, with his varied at- tainments, were acquisitions to the journal. The sheet was enlarged, and the subscription list extended, at the time Doctor WIGHTMAN'S term of service-fourteen years- closed. While recognized as the fearless defender of evan- gelical religion, according to the views of the denomination of Christians whom it represented, its tone was always courteous, its spirit genial, and the ability of its editorials sustained ; in fact, it became a power in religious jour- nalism.
When Doctor WIGHTMAN accepted the Presidency of Wofford College, in 1854, the Reverend Doctor E. H. MY- ERS, of Georgia, was elected his successor, in the editorial management of the paper. This Divine brought energy and business talent to sustain its financial department. The paper was again enlarged, and removed to apartments more commodious, in Hayne Street. During the desola- tion consequent upon the late war, it was deemed advisable to remove the office of publication to Augusta, Georgia. Subsequently, it was removed to Macon, Georgia. The war having left it without any resources that would insure its continuance, it was sold to Messrs. J. W. BURKE & Co., prominent publishers of that City, and by whom it is at present published. The Advocate is a double sheet, of
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eight columns each, measuring 29 by 22 inches, and printed in the best style, on excellent paper.
The Charleston Observer was the organ of the Presbyte- rians, and was established by the Reverend BENJAMIN GILDERSLEEVE, who came to Charleston from Hancock County, Georgia. It was conducted by the members of the Charleston Union Presbytery. The leading object of this publication, was to make its readers early acquainted with the progress of the Redeemer's kingdom, at home and abroad ; both as it related to the labors, and conflicts of his servants, on the one hand, and the gracious influences of his spirit, on the other. Assurances were at the same time given to its patrons, by the editor, that while carrying out this benign design, he would also communicate such information representing the affairs of government, and the advancement of literature and science, as an enlightened mind would desire to receive. Prominent as writers in support of this weekly, were B. M. PALMER, D.D., A. W. LELAND, D.D., F. C. HENRY, D.D., Reverend W. A. Mc- DOWALL, and Reverend A. BUIST.
The first appearance of the Observer was in July, 1826. It was issued regularly in Charleston, from the office of the paper, Chalmers Street, near Meeting Street, until the 26th July, 1845. On the 8th August, of the same year, its pro- prietor, who stood high among the Titans of controversy, changed its place of publication to Richmond, Virginia, there to be united with The Watchman of the South. It was issued from that City as The Watchman and Observer, August 21, 1845. The change impaired its vitality, and in Richmond it died, but a few years before the war. Mr. GILDERSLEEVE now lives, in his declining years, in the " Old Dominion." Mr. JOHN CUDWORTH, a practical prin- ter of this City, and one who has, long ago, laid aside the implements of the craft, was his foreman and general su-
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perintendent, for full nineteen years-the length of time it was published in Charleston. In the office of that pa- per, the present foreman of the Courier, Mr. ORAN BAS- SETT, well known to the craft, served his apprenticeship.
The Southern Christian Sentinel made its appearance in Charleston, March 2d, 1839. Reverend THOMAS MAGRU- DER, a Georgian by birth, was editor, assisted by Reverend W. C. DANA. The Sentinel was the organ of the Charles- ton Union Presbytery, during the agitation consequent on the disruption of the Presbyterian Church, in the United States, by certain acts of the Assembly in 1837-'38. The Charleston Union Presbytery had disapproved those acts, as being " unconstitutional and unjust." This disapproval was imputed to them as a crime; and they were denied their rights as members of the Synod. But Providence des- tined for them a signal and almost unexampled vindication of the rectitude of their course. The " Old School" Gen- eral Assembly of 1852, meeting in Charleston, and becom- ing acquainted with the facts, re-instated them in their rights ; and lately, the whole Presbyterian community- " Old School" and " New"-at the North, where the " un- pleasantness" originated, have given the strongest proof of their disapproval of those acts, by becoming again one Church.
Reverend THOMAS MAGRUDER was a man of the purest integrity and honor, incapable of indirection, and uniting with a guileless nature, inflexible adherence to principle. It was impossible for him to be an unscrupulous partisan, or a narrow-minded bigot. In Christian simplicity and transparency of character, he resembled another firm friend and ally of the Sentinel-the late Reverend Dr. B. M. PALMER, once pastor of the Circular Church.
The closing years of Mr. MAGRUDER's life were spent in Madison County, Mississippi, where property had been left
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him by a near relative. As long as declining years per- mitted, he preached, for the most part gratuitously, and with great acceptance. He died in 1853. A beautiful tribute was paid to his memory, by those who, taking " sweet counsel" with him as a clerical brother, had learned to appreciate his solid mental qualities, and his great moral worth.
Reverend W. C. DANA, whose pen freely contributed in aid of the Sentinel, was born in Newburyport, Massachu- setts, in 1810; graduated at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire. He completed his theological studies in Andover ; spent one session at Princeton, and, several at Columbia, in this State. He was, in November, 1835, called to the Third Presbyterian-now Central-Church of this City, and is the devout and much loved pastor of that Congregation.
The Southern Christian Sentinel was originated as a local and temporary necessity ; it was not expected to be self- sustaining. Generously aided by a few friends, and edited gratuitously, it was continued as a weekly paper through the years 1839-'40; and as a monthly periodical, to the end of 1841. In its valedictory were quoted these pro- phetic lines :
" Truth, crushed to earth, shall live again ; The eternal years of God are her's ; But error, wounded, writhes in pain, And dies, amid her worshipers."
The Southern Presbyterian, the most variable of the hebdomadals, was first published at Milledgeville, Geor- gia, and edited by Reverend WASHINGTON BAIRD, before it was removed to Charleston. After twelve months pub- lication, it was sold to a company composed of JOSEPH A. ENSLOW, JOHN M. FRASER, WILLIAM HARRAL, JAMES M. CALDWELL, and others. It was then printed and issued
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by that well known printer, JOHN B. NIXON, in Meeting Street, next South of the Hibernian Hall. Subsequently, early in 1856, ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL became the manager, and directed it for the said share holders, until the spring of 1857, when he relinquished the position, to assume the duties of City Treasurer.
ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL was born in Greenock, Scotland, August, 1799. He was the only son of ROBERT CAMPBELL, of the British Navy. ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL will be re- membered as an able, pure and just man. These attributes enabled him to hold, for nearly thirty years of his life, the offices of clerk of the Court, and Commissioner of Equity for Beaufort District. He died at Summerville, October 21, 1866. The editors, at that period, were Reverend J. L. KIRKPATRICK and Reverend B. LANNEAU. About 1857, Reverend Dr. W. M. CUNNINGHAM assumed the editorship, and published it at the printing office of Messrs. JAMES & WILLIAMS, at No. 16 State Street, nearly opposite Chal- mers Street. Early in the war, the material was removed to Columbia, and while there, Reverend A. A. PORTER took editorial charge of the paper. Finally, it passed un- der the control of Reverend JOHN B. ADGER and ELAM SHARP. The title of this religious weekly has been chang- ed to Southern Presbyterian Index, and is now in success- ful operation at the State Capital, under the superintend- . ence and editorship of Reverend JAMES WOODROW, D.D.
The last, though by no means the least of these weekly prints, was The Southern Baptist. This paper was started in the fall of 1839, by Reverend T. W. HAINES, a native of Tennessee. He was its publisher and editor, assisted for about two years by Reverend WILLIAM T. BRANTLY, D.D., and Reverend THOMAS CURTIS, D.D.
Doctor BRANTLY was one of the earliest students of the South Carolina College, having graduated with distinction,
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in 1808. He was a man of enlarged and cultivated mind; delighting equally in the walks of literature and science. A holy man of God, eminently useful in his voca- tion and generation ; more beloved, the more intimately known. He was stricken with paralysis, which affected both mind and body. He died in Augusta-whither he had removed, in the hope of alleviating his suffering con- dition-February 28, 1849.
Doctor CURTIS, was an Englishman, of the old school, perfected by the crowning graces and influences of humble, fervent and exemplary piety. For many years before he came to America, he was a leading reporter of the debates in the English Parliament. He came to this country about the year 1833, and settled in Bangor, Maine. In 1841, he accepted a pastoral call for the Wentworth Street (Second) Baptist Church, of this City. This Divine attained eminent distinction in the world of letters, and found ready access into high literary circles. While in Charleston, he took great interest, and actively co-operated in the formation of a Society for the observance of the Lord's day. He like- wise, took an active part in the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention, held in the City of Augusta, in May, 1845, and ever manifested a lively interest in all institu- tions of charity and benevolence. Doctor CURTIS lost his life on board of the North Carolina, one of the Bay Line steamers, while she was making her trip from Baltimore to Norfolk, on the night of January 28, 1859.
The Baptist, in the spring of 1849, passed into the hands of a Committee, who became managers and editors. Reve- rend J. R. KENDRICK, B. C. PRESSLEY and JAMES TUP- PER, composed the Committee. From 1848 to the spring of 1849, Reverend JAS. P. BOYCE edited it for the Com- mittee, with great vigor, and contributed his private means in its aid. During the successful career of this journal,
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Reverend E. T. WINKLER, D.D., ably presided over its editorial department. In a controversy conducted by him at that time, his pen gave evidence of great erudition. The Baptist was, at a later period, edited by other pleas- ing and talented writers, the Reverend J. P. TUSTIN and the Reverend W. B. CARSON. Its suspension occurred while it was under the management of Reverend Mr. CAR- SON, not from any want of capacity, but from unavoidable circumstances.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE CONTEMPORANEOUS PRESS OF 1871-THE CHARLESTON DAILY NEWS, AND ITS CORPS EDITORIAL-THE SOUTH CAROLINA LEADER, T. HURLEY AND OTHERS-THE SUED- LICHER CORRESPONDENT-THE REFEREE-THE SOUTHERN CELT-THE SUNDAY TIMES-THE WORKING CHRISTIAN.
THE author has brought down and blended history and biography quite up to the opening of the year 1871. The want of a more extended record prevents him from enter- ing upon similar details in regard to the present represen- tatives of local journalism.
They constitute the following: The Charleston Daily News, which paper was presented to its patrons and the public through the instrumentality of BENJAMIN WOOD, GEORGE R. CATHCART, JAMES W. McMILLAN and MAN- DRED MORTON, on the morning of August 14, 1865. Mr. WOOD was the proprietor of The Daily News, of New . York; Mr. CATHCART, a native of Spartanburg County, in this State, and was, at the time, the New York correspond- ent of the London Morning Post; Mr. McMILLAN, a Charlestonian, and a very practical member of the craft, and Mr. MORTON, said to be a nephew of Mr. WOOD. Mr. WOOD supplied the means for the enterprise. To Mr. CATHCART was assigned the responsible duties of editor, and to Mr. McMILLAN was apportioned the exacting duties of business manager. Mr. MORTON, unlike his co-partners, was entirely unknown to the fraternity of editors in the
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City. Quite dissimilar to any other Charleston daily, pre- viously published, no line of policy was marked out for this paper. It was, of course, to be a Southern journal, representing Southern interests, but it was not to be under the control of any one man or party, other than was deem- ed advisable by the editor. The News was established at a period favorable to the undertaking, and under the edi- torship of GEORGE R. CATHCART, assisted by L. W. SPRATT, A. G. MAGRATH, W. H. TRESCOTT, J. BARRETT COHEN, JAMES LOWNDES, Dr. H. BAER, ROSWELL T. LOGAN, and JOHN D. MILLER, the paper acquired prosperity and pop- ularity as it went forth from the office of publication, 18 Hayne Street. In October, 1867, the co-partnership of CATHCART, McMILLAN & MORTON was dissolved, and the entire management of the paper devolved upon Messrs. RIORDAN, DAWSON & Co.
B. R. RIORDAN is the senior of the firm now conducting The Charleston Daily News. He was born in Fairfax County, State of Virginia, in 1839. He graduated at Mt. St. Mary's College, Maryland, in 1858. It was in the office of the Washington Union that he received his news- paper training. In 1859, he became connected with the editorial staff of the New Orleans Delta. He was sent by the proprietors of that journal to represent their paper in the Democratic National Convention, which assembled in this City, April 23, 1860, and came with the delegation, in the steam ship Coatzacoalcas. In the summer of 1860, he became connected with The Charleston Mercury, and on the retirement of GEORGE A. GORDON, in September of the same year, he accepted the position of managing editor of that paper; there he remained until just before the evacuation of Charleston. Since the war, he was, for near- ly a year, on the staff of the Richmond Examiner. In the winter of 1866, he accepted position as one of the assistant
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editors of the Courier, and continued in that capacity until shortly before he became one of the proprietors of the News.
F. W. DAWSON, of the News, was born in London, Eng land, in 1840. At the time of the breaking out of the war between the Confederate States and the Federal Union, he was engaged on the editorial staff of a London newspaper. In December, 1861, he enlisted at Southampton, England, as a sailor on the Confederate steam ship Nashville. On the arrival of the steamer at Beaufort, North Carolina, early in 1862, he was appointed a Master's Mate in the Navy of the new Confederacy. This position he resigned in June, 1862, and joined the "Purcell Battery," Hill's Division, Army of Northern Virginia, as a private. In August, 1862, he was commissioned First Lieutenant of Artillery, and assigned to duty as ordnance officer, on the staff of General LONGSTREET. In the spring of 1864, he was pro- moted to a Captaincy of Artillery, and in the fall of the same year, was tranferred to the staff of General FITZ HUGH LEE, where he served until the end of the war. When the Richmond Examiner was revived in 1865, Mr. DAWSON became one of its "Local Reporters." After the Examiner had been suppressed by the United States mili- tary authorities, Mr. DAWSON accepted a position among the corps of editors of the Richmond Dispatch, and held it until the fall of 1866, when he became the assistant edi- tor of The Charleston Mercury, as previously mentioned, November 19, 1866. This position he held until October, 1867, when he became one of the proprietors and editors of The Charleston Daily News.
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