USA > Vermont > Windsor County > History of Windsor County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 20
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104
Hanklen Butler
ALITTLE
213
THE PRESS.
The Vermont Journal is to-day, and for years past has been, one of the most influential newspapers of the county, and the recognized organ of the Republican party. Its circulation is large, and by no means con- fined to this county ; and it enjoys, moreover, a liberal advertising pat- ronage-in successful newspaper business a sine qua non.
The Morning Ray .- This newspaper is understood to have been is- sued during the year 1791, the first number appearing in October. Thompson, however, gives no account of its existence, probably from the fact of its not having a life of more than a few months. Its proprietor was James Reed Hutchins, and its office was in Windsor.
The Windsor Federal Gazette .- As its name indicates, the Gazette was one of the newspapers founded in Windsor, the first issue being sent to the readers on March 3, 1801. From the character of the title it may readily be inferred that its proprietor and founder, Nahum Mower, was an adherent to the cause of the Federalists, who were then a minority party in American politics. But whether or not Mr. Mower found that his party's doctrines were not popular with the people, is perhaps uncer- tain, but it is nevertheless a fact that he ceased its publication during the latter part of 1804, and issued in its stead the Post Boy and Vermont and New Hampshire Federal Courier. Perhaps the doughty publisher imagined that this more formidable title would bring him a goodly sub- scription patronage from the New Hampshire side of the river, but the early death of his enterprise would indicate to the contrary. The paper continued only two short years. A file of the Post Boy, for such was it commonly called, is now in the library at Woodstock, and an interesting little volume it is.
The Northern Memento .- The first attempt at founding a newspaper at the county seat was made during the year 1804, when Isaiah H. Car- penter felt the public pulse by making a canvass for subscribers for his contemplated publication. Mr. Carpenter, it appears, was not a novice in journalism, for he had learned the printing trade at Windsor ; and in addition to that he had " 1 un " a little printing-office in the town of Bar- nard, and there published a few small books. This experience of course fully qualified the enterprising gentleman for general newspaper work -as some people believe before having tried it.
But the people of Woodstock apparently desired a paper and gave
214
HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
Mr. Carpenter sufficient support to justify him in printing one for them, which he did, the first number appearing May 16, 1805. Whether this support subsequently fell off, or the publisher found the expense account greater than at first estimated, cannot now be determined, but in 1806, some time in February, the Memento was discontinued, and no paper was thereafter started in that town for the space of fourteen years.
The Green Mountain Palladium .- Chester was the third town in the county to which came the good fortune of having a home paper. In the year 1808 Charles, William and Henry Spear, brothers, established there the newspaper of which the above was the name. Thompson cor- rectly numbers this among the journals "of which we know but little but their names." However, it is known that the Palladium continued publication for some ten or twelve years.
The Vermont Republican .- An earlier portion of this chapter has already mentioned the union of this newspaper enterprise with the Ver- mont Journal, on August 1, 1829, and the subsequent continuation of both, by Ide & Smith, under the name of Vermont Republican and Journal. The Republican was founded at Windsor on January 1, 1809, by Messrs. Farnsworth & Churchill, and was continued in existence, in its separate character, until the association with the Journal, and thence- forth to the time of its sale and transformation into the Republican and Courier, during the year 1835. The Republican, at the time of its founding at least, was published as the organ of the party for which it was named, and favored prosecuting the war with Great Britain, which was then threatening. The opposition, however, were determined not to be outdone in the matter of having a newspaper to advocate their side of the political questions then agitating the public mind; and to effect the acts of the Loyalists they brought into existence, in the year 1810,
The Washingtonian .- The paper was under the management of men who were experienced in newspaper work : Thomas M. Pomeroy, pub- lisher, and Josiah Dunham, editor. The Washingtonian first appeared in July, 1810; but the party whose cause it championed seems not to have had sufficient strength in this region to give to it that substantial support so needful for success, and its publication was therefore discon- tinued in July, 1813.
215
THE PRESS.
The Woodstock Observer .- The second attempt at founding a news- paper at the county seat, while more successful than that preceding, was not crowned with as gratifying results as were hoped for or ex- pected. The first step toward starting this enterprise were taken during the year 1819, David Watson, a resident of the town, and a practical printer, having charge of the matter. Watson could print, but, strange as it may appear, he was conscious of the fact that he could not edit a paper. After casting about for a time in quest of a suitable person for the editorial department, but without success, Watson concluded to put the Observer before the public without editorial assistance, and this was done in 1820. Several persons contributed to the columns of the Ob- server, chief among whom, perhaps, was Norman Williams. But, notwithstanding Mr. Watson's best efforts, the venture would not pay ; consequently in 1823 he transferred the office to Rufus Colton, a former' employee of Watson's, by whom the paper was published until 1832 and then suspended operations.
The Christian Repository .- This publication was hardly of the char- acter that would entitle it to mention among newspapers of the county, as it was nothing else than a quarterly magazine. It was established in the year 1820, under the editorial charge of Samuel C. Loveland, and printed by David Watson of the Observer. In 1825 the enterprise was purchased by Rev. Robert Bartlett, by whom it was edited for about three years, and then resold to Mr. Loveland. In 1829 William Bell became proprietor, and soon after changed the character of the publi- cation into a weekly newspaper, under the title of Universalist Watch- man and Repository, thus making it a denominational paper. One year later a further change in its management occurred, and the title was again changed, this time appearing Universalist Watchman, Repository and Chronicle. In 1833 the office and material were moved to Mont- pelier.
The next venture into the field of journalism at Woodstock was that made in 1821 by Rev. Walter Chapin; and this, too, was a sectarian paper published every two weeks, and called the Evangelical Monitor. Its purpose was to promote the growth and welfare of the Congregational church. It was discontinued during the early part of 1823. In 1827 another religious bi- weekly paper was started at Woodstock, called the
216
HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
Gospel Banner, under the editorial charge of Rev. Jasper Hazen. But one volume of the paper was printed. In the year 1828 David Watson began the publication of the Vermont Enquirer; but this venture appears to have met with still less of success than the worthy editor's former en- terprise, the Observer, and was suspended after a few numbers.
The Vermont Chronicle was established at Bellows Falls by E. C. Tracy, in April, 1826, and moved, two years later, to Windsor. Here it continued to exist until 1875, enjoying a fair degree of success during its stay in the county. Several changes in ownership were made dur- ing these years, Mr. Tracy, however, remaining with the paper through- out. In 1875 the paper was moved to Montpelier, where it is still published.
In 1829 the town of Norwich first had a home paper, the name of which was the Vermont Inquirer, published under the direction of Messrs. Davis and Porter. It was a short lived paper, however, being discon- tinued sometime during the year 1831. About the same time, or perhaps a little later, 1830, the town of Chester received its second visitation of aspiring journalists, and the result was the starting of the Free- dom's Banner, under the care of the firm of Fellows & Co. It was pub- lished in the town for about ten years, and then dropped. In the same town the Banner was succeeded by the Musical Gazette, a monthly jour- nal published by a Mr. Silsley. Its existence, however tempting may have been its title, was quite brief, and after some three years of publi- cation it passed out of circulation. Since that time no other newspaper has been published in Chester; at all events there appears no record of any.
The year 1830 seems to have been an eventful one in the annals of journalism in the county in general, and in Woodstock in particular ; for during that year the town's people witnessed the founding of no less than four newspaper publications-The American Whig, by Joseph Hemenway and E. J. W. Holbrook; the Henry Clay, by Benjamin F. Kendall; Liberal Extracts, by T. E. Powers; the Workingman's Ga- zette ; and still another, though a magazine in character, called the Domestic Medical and Dietetical Monitor, or Journal of Health, by John Harding of South Woodstock. It may be remarked, right here, that Woodstock was never outdone in newspaper or magazine publications
217
THE PRESS.
by any other town of the county, notwithstanding the fact that no paper of any kind was started in the town previous to 1805.
The American Whig appears to have been the result of a consolida- tion of the Vermont Luminary, a former paper of Randolph, and the Equal Rights, an embryo paper, the origin of which we know not of, but it is said to have originated in Chester, and the whole united under the combined title of the American Whig, Vermont Luminary and Equal Rights. Its publishers were Hemenway & Holbrook, above mentioned. The intent and purpose of this formidable journal (so in name at least) was to oppose and crush out Free Masonry, to which object the Wind- sor County anti-Masonic committee was pledged. This committee directed the course of the paper. In its three-fold character the paper struggled against Masonry, and incidentally against fate, for a period of about six years, and then died a martyr to the cause it chiefly espoused ; but Masonry appeared not to have been seriously affected by the on- slaughts of the papers. Other than the original editors, or publishers, these persons were subsequently connected with the Whig: Samuel Hemenway, Samuel Hemenway, jr., Ferdinand Sherwin, and Henry L. Anthony.
The Henry Clay was first issued in the early part of September, 1830, under the editorial care of Benjamin Franklin Kendall, while David Watson served as publisher. But after a year's continuance the name of the paper was changed to Vermont Courier, and Farmers' and Me- chanics' Advocate, thus, in name at least, outstripping its cotemporary of the same year. A couple or so years later some changes were again made, by a union with the Windsor Republican, and a new name, Re- publican and Courier, adopted. Still later, a change in proprietorship brought to the paper the more plain and sensible title of Vermont Courier, by which it was known to the time of its demise, in 1838 or there- abouts.
The Liberal Extracts was a journal representing the ideas of the Wood- stock Free Reading Society ; the latter an organization that now might be called an Infidel Club. Nahum Haskell edited the Extracts during its brief but eventful career. It was a monthly publication, and contin- ued only one year.
The Workingman's Gazette was started in 1830, in the interest of the
28
218
HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
workingmen of the vicinity, as will readily be inferred from its name. The period of its publication was quite brief. There were too many so- ciety journals emanating from the county seat, and some must go-event- ually all then in existence departed. The Gazette, however, became merged into the Henry Clay, the latter then being controlled by Mr. Kendall. No further attempt was made to found a paper at the shire town until 1833, when Silas Esterbrook came out with the Village Bal- ance, an anti- Masonic sheet that lasted only through one year's campaign. It was followed, three years later, however, 1836, by a similar publica- tion, The Constitution, edited by Henry S. Hutchinson ; but this, too, died almost "a' bornin." During the same year, 1836, another paper was conducted in Woodstock, called The Hornet. This was an opposi- tion sheet to the Constitution, and was edited by B. F. Kendall and Thomas E. Powers. It eventually shared the fate of its predecessors.
During the ten years between 1830 and 1840 the village of Windsor seems to have experienced an epidemic of newspaper ventures, there be- ing started during that decade four journals, nothing, however, in num- ber to compare with the great works accomplished at the county seat. The Windsor papers were : The Journal of Temperance, by Richards & Tracy, a semi-monthly, first number March 30, 1832; The Windsor Statesman, by Talford & Fletcher, started in 1833 and died in 1840; the Spirit of Seventy-Six, started in 1835, by Darius Jones, died 1837, by the hand of fate; the Vermont Times, established in 1839, by Charles H. Severance, died in infancy, 1841. No other paper was attempted in Windsor until 1847, when the School Journal and Agriculturalist made its appearance. It lasted just about six years. Thus the old Vermont Journal, with all its vicissitudes, survived all others ; and who shall say this was not a " survival of the fittest?"
Thus far in these pages nothing has been said concerning the " rise and fall " of the press in the town of Springfield. Well, there was made no effort to establish a paper there prior to 1833, and then the mania of the period did not appear to strike that locality with such severity as was observable in the northern sections of the county. However, in 1833, Messrs. Coolidge & Sprague commenced the publication of the Record of the Times. Three years later the enterprise was dropped, and Spring- field had no local paper thereafter for seventeen years. Then, in 1853,
219
THE PRESS.
Mr. Gurnsey commenced the publication of the Springfield Telegraph ; but telegraphic press communications were then infrequent as compared with more recent years, so, after two years of indifferent success, the Tel- egraph suspended publication.
Next in the succession of evanescent journals in the town came The Record and Farmer, an enterprise established in November, 1866, by D. L. Millikin, and by whom it was published until 1868, and then sold and merged into the Vermont Journal. Five years later, January 1, 1873, Frank W. Stiles started the Enterprise, a monthly journal; but this proved unsuccessful, and was consequently withdrawn from the public after a year's publication. During the same year, 1873, E. D. Wright entered the field with the Weekly News, but this, too, was an unsuccess- ful venture, and its proprietor sold out to the Woodstock Post. In 1875 the Springfield Bulletin was born. O. A. Libby acknowledged its pa- ternity and assumed its support. It proved a weakling, and died, aged about eight months.
The Springfield Reporter .- In the year 1878, about two and one-half years after the suspension of the Bulletin, the present Springfield Re- porter was started, under the editorial supervision and control of Frank W. Stiles, the founder of the Enterprise of some years preceding. In 1878 Mr. Stiles found an open field for a good, newsy paper, and by that time the people of the town were also awake to the necessity of a local journal to represent their interests at large. Therefore the Reporter was presented to the reading public, its first issue appearing in the early part of January, 1878. The paper met with a cordial reception in the com- munity, and increased in circulation and advertising support until it be- came, and still continues, firmly established upon a secure commercial basis. From its founding to the present time the Reporter has been under the control of Mr. Stiles.
Returning again to the successions of county newspaper enterprises it is found that in 1837 Nahum Haskell and Augustus Palmer founded the Vermont Mercury, at Woodstock, the first number being published on April 6th. Subsequently two changes were made in the name of the paper, the first to Woodstock Mercury, and the second to Windsor County Advertiser, the name being taken in 1853. Norman Williams and Thomas E. Powers were frequent contributors to the columns of the
220
HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
Mercury, especially in that department devoted to the advocacy of the Whig doctrines, of which they, and the proprietors as well, were the local champions. The Mercury was discontinued about 1851.
The Spirit of the Age .- This is one of the established newspapers of the present day, but its founding dates back to the year 1840. Charles G. Eastman was the editor of the Age at the outset, and continued in that capacity until 1845, at which time A. E. Kimball succeeded him. Mr. Eastman, in 1843, changed the name of the paper to the Woodstock Age, but his successor, among his earliest acts in connection with it, restored the old name to the title page, and there it has since remained. In 1847 Mr. Kimball was succeeded by E. M. Brown, and the latter, in turn, by William D. McMaster, the present owner and editor.
The Spirit of the Age is the only recognized organ of the Democratic party at present published in this county ; and while, perhaps, its circu- lation it confined mainly to readers of the party's faith, it has, neverthe- less, a large and paying subscription list both within and without the county. That it is well edited and managed is reasonably attested by the fact that Mr. McMaster's long connection with the paper, and his re- ward for long continued party service, lies not only in the extensive pat- ronage of the Age, but also in his elevation to the postmastership of Woodstock village.
Subsequent to the founding of the Spirit of the Age, and prior to 1850, three other newspapers were started at Woodstock : The Whig Advocate, a small campaign paper that made its appearance in 1842, with Charles P. Marsh, editor ; the Coon Hunter, also a campaign document, and an auxiliary or supplementary publication of the Age; and the Temperance Herald. The last named paper continued some four or more years.
The Vermont Standard .-- The unfortunate end that, with a single ex- ception, overtook all previously established newspapers at the county seat, seems not to have had the effect of entirely discouraging all subse- quent efforts in that direction. But on April 29, 1853, when editor Thomas E. Powers and publisher Lewis Pratt, jr., issued the first num- ber of the Vermont Temperance Standard, the prospects for long con- tinued and abundant success were not specially inviting. For had not the Temperance Herald, the immediate predecessor of the Standard, gone to the ground, and that despite the fact that its friends had contributed
22I
THE PRESS.
five hundred dollars for its early support ? But, notwithstanding that, the proprietors of the Standard had confidence in the enterprise they founded, and subequent events proved their judgment to be correct ; but it is doubtful if even these original founders contemplated the radical change in store for their paper, by its changing from the Temperance Standard, presumably, from its name, an advocate of temperance, to the Vermont Standard, and eventually to become a recognized organ of Re- publicanism in the town and county. But such was not the case.
Dr. Powers continued in charge of the editorial department of the pa- per for nearly two years, retiring December 29, 1854, and was succeeded by Rev. G. C. Sampson. The last named editor was succeeded, two years later, January, 1857, by Luther O. Greene and W. P. Davis, both of whom were formerly connected with a paper at St. Albans. Among the early acts of these proprietors, in connection with their new acquisi- tion, was the change of its name to the Vermont Standard, dropping " Temperance," as a distinguishing feature of the paper's character, but by no means relinquishing temperance advocacy. Mr. Davis's connection with the paper continued until the 27th of July, 1860, when Mr. Greene became sole proprietor, and has so remained to the present day.
Subsequent to the founding of the Standard three attempts have been made at starting newspaper publications at the county town. The first of these attempts brought forth the Northern Farmer, a paper intended to be devoted to the agricultural interests of the vicinity in particular, and to current news in general. E. M. Brown and A. B. Crosby were the originators of this enterprise, but their efforts were not rewarded with any special degree of success ; whereupon, in the course of a few months, the office material was removed to West Randolph. It began publication in the early part of 1855.
The Otta Quechee Post was established by Robert A. Perkins, and first appeared September 15, 1871. It never prospered in that locality, al- though its proprietor afterwards became sowewhat prominent as a jour- nalist. The Post changed its name, in 1872, to the Woodstock Post, and advocated the election of Horace Greeley for the Presidency. It was known, or during that campaign called itself, an Independent Republican paper ; but in following the plan set by the leaders of the memorable po- litical contest, the Post, as well as all other so-called independent papers
222
HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
of that period, found themselves fairly landed within the Democratic camp, from which some never afterwards escaped, while others did, and returned to the Republican fold. The Post was discontinued in 1875, the last number being issued June 4th of that year.
The Acorn was the result of the latest effort at starting a new paper at Woodstock, the date of its first issue being May 1, 1872. It was a monthly publication, under the charge of a number of young journal- istic aspirants of the county seat. It was not a long- lived paper, and withdrew from the field in October, 1873.
The town of Hartford, or, more particularly, the village of White River Junction, has witnessed the founding of five separate newspaper enterprises, although but one, The Landmark, long survived the voyage over the ever-troubled waters of the sea of journalism. The first paper established in this town was The White River Advertiser and Ver- mont Family Gazette, a creation of October, 1852, and the victim of a destroying fire in 1853. It was published by Davis & Southworth. Twenty-five years later, in 1878, on the first of January, Thomas Hale commenced the publication of the Republican Observer ; but two years of experience in the locality seems to have satisfied Mr. Hale, as he then moved the establishment to New Hampshire.
Third in the succession of papers in this town was the Sun, founded December 9, 1881, by Royal Cummings, but who, in March of the next year, disposed of the plant, Araunah A. Earl becoming the purchaser. On the 13th of March, 1882, Mr. Earl issued the first number of the paper under the name of Landmark, and as such it has ever since been published, and by the same practical, enterprising and competent pro- prietor. No better mention of the character and general purpose of the Landmark can be made than by quoting from the publisher's own ad- vertisement, as follows: "Devoted specially and entirely to the in- terests of its publisher, who is independent when it will pay, neutral when it don't." The Landmark is one of the present papers of the county.
The Valley News was the result of the latest effort at starting a pa- per at the Junction, but it was only a feeble effort, and failed of sub- stantial or lasting results.
The town of Ludlow has but one home paper, the Tribune, although
223
THE PRESS.
five previous attempts were made to establish a publication for that vicinity. The first effort in that direction brought forth the Genius of Liberty, but the paper proved of short duration. Next appeared The Blotter, in 1854, under the proprietorship of R. S. Warner and W. A. Bacon. The paper changed owners with frequency, which fact itself was an evidence of non-success, and was finally sold " under the hammer," as the saying goes. The purchaser, Mr. Warner, formerly its owner, endeavored to put the paper again before the public, but it was of no avail. The Blotter lasted from the fall of 1854 to the latter part of 1856. But Mr. Warner was not discouraged by one, or even two, unsuccessful attempts, and in January, 1860, presented to the people of Ludlow another paper, called The Voice Among the Mountains. But this publi- cation, like its predecessor, made frequent changes in ownership, and was finally made a monthly. As such its days were ended with its third year, and The Voice Among the Mountains was no longer heard. On the 17th of April, 1866, D. E. Johnson "tried his hand " at journalism, and brought to light The Transcript, but during the early days of the paper Mr. Johnson died, and the office and plant were then sold to a former publisher of the Brattleboro Record. It proved unprofitable, and was soon discontinued.
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.