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Probably the leading factor which makes and
signifies a country's development, intellectually,
commercially, and politically, is the news paper.
It is both the cause and the effect of a permanent
and substantial upbuilding of a community, and bears
much on its face of the surroundings in which it has
its existence. A newspaper may be pretty
thoroughly relied upon to express what manner of
people compose the moral, social, and business
make-up of a settlement, be it large or small.
It seems scarcely within the realm of belief to think
that here at the confluence of the Ohio and
Muskingum rivers—a locality that in the beginning of
the 19th century was considered to be on the
frontier, at the very outposts of civilization—there
should be erected such an institution as a
newspaper, but such is the fact, for the year 1801
was witness to the establishment of a newspaper
which exists today, and bears every evidence of
permanency.
The white people who first came into this, valley were
of New England stock—Yankees; and associated with
their fortitude and thrift was that desire to keep
in the very front line as regards education and the
dissemination of intelligence and information.
The result of this feeling was the establishing in
the “Stockade" on the north side of Washington
street, between Front and Second streets, of the
Ohio, of the Ohio Gazette and Virginia Herald,
a name assumed doubtless for the promotion and
perpetuation
of a friendliness between the people on both sides
of the Ohio. Wyllys Silliman and
Elijah Backus were the owners and editors
- dividing their time between the practice of law
and promulgation of intelligence. The paper
was born Dec. 18, 1801, and its size was by no means
commensurate wit the length of its name; for
compared with our papers of the present day, it was
a mere leaflet, containing that would appeal to the
tastes of the present day readers/ Most of the
matter pertained to the doings of the East -
particularly Congress, and miscellany of a not
particularly attractive kind occupied a portion of
the space each week. About all that pertained
to local affairs were the meagre advertisements or
legal notices. The papers of that time could
not strictly be termed newspapers, for the
happenings recorded were in most cases weeks old,
and were obtainable only through the slow
channels operating in that day.
Writing in those days bore a different appearance from
that we now are accustomed to follow. It had
in it a dignity and grace which would seem to befit
the powdered wig, the fuffled shirt, the knee
breeches, and the buckled shoes. The editor seemed
by his expressions to be in court attire with a
lexicon of polished phrases and "Chesterfield's
Letters" at his elbow. His position in his
community must have given just cause for jealousy on
the part of the village blacksmith, whose prestige
had heretofore been indisputable.
The outfit on which was printed the Gazette (for
short) was purchased by Messrs. Silliman and
Backus in Philadelphia, and was very simple and
crude as compared with the plants of today.
The press was of wood with a flat
[pg. 399]
stone for its bed, and to 'pull" a sheet was an
involved operation, requiring the undivided
attention of a man and boy; the man inserting the
same between type and platen, pulling several
hundred pounds at a big lever to give the
impression, then releasing and returning the frame
to a position for taking out the printed sheet and
to make room for its successor. The boy spent
his time inking the types, either with balls of
buckskin or a roller made of a composition of glue
and molasses.
The early editor was necessarily not particular as to
what he did, for he could not act in any one
particular capacity. He was editorial writer,
news compositor, "ad" -setter, pressman,
roller-maker, machinist, circulation man, and about
everything but "devil." This latter
functionary did the coarser work about the place;
and no doubt in his thoughtful moments looked upon
the editor as a god, occupying an exalted position
in whose direction he humbly wished his toes to
point.
MORE TO COME
[pg. 400]
[pg. 401]
course duty requires him to pursue. He will
not suffer himself to be influenced by the opinions
of others in any way incompatible with perfect
fre4edom of thought and action. He speaks
particularly on this point, because he has been
charged with being under the control of influential
men in this town.
In politics his motto will be, "Willing to Praise, but
not afraid to Blame." He will be equally ready
to bestow praise upon his political enemies, when
merited, or censure upon his friends, when
necessary. It will therefore be conducted with
impartial liberality, and no effort shall be wanting
on the part of the subscriber to render it
distinguished by its practical utility.
Temperate and well-written communications upon any
subject that shall be deemed of general interest,
will be thankfully received and inserted.
With this brief statement, the first number of the
Intelligencer is offered to the public, that by
it they may judge of its merits and of the claims it
has upon their patronage.
One year after
starting, the Intelligencer had 300
subscribers, but during 1840, the year of the
Harrison campaign, the paper's circulation has more
than doubled; and its success was well marked and
not less merited.
Mr. Gates had an
ambition to supply to the public a real newspaper -
one which should cover the doings of the week both
at home and abroad. Besides being a chronicle
of the events in the town, the young editor received
regularly from Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Cincinnati,
communications which related to business, society
and state. When Taylor was inducted
into the White House as President, Mr. Gates
received the President's message by wire and printed
the same in his paper - a feat that was considered
at that time as an astounding piece of newspaper
enterprise. So it was, too, for the provincial
editor had a high ambition, and served his
constituency as well as many respects as did the
managers of the newspapers in cities of greater
pretensions. It was not long that Mr. Gates
kept up the use of wires, for with the advent of the
Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad came the great
dailies form the latter named city. The
foreign news was read in these, and the
Intelligencer became a purely local paper.
Beman Gates was born
Jan. 5, 1818, in Montgague, Franklin County,
Massachusetts. With his father he moved in
1835 to Connecticut, and in 1837, with a
brother-in-law, came to what was in those days
considered "the West."
Mr. Gates' destination was Knoxville, Tennessee,
but he was pleased with Marietta, and illness coming
upon his brother-in-law, both were detained here.
Mr. Gates found work in the county recorder's
office. He also taught music, and for years
conducted a singing school which was a popular
institution, and is spoken of at this day by the
elderly people, who have many fond memories
clustering about the school and its master schooled
in old-fashioned politeness.
In 1856 Mr. Gates sold the Intelligencer
to Dr. T. L. Andrews, who conducted the paper
until 1862, when a new Richmond came into the field
in the person of Rodney M. Stimson, who came
from Ironton, Lawrence County, Ohio, and had been
founder and editor of the Ironton Register.
Mr. Stimson was a man born to the purpose of
editing a newspaper, and he had the information and
the style to hold a most exalted position upon a
metropolitan paper or periodical. He threw his
personality into the paper, and made it shine with
the good things from his bright mind. The
first thing he did was to change the name of the
paper to the Marietta Register, which name it
holds to-day.
Rodney Metcalf Stimson was born at Milford, New
Hampshire, Oct. 26, 1822, the son of Phineas
Stimson and Rhoda Metcalf - both children
of soldiers of the Revolution. Mr. Stimson
attended school in the East, including Phillips
Exeter Academy. In 1845 he came to
Marietta College, being graduated in 1847. His
first work was teaching country schools, after which
he read law and was admitted to the bar of Marietta
in 1849; later he went to Ironton, where on August
1, 1850, he started the Ironton Register,
which paper he conducted for 12 years.
Mr. Stimson was married July 23, 1851, to
Juliette B. Hurd, of Ironton, who died Jan. 19,
1861. The son, Milford, that was born
to them, died in Cincinnati in 1890. October
28, 1862, our subject was married to Julia I.
Sheppard, of Marietta. One daughter, Eliz-
[pg. 402]
abeth Gillet Corwin, was born
to the union. Mr. and Mrs. Stimson, Mr. and
Mrs. Corwin and two children - Julia Stimson
and Rodney Stimson - form at present the
interesting household of Mr. Stimson.
Mr. Stimson was not only a man peculiarly fitted to
the business of conducting a newspaper, but he was a
politician as well, and the people of his county
were not long in recognizing his ability as a public
servant. In 1869 he was elected to the Ohio
Legislature as Senator from this district and was
re-elected to the position in 1871. He served
also in the Republican National Conventions, as
delegate, which nominated John C. Fremont and
James A. Garfield for the Presidency.
He was delegate from Washington County to the Ohio
State Republican Convention 17 times; and was the
author of the Republican State platform in 1873, the
same being unanimously adopted without the change of
a word. In 1881 Mr. Stimson was
tendered the office of Assistant Librarian of
Congress, but he declined, as did he also a place in
the U. S. Treasury Department which carried with it
a salary of $3,000 a year and expenses. Mr.
Stimson was librarian of the Ohio State Library
for the years 1877-79, and was retired because he
was on the wrong side of the fence from the powers
that were.
In March, 1881, Mr. Stimson accepted the
position of librarian of Marietta College at a
salary of $600 per year, a position he held until
1892, when he resigned. In 1900 Mr. Stimson
presented to Marietta College his magnificent
private library, which contained over 190,000
volumes - over 1,000 of which related directly
to the Civil War and slavery - the most complete of
its kind in any private collection.
May 20, 1872, the Regisger changed hands again -
Mr. Stimson selling the property to E. R.
Alderman & Company. Of this new firm the
company was Joseph W. Dumble, who in 1875
withdrew from the firm to become owner of the
Middleport Republican.
Mr. Alderman was born, Aug. 20, 1839, near
Athens, Ohio, and the early years of his life were
spent amid the most primitive surroundings.
While yet a boy he was thrown upon his own
resources, but he had the stuff in him of which men
of strong character are made. As a young man
he taught school in Washington County; later he kept
store at Racine, Meigs County, coming to Marietta in
1867. Here he engaged in the insurance
business until 1872, when he with Mr. Dumble
bought the Register.
Mr. Alderman's
management of the Register was distinguished
by particularly good business direction; and the
property, already well established, grew hardier and
more influential with the passage of time. The
paper was printed as a weekly until 1883, when it
was changed to a semi-weekly, which it continued to
be until 1889, when it was issued tri-weekly.
In June, 1894, the Register appeared as a
daily evening paper, and continues as such at the
present time, enjoying an extensive circulation with
consequent influence.
E. R. Alderman, from the date of his assuming
editorial duties to the time of his death - June 1,
1901 - made it his whole duty and his pride to see
the Register prosper; and in his editorial
work he spared not the person whom he thought at
fault. He was a virile writer and phrased his
ideas in good, clean English. At the time of
the establishment of the daily, the ownership was
merged into a stock company, the holders of shares
being E. R. Alderman, L. A. Alderman, A. D.
Alderman, E. S. Alderman, William Sharp, and
D. R. Gerken. Since the death of Mr.
Alderman the paper has been managed - ably, too
- by his son, A. D. Alderman who possesses
the fearlessness of his father, and in whose
ambition to make the Register prosper is
fully as great as was that of his father.
Mr. Alderman, as editor and manager, si ably
assisted in the editorial department by John W.
Lansley, who spent his early life in Beverly;
and in the business department by D. R. Gerken,
who is a native of Marietta.
Alva Dean Alderman, editor-manager of the
Register, was born at Racine, Meigs
County, Ohio, October 21, 18643. He came, with
his parents to Marietta in 1867. He
attended both a private school, conducted by the
Misses
[pg. 403]
Eells, and the public schools
of Marietta, later going to the Academy of Marietta
College. After preparing himself for college,
Mr. Alderman attended Phillips academy at
Andover, Massachusetts, where he took a literary and
scientific course.
In 1884
[pg. 404]
[pg. 405]
[pg. 406]
and Louise E. Mrs. Charles Buck,
still living, of Fernbank, a suburb of Cincinnati).
The first wife died at Cincinnati in April, 1866,
and her remains. He buried in Mound Cemetery,
this city.
Mr. Mueller was again married, in 1869,
to Elizabeth Buck, born Dec. 27, 1849,
eldest daughter of the late Col. William C. Buck,
a distinguished soldier of the Civil War. By
this union were born: Emma Philipena (Mrs.
C. H. Smith) Dec. 25, 1869; Ella Elizabeth,
born Feb. 1, 1871; Katharine Caroline, born
Oct. 15, 1872; Carl Hugo, born June
30, 1874; Florence Clara, born Apr.
28, 1876; Frederick Jacob, born July
15, 1878; Stella Amelia, born Mar. 16,
1880; Albert Leo, born May 29, 1882;
Gertrude Edith, born Oct. 21, 1884;
William Junius, born Dec. 5, 1886; and
Theodore, born Apr. 10, 1890.
For a time prior to 1881 there was a rumbling heard in
the ranks of the Republican party to the effect that
it should have another newspaper—one which should
share in the honors of the community and the party;
and Feb. 23, 1881, the movement became vital in the
form of the Marietta Leader.
The Leader
was first published in a little frame building where
now stands the City Electric building; and its
editors and proprietors were Frank A. Crippen
and Will S. Knox. These two gentlemen,
with rather meager means, but many friends, at once
installed the paper into the families of Washington
county, making a particular hit with local news from
country districts, and by giving great attention to
the doings of the townspeople. It was not long
until a list of large proportions was the happy
possession of the new paper. In 1883 Dr. J.
F. Ullmann, of Lower Salem, bought into the firm
he buying Mr. Knox's interest. Later,
in the year 1883. Crippen & Ullman
sold out to Hon. Theodore F. Davis, who was
the owner until 1890, when the former ownership was
changed to that of a stock company. During
Mr. Davis's incumbency he held political offices
of honor, being appointed as a trustee of the Athens
State Hospital, and being elected to the State
Senate from this district. Dr. Davis,
who still resides in Marietta, is an ardent
Republican, and a worker within the party whose
counselings are always listened to with respect.
Nov. 17, 1890, the stock of the Marietta Leader
was purchased by George M. Cooke, a native of
Marietta and a young man who had had several years'
experience in the printing business, and who had
been associated with Mr. Davis and the
Leader since March, 1885. Possessing a
knowledge of the modus operandi of a
newspaper, the plant was managed in such a way that
every year saw it bring forth fruit.
In 1890 the Leader became a semi-weekly: in
August, 1894, it was printed "every-other-day," and
Apr. 1, 1895, it made it appearance as a morning
daily, since which time it has acceptably occupied
the field as such.
Aug. 1, 1900, Mr. Cooke sold his stock in the
Leader to a syndicate of men comprising C. .
Middleswart, John Kaiser, H. V. Speelman. John
Crooks and T. J. Mercer. Since
then, others have bought stock, and the personnel
has changed to some extent. H. V. Speelman
was editor and manager for several months, when he
was succeeded by J. M. Williams, who still directs
operations.
In 1901 the Leader was moved to its president
location, across from the Court House, where most
comfortably quartered is as fine a country newspaper
office as graces the land. June 11, 1898, a
linotype machine was installed in the Leader
office - the first in southeastern Ohio.
J. M. WILLIAMS, the
present manager of the Leader, was born near
Gallipolis, Aug. 14 1869, the son of James
Williams, who followed farming, and who died
when the subject of our sketch was still a child.
Mr. Williams's mother also died while he as
of tender age. Mr. Williams received
his education in the district schools of
Gallia County, the time spent in gaining his
education being very limited. He first
business experience was that of messenger boy for
the Western Union Telegraph Company, at a salary of
$10 a month.
[pg. 407]
In less than a year, by his brightness and general
ability young Williams was holding down a
telegraph key at Hurricane, West Virginia.
From there he went to Huntington, West Virginia, as
assistant to the train-dispatcher. From
Huntington Mr. Williams went to
Charleston, where he was engaged with the Chesapeake
& Ohio Railway for a year, when he went with the
Western Union Telegraph Company as assistant
manager. He remained in this position three
years, when he came to Marietta to become manager of
the Western Union office in this city, a position
which he held with ability, and to the satisfaction
of both company and patrons until the fall of 1900.
In November, 1900, Mr. Williams assumed
the entire management of the Daily Leader and
has conducted its affairs with the same care and
ability that distinguished his services in earlier
work and other fields. Mr. Williams is
identified with other concerns in Marietta, and
devotes himself to the general good of the
community. He is at present with the Pioneer
Building & Loan Association as a director; also is a
stockholder in the Ohio Valley Wagon Company.
He is a holder of oil interests in the American Oil
Company, the Dual State Oil Company, the Delta Oil
Company, and the Alta Oil Company. He is a
stock holder in the Union Investment Company.
He is a member of Harmar Lodge No. 390, F. & A. M.
and American Union Chapter, R. A. M. With his
wife he is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal
Church.
Mr. Williams was married Sept. 22, 1896,
to Miss Minnie R. McMillin, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Murray McMillin. Mr.
and Mrs. Williams have one son - Emerson
Marion, born Dec. 17, 1897. They have a
beautiful home on Fairview Heights, built in 1897,
where they reside.
The youngest candidate for favors from the reading and
advertising public is the Labor Journal, a
paper which was established July 4, 1901, as a
weekly newspaper, but which Jan. 13, 1902, appeared
as an evening daily. The daily was the
outgrowth of a disagreement between employers and
printers on the other daily newspapers of Marietta.
In December, 1901, the printers declared a strike to
be on, and according to agreement ceased work.
The establishment is popularly financed in small
holdings owned by members of the trades and labor
organizations of Marietta. It has been a
success from the start, finding general favor among
the people who have a friendliness toward organized
labor; and its columns are well filled with
advertisements of the substantial concerns of the
city.
The original stockholders forming the in corporation
were S. E. Blair, Louis Sharp, M.
L. Purkey, Joseph Jones, Harry Hill,
A. E. Stewart and Frank Ackerman. This
company took charge of affairs Mar. 17, 1901. Since
starting the company has become much scattered, but
it is owned entirely by men who are members of labor
societies.
The officers of the company are,—Arthur
Metcalf, president; O. P. Hyde, secretary
and treasurer; S. E.
BLAIR,
general manager.
Mr. Blair, upon whom falls the details of
management, was born in Pomeroy, Meigs County, Aug.
29, 1868, the fourth child of Joel M. and Mary
Sharp Blair. The subject of our sketch was
educated in the public schools of Harmar (now West
Marietta), quitting at the close of the grammar
school grades, under the late John D. Phillips.
His first work as an earner of money was in the
office of the Marietta Leader. This
began Jan. 17, 1886; and he was connected with the
paper, as job printer, until Aug. 1, 1900.
Mar. 17, 1901, Mr. Blair, with
James I. Goldsmith, bought a job printing office
of Messrs. Arbour and Brenan,
and they conducted affairs until the inauguration of
the incorporated company referred to above.
The College Ohio is published by the students of
Marietta College, and appears monthly during the
college year. Its editors are appointed by the
literary societies of the College, and it bears in
its columns the news of college matters, local and
general.
Such is the life of the papers that now exist in
Marietta. In Beverly there is a weekly
[pg. 408]
newspaper - Beverly Dispatch -
published by H. O. Goodrich, and established
by Hon. John C. Preston, an attorney of that
place. The paper meets with good patronage,
and is an institution of the town in which it is
located.
In New Metamoras is published the Mail, a weekly
newspaper, owned and edited by Ed. B. Huthinson
who gives it such impulse as the community
justifies, and that is considerable for a place of
its size. J. M. Miler,a young man of
Little Hocking, prints the Buckeye, a sheet
which finds popularity in its neighborhood.
With the rise and fall of the journalistic tide in
Washington County, there have been many barques to
appear and disappear, and their voyages bore greater
or less interest to the public, in the main a losing
venture to the projectors and owners of the crafts.
A list of them would appear like this:
The Commentator and Marietta Recorder, a
Federalist newspaper, opposing the Gazette,
and first issued Sept. 16, 1807 by Dunham &
Gardiner. In two years the paper was
discontinued, dying for lack of patronage.
MORE TO COME - - - -
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[pg. 409]
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