The Pioneer Press of Kentucky: From The Printing of the First Paper West of the Alleghanies, August U, 1787, to the Establishment of the Daily Press in 1830

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OR,

OHIO INTELLIGENCER. VOL.

THURSDAY,, OCTOBER

It.

To TRt KDITO* OP TltU A.DKORA. On a frequent and long con iHeration of Tills- subject, it is IIZLT TO * A CITIZEN OF sMCKO ISTKICTSTATX OF TSMMESSEE. recommended, that a fuhfcnftwn or Ifgtjl&tivf grant be forthCOTTON MACHINERY. i

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with obtained, t derate fund, to

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No. XCII.

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,

V

THE PIONEER

PRESS

OF KENTUCKT,

r

FROM THE PRINTING OF THE FIRST PAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHANIES, AUGUST u, 1787, TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DAILY PRESS IN

1830.

WILLIAM HENRY PERRIN. WRITTEN FOR

THE FILSON CLUB, AND READ BEFORE THE CLUB AT

ITS

AUGUST MEETING,

1887,

BEING THE CENTEN-

NIAL YEAR OF KENTUCKY JOURNALISM.

p. Ithn-tim

&

(Sampling,

PRINTERS TO THE FILSON CLUB. 1888

,

John #. $ot|ton 1888 ^

t

* Company.

PREFACE. The nth day of August, 1887,

closed the

hundred years from the establishing of a printing press and the issuing of a newspaper

first

Kentucky. This event having been deemed worthy of commemoration by the FILSON CLUB,

in

one of

its

members, WILLIAM HENRY PERRIN,

was requested to prepare and read to the Club a sketch of the Pioneer Press of the State. This request was promptly complied with, and the article so prepared was read at the

meeting of the Club lished

as

Filson

in 1887,

Club

and

is

Publication

August

here pub-

Number

Three.

THOMAS LOUISVILLE, JUNE, 1888.

SPEED, Secretary.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS OF KENTUCKY.

The

introduction of the press in a

important event.

It

new country

an

is

can be made to contribute more to the

mankind than almost any thing whose hand penned the Declara-

pleasure and happiness of else.

Thomas

Jefferson,

one of the grandest compositions that " If I had from the pen of mortal man, wrote also

tion of Independence,

ever

fell

to choose

:

between a government without newspapers or news-

papers without a government,

I

should prefer the

latter."

Daniel Webster said that no newspaper was so insignificant but that "every issue contained something that was worth

Among

the subscription price."

the

gems

of

wisdom

the world by Horace Greeley was the following

:

"A

left to

history

which takes no account of what was said by the press

memorable emergencies

Dean Stanley

said

" :

befits

Once

an earlier age than

is

architecture,

and

is

this."

architecture was the press,

told great thoughts to the world in stone, but

now

in

and

the press

building up the world of ideas and

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

6

Said Napoleon Bonaparte

usages."

" :

Four

hostile

news-

papers are more to be dreaded than one hundred thousand bayonets."

But mage,

come down

to

in his

to

our

own

The Rev. Mr.

time.

Tal-

famous sermon a few years ago on the news-

paper press, said

" :

If a

man

from childhood to old age see

only his Bible, Webster's dictionary, and his newspaper, he could be prepared for

all

piness of the next."

The Boston Herald

an

article entitled

"

the duties of this

life

reporter to

article,

is

all

the hap-

recently published

Don't Snub the Reporter," in which

pleaded for kind treatment for the reporter.

upon the

or

Commenting

the Detroit Free Press remarked that

not apt to be snubbed," that

"

"

the

very few can afford

snub him," and that "the man who does the snubbing

the

it

one who deserves sympathy," and added

" :

is

Keifer's

downfall was said to be due to the fact that he snubbed reporters,

and

it is

claimed that a Union general

great career before

him

lost all

who had

chance of fame by insulting

a newspaper man, whereupon the rest agreed never to tion that general's

name

a

in their reports,

men-

and so the unfor-

man dropped out of sight." Mr. Lynn R. Meekins, member of the editorial staff of the Baltimore American,

tunate a

alumni address delivered before Western Maryland " College a few weeks ago, on the Romance of Journalism,"

in the

after

saying that criticism of newspapers was always a good " No newsproof of their vigor and usefulness, continued :

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. paper has ever reached or

as they

do

human

institution, with

reflecting the vice of office is to print

will

and always

dealing with

sins,

it

just as

be a

human

at

grumble will

human

humanity as well as the

affairs,

and

virtue.

Its

the news, to give the history of yesterday,

to chronicle the joys

The Texas

crimes.

It is

to-day.

A

ever reach perfection.

will

thousand years from now people

much

^

are bad because so

and the sorrows, the blessings and the

who

editor

many bad

declared that 'newspapers

The

the philosophy of the situation. is to

newspapers good

summed up

things happen'

only

way

to

make

take the wickedness out of the world

or to stop people from talking about

As

it.

it

now

read an account of a great battle

is,

nine

when only

persons

will

one

wade through the proceedings of a peace congress.

will

The

strength of the press consists in part of the very fact

that

it

well

the

as

light."

to evil.

prone

and

gives us a picture of

it

is

All

human

this

is

life

with the shadow as

true.

Human

nature

is

has an innate fondness for the horrible,

It

safe to say that nine, nay, that forty-nine persons

read the Courier-Journal's account of the of Albert Turner, where the

fiftieth

trial

and execution

reads one of Mr. Tal-

mage's sermons.

But itors,

it is

the writers,

press of

coming of the press, the printers, the edpublishers, and others connected with the

of the

Kentucky

that this article has to speak.

altogether a remarkable

set,

They were

who published remarkable news-

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

8

papers,

and some

still

more remarkable

As

articles.

has

had their differences always been the case everywhere, they

and

quarrels,

and there are instances where men

lives for too free a use of editorial thunder.

whole they were It

men

lost their

But upon the

of education, worth, and ability.

seems strange and somewhat unaccountable that none

Kentucky give a sketch of the

of the

early histories of

press.

Mr. Collins' history, which contains almost every

the mere anthing else of interest, ignores the press, save

nouncement

that certain papers were established at certain

Marshall's history says

times in certain towns.

subject than any other, but Mr. Marshall ical

than otherwise, and

we gain

little

is

more on

more

historical

from him concerning the press at large.

the

hypercrit-

knowledge

It is left to

one of

the last histories published of the State (Perrin's) to give

any thing But even

like a narrative history of the in a history of the State

devote the space to the press that or that can be given

The

first

it

it

its

is

newspaper

press.

scarcely possible to

importance demands,

in a sketch of this character.

newspaper west of the Alleghany Mountains

was established

in

Kentucky one hundred years ago.

origin was mainly due to a political necessity.

Its

Kentucky

then formed a county of Virginia, and the people were earnestly debating the propriety of separating from the parent

State and setting

up an independent government.

To

ac-

complish this a convention had been held at Danville, the

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. territorial capital as

tion assembled in

1

it

might be

785, at the

purpose, which, during olution

A

called.*

9

second conven-

same place and

for the

same

adopted the following

its sitting,

res-

:

That, to insure unanimity in the opinion of the people respecting the propriety of separating the district of

a separate State government, and the convention,

A

it is

deemed

Kentucky from

have a printing

essential to

and forming

press.

committee was appointed by the convention, and

charged with the duty of carrying out the lution,

Virginia,

to give publicity to the proceedings of

but

it

was two years before

was

it

spirit

fully

of the reso-

accomplished.

John Bradford, who had recently removed to Kentucky, became interested in the matter, and was induced to Finally,

undertake the important enterprise.

committee to establish a paper public patronage.

His

offer

if

He

proposed to the

he was guaranteed the

was accepted, and Mr. Brad-

ford at once set about the work,

which

at that

day was no

inconsiderable task.

The

people of Lexington, then the most important town

west of the mountains and of the surrounding country, manifested

their interest

by substantial encouragement.

Lexington Board of Trustees,

in July, 1786,

The

ordered "that

the use of a public lot be granted to John Bradford free, on

condition that he establish a printing press in Lexington." *

known ginia.

Kentucky was never organized under a as the district of Kentucky, and then

territorial

as

form of government, but was

Kentucky County

a county of Vir-

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER

io

This

liberal

PRESS.

donation was eagerly grasped by Mr. Bradford,

and the paper was established, not

at Danville, the capital of

the district or county of Kentucky, but at the

ing town of Lexington.

When

nth day

the

it

flourish-

Bradford sent to Philadelphia for

the material, but he did not receive

summer.

more

did arrive

it

it

until the following

was duly arranged, and on

of August, 1787, the

first

number

of the Ken-

tucke* Gazette was given to the Bluegrass pioneers.

was

It

a small, unpretentious sheet, scarcely as large as a half sheet

of foolscap paper. inal articles,

editor

My

Its

one advertisement, and the following from the

:

customers

will

excuse this

ried to get an impression fell

my

partner, which

is

my

publication, as I

first

A

by the time appointed.

into pi in the carriage of

and

contents comprised two short orig-

am much

great part of the types

them from Limestone [Maysville]

the only assistant

I

hur-

to this office,

have, through an indisposition

of the body, has been incapable of rendering the smallest assistance for ten

JOHN BRADFORD.

days past.

When

the

mode

into consideration,

and

field,"

pi"

is little

of transportation of that period

and the dangers

to

They had

fell

Ohio River by boat

to

Limestone

voyage, as proved by the experience of *

to

down

the latter a dangerous

;

Kentucky was originally spelled with a terminal y by the legislature of Virginia.

into

to be transported

overland from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and thence the

taken

be met with by "flood

the fact that "a great part of the types

matter of wonder.

is

e.

many

a

band of

pio-

This was afterward changed

o

I

p] *]

z

il i


co

W

PI

n

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. In

neers.

Limestone

every thicket, behind almost every to

Lexington lurked unseen dangers.

from

tree,

Scarcely

a rod of the distance but was stained by the blood of the red

man

or that of his pale-faced foe.

trail,

when ever and anon was heard

dian's

rifle

or his blood-curdling

this

Along

the crack of the InBradford's types, the

yell,

most of which had been "set up"

dangerous

at

Limestone, and his

press were transported on pack-horses to the then metropolis

That they reached

of Kentucky.

their destination at

was one of the few favors now and then vouchsafed early settlers of the State.

They

"

The

was

office

"compared

is

shown by

to the

did arrive in safety, the

paper was established and sent forth upon that mission

all

its files for

its

What

mission.

over sixty years.

of this pioneer newspaper," says Mr. Ranck,

to those of our great metropolitan dailies,

would

present as strange a contrast as the editorial surroundings of Bradford to the costly furnishings of the fashionable editor

of the present:"

Bradford's office was not a stone-front

building, but a rude log cabin, one story high,

with clapboards.

He

and covered

printed his paper on an old-fashioned

hand-press, which he had purchased in Philadelphia at sec-

ond hand, and which, when pushed probably turn off from

to its full capacity,

might

fifty to seventy-five sheets per hour.

His "editor's easy chair" was a three-legged

stool of his

own

manufacture, and his editorial table corresponded in style with the chair.

When

he wrote

at

night

it

was by the

flick-

i

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

a

or a greasy ering, sputtering light of a buffalo tallow candle, fed

lamp

by bear's

advertisements were as quaint as his office and

Among them may

ments.

of his

Many

or perhaps by firelight.

oil,

its

equip-

be noted those of "spinning-

wheels, knee-buckles, gun-flints, buckskin for breeches, hair

now

powder, saddle-bag locks," and other articles

A

one of the early

notice appeared in

who

obsolete.

issues that "persons

subscribed to the frame meeting-house can pay in cattle

an evidence that two of the chief products of

or whisky"

the famous Bluegrass region were even then legal tender.

Another

early issue contains the Constitution of the

States, with an editorial reference that

the grand Convention notice

next

is

given that

Monday

for

"

a

now

A

meet

will

company

"just framed by

it is

in session."

few weeks later

at

Crab Orchard

an early start through the wilderness

adopt the Constitution of the United States)

The

following appears in the

signature of Charles Bland

Wm. Turner blanket,

many

" :

I

will

for three second-rate

and tomahawk

that are similar.

I

most

will

(to

go with

issue over the

not pay a note given to

cows

loaned him."

Hundreds

same

;

Richmond

of the delegates to the State Convention at

them."

United

till

he returns a

rifle,

These are samples of

of others could be given

which would doubtless prove interesting reading matter, as for instance

" :

Runaway Negro

derful Elephant

on Exhibition

at

" $50 Reward ;" The Won" 's Stable ;" and People

Flocking in to See the Dromedary,"

etc.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER The

early files of the Gazette

local matter, rials

but

its

columns

months

six

bristle with

ponderous editoat political antag-

Foreign news from

six

old form an important department,

occupying a page;

13

show a great dearth of

and communications that are hurled

onists like battering-rams.

PRESS.

weeks

to

sometimes

but the local happenings are almost

wholly ignored; and yet the paper seems to have been of intense interest in the community, as Mr. lishes the following

from a subscriber:

have signed the subscription paper,

my

curiosity eggs

me on

Such a paper would do age a newspaper

filled

for

"

Bradford pub-

Mr. Bradford, as

I

your press and take your

to read every thing in it."*

for those days,

but in this

fast

with dry political problems, scientific

and philosophical treatises alone would fall short of the popular demand. But it must be remembered that then essays,

there was not another paper printed within five hundred

miles of Lexington, nor a post-office in the whole district of

The paper was taken to the different settlements by postriders, and when it arrived the best reader among the inhabitants would mount a stump and never stop Kentucky.

until

he had read the paper through, advertisements and

all.

The London Times, upon the occasion of its centennial anniversary, said: "The Times writes its own history day by day along with the history of the world."

Kentucky Gazette wrote *

Ranck

its

And

so the

history along with that of

in the History of Fayette

3

County.

Ken-

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

14

tucky.

The

period of

most exciting times

its

some of the

publication covered

in the early life of the State, viz., the

Spanish Intrigue and the Burr Conspiracy; the controversy over the navigation of the Mississippi River, and one of the bitterest partisan conflicts that ever agitated the State relief It

and

anti-relief,

and the old and new court excitement.

had but reached the zenith of

when

the

glory and prosperity

its

Bank

the repeal of the United States

charter again

brought financial disaster to the country.

Its

declining

years witnessed the war with Mexico, and, as

if its

work was

now

done,

its

same year with

career closed in the

that war.

John Bradford, the pioneer editor of the West, was a

He

native of Virginia, and was born in 1749.

Revolutionary War, and in in Fayette

ton,

County.

1

served in the

785 came to Kentucky, settling

The next

year he removed to Lexing-

where the remainder of his

life

was spent.

He was

a practical printer, as was his father before him, and he

brought up his sons to the same business. brilliant editor; but,

he

lived,

he was a

honesty.

He

what was better

man

held

of sound

many

He

was not a

for the times in

common

sense and sterling

positions of trust

duties of which he faithfully discharged.

which

and honor, the

He was

long Pres-

ident of the Board of Village Trustees of Lexington, and for a time

was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Tran-

sylvania University.

Kentucky became

He was

the

a State in 1792,

first

public printer after

and was elected continu-

JOHN BRADFORD. (THE PIONEER EDITOR

OP-

THE WEST.)

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. ously until

1

798, except the year

1

796,

when he was

by James H. Stewart, of the Kentucky Herald. term as public printer he received

uments of the

He

office.

15

defeated

For

his first

100 sterling as the emol-

printed books as early as 1794, and

some of them may still be seen in both public and private Between the years 1825 and 1830 he published libraries. " Notes on Early Kentucky History," one of the most valhis uable works on Kentucky ever published, because "all of

he saw, and much had been."

His mind was stored with

it

sta-

and other useful information, and the great confidence

tistics

judgment invested him with the sobriOld Wisdom." He was High Sheriff of Fayette

the people had in his

quet of

County

"

at the

time of his death, which occurred in 1836, and

Circuit Court being in session,

Judge Jesse Bledsoe, presid-

ing, alluded to his death in eloquent terms,

and adjourned

court in respect to his memory.*

Many bered,

anecdotes and incidents of Bradford are remem-

and are

Lexington. ford

told with great gusto

One

by the old citizens of

will suffice to embellish this sketch.

Brad-

and Henry Clay, though generally on opposite sides of

the political fence, were the warmest friends socially. their

younger days,

like

many

of the citizens of Lexington

and of Central Kentucky, they were fond of social

In

cards,

and

their

games were sometimes characterized by extravagant

betting, which, however,

was oftener

in fun

than otherwise.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

16

At

game one

the close of a

result

it

the play,

next day they met free from the excitement of

when Bradford

"

Clay,

won

last

the

summing up

was found that Clay had won $40,000 from Brad-

The

ford.

evening, upon

thus accosted Clay

what are you going

My

night?

the half of

:

do about that money you

to

entire property,

you know, won't pay

it."

"Oh, give me your note

for $500," said Clay,

"and

let

the

balance go."

The

note was given, and a few nights later they engaged

in another

game, which lasted pretty well into the morning.

This time

fickle

Fortune turned her smiles upon Bradford,

and when they arose from the table he was $60,000 winner.

When

they met again nearly the same conversation occurred

on a previous occasion, except that the parties

as

reversed, but Bradford soon settled the matter

to

it

were

by saying

to

Clay: "

for

Oh, give

me back

$ 500, and we '11

call

that note it

I

gave you the other day

square."

The Kentucky Gazette was conducted by John Bradford until early in 1802, when he turned its management over to his son, Daniel

Bradford, and he took charge of the

tucky Herald, the

first rival

paper in the State.

He

Kenkept a

watchful supervision over the Gazette, however, and in a few years again

assumed control of

Thomas Smith, who was

it.

He

sold

it

in

1809 to

afterward an editor of the Reporter,

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. but in 1814

it

r?

again passed into the hands of the Bradfords,

and Fielding Bradford,

jr.,

A

appears as publisher.

part of

the time he was alone, and a part of the time he had for a

partner John Norvell.

In 1825 John Bradford, the founder

of the paper, again became 1835,

some

five

Daniel Bradford,

Under

owner and

years after his death,

who

in

1840 sold

ham, of Louisville, foreman tiser.

its

the

it

editor,

it

again reverted to

to

Joshua Cunning-

in the office of the

management

but in

Daily Adver-

Mr. Cunningham the

of

Gazette declined in importance and influence, and in 1848, after

an existence of more than sixty years,

its

publication

ceased.

The

Gazette was edited at times by very able men, and

wielded considerable influence.

It

entered boldly into the

Relief and Anti-Relief War, and the

When

question.

political parties

Old and

New

Court

were organized, or rather

reorganized, and arrayed under the great leaders Clay and

Jackson, the Gazette was a strong Democratic or Jackson organ, and

its

editorials

were characterized by

all

the force

and vehemence of the stormy and turbulent period.

It

was

a time of bitter political feeling, and party excitement ran high.

Newspaper

Thomas

writers

were aggressive and personal.

R. Benning, editor of the Gazette, was shot on the

gth of March, 1829, by Charles Wickliffe, for refusing to disclose the

name of

the author of a violent communication

published in his paper.

He

died the next day from the

1

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER

8

effects of the shot.

PRESS.

This led to a duel a few months afterward

between Wickliffe and George James Trotter, who had succeeded Benning as editor of the Gazette, and Wickliffe was Thus political war raged on, and men, killed on the field. pursuing the phantom of honor to the

down

lives

their

defense

maintained

all

it

through

in

the pay that

all

ble organs

sneers

its

parties usually

and

kicks.

the party work, and receive

take the

fat offices

pistol's

laid

The Gazette

of principle. part,

mouth,

and eventually received

award their patient and hum-

They

are expected to

do

all

no thanks, while the hangers-on

and chuckle over

forgetting that the starving editor

their

was

own

greatness,

their architect

and

builder.

The Guardian place,

it

first

in chronological order.

in It

this

was

Frankfort in April, 1798, by the Bradfords.

established in

The

Freedom should be noticed

comes not

it

though

of

publishers were John Bradford

was conducted by James M. Bradford.

&

Son. It

was

branch

office in

for the

purpose of securing the public printing.

In 1803 really a

Frankfort of the Kentucky Gazette, opened

But the

Bradfords had passed the zenith of their popularity, and

were not elected to the

The Guardian six years,

office

of public printer after 1798.

of Freedom, however, continued on for about

and then died a natural death.

For years

after settlements

began

to

be made west of the

Alleghanies, Lexington was the great commercial center of

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. Ohio

the nati

It

Valley.

19

was a place of importance when Cincin-

was merely Fort Washington, and Louisville but a puny

village standing

amid swamps and ponds.

having two thousand inhabitants

in

It is

described as

1800, while "the adja-

cent village of Cincinnati has but seven hundred and

and buys most of first capital

its

merchandise

Kentucky became a

after

the principal town in an

within

its

in Lexington."

immense

State,

new

was the

and being

region, there

also

was drawn

precincts not only the business enterprise, but a

and culture of

large proportion of the wealth, intelligence,

the

It

fifty,

In this "Athens of the

State.

newspaper published

in

Kentucky was

West"

the second

This

established.

was the Kentucky Herald, founded by James H. Stewart. Mr. Ranck, in the history of Fayette County, says established in 1793.

Col. S.

I.

M. Major,

it

was

in a sketch of the

Frankfort press written shortly before his death, gives the date as February,

1

795,

which

is

probably correct, as a copy

of the paper in possession of Col. R. T. Durrett, dated July

Taking this number for a starting point, and counting back a week for each issue, places the date of its birth February 14, 1795, which agrees with No. 231.

23, 1799, is Vol. 5,

Col. Major's statement. Little is

more

here given.

is

known

of the Herald and

founder than

Col. Durrett's copy of the paper

the public library at Lexington are

now

its

in existence.

From

all

that are

Collins' History of

and one

known

in

to be

Kentucky

it is

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

20

learned that Stewart was elected Public Printer for the year 1

"

Mr. Ranck, in the work already quoted, says that

796.

in

1802 the Herald passed into the hands of John Bradford,"

and a

little

that "it existed about ten years."

further on

After the Herald was absorbed by Bradford and the Ken-

tucky Gazette, Stewart disappears from history. It

the paper after

of interest to the general reader to

may be

know

that

upon which these pioneer newspapers were printed

1793 was manufactured

in

Kentucky.

One

of the

finest springs in the State is within the corporate limits of

Georgetown, the county seat of Scott County. The great volume of pure, fresh water gushing from the ground with a

machinery obtained

force sufficient to operate the stoutest

from the early doubtless to

its

At

location.

settlers the

name

"

"

Royal Spring

existence Georgetown

this spring the first

in the

summer

paper mill

March, 1793, that

it

of 1791, but

it

it,

and

indebted for

is

in the

erected by Rev. Elijah Craig and the Parkers.

menced

for

It

was not

its

West was was comuntil

in

was completed and paper successfully

manufactured.

"The wood

by E. H. Stedman in 1818, was 40 by 60 feet basement of stone, and the two and a half stories above of

mill house, as seen

in size, the

the best frame Mr.

Stedman ever saw

with not a cut-nail in the

The large body of building, even the shingles being put on with oak pins. clear water from the Royal Spring, running over a limestone bottom, was an attractive great West,

sight.

Here was turned out the

made by hand,

sheet by sheet.

first

sheet of paper in the

There was no machinery

in

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. those days to wind over

This still

first

mill

exist."

fifty

21

miles in one beautiful white continuous sheet.

was burned down

Some

in 1837.

printed sheets of the paper

*

Where

Kentucky Gazette obtained

the

prior to the erection of the paper mill at

its

white paper

Georgetown

is

not

known, but probably from Philadelphia, as most of the merchandise for Kentucky was then brought from that city or

from Baltimore.

After Craig's Mill was started, however,

the Gazette purchased

paper there, as well as other of the

its

early newspapers of Kentucky. in existence

still

quality of paper,

show

Copies of those old papers

that they were printed

on an excellent

and have withstood the decay of time

pass-

ing well. In Col. Major's sketch of the press already referred

compiles a

list

Of

this

Major says: "The

Col.

list

dates given apply, of course, to the time first

he

of the papers published in the State up to

and including 1811.

were

to,

authorized by law; yet

I

take

it

when

for

the papers

granted that in

those days of annual sessions no time was lost by the publishers in advertising their enterprise

sage of such acts." instances as follows

it is

The

at fault.

list in

by procuring the pasthe main is correct; in a few

After the Gazette and Herald,

:

1798,

The

1798,

The Palladium,

Mirror, Washington. Frankfort.

1798, Guardian of Freedom, Frankfort. 1798,

Kentucky Telegraph, * Collins"

History, vol.

4

.

i,

p. 516.

it is

22

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. 1803, Western American, Bardstown. 1803, Independent Gazetteer, Lexington. 1803,

Weekly Messenger, Washington.

1804, Republican Register, Shelby ville. 1804,

The

1805,

The Informant,

Mirror, Danville. Danville.

1806, Western World, Frankfort.

1806, Republican Auxiliary, Washington.

1806,

The

Mirror, Russellville.

1806, Impartial Review, Bardstown. 1808,

The Lamp, Lincoln County.

1808, Argus of Western America, Frankfort. 1808, Louisville Gazette, Louisville. 1808,

The Reporter, Lexington.

1808, Western Citizen, Paris.

1809, Farmers' Friend, Russellville. 1809, Political Theater, Lancaster.

The Dove, Washington. 1809, The Globe, Richmond.

1809,

1810,

The Examiner,

Lancaster.

1810, American Republic, Frankfort. 1810, The Luminary, Richmond.

1811, American Statesman, Lexington. 1811, Western Courier, Louisville. 1811, Bardstown Repository, Bardstown.

1811,

The Telegraph, Georgetown.

Washington, a fast-decaying village of Mason County, situated about four miles from Maysville, and in the early history of

Kentucky a very important and enterprising

place,

has the honor of being the birthplace of the third newspaper published in the State

venture was

The

Mirror.

This journalistic

made by Hunter and Beaumont,

the former

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

A

quite a noted publisher in his day.

23

copy of the Mirror

preserved by Col. Durrett, dated Saturday, September 30,

volume ONE, number THREE, indicating that

is

1797,

established

September

early newspaper.

Wholly devoid of

advertisements,

is

it

filled

local matter, except the

with foreign news, political clip-

for s style of type,

is

has four columns

It

pings, congressional proceedings, etc. to each of its four pages,

was

a fair sample of the

It is

1797.

9,

it

printed in the old fashioned

and bears the motto,

"

f

AND

FIRM, FREE,

TEMPERATE."

The Mirror was

The

short-lived.

that at the capital of the State a

journalism would be presented, fort,

proprietors, believing

more prosperous

moved

field for

their office to

Frank-

and "in the autumn of 1797," says Col. Major, "estabthe

lished

Palladium."

Again here

is

a discrepancy in

Mr. Collins says the Palladium was established in

dates.

1798,

which

is

plete

file

of

it

and the

bound vation.

first

in

substantially correct.

from

its first

number

good

style,

The paper

is

a

up

to

dated August

and are is

issue

Col. Durrett has a

com-

and including 1809, 9,

1798.

They

are

in

an excellent state of preser-

folio,

eleven by eighteen inches,

exact measurement, and has four columns to the page.

It is

printed on a good quality of paper, and in the usual old-fash-

ioned style of type. the editors for

tom of

many

A

peculiarity of the Palladium

years put their

was that

names across the

the page instead of at the head of the

first

bot-

of the

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

24

columns, as

editorial

of

is

now the custom.

It

some importance, and was not only the

the capital, but the fourth in the State. all years, perhaps

page

this lofty

Let

it

through

motto

of the Press

is

ious Rights of Freemen.

your minds,

the

est,

let it

Palladium of

During it

earlier

its

bore upon

its title

be instilled into your children, that

all the Civil, Political,

and

Relig-

JUNIUS.

The Palladium was but the

existence,

published at

first

:

be impressed upon

the Liberty

its

was a newspaper

a continuation in Frankfort of

Washington Mirror. Hunter bought Beaumont's interand in 1809 sold the paper to Robert Johnston and

.George

whom

W.

Pleasants,

who were

he highly recommended

printers in his office,

and

Mr. Pleasants

to the public.

died in 1812, and Johnston continued to publish the paper

some time without

"

a partner.

The demise

of the old Pal-

ladium," says Col. Major, "is obscured in the mist of missing records and failing memories of the oldest inhabitants of Frankfort." it,

he

seem

The

Patriot, a

paper of a

later period, refers to

says, as "still in existence to 1826." to

have been dull and rather

But

lifeless,

its last

and

it

years finally

passed quietly to Frankfort's newspaper graveyard, where has since been followed by Col.

many

others.

William Hunter, one of the founders of the Mirror

and Palladium, was a man of considerable

He was

it

born in

New

Jersey,

and

"

when

local

quite

prominence.

young was

THE PIONEER NE WSPAPER PRESS.

25

captured by a French man-of-war, and with his parents taken to France.

Being early

left

an orphan, he learned the print-

ing business, returned to this country in

1

793,

and

at Phila-

delphia established a French and American newspaper."*

He

emigrated to Kentucky in 1797, and became noted as a

publisher of books as well as newspapers, and was for several years a formidable rival of the

The

Bradfords.

decisions of the Court of Appeals were printed and

by him, and also four volumes.

of

Kentucky

work.

He in

Littell's

of Kentucky, comprising

also published Littell's Narrative History

1807,

now

a very rare and very valuable

In 1808 he sold his bindery, and opened a bookstore

Frankfort, and for

in

Laws

early

bound

many

years bore the reputation of

being a popular and useful citizen and an enterprising business man. Col. writer.

Hunter was a popular "

fire in his

His

editorials

editor,

but not a brilliant

were brief and tame, and most of the

paper was in communications vindicating Brown,

Innes, and others of the so-called Spanish Conspiracy. if

he was somewhat prosy and slow as an

fair

editor,

he earned

reputation for enterprise and other pursuits.

was a Jeffersonian Democrat, an advocate of

But

relief

... He and new

court in Kentucky, and a supporter of Jackson in politics.

He

was on terms of intimate association with

dall

and other leaders of the day. Collins' History, v.

I

ii,

Amos Ken-

have already criticised

p. 560.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER

26

his editorials. ing, either

humor, In

execution. to

little

have

I

failed to discover, after patient read-

wit, incisiveness, or

point in their literary

find little to admire, but perhaps, also,

fact, I

condemn.

PRESS.

indicate

They

some degree of

and gentlemanly

and a good deal of

liberality

His was an amiable

if little-used

pen, and

gentleman with remarkable distaste

it

culture,

self-control.

stamps him a

for controversy of

any

sort."*

He met

with heavy losses during the latter part of the

relief controversy, cially,

when

so

many others were wrecked

through the sudden inflation and rapid depreciation

of the paper currency of the time. ville,

and on March

13,

New

with the times.

issues

to Louis-

He

had not kept pace

had sprung up under the touch

of younger men, and he was

Amos

He removed

1826, established the Gazette; but

the venture proved unsuccessful.

tune

finan-

left

Kendall came to his

behind.

relief.

In his misfor-

Kendall had been

appointed Fourth Auditor of the United States Treasury

under President Jackson, and he gave Hunter a clerkship in This position, or a similar one, he held

his department.

until his death in 1854, at the

The

next newspaper established in the State was the

Kentucky Telegraph,

made

of

comprise

age of eighty-four years.

it

in

1

in the foregoing

all

of

its

history

The simple announcement

798. list,

with the following extract,t

known

:

Col. Major's Sketch of the Press.

tFrom

Littell's

Laws

of Kentucky, vol.

ii,

approved December

22, 1798.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER Be

it

enacted by the General Assembly, That

PRESS. all

27

advertisements of a

public nature, which shall be published in the Mirror, or Palladium, or

Guardian of Freedom, or Kentucky Telegraph, after the passage of this act shall be as good and valid in law as if they had been published in the Kentucky Gazette or Herald,

etc.

This brings the record of the press down to the Louisville, a village then of not

in

paper published

first

more

than eight hundred inhabitants, and a rather small town to

support a printing

office.

Mr. Ben Casseday, in his History

of Louisville, an interesting

little

"In the year 1807 we get the published in Louisville.

any account of

its

We

work issued

first

in 1852, says:

mention of a newspaper

are not able, however, to give

origin, ownership, or history.

It is

known

only from an enactment of Assembly requiring certain laws to

be published in

When

Library." rate

columns.

its

was called the Farmers'

Mr. Casseday wrote his history, an accu-

account of this pioneer newspaper could certainly have

been obtained, with a

At

It

this late

day

it

little

industry, from living authority.

has been a more

torian's research has

difficult task,

the press

his-

been reasonably successful, and consid-

erable information of the Farmers' Library and

has been gathered.

but the

its

founder

Mr. Casseday further says very truly of

:

In America the presence of the newspaper

is

ever the mark of peace

and quiet and comfort. What to those of other nations is the luxury of is to the American the earliest of necessities. The moment

affluent ease

the

rifle is laid

aside the newspaper

is

taken up.

It is

incident

upon

his

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

a8

man

every conquest, whether of

The

or nature.

click of his

rifle is

suc-

ceeded by that of his types, and the roar of his cannon has hardly ceased

we hear

till

the roll of his press.

This was true of Louisville and Kentucky.

when

the

first

we

lished,

paper, the old

learn from a late

Indeed,

Kentucky Gazette, was estabwriter* that a rifle and shot-

pouch comprised a part of the editor's ofHce furniture, and also that he was not ignorant as to the use of them.

From fragmentary

files

of the Farmers' Library, and

from private papers and correspondence in possession of Col. Durrett, 1

appears that the paper was established Jan-

it

80 1.

It

was published by Samuel

Vail,

and was a

uary

7,

little

with old-fashfour-page sheet, 11 by 19 inches, printed

ioned long primer types, and contained a great deal of eign matter and very

The

vertisements.

little

of any thing local except

following

is its

heading

for-

its ad-

:

THE FARMERS' LIBRARY, OR

OHIO INTELLIGENCER.

t

LOUISVILLE (FALLS OF OHIO), PRINTED BY SAMUEL VAIL.

VOL.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY

II.

Louisville, as "

it

is

it

would seem, was not as widely known then

now, and so

Falls of

Ohio

No. LVIII.

18, 1802.

it

was necessary

"

parenthetically * Ranck.

to place

upon the

t See Illustration.

title

the words

page of the

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. paper as a kind of identification of isville

its

29

But Lou-

birthplace.

and the newspaper press were then nearly a hundred

years from their present state of perfection.

Samuel Vail was born

in the

town of Pomfret, Windsor

County, Vermont, and was a son of Lieutenant

Hannah (Brown) Vail, the former a son Long Island. Thomas Vail served in

Thomas and

of Jeremiah Vail, of the old French and

New York Regiment, and rose to He was in General Abercrombie's

Indian War, in the Second the rank of lieutenant.

unsuccessful attack on Ticonderoga in July, 1758, and participated in the

campaign of the same

the capture of Fort Oswego, on

Frontenac.

year, taking part in

Lake Ontario, and of Fort

In the latter part of the year, after leaving the

army, he moved to Pomfret, Vermont, and was one of the early settlers of the town.

he erected son, his

was born January

Vail,

good sense by taking a start in

The

the year. influence,

a farm,

and comfortable house.

a large

Samuel

He bought

elder Vail

r,

life

upon which

In this house his

1778, thus

showing

with the beginning of

was a man of prominence and

and from the correspondence of Samuel Vail

he came West

it

would seem that he was

siderable property. uel getting

the articles

any of

There

is

also a

man

after

of con-

no account, however, of Sam-

upon leaving the family roof-tree, except mentioned in the following schedule

i

Hors,

i

Sadil,

i

Bridal,

it

:

...

......

.....

............. .............

i.io

10

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

3o

Samuel Vail grew

to

manhood

the backwoods of

in

Vermont, surrounded by few advantages

for social or liter-

His education was confined to the primitive

ary culture.

schools of the newly settled region in which he was brought

When

up.

of

life

sor,

he was twenty years of age he began the battle

on his own account, by going to the town of Wind-

about

miles from the place of his birth, and

fifteen

apprenticing himself to the printing business. the art with George ers of the

unknown

learned

Spooner, publish-

Through some chance now descendants, he made the acquaintance of

Vermont to his

Hough and Alden

He

Journal.*

somewhat notorious Matthew Lyon, a man of wealth and influence, and an early settler in Ken-

the celebrated and

It is

tucky.

supposed that he came

to

Kentucky with Lyon

about the beginning of the present century, but remained at the Falls of the tucky.

A

Lyon and

Ohio when Lyon went

to

Western Ken-

number of young men came out under convoy of his

of emigrants, and in return for the

company

protection thus afforded

made themselves

useful to

him by

rendering assistance when needed in looking after his goods.

Doubtless Vail was one of this number, though none of his letters tell precisely

This

article

when

*The Vermont

how he got

here.

would be considered incomplete, and no

doubt unsatisfactory

in the State.

or

to

many

readers

Journal was established August

7,

if it

omitted a sketch

1783,

and was the second paper

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER of Matthew Lyon, a

that

He

any thing. rich

He was

and original

speech, but

still

common man

was no

He life,

in

not especially learned in books, but he in intellect,

and rough sometimes

Of

noble in a rugged way.

Reynolds, in his Pioneer Reminiscences of

tant

31

a large space in the his-

fills

Western Kentucky.

tory of

was

man

PRESS.

in his

him, Governor

Illinois, said:

possessed some talent, and was always, during a long and impor-

an excessively warm and enthusiastic partisan

His leading madness itself,

a droll composition.

trait

in politics.

He was

of character was his zeal and enthu-

any cause he espoused. He never seemed to act coolly and deliberately, but always in a tumult and bustle, as if he were in a house on fire and was hurrying to get out. His Irish siasm,

almost to

in

impulses were honest and always on the side of freedom.

This covered

his excessive zeal.

Matthew Lyon was born in Ireland from a family active and zealous in

in 1746,

and sprang

politics

and of the

His father suffered death on

strongest partisan feelings.

the scaffold for engaging in a conspiracy against the British

crown.

This occurred when Matthew was but a

mother marrying again, he was subjected a stepfather, at which he rebelled.

freedom

in its fullest sense

away from home and came

to

him

to a

*There

Vermont farmer

for a

for

freedom

age of nineteen he ran

America.

here, the captain of the vessel that

and, his

to the restraints of

Yearning

at the

lad,

Upon

arriving

brought him over sold

yoke of oxen,*

to

pay his pas-

a story prevalent that he was sold for a pair of bulls, instead of oxen, and that ever after his favorite by-word was, "By the bulls that bought me!" COLLINS'

HISTORY.

is

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER

32

sage across the sea.

PRESS.

The sum was soon refunded

He

master, and he was a free man.

to his

learned the printing

business, and in that profession laid the foundation of his fortune, in later years acquiring distinction

served in the Revolutionary War, and after

promoted

to the

Congress

in

rank of colonel of

1797 from his

militia.

it

was over was

He was

opposed the administration of President

characteristic

sent to

Vermont, where

district in

hot Irish temper kept him almost constantly in

He

He

and wealth.

his

difficulty.

Adams

with

vehemence, thereby bringing down upon his

head a violent storm of indignation.

He

and denunciatory

President in the Ver-

mont Journal

in

1

article against the

798,

and under the

alien

published a bitter

and sedition laws

was fined $1,000 and imprisoned four months gennes "gaol."

Ver-

in the

In 1840, nearly a quarter of a century after

$ 1,000, with interest from 1799, was paid to his heirs by the United States Government. He established a his death, the

paper in Vermont, which he called by the following very

unique name, The Scourge of Aristocracy and Repository of

Important Political Truths.

Originating with Col. Lyon,

it

could be nothing else but an organ of the old Bourbon barefooted

man

Democracy of the

Jeffersonian

type.

Lyon was

a

of strong intellect, but he was not a journalist.

He

He was

and

did not seek to be one.

a politician naturally,

he soon forsook journalism for his favorite pursuit.

With

storms of wild eloquence he waked the echoes of the prime-

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. val forests,

umph

and bore down

all

opposition as he rode in

and into high

into the affection of the voters

He

position.

served ten years in the

and two terms

in

33

Vermont

tri-

official

Legislature

While

Congress from that State.

still

lying in prison he was elected to his second term in ConIt

gress, 1799-1801.

on the

1

was during

this session that Col.

Lyon,

7th of February, 1801, on the thirty-sixth ballot, cast

the vote of

Vermont

for

Thomas

Jefferson, thus electing

him

President over Aaron Burr, and deciding the bitter seven days' voting. Col.

Lyon came

to

Kentucky, and

in 1801 settled in

what

was then Livingston County, afterward Caldwell County, and

at present

his eldest son,

Lyon County the last named in honor of Hon. Chittenden Lyon. He founded the

town of Eddyville, where he

lived a

number

of years, becom-

ing the possessor of a large fortune in lands and negroes.

He

served in the legislature and eight years in Congress,

During the war of 1812 he was employed by the United States Government to build gunPresident Monroe boats, but in this he became bankrupt. 1803-1811, from Kentucky.

appointed him Indian agent,

or, as

then called, factor,

the Cherokee Indians in Arkansas.

When

the Arkansas

Territory was organized he was elected the

first

Congress, but did not live to take his seat.

He

dra Bluff, Arkansas Territory, August

were brought

to

i,

Kentucky and interred

1822.

among

delegate to

died at Spa-

His remains

at Eddyville.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

34

But

wandering from the sketch of Samuel Vail

this is

The

and the Farmers' Library.

The

not be very well avoided.

for the establishment of his this

press and type used by Vail

paper were the same brought to

Matthew Lyon, and which he had used in famous paper, "The Scourge of Aristocracy," etc.

State by

printing his

How

digression, however, could

long Vail used Lyon's material

arrangement seems

not known, but the

is

have remained satisfactory but a short

to

by the following extract from a

time, judging

letter written

July 12, 1802, by Samuel Vail to his friends in Vermont: Col.

Lyon has intimated

to

me

he may want his press and types

that

before long, and that after the ?th of January, 1803, he shall charge,

continue to use them, for the interest of the

and

tare,

to

I

in profitable business, etc.

and think of sending

am now making

to Philadelphia for types

do not know exactly how much they run to raise money enough.

It

is

will cost,

from Col. Lyon by the

last

another press at

by the but

am

first

this place,

opportunity.

I

afraid I shall be hard

very hard to collect small debts scattered

over three hundred miles of country.

my

are worth, wear

indemnify him for the expense of moving them This, he said, I must not think hard of, as I was now

and something

to this country, etc.

money they

if I

.

.

.

[July 2oth] I received a letter

mail in answer to one of mine, in which

I

stated

contract with him for the press and types, which was that I should have

them four years sent to him.

remembers

it

clear of rent, except ten papers a

This agreement was perfectly well.

He,

made Col.

week which have been

in presence of Capt. Patten,

Lyon, now has the meanness

that this agreement shall continue but two years, and that ingratitude in

always had

on where

me

this

to

make any

objection to

opinion of the man.

interest

is

connection with him.

in the

way.

it.

You may

it

who

to say

looks like

recollect that I

His friendship can not be depended

I shall, as

soon as possible, break off

all

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. About

all

that

known

is

From

these

obtained from the

is

and papers already referred appears that he was a genial, good-

Farmers' Library and the to.

of Mr. Vail

35

it

letters

natured gentleman, a "hail fellow well met," not averse to a share in the pleasures of the world, and could take his toddy

with the boys and "set 'em up" occasionally himself,

which but added

some extent "I

ter:

am

is

sorry our brother Augustus

to

do unto others

want nothing more was not without

as

of

my

religion

would have them do unto me.

I

papers in the circuit clerk's

But

world or the next."

and

trials

difficulties.

office

sis-

puzzling his brain

The whole system

for this

its

is

of

this to

the following extract from a letter to his

with religious subtleties. is

Confirmatory of

to his popularity.

all

Among

may be found

I

his life

the old

the record

of a case where Vail brought suit on an open account, in

which appeared the following items: To To

$i oo

subscription to horse race,

cash

won from you

By "van toon" French game of

it

is

45 oo

at vanioon,

presumed that he meant the old

cards, vingt-un*

But the

fact of his bring-

ing suit to recover the amount shows he was lacking in that liberality that characterized

sion.

Another

suit

in

shown by the same old *

From an

John Bradford on a similar occa-

which Vail appears as records.

He

article in the Courier-Journal

plaintiff is

took out a bail writ by

Col. Durrett.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER

36

PRESS.

a debt of $30. against one Alfred Sebastian to secure

accompanied the

make

order to

sheriff,

Samuel Dickinson,

sure of the prisoner,

putting off in a boat.

whom

Vail

to the river, in

they found about

Sebastian took in the situation at

once, and with a stout piece of a hickory hoop-pole, which

he flourished

like

an Irish

aboard and they dared.

shillalah,

The

he invited them to come

sheriff declined the invitation,

went away, and made the following return on the bail writ: " The within named Alfred Sebastian would not be taken, but kept

me

This

boat."

off is

by

force,

somewhat

namely, with a cudgel while in a similar to a writ that

in the clerk's office at Paris, Ky., indorsed

follows

may be seen

on the back as

:

Executed on Thos. Theobold, and he has not give security, because he run in a house and armed himself with a shot gun after the writ was served.

GEORGE MOUNTJOY. The above indorsement

is

crossed out, and beneath

it

written the following: Executed and broke

Custiday.

GEORGE MOUNTJOY.

The Farmers' Library continued was "shoved

to the wall"

until in 1808,

it

it

by the more vigorous and enter-

prising Gazette, which had just been established.

no knowledge of

when

There

is

ever having changed hands; but at one

time Joshua Vail, a younger brother, was associated with

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER Samuel

He

in its publication.

PRESS.

37

did not remain in the busi-

ness long, however, but married and removed to Christian

County, where,

and a

office

Davisburg, he kept the post-

at a place called

store.

After discontinuing the newspaper business Samuel Vail entered the army as an ensign,* his commission being dated

May

3,

1808.

and served

He was

attached to the Seventh Regiment

He

in the South.

participated in the battle of

New

Orleans, and in a letter to his old

May

20, 1815,

Vermont home, dated

from Natchez, Miss., he gives a very graphic

account of that memorable

He

battle.

was a gallant and

He

popular soldier, as shown by his advancement in rank.

was promoted from ensign 1809;

first

1814.

He

second lieutenant October

to

i,

lieutenant in March, 1811, and captain in April,

was brevetted major January

conduct on the

battle-field of

New

8, 1815, for gallant

Orleans, and on the

1

5th

of June, 1815, he was mustered out of the United States

and honorably discharged. About the year 1821 he was married at Baton Rouge, La., to Mary Bird. They had He called his eldest five children, three boys and two girls.

service

son Henry Clay, and in a

letter

home, under date of

May i, son, whom

1824, he thus speaks of him:

"We

we

our favorite and worthy can-

call

Henry Clay

Vail, after

didate for the presidency. as illustrious as his The rank

of ensign

is

Who

have a

knows but

fine

that he

may be

namesake?" not

known

or recognized in the

was a grade below a second lieutenant.

6

army now, but formerly

it

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

38

Mr. Vail

after his

some

suits for

marriage engaged

At

years.

first

mercantile pur-

in

he was quite successful, but

afterward met with reverses, and eventually retired from the

While

business.

ment he wrote one at

stores

Petite Coquilla,

in the full tide of his mercantile experi-

his sister,

New

August

he had four

14, 1816, that

Orleans, one at Mobile Point, one at

and one

at

After this venture

Baton Rouge.

he opened a sugar plantation, cultivating that great southern staple extensively,

and owning and employing a number of

was thus engaged when we hear of him last. None of the papers and correspondence examined afford

He

slaves.

any account of

his death.

Bardstown was the next point

in the

extend a fostering hand to the press.

Commonwealth

August

Western American was established there by was a from

folio,

27, 1803, the

F. Peniston.

with four columns to the page, and differed

predecessors in general make-up.

its

was continued

at

Bardstown about three

Its

in the

its title.

new

field

years,

Success did not crown his

He

little

when Mr. first

January 30, 1806, without changing

He

efforts.

not adapted to the business or the journalistic

crowded.

It

publication

Peniston moved his paper to Louisville, and issued the

number

to

was either

field

was over-

did not remain long in Louisville, but took

his paper to St. Louis,

Following close

where

in the

its final fate is

not known.

wake of the Western American

came the Independent Gazetteer, established

at

Lexington

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER Western Messenger

in 1803; the

PRESS.

3?

Washington, the same

at

year; the Republican Register at Shelby ville, in 1804; the

Mirror at Danville the same year, and the Informant at

Nothing more

Danville in 1805.

is

known

papers than that they' appear in the

list

of any of these

compiled by Col.

Major.

The Western World, of July, 1806,

is

established in Frankfort on the ist

the next paper in the

interest attached to

it

in that its birth

with the Burr conspiracy. of the Western

rian, writirrg

An tant as visit

list.

was contemporaneous

Humphrey

Marshall, the histo-

World and

its

occurrence of the winter of 1805-6, simple as it

Considerable

founders, says it

:

was, and unimpor-

then seemed, will be mentioned, on the same principle that the

of Col. Burr has been noticed

Wood

and Joseph M. Street

which

as

much

it

was the

because

it

arrival in Frankfort of

concatenates

itself

John

with events

any others excited and agitated popular feeling, and espesome official characters of high importance. ... In the John Wood and Joseph M. Street, who have been named the as

cially those of

mean first

"

time,

a professed

sterling mettle

man "

of letters

;

the other familiar with newspapers and of

and good capacity,

as

he afterward approved himself

formed the project of publishing a weekly newspaper " The Western World." styled

The World was Palladium, for

first

Wood &

the paper Col. Major says

The World was

in Frankfort, to

be

published by Col. Hunter, of the Street.

Of

the early existence of

:

printed in the usual style of that day, except that

furnished an excess of reading matter.

It is

announced

it

as being published

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

40

No

by Joseph M. Street. and types soon after extensive in the

were carefully

first

its

commencement.

year of

its

Its

publication,

by many, and presume

filed

had press circulation must have been

terms of subscription are stated.

and we know

it

It

that

numbers

its

was perused with deep inter-

Federal organ of the Hamilton-Adams school, and yet I doubt from the evidence before me whether either Wood or Street were ever It

est.

was a

live

burdened with any fixed authorized to

I feel

press, while I give

to

political principles of their

name them

as the

them the credit

show by example

first

On

own.

the contrary,

Bohemians of the Western

true

for being the

at least in this State,

first,

that an editor might perform other

than employing his whole time in the use of scissors

and higher service

and the

solicitation of

generally worthless communications from unpracticed pens.

It is

not definitely

known what became

aggressive style of writing was not,

it is

of

said,

Wood.

His

backed up by

the moral courage to sustain his liberal opinions, and the

atmosphere of Frankfort became too warm departed abruptly. aggressive,

Not so with

Street.

assaulted time and again, and

He was

bold and

in difficulty.

more than once

but he quailed not.

With

endangered

;

his enemies

and returned blow for blow.

and came out of the this

all.

affaire de

He

his

his

He was life

was

a bold front he faced

He was challenged,*

honour with flying

colors.

was ejected from the hotel during a

given to Aaron Burr in honor of his acquittal when tried

ball

in

him, and he

and the recklessness with which he handled

pen involved him almost constantly

Nor was

for

Frankfort for treason. *

By Dr. Preston W. Brown

At another time he was

assaulted

for severe editorial criticism of his brothers,

John

Brown, United States Senator from Kentucky, and James Brown, United States Minister to

France.

MAJOR.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. in the public

room of the

who

pistol shots at

two

fired

wounded. after

Adams had emptied

made him (Adams),

by Hon. George Adams,

hotel

Street stood the

41

him, by one of which he was fire like

his pistol

a trained soldier, and

drew

his "dirk"

and

he afterward stated in his paper,

as

The

"advance backward on the double quick."

closing

scenes in the World's career can not be given better than

words of Col. Major:

in the

While Street and that sly old

Wood

Humphrey

performed to the public gaze,

pets.

nications signed

" Observer."

doubtless staked

him

and the

political

World

is

existence.

to claim authorship of the

He

pulled

"

him down from high

place, while

first

year of

its

bold assaults led to the arrest of Aaron Burr and the over-

throw of his treasonable projects. earlier

the pupfamous commu-

Marshall had revenge of the personal

admitted to have accomplished wonders in the

Its

satisfied

admits becoming bail for Street, and

financially.

opponents who had

am

moved

(Marshall) pulled the strings that

His vanity prompted him

I

conspiracy," as

it

They

was termed,

Mississippi tributary to the Spanish

to

also led to the exposure of an

render the whole valley of the

monarchy, and brought

all

concerned to

the bar of public opinion, and several to unexpected punishment.

They

caused the successful impeachment of Judge Sebastian

Chief

Justice of

Kentucky*

as a pensioner of Spain,

and ultimately led

exposure of Maj.-Gen. Wilkinson, of the United States offense.

The World inaugurated a

at the time

Army,

to the

for a like

bitter style in political discussion,

which

" " did not entirely disappear from editorials until the era of good feeling in

Kentucky

Troilus Barnes, until the

Henry Gore and World slowly moving

politics since the close of the late civil war.

who succeeded

loth of June, 1810,

Street

when

it

and kept the

died a natural death, were printers

apparently without brains, money, or industry. *This

is

an error of Col. Major.

Sebastian was a judge of the Court of Appeals

of Kentucky, but according to the court reports was never Chief Justice.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

42

The next papers

in order are the Auxiliary,

the Mirror, Russellville the in

Washington;

the Impartial Review, Bardstown;

;

Lamp, Lincoln County. The Auxiliary was established 1806, the Mirror and Impartial Review in 1807, and the

Lamp

The

in 1809.

mere record of

known but

history of these papers consists in the

their birth.

Nothing of

their existence

is

the acts of the legislature authorizing them,

except the Lamp, which was established in Lincoln County,

"At Dr. Anthony Hunn's, near Capt. James Hickman's plantation, by S. Ogilsby and Company."* The Lamp was a small four-page paper, and seems and

as the title

page has

have been conspicuous

to

name and motto

it,

for

nothing in particular except

its

:

THE LAMP. LET THERE BE LIGHT. In

1810 the American

Frankfort by

Humphrey

Republic was

Marshall.

The

established

first

number

at

ap-

peared on the 24th of June, and was not dissimilar to the papers already described.

Its title

page bore the motto

:

FOR MY COUNTRY. The American Republic was succeeded by the HarbinThe latter made ger, and it by the Constitutional Advocate. its

appearance about the beginning of the great

* Col. Durrett has a copy of the

Lamp, which

is

political con-

a fair sample of the early journals.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. between the Old and

flict

known what time

New

Court

43 It

parties.

is

not

elapsed between the discontinuance of one

and the beginning of another of these papers, or

if

each was

succeeded by the next one in order, without any break in

Both the Harbinger and the Advocate, as well

publication.

American Republic, were established by Marshall. The last of the three papers the Constitutional Advocate

as the

Marshall transferred to one Patrick H. Darby,

termed the "low comedian

He came but

who has been

of early journalism in Kentucky.

from Tennessee, and was a lawyer of some

ability,

described as "a noisy, mischief-making demagogue."

is

He located trol

"

about 1821-22, taking editorial con-

in Frankfort

of the Advocate just

oughly warmed up "

controversy

with

to

when

the State was

the court war.

more

He

zeal than brains.

becoming

thor-

entered into the

In the hot contest

of 1825, in Franklin County, for a seat in the legislature,

when John

J.

Crittenden led the Old Court party, and Solo-

mon

P.

dead

heat, both

Sharp championed the

Court, resulting in a

Sharp and Crittenden being

county was entitled ive coadjutors

New

to

elected, as the

two representatives, while their respect-

upon the several

tickets

were

left out.

Darby

disgusted almost every one with his coarse assaults upon the

made not only in the columns of the Advocate, but upon the stump. The shocking assassination

private

life

of Sharp,

of Sharp on the morning of the meeting of the Assembly,

when

the real perpetrator was

unknown and unsuspected,

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

44

when

the victim was at the zenith of his popularity, and was

not supposed to have but the one calumniator and the community, together with Darby's fix

the guilt

that he

upon some one

was an accomplice

own

else, led to

enemy

in

zealous efforts to

a deep-seated belief

in the horrid crime.

This impres-

sion was heightened by charges founded on circumstantial

evidence adduced in public print by the widow of Sharp. Darby's

efforts,

to the detection

however, to turn suspicion from himself led

and conviction of the

himself was unfortunate to the

Beauchamp was latter,

on

editor to

found

it

maze of

a

tall

last.

real

murderer; but he

His testimony against

and varied swearing, and the

way to the gallows, refused the appeals of the Darby acquit him of complicity with the murder. his

a relief to his pent up feelings to doff the editorial

more genial atmosphere of a State where he was not so notorious. Thus garments

in the

summer

of 1826 and try the

died the Constitutional Advocate, the last of the World's

unacclimated progeny, since which time unadulterated Fed'

eralism has found no organ until the late civil war

waked

snakes' again, and turned Jefferson and the Resolutions of

1798 upside

The

down

in

Kentucky."'

three papers under consideration were ably con-

ducted organs while in editorial charge of shall,

Humphrey Mar-

but owing to the unpopularity of Mr. Marshall they

riever wielded

much

influence. * Col.

Says Col. Major:

Major's Sketch.

"

I

do not

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. remember

The

to

have seen a copy of either of these journals.

oldest inhabitants

remember nothing

and Harbinger, except that

of the Republic

were adorned

their title heads

with a rough wood-cut of a rattlesnake in motto,

'

Wake

45

Snakes.'

It

coil,

with the

was by most persons of that day

considered either moral or political contamination, perhaps both, to be found with a

copy

in possession,

though we can

well believe that, from promptings of natural curiosity or

Old Nick, many read the productions of such an able pen

when

with more than ordinary enjoyment, especially ers

report-

were not about." It

would not be proper

to dismiss these papers without a

sketch of their illustrious founder,

was born

in Virginia,

his

commanding

He came

talent,

excitement, soon brought

member

Marshall.

He

and was a son of Rev. John and Jane

(Quisenberry) Marshall.

and

Humphrey to

Kentucky

in

1780,

with a natural love of political

him

into public notice.

He

was a

of the Danville Convention of 1787, looking to the

formation of Kentucky into a State.

He was

a delegate to

the Virginia Convention that ratified the Federal Constitu-

He

tion.

was a member of the lower house of the Ken-

tucky Legislature first

located,

1795 to less a

1

in 1793,

from Woodford County, where he

and United States Senator from Kentucky from

80 1.

The last-named

position was

won over no

competitor than John Breckinridge, the

distinguished family in Kentucky.

But the

first

of that

star of his polit-

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

46 ical

"

wane. destiny passed the zenith and began to

Up

to

the time of his election to the United States Senate the

waters were undisturbed by the storms that were

political

soon

to

wreck

service

Adams and

Jefferson occurred, the

years of his

Kentuckians.

results of which, as

first

well as his advocacy of the Federal tasteful to

first

Senate the hard -fought contest between

the

in

In the

his official prospects.

champion, proved

Then came

dis-

his hardy defiance of v

public sentiment in his refusal to obey the instructions of the

to

legislature

oppose the Jay treaty with

England.

These obnoxious practices, combined with incurable eccentricities

and

of character exhibited in unpopular views of religion

politics, peculiar dress

and manners, avowed admiration

of English customs and institutions at a time

when

the

heads of Kentuckians were scarcely safe from the scalping knives of England's

Hessian

bullets,

allies,

and

their bodies bore

marks of

soon gave the coup de grace to his waning

popularity in the State at large.

The

frequent hustings of

ambitious rivals such as Clay, Breckinridge, Brown, and others,

aided no

seemed

lost,

little

to

produce

this result.

Though

Marshall, like Milton's hero, had

unconquerable

will

and study of revenge

'

to

left to

the field

him

'the

animate him for

were the weapons with

The pen and tongue of genius which he fought those who had abet-

ted his downfall, and

there

the remainder of a long

life.

is

a question

with us to-day

whether his reputation or that of his prominent opponents

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER at

PJtESS.

47

Frankfort suffered most in the unequal contest.

driven from larger

fields,

When

he centered his aspirations within

the gift of the people of the county in which he resided.

He

was the

first

patentee of the land upon which the prin-

cipal portion of Frankfort

his

life

is

located,

and was

the devoted friend of that town.

to the

end of

This friendship was

Accordingly we find him chairman

evidently appreciated.

We

of the Board of Trustees in 1812 and 1813.

find

him

elected to represent the county of Franklin in 1807, 1808, 1809, and again as late as 1823 to

the death of Gen.

fill

a vacancy created by

Martin D. Hardin, despite the odium

attaching to Western Worlds, Harbingers, and Advocates, despite the

combined

efforts

and

Democratic leaders then located his official career,

His

last labors

bitter hostility of the

Thus ended

in Frankfort.

though he lived on

many

for nearly

twenty years.

were given to the completion of his history of

Kentucky, which yet remains

to us the chief

monument

of

his abilities as a writer.* "

Lawyer, scholar, and gentleman of fortune,

* Of that book

Humphrey

must be allowed to say a word. Each time that I have read it, and with increased interest, it has impressed me with an extraordinary characteristic, that although evidently written out of the memory of one man, with little or no evidence that documents then of easy access were consulted, it remains to-day ahead of all rivals, both in accuracy and fullness of detail. The prejudices of the defeated and revengeful politician sometimes get the better of the judgment of the sober historian in its picturesquely written pages, yet I must be allowed to display my powers of criticism and literary tastes when I say that I would not give old Humphrey I

at intervals of years

as the chronicler of

have succeeded but an

"Old

MAJOR.

my

native State for

all

the Littells, Butlers,

and McClungs, who

rendering the history of Kentucky so intensely dull as to deter any Mortality" from pursuing what ought by rights to be a delightful study. in

.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

48

Marshall was withal good game, and practiced under the

His stinging pen and

code of honor.

frequently and without

personal

second in

mercy

out of these rarely,

when both were members of

1807,

grew out of

if

into ever,

the legislature.

his sarcastic criticisms of

embargo and

It resulted, fortunately, in

non-intercourse policy.

It

Clay for affecting

clothes and advocating Jefferson's

homespun

him

His celebrated duel with Henry Clay occurred

best.

wound

to opponents, led

He came

difficulties.

bitter tongue, applied

a slight

Mr. Clay's jeans breeches inflicted by Marshall's

to

As

'Manton.'

his coolness

to

and intrepidity under the

most trying circumstances, an anecdote is still current among the elders of Frankfort that I have not met with in print

:

On

one occasion,

in the height of his unpopularity

ratification of Jay's treaty

and

an ugly

eigns or their legislative servants in Frankfort,

avowing a purpose to

neighboring Kentucky River.

muddy

streets,

a word in his

and carried

own

behalf.

as the elder Marshalls

perhaps after the

his defiance of instructions

assembled around his house

duck the Federalism out of him

in the

He was

to the

The

mob

from the sover-

forcibly seized, dragged through the banks of the river without being allowed

affair

was evidently becoming

were never known

serious, and,

Hum-

to take water straight, old

" Fellow-citizens Most phrey made a stand and addressed his assailants of you I know to be good Christian people when in proper mind, and many of you I recognize as members of the good old Baptist Church. Now allow !

:

me

to say that according to Baptist rules

it

is

irregular to administer bap-

tism before the mourner gives in his experience.

proceed,

let

experience

If

you are determined

the exercises be performed in decent order.

first."

The

appeal,

coming from a well-known

Let

me

infidel,

give

was

to

my

irre-

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER The mob

sistible.

by bursts of

It

49

grim features into a general smile, followed resulted that "experience" in that instance would

relaxed

laughter.

PRESS.

its

not justify baptism.

"

Political Ishmaelite as

against

men and

all

all

world of his day

ical

he was

for truly his

men's hands against him

hand was

in the polit-

Marshall was a shining ornament to

the Frankfort press, and would compare favorably with the ablest editors, not only of his time, but of the present,

and attention been given regularly

his time

had

to the profes-

sion."*

The prominence torian

is

of Mr. Marshall as a journalist and his-

him

a sufficient excuse for the space devoted to

As

this sketch.

which he

lived,

a writer he had

no equal

in

in the period in

and Col. Major but says truly that

"

his

His-

Kentucky remains to-day ahead of all rivals both accuracy and fullness of detail." As much may be said of

tory of

in its

literary merit.

The Argus

of

Western America was established

Frankfort in February, 1806, by day.

The

rett's files,

oldest

among

a

whom

is

not

number of copies

dated Friday, January u, 1816,

is

known

at this

in Col.

volume

at

8,

Dur-

num-

ber 41, and shows Messrs. Gerard and Berry proprietors.

Another copy, dated Wednesday, February 9, 1831, is volume 24, number 52, and Gervas E. Russell is proprietor.

Who

preceded these gentlemen in

its

* Col. Major's Sketch.

control,

and who con-

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

SO trolled

from

it

its

origin to their time, are alike

of

the writer, except in the single instance

unknown

to

Hon. Amos

Kendall.

This distinguished gentleman editorial position

interest of

But

it

one time occupied an

on the Argus, and wielded his pen

Gen. Jackson with such marked

place in the old hero's cabinet

He

dency.

at

when

effect as to

politician

Kentucky, and as such his career

to all readers of

Kentucky

head of the bearing a

scroll

Latin motto, words,

"

first

"

brilliance.

he was best known

to the people of

The number

is

familiar

history.

Argus mentioned above has, page, a wood-cut of the American

of the

in

its

win a

elected to the Presi-

was a writer of more than ordinary

was as a statesman and

in the

beak upon which

E Pluribus

Unum"

By Authority," which would seem

eagle,

inscribed the

is

Above

at the

the cut are the

to

imply that the

publishers had to obtain the consent of the United States

somebody else to use either the cut or the motto. The Argus was succeeded by the Yeoman, a paper estab-

or of

lished February 13, 1840,

and whose death has been chroni-

cled within a year past.

Col. Major, so long the editor of

the

Yeoman, though belonging not

to the pioneer

newspaper

press of the State, deserves a place in this article,

if

for

no

other reason than in recognition of his efforts to preserve the history of the press, and a brief sketch of

herewith

:

him

is

given

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. Samuel

I.

M. Major was born

51

1830, near Frankfort.

in

He

received a classical education, was a great lover of books,

and

to the

him

that

end of

when

his

life

was a hard student.

to

town and

purchased in

this way.

Yeoman, and

for

He

most

ball,

and these he

and buy books, and that when

sell

he died there were books

position.

of

a boy he would gather nuts and berries while

other boys were playing marbles and

would take

It is related

were

in his extensive library that

In 1852 he

became

editor of the

over a quarter of a century he held that

was an able

writer,

and ranked

brilliant editors of the State.

as

one of the

Shortly before his death,

which occurred a few years ago, he commenced writing a

his-

tory of the Frankfort press, unfortunately dying before he

completed

it,

thus depriving the public of an

chapter of newspaper history.

As

interesting

far as written, it is full

interesting reminiscences of the early Frankfort papers,

a

number Col.

of extracts from

it

are

embodied

Major was a public-spirited

ous and

tireless

He

worker.

citizen,

and

filled

and Binder

for a

His death while

He

number

still

in the

throughout the State.

many

He was

and proved himself a

zeal-

was mayor of Frankfort from

1867 to 1871, and to him the city was indebted for

needed improvements.

and

in this sketch.

important positions in his town, county, and State. elected to the legislature in 1867,

of

many

held the office of Public Printer

of years by successive elections.

prime of

life

was greatly lamented

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

52

The

next paper in order

is

one that

for

more than

half a

Kencentury held a prominent place in the history of the tucky press, the Lexington Observer and Reporter. in

established

1807,

Reporter," by William

The

first

named

was

under the name of the "Kentucky

W. Worsley and Samuel W.

Overton.

of these gentlemen was a Virginian, and

He

learned the printing business in Richmond. lished

It

Norfolk

a paper at

Ritchie, afterward well

known

with

connection

in

first

as editor of the

estab-

Thomas

Richmond

After remaining a short time at Norfolk, Mr.

Enquirer.

Worsley returned

to

Richmond, and a

little

later

came

Kentucky, perhaps about the time Henry Clay came.

to

He

came out

as

an adventurer, and. thus we find him soon

engaging

in

his

business.

After closing out his newspaper interest in Lex-

legitimate

calling

that of the printing

ington he came to Louisville, and on his Shelbyville,

where he met Dr. Buchanon.

way stopped

at

There and then

they arranged to establish a paper in Louisville in opposition to

Shadrach Penn, who was having things

much

his

own

way.

the Focus, of which

The

result

editorially pretty

was the establishment of

more anon.

Mr. Worsley was one of the most enterprising newspaper

men

of that day.

Washington

to

He had

an arrangement with a party

in

send him news to Frankfort by mail, which

arrived there on Thursday.

He owned

a negro

man whom

he always had in Frankfort waiting the arrival of the mail,

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. and

soon as

as

the news,

worked

when

off

it

it

came would hurry was

Lexington with

off to

hastily put in the paper,

and sent out by

it

Louisville in

"man

1852.

this patriotic

The

finally

became

Mr. Worsley died in

Friday."

Mr. Overton, Mr. Worsley's partner,

His connection with the

was a native of Fayette County. press was brief.

The

went on south.

negro who thus performed such an active part as Worsley's

and the paper

postriders, in time to intercept

the mail at Danville on Friday as

known

53

The

prospectus of the Reporter contains

sentiment:

character of the Reporter with relation to politics shall be strictly

Highly approving of the principles of the Revolution, as conthe Federal Constitution, and duly appreciating the enlightened

Republican. tained in

policy preserved

by the present Administration,

object of the editors, as far as

it

may come

it

shall

be the undeviating

within the sphere of their influ-

promotion and preservation of the former, and embrace every opportunity of testifying to the virtue and faithfulness of the Whenever we may discover ourselves deviating from the principles latter. ence, to contribute to the

held sacred by the people,

and make such

steps

themselves.

We

we

shall invariably

assertions as

may

shall also rely with

clearly

may

and

satisfactorily present

confidence on the vigilance of the

people to point out those errors to which we their interest

be disposed to retrace our

may be

subject

and

in

which

be involved.

The Reporter was

established as a Jeffersonian

Demo-

cratic paper.

"After Mr. Overton's retirement Mr. Worsley

continued

publication alone until 1816,

when he took

Thomas

Smith, at one

its

into partnership his brother-in-law, 8

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

54

Frankfort

time president of the

Smith bought out Worsley alone until April, 1828,

He

as a partner.

in 1819,

&

it

Railroad.

and conducted the paper

when he took

remained with

Lexington

in

James

W. Palmer

about a year, after which

Mr. Smith had entire charge again until March, 1832, when the paper passed into the hands of Finnell,

who

united with

it

Edwin Bryant and N.

L.

the Lexington Observer, an anti-

Jackson organ, which had been established the year before, the consolidated papers being called the

and Lexington Observer.

Kentucky Reporter

Mr. Bryant was the

editor.

In

1833 he was succeeded by Robert N. Wickliffe. ... In September, 1838, D. C. Wickliffe became editor and proprietor

of the paper, and gave profession of journalism.

all

the rest of his active

He

died in 1870.

life

to the

After the death

of Mr. Wickliffe the Observer and Reporter was purchased

by a company of gentlemen, and William A. Dudley became editor.

He

islature,

and

editor.

In 1868

resigned the editorial chair for a seat in the leg-

W.

Col.

C. P. Breckinridge succeeded

George W. Ranck succeeded

him

as

Col. Breckin-

becoming proprietor of the paper as well as its editor. In 1871 Mr. Ranck sold out to a company, and Dr. Thomas

ridge,

Pickett J.

became

editor.

He was

shortly after succeeded by

Soule Smith, and in 1873 the publication of the Observer

and Reporter,

after

an existence of

sixty-six years, ceased."

The Observer and Reporter had many *

Ranck

in History of Fayette

11

able editors and

County, pp. 366, 367.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. contributors during

its

perhaps, were Judge

55

The most prominent,

long career.

Edwin Bryant, Robert N. and D.

C.

Those yet living are omitted on the ground that this is a case in which present company is excepted. Judge to Kentucky Bryant was born in Massachusetts, but came Wickliffe.

when a mere

After his retirement from the Observer

boy.

and Reporter he removed associated with Mr.

W.

the Louisville Dime.

and was

to Louisville,

at

one time

N. Haldeman in the publication of

When

him

failing health forced

to

made an overland journey to and was with Gen. Fremont in his expedition

relinquish literary work, he California,

He

to that country.

istered justice

was the

on the Pacific slope

his return he published a fornia,'

"first

book

American who admin-

entitled

which had a very large

After

in a civil capacity. '

What

He

sale.

I

saw

in Cali-

died in 1869."*

The

Wickliffes belong to one of the most distinguished fam-

ilies

of Kentucky.

vania University. tice as

at the

Many

considered him the equal of Pren-

He

an editor and of Clay as an orator. age of

Next

in

The

Western

Citizen,

Paris the year after the Observer

and Re-

chronological order

is

the

Citizen has not only passed

ten years, but has reached

heyday of

died in 1855

fifty.

established at porter.

Robert N. was a graduate of Transyl-

life.

It

its

was started

fourscore, in 1808

* Ranck.

its

three-score

and

is still

by Grimes

&

and

in the

John-

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

56

son.

Mr. F. L. McChesney, long the editor of the Citizen,

gives

some of

early history as follows

its

:

In early times printers were under the necessity of making their own While this operation was in ink an art which few of them understood. progress in the Citizen

some

rubbish,

office,

and before

paper were destroyed. date of the

first issue.

of the paper in 1855, thirtieth

number of

fire

used for the purpose communicated to

could be extinguished the early

it

It is therefore

files

of the

impossible to ascertain the exact

number seen by A. M. Brown, the editor bore date Thursday, November 3, 1808, and was the

The

the

issued each week, this

the

oldest

first

Supposing a number to have been

volume.

would bring the date of the

The number

of April of that year.

first

paper to the 7th day

was a

referred to

printed on foolscap paper, the pages measuring 7 smaller, however, than the ordinary size, for in " are this week to the paper used appears,

We

by 12 the same

curiosity.

inches.

It

was

This was

issue this reference

reduced to the necessity of

in printing on writing paper, in consequence of having been disappointed

receiving a supply of the usual size."

In 1809 the Citizen was purchased by Mr. Joel R. Lyle,

whose name remained with the paper until

1832

as

one of

Adam

owners

For several

almost a quarter of a century.

years prior to his retirement, Mr.

its

Keenon, long

C.

He

Public Binder, was the partner of Mr. Lyle.

learned

the printing business in the Citizen office, and in 1817 established a paper at

but

it

est to

Cynthiana called the Guardian of Liberty,

existed but a year or two.

many

to

know

It will

that the late Bishop H.

of the Methodist Episcopal Church, office

when

a boy.

be an item of inter-

worked

William C. Lyle and

J.

H. Kavanaugh, in the Citizen

L.

Walker pur-

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER chased the paper January the firm

name

&

of Lyle

i,

PRESS.

and conducted

1832,

"

Walker.

In

57

it

under

early years the

its

Citizen supported the principles of the Republican party, as

opposed

to those of the Federalists.

war with England

cate of the

between the Old and

Old Court party;

the

New it

It

was a warm advo-

in 1812; in the fierce struggle

Court parties

supported Mr.

took the side of

it

Adams and Mr.

Clay

Gen. Jackson; and when parties divided

in opposition to

under the names of

Whig and Democrat,

was found con-

it

of the former."*

sistently advocating the principles

The

following sketch of Mr. Lyle, so long connected with the Citizen,

was given by one who knew him well

Joel R. Lyle was a

conducted

his

man

:

of strong, active, and well-informed mind,

paper with ability and

spirit.

He was

and

possessed of a rich

and genial humor, which made him a pleasant companion, while his integrity of character and his warm and devoted piety secured to him the respect and confidence of

all

who knew

him.

His personal appearance is among In those days it was the custom

the earliest recollections of our boyhood. in the Presbyterian

were called,

Church

for the leaders of the music, or clerks, as they

Mr. Lyle and up one of the best men Ebenezer Sharpe, we ever knew, were the leaders of the music in the church on High Street. They were both very fleshy, realizing to stand

in front of the pulpit while singing.

Shakespeare's description of the fourth stage in man's

life,

and we remem-

ber them as they stood up there thirty years ago with their round, protuberant stomachs, and with voices

uncommonly

rich,

mellow, and powerful sang

the songs of praise they both loved so well, and of which they never wearied while J.

by

on

L. Walker all

earth.

He

in 1873.

died in 1849.

William C. Lyle died in 1874, and

They were exemplary

citizens

and highly respected

who knew them. Mr. McChesney in History of Bourbon County,

p.

no.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

S8

The

Citizen was published in 1867

R. Johnson

&

by the firm of John

In February, 1868,

Co.

passed into the

it

hands of F. L. McChesney and Lemuel T. Fisher, and its Since that time it has advocated the prinpolitics changed. ciples of the

Democratic party.

Mr. McChesney became the

but recently has retired from the edito-

sole

owner

rial

chair and the newspaper business.

in 1878,

The

Citizen

and

True Kentuckian have been consolidated, and the new concern

is

happily

moving on

in

the

full

tide of successful

experiment.

The

Citizen was, and,

solidation, is the oldest

ing off the career

it

last

It

It

by con-

its first

in

Kentucky, and

is reel-

its

hundred

years.

What

a

witnessed our second war (1812) with

chronicled the battle of Waterloo in 1815

and the downfall of the our

identity

has not lost

newspaper

quarter of

has had!

Great Britain.

if it

late civil war, the

first

most

It

Napoleon.

terrific

of

passed through

modern

times,

and

in

1870 contained an account of the battle of Sedan and the arrest of

Napoleon

III.

The same can be

newspapers in the United States.

It

said of very few

has participated in

the exciting political contests that have disturbed the

monwealth from Old and

many its

New

Court issues down

knotty questions growing out of the

present appearance of prosperity

hundred

it

is

civil war.

good

for

all

Comto the

From another

years.

In 1809 the Farmer's Friend, Russellville, the Political

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. Theater,

Lancaster, the

Richmond, and

Dove,* Washington, the Globe,

1810 the Examiner, Lancaster, and the

in

Richmond, were

Luminary,

established.

Some

ever had any great notoriety.

They were

existence. at

59

None

of them

of them had but a brief

followed in 1811 by the Repository

Bardstown, the Telegraph at Georgetown, the American

Statesman

Lexington, and Western Courier at Louisville.

at

The Telegraph was

established by Shadrach Penn, says

Dr. S. F. Gano, in a sketch of Georgetown written a few

how long Mr. Penn pub-

years ago; but he does not state lished the paper, nor

the fact that

"only

this,

it

it

any particulars concerning

was established

in

1

8

1 1

merely

by Shadrach Penn

and nothing more."

The American Statesman, according

to

Mr. Ranck, was

established in July, 1811, also by Shadrach Penn, the

year that Dr.

be true

this

Gano and

Col.

Major

in his list of early

If

newspapers

the only solution of the matter

that he started the Telegraph in the early part of 1811,

and the Statesman tory in letter

A.

same

says the Telegraph was established.

corroborates the statement is

;

in July, as stated

some degree, however, of

upon the

subject, received

Bell, editor of the

I

April

have before 9,

1812.

me

It is

by Ranck.

the matter

is

Explana-

the following

by the writer from Mr. John

Georgetown Times

:

a copy of the Telegraph, Georgetown, Ky., of date

Vol.

I,

No. 38, so that the

first

number of

* See sketch of Maysville Eagle.

the Telegraph

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

60

must have appeared about July about 13 by 21 inches, and, like

25, 1811. all

It is a

five-column

folio,

pages

papers of the olden time, had no local

news outside of the advertising columns.

My

conclusion

that the Tele-

is

me a copy of and same typoTelegraph graphical appearance, bearing date Georgetown, Ky., October 12, 1815, No. 4, Vol. 4, whole number 160, edited by Amos Kendall. Running back the graph ceased to exist in the

same

the Minerva Press, a paper of

figures,

1812.

of 1812, for

fall

I

have also before

size as the

you will see that the Minerva Press was started about October i, Whether Mr. Penn took the printing material with him when he left

Georgetown

I

do not know, but

my

conclusion

appeared soon after the Telegraph ceased to

is

that the

Minerva Press

Mr. Ranck must be

exist.

mistaken in his claim that the Western Statesman was established at Lexington by Penn in July, 1811; for to start

two papers.

enough Penn had a paper the same time.

From

at

take

I

If

Georgetown

the above

it

it

that

Mr. Ranck

no man is

as well as at Lexington,

started about

but, further than

;

Mr.

account and the reference to the Telegraph by Dr.

Gano, nothing Press

and

would seem that the Minerva Press

succeeded the Georgetown Telegraph Bell's

days was bold

in those

correct in his statement, then

is

is

known

of either paper.

The Minerva

a paper that has escaped the notice of

clers until

Mr. Bell's

letter

quoted above.

Its

all

chroni-

existence even

ignored in the acts of the legislature.

is

The Western Courier was

established in the

at Louisville, according to the list of

by

is

of 1811

newspapers compiled

Col. Major, but in 1810, according to Mr.

history of Louisville, which latter

fall

Ben Casseday's

probably correct.

It

was started by Nicholas Clark, and was published weekly. 5. H. Bullen and A. G. Meriwether, in 1821, became associ-

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS, ated with Clark, and the

name

of the paper was changed to

Emporium and Commercial

the

F. E.

Advertiser, and

it

became a

Clark and Meriwether finally sold to Bullen

semi-weekly.

and

61

Goddard, and withdrew from

The

it.

latter

gen-

tleman subsequently became sole owner, and under his control the

paper died.

Mann the

Butler, the historian, held an editorial position

Western Courier while

he resigned

it

it

on

was owned by Mr. Clark, but

a short time and retired from the work.

in

"About the same

time," says Mr. Casseday,

"

the Louisville

Correspondent was issued, and was edited by Col. E. C. Barry, but in 1817

it

was discontinued."

Mr. Casseday relates an anecdote in connection with the

Western Courier and the great earthquake of 1811 that bear repetition. ter in

He makes

the following extract from a

will let-

the Bedford (Pa.) Gazette, giving the effect of the

earthquake on the people of Louisville

:

Kentucky, a town about four times as have no church. When the earthquake gave them the first shock they grew very devout in one night, and on the next day with long faces subscribed $1,000 to build a house of public worship. Thus the

At

Louisville, in the State of

large as Bedford, they

matter rested until the second shock came,

produced another $1,000. devout

fit

when another devout paroxysm

again until a third earthquake and

produced another subscription to the same amount.

no more of the matter. villians

It rested

The earthquake did not

concluded the devil would not send

for

return,

them

for a

There was

and the Louisfew years more,

mean time determined to be merry. They immediately built a which cost them $7,000, and employed a company of actors, the theater, and

in the

9

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER

62

offscourings of maritime city theaters.

To

this

PRESS.

company they gave about

at length the actors, instead of raising the curtain, broke

$500 per week, till through it and broke each other's heads with audience who

of the

sticks,

and the heads of some

The earthquakes have

interfered.

begun

lately

shake Louisville again, but whether the people laugh or pray

to

have not

I

heard.

"

The Western

article,

some

with

" Courier," says Mr. Casseday, copied this

stringent remarks

attributes the authorship of in his profession

whom now

he

it

to

upon

some

its

actor

contents,

whose

and

efforts

had not been duly honored by the people

villifies.

Who

is

impossible to say; but

the article in question

is

in the right in this matter it is

it is

certain that the author of

guilty of an anachronism, for

it

will

be remembered that the theater was built previous to the

commencement of

The

the earthquakes."

Evangelical Record and Western Review was estab-

lished at Lexington, in 1812,

was of the Presbyterian

faith,

by Thomas T. Skillm'an.

and was the

first

It

religious

newspaper, not only in Kentucky, but west of the Alleghanies.

It

was succeeded

in

about two years by the Presby-

terian Advocate, Mr. Skillman

still

controlling

it.

In 1823

he commenced a paper called the Western Luminary, to counteract,

it

was

said, the influence of infidelity,

gaining a strong foothold in the town. Presbyterian

faith,

fluence during

man,

its

its

It

also

which was was of the

a weekly paper, and wielded a strong inexistence,

which ended

in 1836.

Mr.

Skill-

founder, was an extensive book publisher in his day.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER In 1813 the

Western Eagle

PRESS.

63

at Hopkinsville, the Light-

house at Harrodsburg, and the Sovereign People ville

were established.

beyond the mere in the

Nothing

is

known

such papers

fact that

of these papers

one time existed

at

Commonwealth.

The Western Monitor was

a weekly paper published in

Lexington, and was established in 1814. Federalist cause,

succeeded

by

at Russell-

birth,

espoused the

He was

and was edited by Thomas Curry.

Wm.

1818 by

in

It

and a man of

Gibbs Hunt, a

New

Englander In 1819

fine scholarly attainments.

he changed the Monitor into the Western Review, which he published until 1822.

It

was a

literary journal,

and also

devoted considerable space to Western history.

The Washington Union was David V. Rannells.

It

established

was continued

until

in

1820,

1814 by

when

it

suspended publication.

The

Maysville Eagle, which has ceased to exist within

the last year, was established in 1814.

was a continua-

under a new name, of the Dove, established

tion,

the

It

same year

as the Paris Citizen.

It is

the

first

on record, perhaps, of a dove changing into an

The

left his

removed

Mr.

:

brothers Joab H. and Richard Corwine (the latter

paper

lished the

1808,

instance

eagle.

Collins gives the following sketch of the two papers "

in

to

Dove to

become a

soldier in the

for six years at

war of 1812) pub-

Washington, 1808-14; then

Maysville and continued

its

publication,

first

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

64

&

Chalfant sold

In 1815 they sold

to the Eagle.

who published

Pickett,

Mr. Grinstead.

to

it

name

its

changing

In 1817

Aaron Crookshanks, and on the its

its

and then

ownership passed to

ist of

most permanent publisher and

whom

for a year

it

November, 1820,

editor,

Lewis

Collins, with

Richard Henry Lee, May, 1828-30) until November

Brown was

B.

1842, to

May

November March 1857, i,

i,

and

1847, an d

i,

was tne editor and publisher

and again from June

joint

owner and

i,

1853, to

June

1853, with

i,

to 1860, except for a few

March

months, when

At

F. Trimble.

Green purchased

it,

i,

March

i,

James E. Byers

Thomas A.

1852.

Curran edited and published the Eagle from March

Wm.

it

until

March

editor one year longer to

associate publisher a year, from

by

i,

Stevenson was the editor and publisher

B.

1850, to

i,

May

Richard H. Collins purchased

1850,

from March

1847.

i,

and publisher,

associate editor

1845.

i,

Thomas

1858.

trolled

to

remained constantly (except the short ownership of

it

Henry

to

it

it

1857,

i,

was edited and con-

Thomas M.

the latter date

and has since been and in 1873

is still

the editor and publisher, twice having an associate publisher

The

for a short time.

first

"

head

"

or

title

of the Eagle was

cast shortly after the siege of Fort Meigs, in that fort,

printer soldier soldier,

named Rogle, who presented

Richard Corwine, one of

The Eagle contributors

in its

some

its

it

by a

to his fellow-

publishers."

day numbered

among

its

of Kentucky's ablest men.

editors

and

Mr. Collins

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER

PRESS.

65

thus enumerates them: Col. James C. Pickett, John Bickley, Col.

Wm. Henry

McCardle,

Elijah C. Phister,

Wm.

Wm.

Musgrove, Henry Waller,

John D. Taylor, Colonel

P. Conwell,

Thos. B. Stevenson, Richard Henry Lee, Henry B. Brown,

Walter N. Haldeman, Charles D. Kirk, Joseph

Thomas M. Green,

Maj.

Chambers,

Henry T. Stanton, and Dr. Thomas

But the limits of

E. Pickett.

S.

this article will not

admit of a

sketch of each of these distinguished writers.

Judge Lewis

He was

a passing notice. ette

and

Collins, author

editor, merits

born December

more than

25, 1797, in

Fay-

County, Kentucky, and was a son of Richard Collins, a

soldier in the Revolutionary

War.

Left an orphan at an early

age, he learned the printing business in the office of the

West-

ern Citizen, at Paris, under the veteran journalist, Joel R. Lyle.

He

assisted

David V. Rannells

to establish the

Wash-

ington Union, and remained with him as long as the paper lived.

In 1847 he published "Collins' Historical Sketches of

Kentucky," a work of vast research, and containing much valuable historical information. credit

many

He

filled

with honor and

positions of importance, not the least of which

was that of Judge of the Mason County Court from 1851 1854.

He

died in Lexington, January 29, 1870, aged sev-

enty-two years. at the

The Kentucky

Legislature was in session

and adopted resolutions highly extolling a man and a citizen.

time,

worth as

to

In 1814 was established at

Glasgow the

his

Patriot, at Shel-

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER

66

PRESS.

byville the Kentuckian, at Russellville the

Winchester the Advertiser, and,

ger, at

burg the Independent Observer, and

The

escope.

history of these papers

Harrods-

in 1815, at

at is

Weekly Messen-

Bardstown the Tel-

told in the legislative

acts authorizing public advertisements inserted in their col-

umns.

A in

paper called the Instructor was established

1817 by a young

removed

man named

to Millersburg, in the

after died a natural death,

It

Lilly.

at

Paris

was afterward

same county, where

it

shortly

and where the editor also died

.of

consumption.

The Guardian in

of Liberty was established at Cynthiana

January, 1817, by John G. Keenan.

It is

have existed longer than to March, 1819. shall* says: as printers

"On

this

not

known

to

Mr. L. G. Mar-

paper (Guardian of Liberty) worked

two young men, now gentlemen of national rep-

We

mean Bishop H. H. Kavanaugh and Hon. A. Both Dudley Mann, now resident in Chantilly, France.

utation.

were then in their teens, and both are said to have manifested,

even then, predilections for the high spheres of

they afterward reached.

When

a boy, Mr.

Mann would

life

say

he should be a statesman; and we

that

young Kavanaugh dreamed of

use-

his

may well imagine own great career of

fulness."

Newspapers were established *In

in

1818 as follows:

a sketch of Cynthiana, written in 1881.

The

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. Commentator

at Frankfort,

gow, the People's Friend at

at

Green River Telegraph at GlasDanville, the Western American

Impartial Compiler at Shelbyville, the

Springfield, the

Laurel at Mt. Sterling, the

Flemingsburg

;

67

Whig

at

Augusta, the Star at

and, in 1820, the Public Advertiser at Lex-

ington, Bracken Sentinel at Augusta,

Kentucky Republican at Hopkinsville, Kentucky Advertiser and Farmer's Magazine at Winchester, People's Friend at Glasgow, and the

Backwoodsman

at

Bowling Green.

is

Nothing

known

of

these papers but the fact of their establishment.

The Kentuckian was

by Col. Albert G. Hodges, who afterward became

ter in 1821

known

widely

He

State.

a newspaper established at Lancas-

as

newspaper publisher throughout the

a

remained with the Kentuckian only about three

months, when he

left

Lancaster and returned to Lexington,

where he had learned the printing business. Col.

Hodges was born

1802, and

in Virginia in

when

eight years old was brought by his mother (his father hav-

ing died) to Fayette County.

At

the age of twelve he was

apprenticed to the printing business with Worsley proprietors of the

from Lancaster

in

Lexington Reporter.

S.

and

in

After his return

trade.

In 1824 he went to Louis-

connection with D. C. Pinkham purchased from

H. Bullen the Louisville Morning Post.

ner, a

man

Smith,

1821 he became foreman in the office

where he had learned his ville,

&

William Tan-

of considerable prominence as a writer, succeeded

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

68

Pinkham. returned

Whig.

to shortly after sold out

Hodges to

he started the

Lexington, where

This paper had

and

Kentucky

a brief existence, and, after a

other changes, Mr. Hodges, in Printer,

Tanner and

1833, was

elected

few

Public

same year he established the Frankfort

in the

Commonwealth, a paper

that existed until 1872,

when, rather

than support President Grant for renomination to the Presidency,*

its

publication was suspended.

An amusing

anecdote in

Hodges, published the Louisville

is

told in the biography of Col.

While publishing

Collins' History.

Morning

Post, a semi-weekly paper, in con-

nection with William Tanner, they stood sides of the political fence. conflict

height.

It

New

between the Old and

Two

was

"

New

Court" and

"

against "

itself,"

heads and

sell

and "

tails

to

It

was

prevent

filled

the

at its

by Tanner with

championed the

literally a

its fall

"

Old

"house divided

the proprietors threw

for ownership, or, rather, as to

out to the other.

when

Relief," while the other

two, under the supervision of Hodges,

Court" and "And- Relief."

a time

Court parties was

pages of the paper were

the doctrines of

at

upon opposite

Tanner won, and Hodges

who should sold to

him

on favorable terms.

We

come now

Kentucky

to a

new

era in the history of the press of

The

Public Advertiser, a

Whig paper

during the war uncondition-

the daily newspaper.

The Commonwealth was

originally a

ally Union, and after the war Republican in

politics.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER paper that eventually became the

PRESS.

daily in the

first

69

West, was

established in Louisville on the 23d of June, 1818, by Sha-

drach Penn. years later

just

a semi-weekly. first

was

It

started as a weekly paper, but

what date April

4,

is

not

1826,

it

known

it

some

was changed

was again changed, and the

newspaper west of the Alleghanies was flung

daily

the public.

The

collection

dated July

is

ting the Sundays,

oldest

copy of the daily 3,

and

1830,

and counting an

days of each week,

it

to

is

to

in Col. Durrett's

Omit-

"No. 1345."

issue of the paper for six

brings the birth of the daily to the date

above given.

The

Advertiser was an able paper from

its birth,

and Mr.

Penn was not without experience in journalism when he came to Louisville. His paper soon became a formidable opponent of the Western Courier, then the leading paper of Mr. Ben Casseday,

the opposite political party in the State.

some years ago of

the Louisville press,

Mr. Penn was an experienced

politician, a forcible

in a sketch written "

says

:

writer,

and a man of extraordinary

tact.

His paper soon

took the position of political leader, not merely in circle,

but

all

over the West.

It

was the acknowledged Jack-

son organ, and both city and State recognized influence.

It

was without a

its local

rival

;

and

if it

its

power and

did not create,

represented the dominant party for over twelve years. the birth of the Louisville Journal, in 1830,

foeman worthy of

his steel.'

it

Until

Penn found 'no

His adversaries had, one by 10

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

70

one, fallen before him.

He was supreme

in his position,

and

a few years previous to the date above referred to was con-

firmed in

it

by a great victory over the Old Court or Anti-

Relief party, and his acknowledged championship of a party victorious in a political struggle as bitter as

had ever

agi-

tated the State."

Shadrach Penn was a native of Kentucky, and was born in Scott

which

He

County.

fitted

him

received a

well for the stirring scenes of political

he was destined to take part

in.

He was

specimen of the typical Kentuckian, ing over two hundred pounds.

who knew him

practical education,

good

well, as

a large man, a fine

six feet high,

He

life

and weigh-

described by those

is

a genial, whole-souled gentleman,

with a heart corresponding in size to his gigantic frame.

He was

a statesman and leader naturally, and a politician

from choice, and swayed the opinions of of his

own

The

will.

editorial warfare

men by

the

power

he provoked by his

open defiance of George D. Prentice and the Louisville Journal

is

probably without parallel in the newspaper his-

tory of the country;

and of which more

later on.

Following the establishment of the Advertiser, and the interval between

it

in

and the Journal, a number of papers

sprang into existence in different parts of the State, of which little

eral

or nothing

is

now known beyond

the acts of the

Gen-

Assembly authorizing public advertisements inserted

their columns.

The

list is

as follows

:

The Wasp and

in

Inde-

SHADRACH PENN.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. pendent Gazette established

71

1820 at Georgetown, the

in

Olive Branch in Mercer County, the Christian Advocate at

Bowling Green, the Columbian

at

Henderson;

in 1821, the

Chronicle at Glasgow, the Kentucky Intelligencer at Millersburg, the

Republican Orbit

and Springfield Literary Register

Patriot

Republican Centinel in

Cynthiana, the

at

at Springfield, the

Winchester, the Kentucky Farmer

at

at Versailles, the

1824

Kentucky

Western Herald

at

Bardstown, the

Farmer's Register at Flemingsburg, and the Microscope at

The

Louisville.

1824,

last-named paper was established April

and purported

to be edited

by

Tim

Tickler,

No. 12 Van Buskirk's Row, 35 Cross

Street.

7,

jr.,

Esq.,

&

Rob-

and published every Saturday morning by Johnson erts,

1

This paper

was started with the laudable intention of reforming the vices of the city, with occasional broadsides at

continued about a year, when

It

the atmosphere of Louisville so a

new

field,

and "Col. Tickler,

its

follies.

reckless course

warm

jr.,

its

it

was forced

Esq." removed

to find to

it

made

New

Albany. In 1825 the Constitutionalist was sailles,

established at Ver-

the Advertiser at Cynthiana, the Village

at Princeton, the Constitutional

Advocate

Museum

at Frankfort, the

Star at Flemingsburg, the Columbia Reporter at Columbia, the

Kentucky Democrat

Danville, the

gencer

at

Whig

at

at

Millersburg, the Advertiser at

Mt. Sterling, the Western

Elizabethtown, the

Iris

at

Intelli-

Bowling Green, the

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

72

Central Watchtower and Farmer's Journal in 1826 at Harat Frankfort. rodsburg, and the Spirit of 'Seventy-six to,

was a news-

paper of some importance, and was established

at Louisville

The

in 1826

Focus, already incidentally alluded

by

W. W. Worsley and

Dr. Buchanan, the former

one of the original proprietors of the Lexington Reporter. The Focus opposed Gen. Jackson, the Advertiser, and Shadrach Penn; but being more of a literary and scientific journal than a partisan organ, projectiles

political

existence of a

by Cairns ville

&

little

it

was unable

hurled at less

it

to stand before the

by Penn.

than four years

Robinson, and

later

it

After a

fitful

was purchased

was merged into the Louis-

Journal.

In 1828 the Rural Visitor was established at Glasgow,

Kentucky Statesman

the

at Elizabethtown, the Reflector at

Augusta;

in 1829, the

burg, the

Kentucky Sentinel

Spy

at

Kentucky Intelligencer

at Princeton, the

Herald

at

The

Georgetown;

Religious and

Hopkinsville, the

gencer

at

at

Flemings-

in 1830, the

Literary Intelli-

Public Ledger at Shelbyville, the

Bardstown, and the Journal at Lancaster.

Louisville Journal,

third of a century

whose influence

for

more than a

was equaled by few American newspapers,

was established on the 24th of November, 1830, by George D. Prentice. of

its

"

Its

first issue,

success was assured from the circulation

and

in four

weeks from

its

birth

it

was the

most extensively read paper that had ever been published

in

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER

Penn, and the contest between these bitter, is

still

remembered by the older

vividly

tled like the "fretful porcupine,"

In

every direction.

in

made people

his writings

The

bris-

he frequently

to victory in

to

which

result flowed

Journal soon obtained political

ascendancy, and as long as the

editorial

pen

laugh, sometimes stare, and often squirm, and

out from his pen.

The

Prentice's

and he shot the pointed

he seemed ever equally indifferent as

it

editors, often

rival

and Kentucky.

citizens of Louisville

quills

73

Prentice at once crossed swords with Shadrach

the State."*

sharp and

PRESS.

Whig

party existed piloted

Kentucky in all State and national elections. warfare was kept up between Prentice and

Penn, and would of

itself

fill

a large volume.

Much

of

it

was of such a character that would scarcely have been from any other than

tolerated

Shadrach Penn. sketch.

Few

Some

articles

of

it

George D. Prentice and

would not be tolerated

in this

or even sentences were written by

Penn but were turned or

twisted by Prentice to his dis-

comfiture.

Prentice once perpetrated a joke on

dom

appeared in print, and

their editorial pastimes.

murder had occurred and

it

in

will

go

Penn

that has sel-

to illustrate in a

About a year previous Louisiana not

far

from

measure

a horrible

New

Orleans,

so happened that Prentice had preserved a paper con-

taining the particulars of the

affair.

Looking through

* Historical Sketch of the CourierJournal.

his

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

74

desk one day, he came across

it,

then a year old, but un-

stained by age, and his natural wit suggested at once a joke

He

on Penn. pressed

it,

placing

it

sprinkled the paper, folded

which gave in a

it

the appearance of a "

wrapper addressed

it,

it

and

neatly,

new

and

issue,

Compliments clerk of

the steamer Waucousta, five days, seventy-eight hours out

New

from

Orleans.

Quickest

trip

on record.

Penn, editor Louisville Advertiser." Penn's

office,

To Shadrach

The boy rushed

threw the paper on the editorial

Penn took

scampered away.

it

into

and

table,

up, and, hurriedly tearing

off the

wrapper, his eye encountered the important item of

news

the murder.

was

be

to

lost.

nearly up, and no time

Several important matters were taken out of

the forms, and the editorial

The paper was

new copy

set in their place, with elaborate

comments, and very profuse thanks

to the gentle-

manly clerk of the elegant and fast steamer Waucousta* for The whole trick proved successful, the valuable favor, etc. and

it

was many a day before Penn heard the

last

of

it.

when he had a "big thing" in the Advertiser, would Prentice ask, " Did that item come by the WauEspecially

cousta ?"

Dr. Theodore S. Bell said of Prentice's wit and humor,

"The

wit and

humor

of Mr. Prentice were daily feasts to

the readers of the Louisville Journal, and

I

readily recall to

memory many persons who would sooner have done without *

The Waucousta bore

the

name

of being the slowest old boat on the river.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. their breakfast than their

ment of

daily wit,

75

In this depart-

morning Journal.

humor, and delightful instruction

I

think

and humor

Mr. Prentice never had an equal.

That

should pass successfully, as

through a daily ordeal of

nearly forty years,

is

it

did,

this wit

one of the marvels of

literature."

But

Prentice did not always escape without a scratch, as evi-

denced

in the

following caustic epigram once written on

N. P. Willis: Unwritten honors to thy Willis,

immortal both

name

belong,

in prose

and song

Unwritten poetry thy pen inspires

Unwritten music, too, thy fancy

And more With

its

than

all,

;

;

fires

;

philosophy divine,

unwritten beauties,

all

are thine.

Oh, how much greater praise would be thy due If thine own prose had been unwritten too !

Willis

good naturedly returned the following response

:

Unwritten honors do in truth belong

To him who gets a

living

by

his

song ;

Unwritten poetry, though wits do mutter, And " music " too, to him is bread and butter ;

And, more than all, philosophy divine Helps him to ask poor wits like thee to dine. Oh, how much greater praise would be your due If your own wits could do as much for you !

But tember

to 10,

go back a 1830,

little.

Mr. Penn in his paper of Sep-

some two months before

the establishment

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

76

of the Journal, thus editorially heralded the

coming of Pren-

tice:

GEORGE

D.

PRENTICE.

This gentleman and Mr. Buxton, of Cincinnati, have issued proposals for publishing a daily

paper in Louisville, which

is

to

be edited by Mr.

known by the people whose from a Cincinnati paper his account patronage he is seeking, we copy to-day of the late elections in Kentucky. The production may be viewed as a fair Prentice.

Willing that the gentleman shall be

"

"

specimen of his fine literature," his drollery, strong powers of sarcasm," and, above all, his "poetical capacity." The respect and attachment he displays toward

Kentucky

(to

say nothing of the Jackson party) must be

Mr. Clay's friends in of Mr. Prentice as an erudite,

of exquisitely gratifying to the respectable portion this city.

chaste,

and

To them we commend

the letter

" worthy of the great editor" who is hereWe may, moreover, as Mr. Clay's champion in the West.

veritable production,

after to figure

congratulate them in consequence of the

fair

with the aid of such an editor they can not olutions or revulsions in the political world. fish

markets

prospect before them; for

miraculous rev-

fail to Affect

The occupants

of

all

our

be confirmed in their devotion to the opposition beyond

will

redemption.

The above appeared Advertiser.

In

another

in

column

account" referred to in the cinnati paper.

It

seems

the

editorial

appeared

editorial,

to

columns of the "

the

and credited

have been written,

if

election

to a Cin-

not by a

Kentuckian, by one who apparently took considerable interest either in after

Kentucky

affairs

or in Jackson politics, and who,

giving Prentice's account of the election, indulges in

some

rather stinging

batim

et literatim as follows

comments. :

The whole

is

given ver-

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

77

"PRICK ME A BULL CALF TILL HE ROAR." [FROM THE CINCINNATI ADVERTISER.]

Mr. G. D. Prentice, Mr. Clay's protege, and author of all the ribaldry lately emanating from New England, I have heard, intends pub-

and slang

lishing a paper in Louisville,

As a specimen

Ky.

from a

letter written

by him

of his feelings toward the

you would publish the following extract

citizens of that State, I request

to a friend in

New England

:

[EXTRACT FROM THE FIFTH LETTER OF A STROLLING EDITOR TO THE PUBLISHERS OF THE N. E. W. .REVIEW.]

DEAR

SIRS: I have just witnessed a strange thing

tion

and am disposed

tucky

lasts three days,

through our I

cities

and

to give

you an account of

and during

that period

villages like the

must do Lexington the on the

triumphant

last

elec-

Kentucky

election in

Ken-

whisky and apple toddy flow

Euphrates through ancient Babylon.

justice to say that matters were conducted here

with tolerable propriety ; but in Frankfort, a place which to visit

a

An

it.

I

had the

curiosity

day of the election, Jacksonism and drunkenness stalked

" an unclean pair of lubberly giants."

each with a whisky bottle poking

A number

of runners,

long neck from his pocket, were busily employed bribing voters, and each party kept half a dozen bullies under

pay, genuine specimens of

who

its

Kentucky

should attempt to vote

alligatorism, to flog every

A

illegally.

poor fellow

hundred of mortar would

half a

scarcely nil up the chinks of the skulls that were broken on that occasion. I

barely escaped myself.

me on asked fellow,

One

of the runners

the shoulder with his right hand, " if I was a voter. No," said

me

came up

and a whisky

bottle with his left,

"Ah, never mind," quoth the a corn cob out neck of the of the bottle, and shaking it up pulling

old Hickory's boys

be sure; but

I

'11

my

fight for you,

fears prevailed

their

and

sledge-hammer I lost

and

toss in a vote for

damme !"

after looking alternately at the

were standing ready with lopers,

me, and slapping

I.

to the best advantage, "jest take a swig at the cretur

to

to

my

Here was a temptation, bottle and the bullies who

fists

whisky.

to

knock down

all inter-

Shortly after this I wit-

nessed a fight that would have done honor to Mendoza and Big Ben.

A

great ruffian-looking scoundrel, with arms like a pair of cables knotted at ii

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

78

the ends, and a round black head that looked like a forty-pound to the polls

swaggered up

shot,

and threw

"

ing off in triumph.

Stop, friend," exclaimed

up replied he of the Bullet Head. you must just prepare yourself don't

knock you

replied the other,

the sea sarpint!"

into the

"come

one of the

him, "are you a voter?"

to

ers, stepping deliberately

if I

in his bit of paper,

cannon

and was walk-

Salt

River Roar-

"Yes, by

,"

" " That's a lie," rejoined the Roarer,

and

'11

be damned

middle of your ninety-ninth year."

"Ay, ay,"

to

go home an

old man, for I

whipped up with an and the Salt River now reached had open space, They on, then; I'll ride you to hell,

fist a moment by way of a feint, dropped his chin sudand pitched headforemost toward the stomach of his bosom denly upon Bullet Head, howantagonist with the whole force of his gigantic frame.

bully, shaking his his

was on

dodging aside with the quickness of lightning to avoid the shock, gave the assailant a blow that sent him staggering against a whisky table, where he fell to the ground amid the crash of botever,

tles,

his guard, and,

mugs, and tumblers.

Nothing daunted by

and with a

the bully gathered himself up,

effect,

and

in a

temporary discomfiture,

single muttered curse

Several blows were

his place in front of. his foe.

with tremendous

this

renewed

now given on both

sides

few moments the Salt River boy, watching

which he had

his opportunity, repeated the

maneuver

This time he was successful.

His head was planted directly in his antagothat I had no expectation

nist's

stomach,

who

fell

in

first

been

foiled.

backward with such force

" Is the scoundrel done for?" inquired the tempo-

of his ever rising again.

rary victor, walking up and looking

down on

Bullet

his prostrate foe.

Head

spoke not, but with the bound of a wildcat leaped to his feet and grappled with his enemy. strained

It

was a

and foamed

other's bodies,

till

trial

at the

of strength, and the combatants tugged and

mouth, and twined

like serpents

at length the strength of the Bullet

Head

around each

prevailed and

"Gouge him!" "Gouge him!" a dozen exclaimed voices, and the topmost combatant seized his victim by the hair and was preparing to follow the advice that was thus shouted in his opponent lay struggling beneath him.

his

ear,

that

when

the prostrate

man, roused by desperation and exerting a strength

seemed superhuman, caught his For a few moments the

that of fate.

assailant

struggle

by the throat with a grasp like seemed to cease, and then the

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

79

face of the throttled man turned black, his tongue fell out of his mouth, and he rolled to the ground as senseless as a dead man. I turned away a con-

firmed believer in the doctrine of total depravity.

Notwithstanding the severity of the foregoing older citizens of elections held

Kentucky who remember the

The

however, and the

same

effect

dreds

still

truth than po-

comment

of Penn, had

on Prentice that the waving of a red

face of a bull it

"more

extract from his letter published in the Adver-

tiser,

resented

three-days'

under the old Constitution of the State can

readily see in Prentice's description etry."

the

article,

much

the

flag in the

He

would have on the maddened animal.

own way and manner.

in his

living in Louisville

and

There are hun-

in the State

who remem-

ber the bitter editorial warfare that raged between Prentice

and Penn as long as the

latter

remained in Louisville

period of twelve years after the birth of the Journal. tice

a

Pren-

soon usurped the place that Penn had held as the lead-

ing editor of the State, and so terribly did he belabor him

through the columns of the Journal that he

him from the

field.

In 1842

Penn went

finally

to St. Louis,

Prentice, seemingly satisfied with having brushed his way, paid

him

a

Penn's bosom;

warm

and

him out of

a flattering tribute through the columns of

the Journal that allayed any in

drove

for,

ill

feeling that

may have

rankled

notwithstanding their "wars of words,"

feeling of friendship really existed between these edi-

torial gladiators that lasted

through

life.

"

The

Advertiser,"

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

8o

says Mr. Casseday,

"

deprived of

its

master

spirit (Mr.

Perm),

lingered along a few years, and finally expired in the arms of the Rev.

W.

C. Buck, of

'

'

Baptist

Hymns memory."

In the establishment of the Journal, Mr. Prentice

a partner A. S. Buxton, a practical printer,

had

for

who continued

with him three years, and then sold his interest to John N.

Johnson, and two years later Johnson sold to George Weissinger. until 1849,

Esq.,

The

firm of Prentice

when Weissinger

&

W.

Weissinger continued

sold out to

Isham Henderson,

long a well-known citizen of Louisville, and but

recently dead.

During

these years

all

Mr. Prentice had

been editor of the Journal, and had given reputation.

But about

it

a world-wide

he called to his editorial aid

this time

Mr. Paul R. Shipman, a graceful and fluent writer, and

remained with the paper many years. purchasing Mr. Weissinger's half of his

own

interest,

interest to his

who

In a short time after

Mr. Henderson sold one

kinsman, John D. Osborne, and

the firm became Prentice, Henderson

&

named

the close of the civil

the business manager.

About

Osborne

the last

war the firm was changed into a corporation, under the "

title

Company," of which Mr. Osborne became president, and Mr. W. H. Perrin secretary. In the of the

Louisville Journal

winter of i867-'68 Mr. Henderson purchased the stock of Mr.

Osborne, who retired from the business management of the paper.

A

few months later Henderson bought out Prentice,

and during the summer sold an

interest to Mr.

Henry Wat-

GEORGE

D.

PRENTICE.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

81

terson, the present brilliant editor of the Courier-Journal.

Thus

the editorial

and

nal passed from the

also the business control of the Jour-

hands of

founder.

its

Mr. Prentice was a native of Connecticut, and was born

New London

in

County, December

18,

1802.

After prepar-

ing for college he entered Brown University at the age of eighteen, and in 1823 graduated with honors.

some time

pleting his education he spent

in teaching,

wrote occasional articles for the local press.

and

attracted considerable attention,

and accepted a position view.

He came

Henry

Clay.

ville

"

to

in

in

and

His writings

1828 he was offered

as editor of the

Kentucky

Upon com-

New England

Re-

1830 to write the Life of

This led to the establishment of the Louis-

Journal, and

made Mr. Prentice

a citizen of Kentucky.

His biography of Clay was written from the standpoint of

strong partisanship, and scarcely had he finished

was persuaded by strong party leaders lish a

new

in

it

Kentucky

than he to estab-

daily paper at Louisville in opposition to the

Jackson Democracy."*

No newspaper published

in

Kentucky, perhaps none ever

published south of the Ohio River, wielded an influence equal to that of the Louisville Journal. Louisville,

and gave an importance

never before possessed.

When

to the

It built

the city of

whole State

it

had

the Journal was established

Louisville was a straggling village of a few thousand inhab*

Casseday.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER

8z

time

at a

when

PRESS.

the Journal was in the

itants.

Describing

full tide

of its glory, the correspondent of a

it

nal said, "Louisville

Ohio River,

at the

situated

is

but

Falls,

it

New York

on the south bank of the is

significant for nothing

except as the place where the Louisville Journal

And

lished."

editor that

Few men

!

George D. Prentice

pub-

In a memorial address journalist,

:

From 1830

to 1861 the influence of Prentice

the influence of any political writer directly positive

son of

did.

is

attained the fame as an

Hon. Henry Watterson on the great

delivered by

he said

Prentice

jour-

gifts

and personal.

which no one

else

It

who

owed

was perhaps greater than It was an influence

ever lived. its

origin to the union in his per-

He had

had combined before him.

in

intellect naturally strong

and

a region where he had to do a good deal of both.

a wit, a poet, a

of his country his

and

to build

was trained by practical, He was brave and aggressive, and though by no rigid scholarly culture. means quarrelsome he was as ready to fight as to write, and his lot was cast

upon an

man its

this

By

turns a statesman,

and always a journalist, he gave the press illustration, and has left to the State and to

of the world,

most

brilliant

progeny by odds the

largest reputation ever achieved

by a newspaper

writer.

During the civil war Mr. Prentice was an unswerving Union man, and all his great energies were enlisted to avert the calamities of war The

and preserve the Government*

He

was intimately associated with Mr. Prentice in business of 1864 until the consolidation of the Journal and Courier, and unhesitatingly pronounces the absurd story going the rounds of the press some years ago that Mr. Prentice was bought by the Government, or entertained for a moment propositions

from the

writer of this article

fall

from the Confederate Government, as absolutely false from beginning to end. No man in Kentucky was more truly loyal from the commencement of the war to its close than George D. Prentice.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

83

but there can be no doubt that the vast influ-

failed in this,

ence he wielded through the Journal prevented the secession In the long, desperate struggle that ensued

of Kentucky.

between the North and South his

fidelity to the

Union never

Notwithstanding his two sons, his only children,

wavered.

had entered the Confederate army, and many of friends were arrayed under the

firmly by the old flag

"

Southern Cross," he stood

and made a gallant

were gone, the

tered

his

terrible battle

When

fight.

war closed he was pretty well broken down, spirits

his life-long

his health

the

and

he had fought had bat-

decaying tabernacle, and the twilight shadows

were gathering around him. est friends

Many

of his oldest and dear-

were dead or had slipped away, leaving him, as

were, the hero of a passage in his

"

Closing Year

The proud The condor

it

" :

bird,

of the Andes, that can soar

Through heaven's unfathomable depths, or brave

The

fury of the northern hurricane,

And

bathe his plumage in the thunder's home,

Furls his broad wings at nightfall, and sinks

To

His

rest

upon

wife, the

his

down

mountain crag.

companion of

his youth, died in 1868,

and

shortly after her decease the Journal passed into other hands.

Although he continued

to

perform editorial work on the

Courier-Journal at a liberal salary up to the time of his death, his heart was not in the work.

He

died on the

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

84

of January, 1870, at the country residence of his son, Col.

Clarence

Prentice, ten miles

J.

River, whither he had

to

gone

announcement of

Upon

the

to his

memory throughout

below Louisville, on the Ohio spend the Christmas holidays.

his death, great respect

The

legislatures of

in session at the

time, adopted

the country.

Kentucky and Tennessee,

his

appropriate resolutions, pronouncing

bereavement."

Cave

He

"

was buried with

Hill Cemetery,

and

was paid

there,

death a

"

public

Masonic honors

on a sunny

slope,

"

in

he sleeps

beside those he loved while living.

Mr. Prentice survived his two great Louisville

He

Shadrach Penn and John H. Harney.

rivals,

lived to follow

both to the tomb and to strew immortelles upon their graves.

His memorial sketch of Penn was as touching as eloquent and pathetic.

it

was

His notice of Mr. Harney's death

closed with the following beautiful words: "Farewell, old friend

!

blue sky

The

The green is

earth

is

above thy mortal body, but the

no longer above thy immortal

history of the Journal

soul."

would be incomplete without

a notice of the Courier and the Democrat. established in 1844 by Mr.

of the Courier-Journal in

1843

m

Louisville

Daily Dime.

and on the

i

W.

The Courier was

N. Haldeman,

Company.

A

now

president

paper had been started

by a company of

printers, called the

This enterprise was not a financial success, ith of February, 1844, the

Dime

passed into the

hands of Mr. Haldeman, who, on the 3d of June following,

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. changed

into the

it

85

Mr. Casseday,

Morning Courier.

sketch of the Louisville press, says of Mr. Haldeman

deman brought energy.

to his task inflexible will

man

of failure. firmly,

did not

know

imme-

the

He He

to increased effort.

quered success in the face of

its

meaning determination more

Adversity only fixed his

and urged him

Hal-

the paper

would soon have emulated the example of many of

Haldeman

" :

and indomitable

In the hands of almost any other

diate predecessors.

in his

all difficulties.

fairly

con-

started out

with the idea of making a newspaper, and his enterprise in this direction

soon woke up the sleepy old journalists, not

only of Louisville, but

all

over the West.

As

there were few

railroads reaching this city, and, as the telegraph

was yet

unborn, the securing of news

moment

at the earliest possible

was a matter of energy, enterprise, and expense.

Haldeman

spared none of these, and from the very start his paper was

what

is

now called

a 'live institution.'

As an

instance of his

determination to spare no expense for the benefit of his readers,

he

sent, in

1849,

H. M. McCarty

to Frankfort as

resident correspondent, to remain during the Constitutional

Convention which framed the present constitution of Kentucky.

No

paper in the State had ever before incurred the

expense of a daily correspondent during the whole session of a legislative body."

Up

to the period of the civil

war Mr. Haldeman had as

partners, at different times, F. B. French,

Wm.

D. Gallagher,

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

86

Reuben T.

Col.

Durrett,

last-named gentleman was his partner when, in the of

1

The

and Maj. Walter G. Overton.

summer

86 1, the Courier was suppressed for "disloyalty."

At

Gen. Albert Bowling Green Mr. Haldeman was requested by Sidney Johnston, commanding the Confederate army,

sume

its

a necessity at publication, such being considered

Kentucky was trembling

the time.

and

it

was

still

and Dixon's

a

to

in the political balance,

uncertain upon which side of

little

line she

and

decision

to re-

would

retain

its

fall.

own

Mason

In order to influence her the Courier was

identity,

dated at Bowling Green, but the type-setting and printing

were done

in Nashville,

owing

ing the proper mechanical

Robert

McKee was

while Mr. to fell

facilities at

Haldeman took up

to

Nashville, the

continued to make

its

When

the Confederate

Courier

fell

back with

regular appearance.

in the Federal lines,

it

The

It at

army and of the people of

Louisville-

as brilliant

once became

the South,

immediately attained a circulation limited only by chanical ability to supply the demand.

army it, and

was facetiously called

was probably

a success as journalistic annals afford. the favorite of the

Col.

his headquarters in Nashville

Bowling-Green-Nashville Courier, as

by the papers

the former place.

stationed at Bowling Green as editor,

superintend publication.

back

to the impossibility of secur-

its

Extraordinary

and me-

efforts

were made to procure Northern papers, which were not then easily accessible,

and voluminous extracts were made from

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER them

No

daily.

PRESS.

87

outlay was considered too great to secure

these papers, and so perfect were the arrangements that to the evacuation of Nashville scarcely a

papers from

Courier relied

the

all

So

office.

Northern

on the Courier

Haldeman returned

many and

city

menced

The

were received

cities

for the

the

the restoration of peace Mr.

Upon

urgent request

of his old friends and of prominent citizens of the State, he,

on the 4th of December, 1865, recom-

the publication of the Courier. Louisville

Democrat was established

New

Albany, Ind.

in

1843 by

He was

aided by

subscriptions from James Guthrie and other leading crats of Louisville

The

and Kentucky.

to advocate the claims of the

dential

at

of

most important intelligence

to Louisville, and, at the

Phineas M. Kent, of

was

up

full files

perfect was the system that the military

outside of their lines."*

of

day but

object of the paper

Democracy

campaign of 1844, then opening, and

orously into the contest.

Demo-

Mr. Kent did not

in the Presiit

went

fulfill

all

vig-

the

requirements of the party leaders, and in a short time the

paper was purchased by Mr. John H. Harney, its

editor until his death in 1868.

of the paper, Mr.

and Thomas liam title

P.

Harney took

Hughes.

The

Hughes remained with of

Harney

&

who remained

Shortly after the purchase

into partnership William E. latter

soon

retired,

but Wil-

the paper, and under the firm-

Hughes published

it

until

absorbed by the

Courier-Journal combination. * Historical Sketch of the Courier-Journal.

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

88

of education and ability and

man

Mr. Harney was a

He had no

broad and statesmanlike views. journalism

when he took charge

experience in

of the Democrat, and a less

courageous man, with George D. Prentice in front of him,

But Harney soon became a prominent

would have quailed. politician

and recognized leader of

strong, forcible,

and

correct,

was

and he wrote

to convince,

and

His party

most direct manner.

went about

it

knowledged

his services,

in the

style

His

his party.

and he held

his leading position

without any attempt at rivalry from any source. warfare sometimes prevailed between

ac-

him and

A

wordy

Prentice, but

Mr. Prentice always entertained the most unbounded respect for him,

and personally they were warm

Such

is

friends.

a brief sketch of the three papers

combined

in

the Louisville Courier-Journal, a newspaper recognized as the ablest south of the

Ohio

influential published in the trols the

and

River,

as

United States.

one of the most It

probably con-

general sentiment throughout a larger extent of

country than

any other newspaper

South and Southwest

it

in

existence.

In the

wields a power never before attained

in the history of the press, except

by Prentice's Journal.

No

event in the newspaper history of Louisville or Kentucky created the surprise and interest that did the consolidation

of the Journal and the Courier.

It

took place on the 8th of

November, 1868, a few days after the Presidential election, and the history of the paper under its present title is well

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS. known.

Its

Mr. Watterson,

editor,

and

in the country,

is

is

89

one of the ablest

a worthy successor of the talented

Prentice.

Walter N. Haldeman, the president of the Courier-Jour-

Company, has but few equals in the business management of a newspaper. Few men living, except himself, could nal

have taken the Courier-Journal at the time of the consolidation

and carried

it

that surrounded

He

to-day. is

is

prosperity

among

and made

it,

and

difficulties

the great newspaper

practical business

to the

it

it

many

it

a writer of more than ordinary ability; but

as a financier

most useful

successfully through the

man

is it

that he has been

Courier-Journal in securing to

enjoys and the prominent position

it

it

the

occupies

the great newspapers of the country.

So "endeth tucky.

the chapter" on the pioneer press of

Although

it

Ken-

can scarcely be claimed that the Cou-

rier-Journal belongs to the pioneer press, yet, being

com-

prised in part of the old Journal, the second daily issued in

the State, a brief sketch of

thought, in designing this ate to close

daily press,

resumed

at

"modern"

it

it

could not be omitted.

article, that it

It

was

would be appropri-

with an account of the establishment of the

and so

some press.

it

concludes for the present, but

future time,

may be

and a sketch given of the

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

9o

NOTE. Since the foregoing paper was placed in the hands of the printers Dr. Richard Eagle, also

Henry

Collins, the historian,

and long editor of the Maysville A committee

an active member of the Filson Club, has died.

of the Club, appointed to prepare a memorial paper, presented the following,

which was unanimously adopted by the Club and ordered

the records

filed

with

:

To THE PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE FILSON CLUB:

Your committee begs leave

to report the following

the most of worth that has the most of real attention,

:

It is

not always

and the quiet and

unostentatious burial of our friend was in keeping with his whole

life,

and,

had they been expressed, of his real wishes. Not an orator in the usual sense, nor a statesman, and never a military man, he never sought a place in the public eye

in as

many

;

and yet few of more famous

men

held so

warm

a place

hearts.

on the 4th of May, 1824, he gave to his beloved Commonwealth and to mankind the most of the sixty-four years of what we call life, but which God and the angels probably know of as only life's

Born

at Maysville, Ky.,

probation.

Judge Lewis Collins, it is not strange to the mantle of the "ascended prophet" and sire fell upon him.

Son of the say that

Few men

in

historian of 1847,

any State or country ever devoted such labored and exhaustive work which must necessarily be local in its scope and limited

research to a in

its

compensative returns.

In the matter of court depositions or the early

periods alone, or, in so small a matter as to

who was

the

first

white child

limits, he gave an attention and attained to an which before we had accuracy only expected in the field of the microscope. It was for Filson to lay the "mudsills" of Kentucky history where no

born in the present State

man had

before broken ground

;

it

was

for

Marshall to

make a commentary

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER

PRESS.

91

Kentucky before and during

rather than a history of the times of

but in the two volumes of Richard Henry Collins (of 1874) there

his is

day

;

a mine

of Kentucky history, from which other and later historians, however laborious, careful,

and

must

original,

point as original authority in

dig,

many

and

which they

to

matters

now passed

will

be careful to

into the graves of

the pioneers and the oblivion of time, save as kept alive in his pages.

When the

at last a century long,

Columbus Graham, then far on gave him a list of the pioneer sta-

Kentucky County of

Virginia, his

the venerable Dr. Christopher

way which was

tions of the then

imagined when met with a reply list

letter

amazement must be

from Mr. Collins, giving him another

of stations that he, the pioneer doctor, had never heard

for information in matters of

Dr. Graham's letter

which he was then

still exists,

for the first time informed.

Kentucky

So extensively was the research carried, even

located.

construction in old buildings and special sketches of the old gentleman at once

grew

restless if

any

pened to stumble upon or by patient search had missed.

One

of the

members

and asking

with a thousand more written from every

of America, where representatives of old

part

of,

of this committee

families

had

in the details of

men and

things, that

later searcher for truth hap-

to find

who

any

single item that

he

has had ten years' experi-

ence in historical research can most truly and sincerely

testify to the great

upon his history of Kentucky. It was a hercuand faithfully and truly he performed it. The day must come book will be more highly prized than it is now, and the work

labor Dr. Collins bestowed lean task,

when

his

required in

its

preparation be appreciated as

be classed as one of the most valuable of

all

it

deserves

Kentucky

;

nay,

when

it

will

histories.

Dr. Collins was unselfish as the sunshine and the rain, and alike liberal.

In one case he sat

down

for

days to read the proofs and correct errors in a

that was, in a sense, the rival of his own (Hon. Z. F. Smith's). In he expected no compensation, but stood aside to welcome the new historian with the first kindly words, and accepted with warm thanks a copy of

work this

the rival book.

One who was

with

him

in the last of his days in Louisville testifies that

he never heard him express envy or jealousy, nor any feeling unworthy of

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

92

a large and liberal soul.

Yet

part with his fine library, that

and

his closest

companion

" In

down

laying

am

that I

was

said to one of the

this tool that

only to

with this consent to part with these old friends,

He was

beloved wife and the mar-

members of

this

committee,

feel that

my

my

life-work ends

books."

a gentleman in the best sense of that much-abused word.

week of

the very last

to

his life to collect,

and hand have used so long, I feel I am not pained that they other men.

for they are worthy, but

it,

when he was arranging

my brain

giving place altogether to

should take

in a time

had been the pride of

it

after the death of his

As he

riage of his children.

this

his stay in this city, before

In

home

going to the western

of a well-loved daughter to die, he engaged to prepare an index for Rev.

Edward

Dr.

P.

Humphrey's History of the Presbyterian Church, and

neither had any premonition that the other stood on the very verge of eterThis, too, Dr. Collins expected to

nity.

do " without money and without

price."

On

the last occasion that one of these writers ever saw him, there sat

a lady in his room receiving the accurate legal advice that he could give so well, and, as usual, without fee

a source of revenue, he said, in

my

life for legal

than once self.

He

help,

He was

begin now?"

filled

a

;

and when asked why he did not make

"Why,

and you

member

I

this

never charged a poor person a dollar

really don't think,

do you, that I could and had more

of the Presbyterian Church,

the eldership with profit to the church and honor to him" I have in this

said after going to his last prayer

meeting

city,

never gotten over the feeling of great responsibility in leading the public devotions of a congregation, nor the deep sense of my own unworthiness for

such duty."

The

files

1857, prove

of his old Maysville Eagle from 1845 to

his ability as

an

editor, as

do

his

entry uncredited, his patience with his debtors. nati, while he lived in Covington,

it

may

of men.

made him

&5>

ar>d again

from

many an

Also, at the bar of Cincin-

be said that he only failed to be

eminent because he would not take the pains to be taste for research

I

account books, with

in law, as in history,

rich.

His capacity and

one of the most accurate

His modesty was so great that he never asked for the parchment

of his honorary degree, and friends passed years with him without

know-

THE PIONEER NEWSPAPER PRESS.

93

LL. D. of a great Texas college. He refused a nomilegislature when in young manhood, and in a day when

ing that he held the

nation for the

Congress and Governorship lay beyond the swinging door. He has often made, but seldom unmade, even when they deserved it, the reputations of statesmen now better known than himself. He has handed down to all time the fame of generals and soldiers, since passed

Quick error

;

in their

and

upward

with

little

thought have long

flight.

as quick to repent

when convinced

that

he was

in

generous beyond his means ; devoted to his friends, as Jonathan was

to David,

as a

him

to speak,

who

and as

woman,

unselfishly so; brave as a lion, without his cruelty; gentle

without weakness,

we may

still

honor him and hope

to

meet

him where, "Beyond

Your committee, following resolutions

these voices, there

in conclusion,

is

peace."

would recommend the adoption of the

:

WHEREAS, An All-wise Ruler has, in His infinite wisdom, seen fit to remove our worthy friend, brother, and co-laborer Richard Henry Collins from

this transitory

existence to a

life

of joy and peace and glory beyond

the grave; therefore, Resolved,

zealous

That

in the

member and a

valuable citizen,

death of Dr. Collins the Filson Club has lost a

and patient worker, the State a and the church a bright and shining light.

That

tireless

useful

and

as a tribute of respect to our deceased

member, this memorial paper be preserved among the records of the Filson Club, and a copy of the same be presented to the family of the deceased. Resolved,

All of

which

is

respectfully submitted.

WILLIAM HENRY PERRIN, HENRY WHITNEY CLEVELAND, Committee.