Ohio History Journal

Emilius Oviatt Randall.             145

 

 

LAST CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE.

The following contribution was the last written by Mr. Ran-

dall for publication. It appeared in the issues of The Ohio

Newspaper for November and December, 1919:

NEWSPAPERS READ BY THE OHIO PIONEERS.

Maxwell's Centinel of the Northwestern Territory, its Contemporaries

and Immediate Successors -Journals Now More

Than a Century Old.

BY EMILIUS 0. RANDALL, LL. D.

Journalism led the van of literary culture in its advance

into the Northwest Territory. It was in the little cluster of

cabins, named, by Territorial Governor St. Clair, Cincinnati, a

century and a quarter ago (1793), that the initial newspaper

made its appearance under the title of Centinel of the North-

western Territory. The proprietor and editor was one William

Maxwell, an enterprising immigrant from New Jersey. It was

a crude establishment, the entire outfit of which, a wooden

Ramage hand press, like the one used by Dr. Benjamin Frank-

lin in Philadelphia, type, cases, "furniture" and all could be

moved in one load of a full grown wheelbarrow.

The "outfit" was set up in a log cabin on the corner of

Front and Sycamore Streets. Maxwell and his good wife

Nancy did all the work. The buckskin ball was dipped in ink,

then daubed on the type, paper was then spread on and the

press lever, precisely like a hand cider press, was pulled and

released and the printed paper removed.

The paper was a folio, four pages, three columns to the

page, in a small quarto form; the printed matter being eight and

one-half inches in width, ten and one-fourth inches long. The

issue of the first copy was dated Saturday, November 9, 1793,

and bore under its title the commendable motto: "Open to all

parties but influenced by none." It was a weekly. It contained

news from London, England, dated July 15th-that is four

months old - from New York, dated September 5th, two months

old. This initial number also gave an account of an attack by

Indians on a provision convoy, "a little time ago" between Fort

Vol. XXIX- 10.

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146      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

St. Clair and Fort Jefferson, and there was a public notice that

$168 would be paid for "every scalp having the right ear append-

ant for the first ten Indians who shall be killed within a specified

time and territory." A column was used to set forth the advan-

tages of rapid travel by packet boats, which made the voyage

"from Cincinnati to Pittsburg and return in four weeks." There

were anecdotes and poetry and contributors' letters, one of which

was the familiar protest against the excessive taxation in Cincin-

nati.  The "organ" which Maxwell controlled seems to have

given him some prestige and "pull" for in 1796 he was appointed

postmaster of the little settlement that was later to be the

"Queen City" of the Ohio. That same year Maxwell sold the

Centinel of the Northwestern Territory to Edmund Freeman,

who changed the name to Freeman's Journal and published it

as such till 1800 when he moved to Chillicothe, then the capital

of the "Ohio Territory," established July 4, 1800, and known

officially as "the Eastern Division of the Territory of the United

States Northwest of the Ohio River."

 

 

NESTOR OF OHIO NEWSPAPERS.

In Chillicothe there had already been established, in 1796, a

paper known as the Scioto Gazette. It was founded by Nathaniel

Willis, grandfather of N. P. Willis, the famous poet. Nathaniel

was born in Boston in 1755, and, says tradition, was an appren-

tice in the printing office of Benjamin Franklin. He was a patriot

as might have been expected and among the participants in the

Boston Tea Party, and in that city published and edited, during

the American Revolution the Independent Chronicle. At the

close of the Revolution, Willis moved from Boston to Virginia

and established, at Martinsburg, the Potomac Guardian. Later,

(1796) he transferred his journalistic enterprise to Chillicothe

and founded the Scioto Gazette. This issue, as nearly as can

now be ascertained, was intermittent for a time, but on April 25,

1800, Willis began a new series with Vol. 1, No. 1, and this

paper has gone on continually since that date, being therefore

the oldest living paper in the west, and one of the oldest, if not

the oldest, of continuous publication in the United State.

As above noted, Edmund Freeman moved the Freeman's

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Emilius Oviatt Randall.              147

 

Journal in  1800 from Cincinnati to Chillicothe, where a year

later he died and Willis bought the plant and "good will" of the

paper and incorporated it with the Scioto Gazette.

The Scioto Gazette, today the nestor of Ohio journals, was

the official organ of the Northwest Territory and later of the

new State, after its admission into the Union, March 1, 1803. In

its columns were published all official announcements, and the

proceedings of the Territorial Assembly. The Gazette strongly

supported the statehood movement, headed by what Governor

St. Clair called the "Virginia junta of Ross County," meaning

such men as Thomas Worthington, Nathaniel Massie, and Edwin

Tiffin of Ross County, and Charles Willing Byrd, territorial sec-

retary, and William Henry Harrison, territorial representative

in Congress.

The Western Spy and Hamilton Gazette was a weekly paper

started May 28, 1799, in Cincinnati, which at that time had a

population of eight hundred. The paper was continued until

1809 when its name was changed to the Whig and under the

latter title was published for some years. Contemporaneous

with the Spy was the Hamilton Gazette, published as such until

1823 when it was renamed the National Republican Ohio Political

Register. One of the editors was Sol Smith, once an actor and

theatre manager in St. Louis and elsewhere and the grandfather

of the later popular comedian, Sol Smith Russell.

 

PRINTED IN THE CAMPUS MARTIUS.

The printing outfit for the Marietta Register and Virginia

Herald was brought to that city by Wyllys Silliman and Elijah

Backus. The paper was first issued from a primitive press in

the Campus Martius stockade on December 18, 1801. Ten years

after the first issue of the Marietta Register and Virginia Herald

the paper began to change hands, for in that year (1810) it was

sold to Caleb Emerson who then published the first issue of the

American Spectator. In 1813, David Everett bought the paper,

changing the name to the American Friend. Nineteen years

later (1833) the title was again changed, this time to the Marietta

Gazette. Ten years later (1842) Beman Gates merged it into

the Intelligencer. The latter was purchased in 1862 by R. M.

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148      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

Stimson, the scholar, litterateur and for some years State Li-

brarian. He rechristened the paper the Register and it is now

published as the Register-Leader, John Kaiser, one of the trus-

tees of the Ohio State University, being principal owner and

editor.

On December 9, 1804, the Liberty Hall and Cincinnati Mer-

cury was founded in that city by one John M. Browne, of mul-

titudinous vocations, for he was preacher, editor, almanac pub-

lisher, town recorder, bookseller and vendor of patent medicines.

This paper survived for eleven years when it was combined with

the Cincinnati Gazette, founded in 1806. The name, Liberty

Hall, was perpetuated in the weekly edition of the Gazette until

the period of the Civil War.

One of the most time honored newspapers of Ohio was the

Western Star, established in Lebanon in March, 1807, and still

being published under the original name. Its founder was John

McLean, afterwards Justice of the United State Supreme Court.

The paper was edited and managed by Nathaniel McLean,

brother of John. Its form and contents being typical of the

inland journals of its day, it contained little or no editorial mat-

ter and "no local intelligence whatever," though it gave Euro-

pean news, two months old, and New York and St. Louis items

three weeks in age.

 

 

FOLLOWED LINES OF SETTLEMENT.

As Mr. S. S. Knabenshue, in his "Address on the Press of

Ohio," delivered at the Ohio Centennial (1903) -to which we

are indebted for much data used in this article-points out, the

early establishment of newspapers in Ohio, followed the lines of

settlement, first on the Ohio River and then northward along the

streams of the state's interior, on which colonizations were made.

Perhaps the first paper printed in a foreign tongue was Der

Ohio Adler, the Ohio Eagle, first appearing, as near as can now

be determined, in 1807, in Lancaster, Fairfield County, many of

whose early settlers were German. The founder of this paper

was Jacob Dietrich, an emigrant from the "Fatherland." This

paper passed into the hands of Edward Shaeffer about 1813,

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Emilius Oviatt Randall.             149

when an English edition was begun called the Eagle, which is

still continued. As near as can be ascertained the German edi-

tion was perpetuated under separate auspices until "sometime in

the thirties" when its title was changed to the Lancaster Volks-

freund; in 1841 it changed hands and was removed to Colum-

bus, again taking the name Adler. Two years later, (1843)

Jacob Reinhard and Frederick Feiser bought the property and

changed its name to the Columbus Westbote. Under that name

it was published by them and later by Leo Hirsch and his sons

until shortly after the entry of the United States in the Great

War in 1917. It then ceased to exist.

The initial paper published in Zanesville was the Muskingum

Messenger, started in 1809 by Ezekiel T. Cox, father of the bril-

liant and nationally known Samuel Sullivan Cox, author, editor,

congressman and foreign ambassador.  In 1812 the title was

changed to the Express and Advertiser and in 1823 it became

the Ohio Republican. Various other changes took place till 1845

when its name became the Courier and as such it was until

recently published.

The time honored burg of Worthington, still abiding in un-

disturbed quietude, just north of Columbus, was the birthplace

in 1811, of the Western Intelligencer, the first newspaper of Cen-

tral Ohio. Its protagonist, also the founder of the village, was

Col. James Kilbourne, of New England Revolutionary stock.

Sometime in 1813 the organ was removed to Columbus, then

recently established as the capital of the state. Its name was

changed to the Western Intelligencer and Columbus Gazette.

It then ran the gauntlet of several proprietors until 1837, when

John M. Gallagher secured possession and consolidated it with

his paper, The Ohio Political Register. The combination was

entitled the Ohio State Journal and Register. Not long after

the latter half of the name was dropped and the paper was known

till this day as The Ohio State Journal. It became a daily in

1839. It has had a conspicuous career, having had upon its

editorial staff a remarkable list of distinguished Ohioans: Wil-

liam B. Thrall, Oren Follett, John Greiner, William Dean How-

ells, William T. Coggshall, John James Piatt, James M. Comly,

A. W. Francisco, Samuel J. Flickinger, Samuel G. McClure and.

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150      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

ably sustaining the reputation of his predecessors, the present

editor, Colonel E. S. Wilson.

The present writer of this article speaks with no little "sup-

pressed emotion" concerning the Ohio State Journal, whose edi-

tors he has personally known during and since the Civil War,

but more especially because the Columbus Gazette as a separate

weekly was continued from 1839 to 1883. In the latter year it

was purchased by the writer and continued as the Saturday Ga-

zette. Its function was to administer to the higher literary tastes

and demands of the Columbus community. As its initial number

under the new and ambitious management advised, "No effort

was to be spared to make it the brightest, best and most popular

paper" of the Capital City. It was a daring and we do not

deny a dazzling flight; we fulfilled the promise of the prospectus,

without regard to energy or expense for some six months. Then

came the awakening from a rainbow dream. "Literature for

literature's sake" requires an "angel." The angels are lovely,

but scarce; none came our way. We had tied our chariot to a

star, but like the aspiring boy Icarus, with the wax-attached

wings, we swooped too near the sun and took a tumble into the

Icarian sea, yes, almost literally for we disposed of our "bonus"

and subscription list to the publishers of a "dry" concern devoted

to the interests of temperance; the new proprietors changed the

name to one now lost to memory, moved the paper to Cleveland

where the aqueous facilities were ample and there they "watered"

the stock to such a degree that the venerated collateral relic of

the Western Intelligencer sank beneath the billows of oblivion.

Sic transit Gazette mundi.

The first newspaper in the Western Reserve district, the

New Connecticut of Ohio, founded at Warren, Trumbull County,

was the Trump of Fame, edited by Thomas D. Webb. Its initial

appearance was on June 16, 1812, the date of the declaration of

war against England. It was an enterprising and patriotic paper.

Each of its four pages was set in large type. The paper went

through the usual changing of hands, and in 1816 was enlarged

and the title made The Western Reserve Chronicle, which it

retains to this day.

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Emilius Oviatt Randall.            151

 

 

A MOST DISTINGUISHED EDITOR.

Probably the most distinguished and brilliant journalist of

the period in question was Charles Hammond He was declared

by Daniel Webster to be "the greatest genius who ever wielded

the political pen." It was a federal pen in the Ohio Federalist,

started in St. Clairsville, Belmont County, in 1811, by Mr. Ham-

mond and continued till 1818, when the Federalist became the

Belmont Chronicle. Mr. Hammond was also instrumental in the

establishment, in 1806, of the Cincinnati Gazette, which, under his

editorial management, acquired a wide circulation and reputation.

It was originally a weekly and finally became an influential party

organ. The Gazette many years ago was merged with the Cin-

cinnati Commercial, later known as the Commercial-Tribune.

Mr. Hammond, from 1813 to 1822, was a member of the Ohio

Legislature, and a potent agent in state affairs. In 1821 he was

appointed the first reporter of the Ohio Supreme Court, which

office he filled till his death in 1840, in Cincinnati, to which city

he had moved in 1822.

The St. Clairsville Gazette dates its beginning in 1812 though

until 1825 it did not adopt that title.

On June 22, 1814, the Hamilton Intelligencer was first

issued in that city. There were frequent changes of ownership,

which is true of nearly all early Ohio papers, but the Butler

County Democrat of today is its lineal successor.

John Saxton, whose granddaughter was the wife of Pres-

ident McKinley, established in 1815, the Ohio Repository, of

Canton. A notable fact regarding Mr. Saxton's editorials was

that, from 1815 to 1871, the year of his death, he composed his

editorials and put them in type by hand, instead of writing them

and handing them to another compositor, long since the universal

custom. Upon the death of Mr. Saxton, his son, Thomas W.

Saxton, succeeded him in the management of the paper, and so

continued until his death in 1885. He established the daily edi-

tion in 1878. This paper was the administration mouthpiece of

Mr. McKinley in his presidential campaigns of 1896 and 1900,

and came into national prominence thereby.

The present Union Herald, of Circleville, was first estab-

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152      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

lished in August, 1817, by James Foster, a bookbinder, under the

name of The Olive Branch. Several changes in name were ef-

fected, and at the time of the Civil War it became the Circleville

Union  It is now called the Union Herald.

Messrs. Hughes and Drake, ministers of the Gospel, in 1818,

inaugurated the Delaware Gazette, which has borne that title ever

since. In 1834 Abram Thompson acquired an interest in the

paper and continued the editorial control for sixty-two years,

excepting during the period 1869-71 when Captain Alfred E.

Lee acted as editor. The latter, a talented and facile writer,

became private secretary to Governor R. B. Hayes, and later,

when the governor was elevated to the presidency, was appointed

Consul General to Germany.

 

 

GOVERNOR COX'S SPRINGFIELD NEWS.

The Springfield Republican, whose daily edition was called

the Press-Republican, dates from 1817, when The Farmer was

started-the first paper in that city and county. After many

changes of name and proprietors, it was entitled The Republic

in 1849. It is now known as the Springfield News, owned by

James M. Cox. He is also proprietor of the Dayton News.

Both of these papers he has raised to the front rank of success

and influence. Indeed, the Governor has displayed the same

energetic talent as a journalist that he has as an eminent exec-

utive of the state, which has three times elected him to its high-

est office.

The Cleveland Leader claims to date from 1818, assuming

that the Gazette and Commercial Register, then founded, was the

predecessor of the Herald, whose first issue was in October, 1819,

just one century ago. The Leader became a daily in 1837. Two

years ago, under the ownership of Dan Hanna, it was combined

with the News as a Sunday morning paper, the News remaining

an evening paper.

The same year, 1818, witnessed the birth of the Hillsboro

Gazette, when the only other newspapers in Southern Ohio were

those at Cincinnati and Chillicothe. The Hillsboro Gazette, typ-

ical inland county paper, in force and stability, still bears its

original name. Also in the same year (1818) came the initial

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Emilius Oviatt Randall.             153

appearance of the Gallia County Gazette, which since that date

has been in continuous circulation, though from 1835, it has been

known as the Gallipolis Journal. Likewise in 1818, there ap-

peared at Cadiz, the first journal in Harrison County. It had

several names and many proprietors successively till 1840, when

it assumed the title of the Republican, which it still bears. The

Mansfield Shield, recently suspended, was the pioneer paper of

Richland County, claiming to be the lineal descendant of the

Olive Branch, founded in 1818, a prolific year for the nativity

of newspaper ventures; they were all lusty babies and grew to

vigorous manhood and with the exception noted, are now enjoy-

ing successful and venerable age. The year 1819, which com-

pletes the time of our limitation for century-old newspapers,

marked the output of the New Philadelphia Advocate Tribune.

It is thus seen Ohio was fertile soil for the planting and

growth of that "lever of public opinion" known as the newspaper.

In 1813 the whole number of newspapers in the United States

was 159; of these 14 were published in Ohio. In 1819, just a

century ago, there were 40 newspapers issued in Ohio, repre-

senting almost as many small and young, but enterprising and

news-reading towns. Ohio was still a forest state, with a large

Indian population and the prevalence of pioneer conditions. In

1824 there were 500 newspapers in the United States, 50, one-

tenth, of which were being published in Ohio, evidencing the

rapid social and intellectual progress made in its early years by

the people of the first state carved out of the Northwest Terri-

tory.

The Marquis de Lafayette, on his visit to this country in

1825, was received by Governor Morrow and staff, at Cincinnati,

in the presence of thousands of people. The welcome songs of

hundreds of school children and the evidences of cultured society

on a site which at the time of his services in the American Revo-

lution was a wildnerness of waste, inhabited solely by savages

and wild beasts, so impressed Lafayette that he exclaimed, "Ohio

is the eighth wonder of the world."

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