Ohio History Journal

EARLY NEWSPAPERS OF CINCINNATI

 

 

BY V. C. STUMP

 

The first newspaper was printed in Cincinnati No-

vember 9, 1793.1 At that time Cincinnati was a small

village in the wilderness. Only the hardier pioneers had

dared to face the hardships and to cross the Alleghany

Mountains in spite of the menace of the British and

Indians on the North.

Among these few was one, William     Maxwell, an

editor from New Jersey, who set up a little printing

office in a log cabin which stood on the corner of Front

and Sycamore streets. His Ramage press, a primitive

affair, was fashioned after the one first used by the

illustrious Dr. Franklin, and could have been carried in

a large canoe. It, together with the types, had been

brought from Pittsburgh by water, after having been

carried over the mountains on pack horses. Everything

being in readiness, the first number of The Centinel of

the Northwestern Territory was issued November 9,

1793, a little over one hundred and thirty years ago.²

The title of the paper was appropriate, for Fort

Washington was virtually the gateway through which

 

NOTE -- This paper was read before the Cincinnati Chapter of the

D. A. R. March 10, 1924. It is based on original research among the early

newspapers of Cincinnati. One of the only two files in existence of The

Centinel was consulted in the Library of The Historical and Philosophical

Society of Ohio. The Western Spy and the Liberty Hall are in the archives

of the Mercantile Library of that city.

1 S. B. Nelson and J. M. Runk, History of Cincinnati and Hamilton

County, Ohio. (Cincinnati, 1894) p. 234.

2 Ibid., p. 204.

(169)

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170      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

the early pioneers, seeking homes in the mighty domain

beyond, had to pass. A Centinel, therefore, on the outer

limits to sound the alarm of danger, or to proclaim "All

is well," was of very great importance to those who

were starting out to lay the foundations of what has

proved to be a mighty Western Empire.³

The Centinel was a four page weekly, printed on

grayish blue paper, and bearing the motto, "Open to all

parties -- but influenced by none."    The size of the

page was small, being only about as large as a sheet of

typewriter paper.  In July 1794, the page was length-

ened, and fourteen months later it measured eighteen

inches long by ten inches wide.  The Centinel was not

only the first paper published in Cincinnati, but it was

also the first one North of the Ohio River, and the third

or fourth West of the Alleghany Mountains.⁴

In 1794 the publisher of this pioneer paper succeeded

Abner Dunn as postmaster. This greatly increased his

responsibilities. As the only editor in the Territory

his principal duty was. to publish the Territorial Laws,

but being intrusted with the post office, he could not well

carry on the paper, and in the summer of 1796 he dis-

posed of the Centinel to Edmund Freeman.⁵

The new editor changed the name of the paper to

Freeman's Journal. It continued as a four page weekly,

but was slightly larger than the Centinel and carried the

motto, "Free but not licentuous." The name, Freeman's

Journal, served to set forth the name of the proprietor,

and also to furnish a fit and significant title for an organ

 

3 Henry A. Ford and Mrs. Kate B. Ford, History of Cincinnati, Ohio.

(Cleveland, Ohio, 1881) p. 47.

⁴ Ibid., p. 47.

5 Charles Theodore Greve, Centennial History of Cincinnati and her

Representative Citizens, (2 vols., Chicago, Ill., 1904), Vol. 1, p. 406.

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Early Newspapers of Cincinnati    171

of public opinion in the young republic. The publica-

tion of the paper was continued at Cincinnati until the

beginning of the year 1800, when it was moved to the

new territorial capitol, Chillicothe. Edmund Freeman

died in 1801 and his paper was merged with another

publication and its identity was lost.⁶

But nevertheless, the first paper had served its pur-

pose, and the way was opened for other establishments.

Daniel Drake tells us in his book published in 1815, that

a pioneer by the name of Joseph Carpenter from Mas-

sachusetts founded the second paper. The first issue

under the name of the Western Spy and Hamilton

Gazette, was printed May 28, 1799. As the settlement

had had a Centinel it was evidently deemed proper that

it should have a Spy. Cist claims that this was the first

regularly printed journal in Cincinnati. From this re-

mark we infer that he considered that it possessed more

of the attributes of a newspaper than had Maxwell's

publication. However, Carpenter had no more time to

act as a reporter than had his predecessors, and he, too,

devoted more space and time to laws and ordinances

than to news.7

The paper changed hands many times during the

first ten years of its existence.  In 1806 the last half

of the title was changed from Hamilton Gazette to

Miami Gazette, but in a few months Carney and Morgan

became the owners and it was rechristened, the Whig.

Only fifty-eight numbers were published and it again

changed hands and became the Advertiser. No copies

of either paper have been preserved.⁸

 

6 Henry A. Ford and Mrs. Kate B. Ford, History of Cincinnati, Ohio,

p. 284.

7 Nelson and Runk, History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, p. 256.

8 Ibid., p. 256.

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172      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

In September 1810 Joseph Carpenter appeared in

journalism a second time as the editor of a new Western

Spy. At the beginning of the War of 1812 he gave up

his duties as editor to serve his country. He was made

captain of a company and for six months served under

General Harrison.   Captain Carpenter died from ex-

posure during a forced march in midwinter 1814.9

The third paper made its appearance on the ninth

of December 1804. It was called the Liberty Hall and

Cincinnati Mercury, but the last half of that title was

soon dropped as it was deemed unnecessary. A local

historian said, "The Reverend John W. Brown, enter-

prising editor, publisher of almanacs, preacher, town

recorder, bookseller, and vender of patent medicines,

was the proprietor of the new venture." He had a

troublesome time of it, and was once or twice personally

attacked by citizens who were aggrieved by his sheet.

The first number was issued in the loft of a log cabin

which stood on the southeast corner of Front and Syca-

more Streets. The plant was an improvement upon

those of the earlier papers, and in spite of the editor's

cynical attitude and caustic pen he secured some 1400

subscribers.¹⁰

Sometime in June, 1814, a new paper called the

Spirit of the West was started but only forty-four copies

were issued and none have been preserved.11

In July 1815 Thomas Palmer and Company set up

another paper called the Gazette. The following De-

cember it consolidated with the Liberty Hall under the

 

⁹ Ibid., p. 256.

10 Nelson and Runk, History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, p.

11 Ibid., p. 256.

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Early Newspapers of Cincinnati    173

name Liberty Hall and Cincinnati Gazette. This was

the beginning of the present popular morning paper

known as the Commercial Tribune.12

From the copies of these early newspapers on file

at the Library of The Historical and Philosophical So-

ciety of Ohio, and at the Mercantile Library we are

able to get a very good idea of their general appearance.

The paper is of a coarse, thick, parchment-like quality.

Even today, after more than a hundred years, though

somewhat yellowed with age, the print is still legible

and, with the exception of a few instances, is in an ex-

cellent state of preservation. The spelling is old fash-

ioned, and some of the words are spelled by sound. A

reader of today hardly understands what is meant when

he reads in an advertisement that a certain man had

some country produce for "s-a-i-l." The long letter s

was used until about 1810, after which it was discon-

tinued, and among the other improvements was the use

of Old English type to head the most important

columns.¹³

From the appearance and general content of the

papers we know that the equipment was limited in many

ways. The first illustrations or cuts appeared about

1800, crude pictures carved from wood. After 1810,

however, they became more elaborate, and were used

in a greater variety of ways. Speaking of the first

print-shop, C. B. Galbreath said, "A wheelbarrow would

have moved all the types, cases, and stands which the

pioneer establishment contained." The press was con-

structed entirely of wood, and in order that the paper

 

12 Ibid., p. 256.

13 The Western Spy, 1810.

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174      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

might be impressed it was operated much as a country

boy operates a ciderpress. The printer daubs his buck-

skin roll into the ink, and then daubs it on the face of

the type. The lever creaks and lo! born to the light of

day is the Centinel of the Northwestern Territory.¹⁴

The later shops were more elaborately equipped, for

with the gradual increase in the number of people

greater demands were made, and the editors were forced

to enlarge their shops.  By 1812 or 1813 some of them

even had separate presses for printing books. How-

ever, despite this equipment printing was limited because

of the scarcity of paper. For several years the edi-

tors were forced to bring their paper from Pennsyl-

vania. It was common in those days to receive a very

much abbreviated edition of the regular newspaper with

the explanation that regular supply of paper had not

arrived, and that the advertisements and other news

items would be put in the next issue. In 1800 a paper

mill was built at Red Stone Old Fort on the Mononga-

hela, and shortly afterwards another mill was located

at Georgetown, Kentucky. About 1803, an old Ger-

man paper maker moved to the Little Miami.      His

plant was crude, but it relieved the pressing needs of the

printers and publishers.¹⁵

But the shortage of paper was not the only diffi-

culty. There was little money in circulation in these

settlements west of the Alleghanies, and the editors

solved the problem of subscription by accepting country

produce. The papers carried a printed list of these

 

14 C. B. Galbreath, Newspapers and Periodicals in Ohio (Columbus,

Ohio, 1902) p. 3.

15 Nelson and Runk, History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, p.

256.

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Early Newspapers of Cincinnati      175

products with prices attached for the benefit of their

subscribers. The subscription price in money was 250

cents per year or 61/4 cents per copy. A subscriber could

pay one-half down, and the other half at the end of six

months. If the first half was paid by the end of the

first two months it was considered in advance.¹⁶  A

statement sometimes followed the subscription price to

the effect that in no case would the paper be discontinued

while any amount remained unpaid, but by 1810 a new

policy had been instituted and all subscriptions were

made payable in advance.17

When William Maxwell first established his shop,

there was no post office in Cincinnati, and other means

had to be provided for the delivery of the paper. One

of the first items that he printed was a statement of the

fact that he had mislaid his subscription list, and he

asked the subscribers to call and get their own paper.¹⁸

A little later he organized his own delivery system and

advertised for a post boy for that purpose. This system

was found to be necessary even after the post office

was established as many of the subscribers lived back

from the regular road.

The conditions in the backwoods settlements were

such that it was almost impossible to gather news. It

is interesting, therefore, to note just what was printed.

The one thing in particular that is of special interest be-

cause of its absence is the lack of editorials, and general

expression of political sentiment. The majority of the

editors were under contract to print the laws and ordi-

nances, and they could hardly be expected to bite the

 

16 The Centinel (any issue).

17 The Western Spy (any issue).

18 The Centinel, Nov. 9, 1793.

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176      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

hand that fed them. But in spite of the fact that they

were governmental employees, we do find from time to

time anonymous discussions of important political ques-

tions signed by classical or assumed names. In the Cen-

tinel these contributions were signed by the names,

Pleblius, and Manlius.19 The Spy and Liberty Hall used

the names, Truth, and Vitrivius.   However, these

anonymous contributions reached a climax in the Liberty

Hall in 1812, when we find in large black figures the title,

"6257, A real black list. One that ought to rouse the in-

dignation of every American who values his liberty." 20

The author of this contribution criticized the govern-

ment for its failure to protect our seamen from impress-

ment, and expressed fear that the inability to cope with

the situation would eventually throw the United States

into the hands of the British. These articles seemed to

express the general attitude of the people toward the

war.

The remaining items of the papers fell into a number

of very clearly defined departments, that corresponded

roughly with the number of pages. The first page was

generally taken up by some public document, speech, or

item that would be of interest to the people. For ex-

ample, on October 8, 1794, William Maxwell printed

the instructions to the Grand Jury. November 16, 1800,

the editor of the Western Spy and Hamilton Gazette

gave the same attention to a lengthy address by Gov-

ernor St. Clair, February 20, 1802, the same editor

printed a copy of the act to incorporate the town of

Cincinnati. A number of such items could be given but

it is sufficient to note their general content. They were

 

19 The Centinel, Nov. 23 and 30, 1793.

20 Liberty  Hall, April 29, 1812.

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Early Newspapers of Cincinnati   177

chosen as articles that might be of interest to a people

who had but little communication with the outside world.

The next division of the papers, from the standpoint

of importance, was that of Foreign Intelligence.  The

information in this department was not necessarily re-

cent. Items from the Old World were usually delayed,

often from six weeks to five months elapsed before they

were printed in these papers. The earlier editors, and

especially William Maxwell, were partial to items con-

cerning France and the French Revolution.  They felt

that we should give our moral support to that Young Re-

public, the organization of which was another step

toward the overthrow of tyrannical government.

The later editors, however, were not so biased, and

were willing to print anything of a foreign nature.

For instance, the editor of the Western Spy and Hamil-

ton Gazette in the issue for July 9, 1800, printed a

graphic description of the appearance of three suns

in Polish Prussia. A little over a year later the same

paper quoted an extract from the London Gazette in

which it was stated that Lord Hobart had received

some dispatches from Egypt.²¹ What such quotations

signified, I was unable to discover, for no attempt was

made to explain them.  Generally speaking, this mass

of material seems to have been chosen with the idea in

mind that any newspaper should print all the news

available concerning international affairs.  The print-

ing of these items did not indicate, however, that any

connection or significance should be given to them.

They were mere space fillers, and items of general in-

terest.

 

21 The Western Spy and Hamilton Gazette, July 29, 1801.

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178      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

A third department was that of National Intelli-

gence. It had no special position and was crowded into

any place on the second or third page.  The contents

were not all that the name seemed to imply, for be-

sides a few items concerning the affairs at Washing-

ton and the Eastern States, there were quotations of

foreign affairs copied from the various Eastern papers.

However, the two divisions, Foreign, and National In-

telligence, were not well defined, but were different

phases of the same subject.

The next department in order, one of little import-

ance, was that of Local Intelligence.  In this division,

it might almost be said that the editor discriminated

against his own community, for, with the exception of

an occasional death notice or marriage announcement,

few items ever found their way into this department.

One phase of the papers that was not well defined,

but was too important to be overlooked, was what might

be termed Miscellaneous Matter. This material dealt

with a variety of subjects in the way of advice, morals,

and religion. In the issue of the Western Spy and Ham-

ilton Gazette for October 27, 1799, there was an article

headed The Farmers Museum, edited by the lay

preacher. In fact, this article was a sermon in which

the author attempted to moralize some local or national

event. In the Western Spy for July 5, 1802, farmers

were advised to burn hay taken from a salt swamp, be-

neath their plum trees to prevent the blossoms from fall-

ing. One paper had an item concerning the Origin of

Love,22 another, contained a character sketch of a mar-

ried man.²³ While these articles did not appear as a

 

22 The Centinel, Nov. 30, 1793.

23 The Western Spy and Hamilton Gazette, Aug. 13, 1800.

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Early Newspapers of Cincinnati   179

regular division of the papers, yet they appeared to re-

flect to a large degree the seriousness and religious

atmosphere that seemed to permeate the pioneer settle-

ment.

There was another side to the nature of the pioneer,

one which the editors tried to satisfy by poetry. This

poetry did not appear at first as a regular division of

the paper, but each succeeding editor was willing to

print all the material that came his way. There were

a few poems scattered through the Ccntinel, but poetry

first appeared as a recognized division of the papers

in the Western Spy and  Hamilton Gazette in 1800,

where it was printed under the caption, "The Seat of

the Muses." A few months later this heading was

changed to "Parnassiad," but by 1810 the classical names

had been dropped, and the column was headed, "Poetry."

A great majority of subjects were treated. March 8,

1794, William Maxwell printed a Bachelor's Soliloquy

that was a parody on the well known soliloquy of Ham-

let. December 1, 1802, the Western Spy and Hamilton

Gazette had a similar composition on The Toothache, in

which the horrors of the forceps and the possibilities of

a broken jaw were drawn out to some length. August

6, 1800, in the same paper we find a receipt for the

cure of a love fit which ends with the direction to

* * * "let him take a fair swing

And leave all the rest to the work of the string."

 

It is evident from this that the only known cure for a

love fit at that time was hanging.  In the issue of

August 27, of the same year there was an extract from

a London paper on the death of General Washington.

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180      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

"Illustrious warrior; on thy immortal base

By freedom reared, thy envied name shall stand,

And fame by truth inspired shall fondly trace

Thee, pride and guardian of thy native land."

 

Other poems appeared from     time to time, very few

of which were worth remembering. Taken as a whole.

the department of poetry showed very little originality.

Some of the poems were hardly more than a collection

of rhymed sentences. There were, however, a few clas-

sical forms, copies from  the works of Milton, and

Shakespeare, but the subject matter was so trivial and

unimportant that the poems became a mere farce and

their significance lost.

Along with the poetry there developed a column of

ancedotes that might be compared to the wit and humor

in the Literary Digest or Ladies  Home Journal.  The

Liberty Hall and Cincinnati Mercury, in the issue for

September 1, 1806, prints the following:

"A knavish attorney asked a very worthy gentleman, 'What

is honesty?' 'What is that to you,' replied he, 'meddle with those

things that concern you.' "

The anecdotes could not be considered clever, and at

times they were little better than rude stories.  The

pioneer lived a rough life, and it is not surprising that

he was unable to appreciate wit and humor of the finer

type.

The last, but not the least important division of

these papers, was the advertisements. From them we

are able to get more information concerning pioneer

life than from all the news items combined The

earlier papers did not give much space to this depart-

ment, but by 1810 it had become more important, and

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Early Newspapers of Cincinnati    181

occupied a part of almost every page.  The few ad-

vertisements in the Centinel usually dealt with lost or

stolen property, deserters from the army, or notices

concerning some faithless wife who had abandoned her

husband's bed and board without due provocation. The

wilderness was vast and there were few settlers, there-

fore, it is not at all strange that the soldiers at Fort

Washington sometimes grew tired of the monotony of

army life and deserted. The settlers did not find life to

be any easier than did the soldiers. The building of

homes and the subduing of the country was necessary,

and very often the brunt of the hardships fell to the lot

of the woman. And like the soldier, sometimes she

grew tired of her lot, and sought new adventures farther

West with some man other than her husband.

By 1813 or 1814 Cincinnati had become more than

a thriving village. She could boast of the fact that her

merchants received their goods from Pittsburgh by boat,

and with the later development of the then "marvelous

elastic vapor" or steam, Cincinnati rapidly became the

central city in western commerce. As early as 1793 or

1794, the Centinel carried a list of the Packet boats, and

schedule of their movements for the benefit of the sub-

scribers.

By 1800 more effort was put forth to draw settlers

from the East. The various papers made every effort

possible to show what a wonderful country there was on

the west side of the Alleghanies. One paper went so

far as to print an article concerning the probabilities that

the Garden of Eden had been located in the Ohio Valley.24

As far back as 1802 we find traces of slaves escaping

 

24 The Western Spy and Miami Gazette, Jan. 6, 1807.

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182      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

from their masters and fleeing North.  In that year

one of the papers printed an offer of fifty dollars made

by Andrew Jackson, who afterwards became president

of the United States, for the recovery of a negro slave

who had escaped from his plantation on the Cumber-

land River.²⁵ This might be called the beginning of

what afterwards became famous as the underground

railway.

By 1810 Cincinnati had become a thriving little

town with a number of industries. As labor was scarce,

it was customary for the master of a craft to take some

young lad as an apprentice. It is evident that the ap-

prentice and the master did not always get on well, for

frequently the lad would run away, and there would

appear an advertisement of one cent reward for his

return.²⁶

We also find a number of schools advertised to

teach reading, writing, drawing, and fine sewing, or

drawing and fine sewing for so much per quarter.  It

is probable that the drawing and fine sewing were offered

to meet the needs of certain fashionable young women.

We find that in 1806 Garret Lane advertised to teach

the most fashionable mode of dancing for three dollars

per quarter.²⁷ Doubtless drawing, fine sewing, and

dancing completed the higher education of the young

women of that day. Further attempts were made in

the direction of higher education, for in 1807 a move-

ment was instituted to raise by lottery a sum of money

to found "The Cincinnati University."  Tickets were

on sale at the Liberty Hall office at five dollars each.28

 

25 The Western Spy and Hamilton Gazette, April 26, 1802

26 The Liberty Hall, Oct. 22, 1805.

27 The Western Spy and Miami Gazette, Aug. 26, 1806.

28 The Liberty Hall, Dec. 1, 1807.

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Early Newspapers of Cincinnati         183

By this time Cincinnati was beyond the village stage

and was rapidly approaching what Daniel Drake, in

Pictures of Cincinnati, published in 1815, termed The

Infant City. For in addition to the trade with the out-

side world there were some thriving industries at home.

In a few short years Cincinnati was destined to be-

come The Queen City of the West.      The War of 1812

had crushed the menace of the British and Indians on

the North, and all the vast wilderness was open to set-

tlers from the East.

The newspaper records close with the year 1814.

That year also marked the close of an epoch in the his-

tory of the West. The enemy on the North had been

crushed, and the initial settlements had been founded.

Henceforth without hindrance, progress and civilization

would travel Westward.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Newspapers.

Liberty Hall and Cincinnati Mercury, 1804-1814.  Cincin-

nati, Ohio.

The Centinel of the Northwestern Territory, 1793-1796. Cin-

cinnati, Ohio.

The Western Spy, 1799-1811. Cincinnati, Ohio.

Books, Secondary Authorities.

C. B. Galbreath, Newspapers and Periodicals in Ohio, Colum-

bus, Ohio, 1902.

Henry A. Ford and Mrs. Kate B. Ford, History of Cincin-

nati, Ohio. Cleveland, Ohio, 1881.

Charles Theodore Greve, Centennial History of Cincinnati.

and Representative Citizens, 2 vols., Chicago, Illinois, 1904.

S. B. Nelson and J. M. Runk, History of Cincinnati and

Hamilton County, Ohio, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1894.

• 15