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[p. 172]
PIONEER NEWSPAPERS OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA � THE PALLADIUM AND ITS FOUNDER � THE CENTINEL � REPOSITORY � PROPOSED HERALD, AND FREEMAN�S JOURNAL - THE DEMOCRATIC HERALD AND JACOB ZIEGLER � WHIG � AMERICAN � WILLIAM HASLETT � STAR SPANGLED BANNER � UNION, AND UNION-HERALD � AMERICAN CITIZEN � BUTLER CITIZEN � PRESS � FAIR AND FESTIVAL � NORTHWESTERN INDEPENDENT � EAGLE � OILMAN�S JOURNAL � RECORD � SEMI-MONTHLY � TIMES � ORPHAN�S FRIEND � TIDINGS � MAGNET � MILLERSTOWN NEWSPAPERS � NEWSPAPERS OF PETROLIA AND VICINITY � NEWSPAPERS OF PROSPECT, ZELIENOPLE, CENTREVILLE AND SAXONBURG.
The beginnings of literary activity in Western Pennsylvania dates back to July 29, 1786, when the Pittsburg Gazette was founded by John SCULL. It was the first newspaper published west of the Allegheny mountains, and was distributed by special courier among the sparse settlements adjacent to Pittsburg. The earliest newspaper venture north of that place was the Crawford Weekly Messenger, established by Thomas ATKINSON at Meadville in 1805. Three years later George WYETH began the publication of the Mirror at Erie, and in 1811 the Western Press was founded at Mercer by Jacob HERRINGTON. The latter is still one of the leading weeklies of Mercer county, after a checkered career of more than eighty years.
In 1881 the pioneer newspaper of Butler county was established. Reference to the transactions of the commissioners in a previous chapter will show the sums paid out annually to the Pittsburg newspapers, and account, in a measure, for the courage which led to the establishment of a newspaper in Butler. The population of the county was approaching the 10,000 mark, Butler was organized as a borough and society was assuming modern forms, when its first newspaper was founded.
The Butler Palladium and Republican Star was issued August 17, 1818, by John GALBRAITH. Number 41 of Volume 1, dated March 27, 1819, now in possession of Charles DUFFY, is a four page folio of four columns to the page. The typography is very much superior to that of its immediate successors, but the local news is confined almost exclusively to the advertising columns. The rate per annum was two dollars in advance, or two dollars and a half if paid within the year, and the advertising rate, one dollar per square, for three insertions. The advertisements in the Palladium of March, 1819, included the McNAIR and LOWREY notices, referred to in the chapter on public lands; the fulling and dying house of William and Henry NEYMAN, of Centre township; the shop of Alexander ANDERSON, shoemaker; the general store of M. B. and W. LOWRIE; the grist and fulling mills of John NEGLEY; the store of Charles CIST and Company, of [p. 173] Harmony, and the tannery of Hugh McKEE. Calls for the settlement of accounts by Patrick HAGERTY, William CAMPBELL, and Robert SCOTT, and partnership notices of John EMPY and Robert DICKEY, blacksmiths, and of Patrick McDERMOTT and William JOHNSTON, blacksmiths.
John GALBRAITH, founder of the Palladium, was a son of John GALBRAITH, Sr., a native of Ireland, who served in the War of the Revolution as a soldier in the Pennsylvania Line. In 1796 the family came to Butler county and settled in Centre township, where the sons John, Alexander W., and James, became well-known pioneers. The mother was a daughter of Matthew WHITE, an early settler of the county, and brought from Huntington county a female slave who became free before the emancipation act of Pennsylvania was passed, but remained with the GALBRAITH family until her death. John GALBRAITH read law with William AYRES, and was admitted to practice November 10, 1818; but having established the Palladium he devoted his attention to his newspaper until his removal to Franklin, Venango county, in 1819. He soon after married Amy AYRES, a daughter of Rev. Robert AYRES, an Episcopal minister of Franklin. In 1828 he was elected to the legislature, and served four consecutive terms in that body. He was elected to Congress in 1832 and re-elected in 1834. In 1837 he was elected president judge, a position he held until his death, June 15, 1860.
The Butler Centinel succeeded The Palladium in October, 1820. It espoused the Federalist part warmly, and in 1824 was intensely anti-Jacksonian. Moses and John SULLIVAN, the editors and owners, adopted as the motto of their journal the following phrase of Washington: -- "Watching with zealous anxiety for the preservation of your National Union, and discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned." The publishers adhered to this motto and made of their journal a fair newspaper for the time and place. A copy of the Centinel of November 18, 1820, Number 7 of Volume 1, shows a folio of four pages, each of four columns, and printed in old-time small pica. A lengthy advertisement by Francis R. SHUNK, Frederick W. LEOPOLD and Louis GALL�the land committee of the German Society at Harrisburg�appears in this issue. A caution against taking notes, by Joshua MCELFISH; an advertisement of Joseph MCQUISTION, the boot and shoemaker; of James THOMPSON, the blacksmith, and of Henry NEYMAN, the hatter; together with calls for the settlement of accounts by David SCOTT, John MCQUISTION, POTTS & DOUGAL and Ross GATELEY, the school-teacher, are all given. The news is generally foreign with a few selected articles. The SULLIVANs published the paper about four years. They were prominent factors in the pioneer development of Butler and are appropriately mentioned in another chapter.
In the fall of 1824 William STEWART and Joseph BUFFINGTON bought the plant, changed the name of the paper to "Sentinel," enlarged it and extended its line of news. The Sentinel of February 11, 1826, was numbered new series, Volume 2, Number 60, old series, Volume 6., STEWART and BUFFINGTON being then editors. On April 14, 1826, BUFFINGTON retired from the partnership and STEWART continued publication. In his salutatory he says:
[p. 174] Taught from the cradle to revere those principles for which the fathers of the Revolution "pledged their lives and sacred honors;" educated where alone republicanism in its purity is to be found, in the cabin; it need not, nor will it be thought strange that my predilections are strongly in favor of the Democratic party.
In May, 1826, the office was moved to the house then occupied by Rev. Isaiah NIBLOCK, formerly used as a printing office by John SULLIVAN, on the corner of Washington and West streets. The muse of the Sentinel writing the "Carrier's Address," in January, 1829, became prophetic. His fifth stanza, of twelve lines, discloses his ideas:�
Pause here, my muse�look forward and you'll see
How wondrous great the land of Penn shall be�
Chequer'd with railroads and canals beside;
While roaring engines�boats shall on them glide,
Bearing our products to every clime,
In rich profusion from the field and mine.
What halcyon days shall then succeed our toil!
Fruits grow spontaneous from the untended soil!
Fat pigs and ducks, with knife and fork transfixed,
Cry, "Eat us! Eat us." Wine with nectar mixed
Shall to our lips be pressed! How blessings throng!
The theme does quite intoxicate my song.
The prices which STEWART paid for type in 1829 are as follows: Pearl, per pound, $1.40; nonpareil, ninety cents; minion, seventy cents; brevier, fifty-six cents; bourgeois, forty-six cents; long primer, forty cents; small pica, thirty-eight cents; and pica thirty-six cents. Larger primers, from thirty-four to thirty cents, and scabbards and quotations, thirty cents. These prices were subject to a discount of five per cent for cash, but the editor does not show that he took advantage of the liberal terms offered by the foundrymen. Under date, February 6, 1830, STEWART says:
The Sentinel was unable to report last week, his fire-lock being out of order for want of elbow grease. A little of the old oil which he first used when he posted himself in Butler, being applied this week, enabled him to fire off once more. Our patrons may expect a weekly report after this.
In 1830 Parker C. PURVIANCE and George W. SMITH purchased the Sentinel, cleared the office of all Democratic tendencies, opposed the Masonic order with vehemence, and then, being true Whigs, gave battle without quarter to the Democrats. In the campaign of 1840, they exhausted themselves, and soon after, the Sentinel, having finished its mission, went the way of all things human.
The Repository was issued March 14, 1823, by Maurice and John BREDIN. The salutatory sets fourth the belief of the publishers that another newspaper in the place would be useful, and was desired by a considerable portion of the citizens of this county. As Democratic-Republicans they claimed the right of expressing their opinions on public men and public affairs, but declared that the columns of The Repository should be open to the opinions of all. This journal was issued every Friday, at the rate of two dollars per annum. The terms for advertising were one dollar per square for four insertions, and twenty-five cents for each continuance. European and Asiatic news items occupied nearly two [p. 175] pages, State politics a half page, advertising a half page and miscellaneous papers one page. A notice of the marriage of William LOCHEAD, of Cranberry, to Nancy RENISON, of Middlesex, by Squire STOOLFIRE, and the advertisements of William HAGERTY, merchant, and Francis MCCLURE, dyer, appear. On December 3, 1824, the publishers of The Repository said editorially:
We have understood that Messrs. STEWART & BUFFINGTON, to whom the Butler Sentinel has been transferred, have enlarged their paper. Although the support that a new country like this can afford a newspaper, will scarcely meet the expenses incident-to-the publication of a paper on a super-royal sheet, yet, being desirous that our readers shall have no reasonable cause of complaint, as to the size of our paper, we will make arrangements immediately for publishing The Repository on a larger sheet, and expect that in two or three weeks at farthest, The Repository will appear in a new dress.
The promise was carried into effect on December 17, 1824, when four five-column pages, printed in long primer, were presented to its readers. With the exception of four advertisements and the announcement of enlargement, the paper did not contain a reference to Butler county affairs. The recognition of the BREDIN Brothers enterprise by the Sentinel, was so exceedingly slow and modest, that The Repository had to notice this inattention editorially.
In 1831 John BREDIN was commissioned judge of the new Seventeenth judicial district. Expecting preferment at the bar, he retired from journalism in 1830, and with him his brother, Maurice. The office became the property of James MCGLAUGHLIN and John MCCLELLAND, who appear to have carried on The Repository until June 27, 1835, when it bears the imprint of MCGLAUGHLIN & ZIEGLER. Shortly after, David SHANNON and John LITTLE became owners, and they may be said to have carried on its publication down to May, 1842, when it sunk its identity in the new Democratic Herald.
The Butler Herald was a paper of the imagination�originating in the brain of George W. SMITH, once a member of the Butler bar. The prospectus of the Herald was published in the Sentinel of July 4, 1829, by SMITH, who proposed to make it the organ of the anti-Masonic and anti-intemperance people of Butler, as well as of the colonizationists. At first, the editor designed it as a semi-monthly periodical, then as a weekly; but seeing the Sentinel and The Repository in possession of the field he concluded to abandon the proposed enterprise.
The Freeman's Journal was proposed May 25, 1830, by Peter DUFFY. His object, or one of them, was to teach the dangers of class government, that is a coalition of those who wish to consume without producing, to occupy all public places without being competent to fill them, and to seize upon all honors without meriting them. The prospectus of the Journal, at least, leads one to the conclusion that eternal enmity between himself and such non-competents formed one of the motives for embarking in newspaper life. He looked upon the opposition to the Masons as a movement without patriotic, but with selfish foundations. The project was not carried into execution, as he concluded to use the columns of the two journals then published in Butler for scattering his political ideas among the people.
The Democratic Herald was founded in May, 1842, by James MCGLAUGHLIN and Jacob ZIEGLER. On November 19, 1845, James MCGLAUGHLIN issued his vale- [p. 176] dictory as publisher, and Samuel G. PURVIS, who purchased his interest and became associated with Jacob ZIEGLER in its management, issued his salutatory. On June 27, 1848, the names of Samuel G. PURVIS and Joseph MCMURTRY appear as publishers, and so continued until February 3, 1849, when James MCGLAUGHLIN and Cornelius COLL became owners. On January 12, 1850, the name of Andrew E. MARSHALL was substituted for that of MCGLAUGHLIN, and under the direction of MARSHALL and COLL the Herald entered on the second half of the Nineteenth century, still advocating the principles of Jefferson, Madison, Jackson and Polk. On March 15, 1851, Jacob ZIEGLER resumed his place as owner, vice COLL, and announced that "as long speeches are never read, we shall snap them short off by saying: We are Democratic in thought, word and deed, and shall endeavor to be as honorable to political opponents as their conduct deserves."
In April following the office was moved to the house formerly occupied by R. & J. CUNNINGHAM, on Main street, where it was issued for some years. On July 5, 1854, the editor charged that the Know Nothing journals were edited by foreigners, and pointed out that Know Nothingism was not a conviction, but a pretence used conveniently by demagogues. Of course the Whig party came in for a whipping, and the editor stated that said party rarely, if ever, obtained victory except by some kind of an ism, or an unnatural and unhealthy excitement built on some ism.
The valedictory of Jacob ZIEGLER, as editor, and the salutatory of Joseph P. PATTERSON appeared under date March 21, 1885. The attacks on the political fungi of that period, so well sustained by "Uncle Jake," were continued with unabated zeal by the new editor. John H. NEGLEY assumed control of the Herald November 28, 1855. On July 3, 1858, Mr. NEGLEY retired and Samuel and John C. COLL became editors and publishers.
The Herald in its issue of December 4, 1861, announced that it would be mailed to subscribers of the Butler Union, according to arrangement with Mr. IRVIN. In the issue of December 11, the valedictory of S. P. IRVIN appears, and in it he tells of the consolidation of the Butler Union with the Herald, under the title:�The Union-Herald. On the last given date, the new title appeared at the head of the old Herald, with the firm name of J. C. COLL & Company as publishers. IN 1867, Jacob and Alfred G. ZIEGLER purchased the office from COLL, and in 1872-1873, the paper was called "Ziegler's Democratic Herald," but was soon changed to the original name.
The obituary of William JOHNSON in the issue of December, 1872, after describing the life of the old printer, indulged in the following play upon chapel-words:
Poor Bill! His life was one of dashes, but his imprudence put a period to them. His bed is now in the bosom of mother earth, and although his form no longer stands on its feet, we hope it is not beyond justification.
From 1867 up to the death of Mr. ZIEGLER, the Herald enjoyed a fair share of prosperity, and its pages bore the imprint of his originality. Coming from Gettysburg to Butler in August, 1831, he entered the office of The Repository the following month as devil, where he soon became known as "The devil from Gettysburg." He served an apprenticeship of two and one-half years, and was then [p. 177] graduated as a full-fledged typo. He worked as a journeyman in the same office up to the spring of 1842, when he became one of the founders of the Democratic Herald, and, with the exception of the period between 1855 and 1867, when the paper was in other hands, his was the master-mind that guided its destiny. For nearly half a century "Uncle Jake" was one of the best known and most highly respected men in Butler county; while his strong and vigorous personality infused into the editorial pages of his paper, gave him a wide reputation among the journalists of Pennsylvania, and won for the paper the characteristic title of "ZIEGLER's Herald."
After his death, Judge James BREDIN and Stephen CUMMINGS, the administrators of his estate, were the actual managers, Mr. CUMMINGS giving it personal attention until October 26, 1888, when the office was sold to W. G. ZIEGLER (a nephew of "Uncle Jacob"), and James A. MCKEE, who have since been the editors and publishers. The circulation of the Herald is about 2,000. Since Jacob ZIEGLER's time, the office has experienced two removals, first from the old Beatty hotel to the frame building at the rear of the Troutman store, formerly the post-office, as kept by Thomas WHITE. In August, 1893 the last move to the present Herald building was made. This is a three-story and basement structure, well lighted, and particularly adapted for a newspaper office. It was erected at a cost of $6,000.
The Butler County Whig was the Sentinel revivified in a new body and a new dress. In William HASLETT's salutatory, as editor of The Whig, issued June 24, 1846, it is said, among other things:�
Secret and Oath-bound Societies we shall ever oppose, because we believe such societies unnecessary, Anti-Republican, and fraught with immediate or ultimate danger to the liberties of the country, especially if they are controlled, as they are known to have been, by the influence of evil or designing men.
HASLETT continued its publication alone until October 10, 1850, when J. L. BREDIN became associate publisher and editor; he, however, may be said to have been the sole worker in the office down to August 25, 1852, when he asked for and obtained a dissolution of the partnership. Mr. HASLETT sold the Whig, in April, 1855, to William B. LEMMON, and the Herald, noticing the change said, in its issue of April 18, that "to HASLETT must be credited the establishment of the Whig and its successful management for the past ten years."
The Butler American.�Following the purchase of the Whig, W. B. LEMMON bought, in April 1855, The Star Spangled Banner, the organ of the Know Nothings, from JOHNSTON, its publisher. That he consolidated with the Whig, then known as the Butler American, under the title The Butler American and Star of Liberty, and declared the combination ready to espouse Know Nothingism in any shape. In September, 1859, Edwin LYON became part owner of the Butler American, and with Mr. HASLETT, who had again got control, carried on that journal. In January, 1861, this paper begged Congress to do anything for peace, although some years before under LEMMON it was engaged in sowing the seeds of political and religious intolerance. HASLETT continued to publish the American up to October, 1865, when the plant was purchased by Thomas ROBINSON and the material removed to the office of the Citizen. [p. 178]
Mr. HASLETT deserves special mention in this chapter because of his long and prominent connection with journalism in Butler. Two years after disposing of the American he established the Butler County Press, and continued its publication until the spring of 1869, when he sold out to John H. NEGLEY, and retired permanently from the newspaper field, after an active career of twenty-three years. He was also prominent in the local political arena, and was elected to the legislature in 1844; to the State senate in 1849, and again to the legislature in 1863, and for several years held office under the National Government. Mr. HASLETT was a leading spirit in the enactment of the railroad bill, which won for Butler county its first iron highway, and he always manifested a deep interest in the growth and prosperity of his home. He died December 10, 1872, three years after retiring from his last editorial charge.
The Star Spangled Banner never was so illy used as when the name was placed by one JOHNSTON at the head of a little paper which he printed here in 1853-1855. It was an organ of discord, publishing as many lies to the square inch as the most vicious publisher of our own day could desire. The Butler American and Star of Liberty was little better while under the control of W. B. LEMMON.
The Butler Union was suggested late in 1860. S. P. IRVIN, as the publisher, wished to unite all parties, regardless of political bias, in a bond of Union, which would insure the more prompt subjection of the armies of the Confederacy. There was little use for such a journal a few months later; for, however much men differed on the method of subduing the Confederates, all men here were determined that there should not be two nations between the Gulf of Mexico and the St. Lawrence. On December 11, 1861, the Union merged into the Democratic-Herald, and for the nonce, the title The Union-Herald was adopted. In fact, on December 4, the Butler Union ceased publication.
The Union-Herald was issued by J. C. COLL & Company, December 11, 1861. On January 21, 1863, its volume number was XXL and issue number 29, showing it to be the Democratic-Herald of 1842 under a new name. Clark WILSON was then editor and publisher. It, too, lost its identity in the Herald.
The American Citizen was established by Thomas ROBINSON and Maj. Cyrus E. ANDERSON, and issued December 9, 1863. At the head of the editorial column was the name of Abraham Lincoln, and this, with the fact that Mr. ROBINSON was to be the political editor and Mr. ANDERSON local editor, tell at once that the new journal was a Republican paper. The motto was, "Let us have faith that Right makes Might; and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it."�A. Lincoln. The office was in the brick building formerly tenanted by REIBER & YETTER, opposite Jack's Hotel, now the Lowry House, with entrance from Jefferson street. Paper could not be obtained to print the Citizen of April 20, 1864, and this reason was given for its non-appearance. On January 9, 1865, Major ANDERSON retired, owing to his duties in the provost marshal's office requiring all his attention. The surrender of Lee was announced in the issue of April 12, 1865. On the editorial page appears the picture of an eagle, holding four spears in his claws and a small flag in his mouth, bearing the words: "Lincoln and the Union, forever." Above the picture are the names: Grant, Sheridan, Sherman, Thomas and Hancock. The issue of April 19 was in [p. 179] mourning over the assassination of Lincoln. On October 11, 1865, William HASLETT closed his connection with the Butler American and the office became the property of the American Citizen.
On December 12, 1866, Cyrus E. ANDERSON succeeded Mr. ROBINSON as owner and editor, and filled that position for nearly two years and a half. In the valedictory of Major ANDERSON, which appeared in The American Citizen of April 14, 1869, he says: "The paper has passed into experienced hands. Mr. NEGLEY has previously occupied the editorial chair, and will, no doubt, conduct the paper with marked ability." On the same date the greeting of the new editor was issued. April 7, 1869, Mr. NEGLEY purchased the Citizen and in May he bought the office of The Butler County Press with all HASLETT's rights in that journal.
The Butler Citizen is the lineal descendant of the Centinel of 1820, and all the Federal, Whig, American and Republican newspapers, published here prior to 1870, are its foundation stones. The venerable Centinel, the Butler County Whig, the well edited American Citizen, and the Press, as well as the Butler American and the Star Spangled Banner, are in its foundation. William C. NEGLEY was admitted a partner of his father in November, 1872, and in September, 1888 became the sole owner. The Citizen is particularly noticeable for its attention to pioneer matters, such as deaths of old residents, and historical notices. Its news paragraphs are well written; while its editorials show a desire for fair play between parties and for justice to the country at large.
The Butler County Press was established by William HASLETT August 14, 1867, and carried on by him until its suspension in 1869. As stated previously, the office was purchased by Mr. NEGLEY a short time after the publication ceased.
The Fair and Festival, the first daily bulletin issued at Butler, was offered for sale December 26, 1868, and continued publication until January 14, 1869. It was suggested by Maj. J. B. BUTLER for benevolent purposes, and it may be said that he was the editor. Though only a one-column daily, it showed the editorial, news and advertisement divisions of a modern journal. The little paper was devoted in toto to the interests of the Ladies' Fair and Festival, containing notices of its progress, advertisements of the prizes offered, and names of the daily winners. Major BUTLER, with whom the idea originated, died only recently. Though not a resident of Butler, he was buried here, and his remains rest in the old graveyard opposite St. Paul's Catholic church, in the building of which he was interested enough to aid in organizing the fair of 1868-69 as a means of collecting funds for its construction.
The Northwestern Independent, a monthly paper, was issued at Butler in July, 1869, by Clark WILSON. Of course, when he established the Oilman's Journal, the Independent ceased.
The Butler Eagle was established in February, 1870, as a Republican journal. A company, the greater number of the members of which were veterans of the War of the Rebellion, was organized with the object of giving to the county a newspaper which would expound the ideas of the soldier or military element of the Republican party, and inculcate lessons of patriotism from their point of view. The directors of the company were W. L. GRAHAM, president; F. M. EASTMAN, Hugh MORRISON, J. B. STORY and Cyrus E. ANDERSON. The officers were [p. 180] Thomas ROBINSON, political editor; John M. GREER, local editor; Edwin LYON, agricultural editor, and F. M. EASTMAN, business manager. In fact, there was too much organization in all this, and serious differences of opinion were expected from the beginning. Those expectations were realized; for in a little while Hugh MORRISON and J. B. CLARK were appointed editors vice Thomas ROBINSON, resigned. In 1871 Mr. ROBINSON became sole owner, and from that period down to January 1, 1879, his trenchant pen was made visible in the editorial pages and often in the news columns.
The Eagle was purchased by Eli D. ROBINSON, a son of the founder, January 1, 1879, and edited by him solely until February 7, 1881, when James M. CARSON purchased an interest and at once assumed the position of associate editor. It is needless to speak of the progress of this paper under the management of ROBINSON & CARSON. While they did not surrender a single Republican idea, they made politics, even in bitter campaigns, agreeable; for they surrounded attacks on the opposition with credits for the good parts of the enemy, and thus, giving justice where due, won respect. The Eagle is credited in Rowell's Newspaper Directory with a weekly circulation of 1,800. It is well printed and edited, while its news columns tell of the thorough effort made by the publishers to gather the news items. From March, 1888, to October, 1889, Professor BANCROFT held a position in the local department of this paper. The Eagle was issued at first from the old George W. SMITH building on the northeast corner of the Diamond, late the law office of Thomas ROBINSON. In 1885, ROBINSON & CARSON erected the present Eagle Building, on Main street, on a lot purchased, in 1884, from the DOUGAL heirs. In February, 1895, Mr. ROBINSON purchased Mr. CARSON's interest, and is now sole proprietor.
The Oilman's Journal was established by Clark WILSON, at Parker. Volume III, Number 41, is dated August 31, 1872. In November following, his son, H. C. WILSON, was admitted a partner and, in January, 1877, the office was moved to Butler, where the Journal was issued February 16, 1877, being Number 11, of Volume VIII. Clark WILSON was then editor and proprietor. Knowing Butler in the days of Civil War, when he tried to Unionize the conflicting sentiments of the people, he came now to aid the old capital of the new oil field and carried out his intention in the matter. In June, 1877, the devil, in the office of The Oilman's Journal, demonstrated his possession of the gift of poetry in the following verse;
The first moskeeteer's come,
We heard him blow his horn,
While catching minnows
In the creek, the other morn,
Down by Boos' mill.
The Butler County Record, formerly The Petrolia Record, was founded October 27, 1877, at Petrolia, by Charles E. HERR, in connection with a printing office carried on there by the publisher. In April, 1878, the size was increased from the original folio of twenty columns to a folio of twenty-eight columns, and in every respect the Record was made worth of the busy oil center, which Petrolia then was. The editor gave time and attention to his work and painted in glowing words each week's doings in that interesting oil field. Among the reporters and [p. 181] contributors at Petrolia were D. W. MOOREHOUSE, now a preacher of the gospel at Newburyport, Massachusetts; Dr. B. L. DAVIS, F. F. HERR, W. F. JORDAN and L. H. PATTERSON.
On removing the office to Butler, the name was changed to the Butler County Record, and the first number, under this new name, was issued June 6, 1888. On October 1, 1889, Prof. P. S. BANCROFT, formerly of the Witherspoon Institute, and later in the local department of The Eagle, was engaged as associate editor�a position he still holds. Messrs. HERR and BANCROFT are earnest workers in the newspaper field and aim to make their columns as interesting and newsy as they were in the lively days when the great Petrolia oil field yielded up its surprises, jokes and tragedies daily. It is now a neatly printed journal of thirty-six columns, politically independent and carefully edited. The certified circulation is 1,700.
The Semi-Monthly was established in September, 1881, by C. M. and W. J. HEINEMAN, as a magazine, and issued from their office in the HEINEMAN building until 1884. Two or three other little papers were published at intervals.
The Times, an evening paper, was founded April 14, 1884, by Charles M. and W. J. HEINEMAN and W. G. ZIEGLER, as "The Times Publishing Company," with the object of furnishing the public of Butler and neighborhood the cream of the daily news and details of the oil field. At that time it was a four-page journal, neatly printed, each page being eleven by eight inches. On January 1, 1885, The Times was enlarged to eleven by fifteen inches, and the news columns extended, and on August 3, 1885, the size was again increased to twenty-two by fifteen inches. Later that fall W. G. ZIEGLER sold his interests to the HEINEMANs, since which time the brothers have carried it on with good success. The circulation of the Times daily is about 800.
The Weekly Times, established in August, 1884, as a seven-column, four-page journal, is now an eight-page paper of forty-eight columns. The job department of this office is very complete and the patronage quite large; while the new two-story printing office erected in 1894 is one of the most complete in the county.
The Orphan's Friend was a periodical issued by Rev. P. C. PRUGH of St. Paul's Orphans' Home in 1882. It was established by Rev. T. F. STAUFFER, who was editor down to December, 1882. Like other denominational journals it has passed away.
The Tidings, published by Rev. J. Q. WATERS of the Butler English Lutheran church, was issued in April, 1883, but its life was not of long duration.
The Magnet, a semi-monthly magazine, is published by the students of the Butler High School, Edgar H. NEGLEY being editor-in-chief. Nine other editors, a business manager and an assistant manager find mention on the editorial page. Number 14 of volume 11, dated May 29, 1893, is a very credible specimen.
The Sand Pump, the first half-sheet of a daily paper, was issued at Millerstown, by O. H. JACKSON, in August, 1873. It was a trial issue to learn how far he could depend on the busy oil men and business community for support in pub- [p. 182] lishing a daily journal. How far the trial warranted success is shown by the fact that the Daily Sand Pump was issued regularly in September, 1873, and, to use the words of a contemporary, "went like hot cakes." It was an eight by ten inch sheet filled with oily paragraphs and advertisements. The people tired of it, however, in a little while, and the Sand Pump ceased working.
The Millerstown Review was a venture of the Rev. A. S. THORN, who attempted to monopolize the advertising patronage of the oil field. It was established in 1875, after an experience at Greece City and other places. It was published with some degree of regularity until 1879, when THORN, driven off by competitors, removed to Atwood, Kansas, to begin the publication of The Pioneer.
The Millerstown Herald was founded by S. J. SMALL in Centennial year. On May 19 1877, he sold his interest in the paper and material to P. A. RATTIGAN, who made it a photograph of the oil field, as well as a stanch supporter of the Democratic party. During the last few years the Millerstown Herald obtained a large circulation, and has become a popular vehicle of news for the whole county. Nothing escapes its watchful editor, and, as a result, its news columns are replete in paragraphs bristling with common sense, while its editorials are read with interest by Republicans as well as Democrats.
The Advertiser was the pioneer journal of that borough, antedating the Record (the history of which has been previously given) by a few months. LERCH & MAPES, the publishers, surrendered the field to Charles E. HERR, when he made known his intention of starting the Petrolia Record in 1877.
The Producers' Free Press was established early in 1878, by LERCH & MAPES, as a journal wholly devoted to the oil interests of the Petrolia field. To insure the success of their second venture here, they engaged P. C. BOYLE to take editorial charge, and while he edited the Free Press it met with a fair measure of success. Subsequently, the owners made the way clear for the Record, finding the battle for precedence to be against them.
The Fairview Reporter was founded in 1872 by Col. Samuel YOUNG, and continued publication for about twelve months, when he sought a more promising field. Among his aids was R. W. CRISSWELL, afterward a good describer of the oil fields in the Oil City Derrick and other papers.
The Advertiser was issued at Buena Vista, in December, 1873, as a tri-weekly paper, by J. D. Springstead. Old newspaper men at Butler do not remember such a journal; but yet it is of record.
The Item was established at Greece City in March, 1873, by Rev. A. S. THORN, a Presbyterian preacher and principal of West Sunbury Academy. W. W. MCQUISTION and Andrew FITZSIMMONS, typos, assisted him in the office. It called the place "Grease City," said other disagreeable things about the extraordinary little oil town, and went the way of such journals in a very short period.
The Karns City Item was the first newspaper issued at Karns City. It may have been the same as that at Greece city, with the title changed to suit Karns City or vice versa. It was a small sheet, yet it held the field for almost a year. [p. 183]
The Telephone was established at Karns City by J. BORLAND, in 1878, and was regularly published there until 1882, when he moved the office to Pine Grove, Mercer county.
Labor's Voice was founded at Martinsburg by Patrick C. BOYLE. He was born in Donegal county, Ireland, came to the United States in 1846, with his parents, and was raised at Brady's Bend, Armstrong county. In January, 1862, he entered the Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and re-enlisted in March, 1864. From 1868 to 1874, he was connected with wells and pipe lines in this field, but in the latter year entered the domain of journalism. In 1877 he established the first labour journal in the oil region at Martinsburg, in Parker township. To-day Mr. BOYLE is publisher of the Oil City Derrick, and one of the best known citizens in Western Pennsylvania.
The Prospect Record published by John S. FAIRMAN and edited by Dr. D. H. B. BROWER, was issued at Prospect in July, 1853. It was a newsy local paper on which FAIRMAN and BROWER lavished much labor. They had some hope of educating the people of that village up to the point of reading, and further still of supporting a paper printed entirely in the village. Twelve months of "Love's Labor Lost" convinced them that their hopes were groundless.
The Mirror and News was issued at Prospect in September, 1854, by SPEAR & FAIRMAN, in the form of a six-column folio. Like the pioneer venture, the publishers learned within a year that Prospect would not recognize their efforts as necessary to the life of he villagers and they suspended publication.
The Trump, issued in 1856, proved that it was not a trump, for within three months the editor threw down his hand, declaring he could not play a square game with the people.
The Camp-Meeting Register, a daily morning paper, was issued at Prospect, August 26, 1859, by John S. FAIRMAN. It was part and parcel of the great camp-meeting which was organized there by Rev. Samuel CROUSE and local preachers.
The Prospect Leader grew up in S. B. MARTINCOURT's job printing office, and appeared as a four-column, eight-page newspaper in December, 1879. Publication was continued until the beginning of April, 1880, when it became evident to the publisher that Prospect had not the enterprise to support a newspaper.
The Zelienople Recorder, the first newspaper published in the county, outside Butler borough, was a thing of a few days and full of trouble. Little more is know of it.
The Connoquenessing Valley News, Number 1, Volume I, is dated October 30, 1878. In the salutatory of the publishers, Samuel and J. R. YOUNG, it is written:
In obedience to the wishes of a large majority of the citizens of this valley, and the enterprising towns that have so long prospered upon its banks, we send forth the initial number of the Valley News * * * * In conducting the paper, nothing of a [p. 184] sectarian or political character shall occupy its columns; but our purpose shall be to advance the varied local interests of the region and advocate every idea that is calculated to benefit them.
On July 10, 1879, Samuel YOUNG became sole proprietor. In December, 1881, the editor of the News quoted the following sentence from the Millerstown Herald:
Sam YOUNG is almost as heavily crowded up with advertisements as we are. Sam, let us arise and bless our friends.
The Zelienope man responded thus:
We do, Pete, but your modesty overcomes us. Did you measure matter, Pete? Taking a short column rule and measuring the matter in both papers, we found we have just four and one-half columns more than you, allowing time tables and everything else to count. Now go to work and kick yourself just twenty-five minutes.
Colonel YOUNG died at Zelienople, March 27, 1891, in his seventieth year, and his son, J. R. YOUNG, succeeded him as editor and proprietor. The News is printed at Zelienople, where a well equipped office speaks of enterprise and success.
The Centreville Casket ceased publication, August 8, 1879. It was edited by W. S. FULKMAN, known as Stanley FULKMAN, for about two years, then closed its short career and editor and office moved to the town of Beaver.
The Signal was established at Centreville, February 12, 1892, by R. D. YOUNG, now of the New Castle Courant. He carried on the Signal until the close of the summer of that year, when a stock company took charge. In January, 1894, Albert L. WICHE, formerly of the New Wilmington Globe, purchased the office and now publishes the paper. The Signal has a weekly circulation of about 700 copies.
The Saxonburg Herald, first issued in November, 1888, by Paul F. VOIGT, is an eight-page weekly journal of forty-eight columns. Charles HOFFMAN is the manager and reporter at Saxonburg. Though not printed in the borough, its local news columns are generally replete and its distribution among subscribers regular.
Looking back over the pages of this chapter, and after learning something of the character of those who are gone, and knowing the men of the present, we believe that the majority of the newspaper men of this county possessed and possess the spirit of Bohemia, as expressed in the following tribute by that noblest of poet-journalists, John Boyle O'Rielly:
Bohemia has none but adopted sons;
It's limits, where fancy's bright stream runs!
It's honors, not garnered for thrift or grade,
For beauty and truth men's souls were made.
To the empty heart in a jeweled breast
There is value, maybe, in a purchased crest;
But the thirsty of soul soon learn to know
The moistureless froth of the social show;
The vulgar sham of the pompous feast [p. 185]
Where the heaviest purse is the highest priest,
The organized charity, scrimped and iced
In the name of a cautious, statistical Christ;
The smile restrained, the respectable can't,
When a friend in need is a friend in want.
Where the only aim is to keep afloat,
And a brother may drown with a cry in his throat.
Oh! I long for the glow of a kindly heart and the grasp of a friendly hand,
And I'd rather live in Bohemia than in any other land.
[End of Chapter 12 - The Press: History of Butler County Pennsylvania, R. C. Brown Co., Publishers, 1895]
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