Bureau County, Illinois - Chapter 27, 1885

Them, Etc., Etc., Etc

THE PBESS - THE BCKKAU ADVOCATE - THE PBINCETONIAN - POSTHERALD - YEOMAN - DEMOCRAT - REPUBLICAN - TRIBUNE - PATRIOT - NEWS - MOTOE - TIDINGS - PRESS - R EOISTEE - INDEPENDENT - CALL - HOME GUARD - TIMES - AND ABOUT WHO RAM THEM, ETC., ETC., ETC.

TN the progress of civilization the important -L and commanding event was the invention of movable types - cutting in wood the letters of the alphabet, in such shape that they would by inking and pressure make their impression upon paper, and then by making each letter separate and movable, it was at once seen that they were susceptible of combinations and words, or at first, names could thus be transferred to paper, and the operation could be indefinitely performed. A few of the world's best men looked upon the thing as an interesting curiosity, but of no practical use. It was ingenious, they thought, but that was all. Eventually a few sheets were actually printed, each type being inked and separately pressed upon the paper in its proper place to spell out the words. But the pen could work so much faster that no one dreamed there was anything practical ever to come of the types. In examining the subject now, it seems almost marvelous that there were a few minds that even at that day saw something of the possibilities that these movable types had in store. And they kept on experimenting with the curious toy, until eventually the idea came to make the type stationary and press the paper on the type, and this idea grew, until now we have the perfected Hoe press - the most wonderful piece of machinery in the world. Nothing perhaps in mechanics come so near the workings of the raind as this press. Your morning paper that you open while still damp was a few minutes ago a part of a great roll of paper much like a roll of carpet that you may see in a carpet store. This wonderful press takes this great roll of paper, feeds itself, inks itself, prints both sides of the paper, folds each paper nicely, counts them at the rate of 40,000 an hour, and delivers them to the addressing clerk, where another machine prints the name and address of the subscriber. The whole done quicker than the pen could write any one letter on the sheet of paper that is thus, like the lightning's flash, converted from a roll of white paper into a great newspaper which tells the story around all the world up to the very latest minute If, reader, you have never yet seen one of these marvelous pieces of mechanism, make it a point the next time you go to a city to look at one. It will enlarge your ideas of this world, give you a new respect for the immortal geniuses that conceived these wonders, and who have slept in unmarked and unknown graves these long centuries, while a dull and stupid race of men have been constructing wonderful mausoleums to the memory of the most contemptible shams the world ever saw - human butchers - political swashbucklers - asses with iron jaws, that, unfortunately never produce mules, because the progeny of many are as prolific as themselves, and thus they fill the world.

The press is the Third Estate in this country; it has been called the palladium of American liberties. One thing is quite certain, that the wisest thing our forefathers did was to establish a " free press," nominally if not actually. True, it is absolutely free so far as Government is concerned, but sometimes it is not free from military dictation or from mob violence and rule, and the instances, though rare, have occurred when a foolish, violent and fanatical public sentiment has crushed out the truth and suppressed the true friend of mankind - the local press. But for these gross wrongs the press is able to say, for every outrage it has received, it hae perpetrated outrages in return, often with compound interest To the wisdom of the founders of our Government we owe the blessings of a free press, and this means free speech, free schools, free religion, and supremest of all, free thought; for here is where the world has suffered most, because a man's thoughts are the noblest part of him - it is this that makes him superior to the ox, and, therefore, it is here he can suffer the greatest wrongs - here where wrongs may be inflicted that are ineffaceable, incurable, shocking. It has been the strength and activity of thought that has given us all the blessings we enjoy - all that marks the difference in us and the dull savages who once possessed this fair land - those wretched breeders of savagery and stupid suffering, something of whose mode of life may be drawn from the fact that they would bury the live wife in the same grave with the body of her dead husband. This is a historic fact, although it occurred among a prehistoric people. They had no free speech, free press or free thought. They may have had a strong, a great military government at one time - a government with a hand of iron and speech of lead, and they may have worshiped that government as dutiful children may a cruel father, but they never had a free thought, except of the basest and meanest kind, and they were, therefore, a despicable people and had none of that civilization that eventuates in a free press.

One of the greatest men the world has produced has said: "The types are as ships which sail through the vast seas of time and make ages to participate of the wisdom, illuminations and inventions, the one of the other; for the image of men's wits remain in books exempted from the wrongs of time, and capable of perpetual renovation; neither are they fitly to be called images, because they generate still 'and cast their seeds in the minds of others, provoking and causing infinite action and opinions in succeeding ages. We see then how far the monuments of wit and learning are more durable than the monuments of power or of the hands. For have not the verses of Homer continued 2, 500 years or more without the loss of a syllable or letter? during which time infinite palaces, temples, castles, cities have decayed or been demolished. That whereunto man's nature doth most aspire, which is immortality or continuance, for to this tendeth generation, and raising of houses and families; to this buildings, foundations and monuments; to this tendeth the desire of memory, fame and celebration, and in effect the strength of all other human desires."

Do not the types do infinitely more than this? Are they not the true source of man's highest and purest enjoyment in this world? To the healthy and tolerably cultivated mind is there any pleasure so great, so enduring, as the acquisition of new truths ? It supplies the mind its most gracious food. It is the perennial fountain of information and knowledge where the thirsty mind may drink deeply - drink draughts of which all the nectar of the gods were but dirty puddle water. And it is not alone to the mind thirsting deeply for knowledge that its blessings are confined, but it gives equally and freely to all - the thinker, the worker, the idle, the dissolute, the rich, the poor, the king and the outcast, aye, even the wretched leper to whom the works of the types are all in this world that can save him from a living tomb. Here is the philosopher's touchstone, the Aladdin's lamp - the genial, warm sunshine penetrating the gloomiest dungeons, where it will go and abide forever where human life can exist.

In the dingy printing office is the epitome of the world of action and of thought - the best school in Christendom - the best church. Here divine genius perches, and plumes its wings for those lofty nights that attract and awe all mankind in all ages; here are kindled and fanned to flame the fires of genius that blaze and dazzle like the central sun; here is generated and renewed the rich fruitage of benign civilization. The press is the drudge and the pack-horse, the crowned king of all mankind. The gentle click of its types is heard around all the world. They go sounding down the tide of time, bearing upon their rippling waves the destinies of civilization and the immortal smiles of the pale children of thought, as they troop across the fair face of the earth in their entrances and exits from the unknown to the unknown, scattering here and there the immortal blessings which the dull types have patiently gathered to place them where they will live forever. Is not this the earth's true symphony, which endures, which transcends that of when " the morning stars sang together," the echoing anthems when the strings are struck by the fingers of the immortals that float up forever to the throne of God ? Of all that man can have in this word it is the one blessing whose rose need have no thorn, whose sweet need have no bitter. It is freighted with man's good, his happiness and the divine blessings of civilization. By means of the press the lowliest cabin can be made to equal the king's palace; it may have equal authority in bid- ding enter its threshhold and be seated in the family circle the world's greatest and sweetest singers, the profoundest philosophers, the gifted orators, the most eloquent writers. Mingling with the humblest cotter's family may be found the delightfully immortal Burns, who died at thirty-seven, and over whose grave the simple, foolish Pharisees of his countrymen drew a sigh of relief, and were rejoiced that they were rid of the presence of the poor outcast and sot, when the clods that fell upon his poor body shut out the sweet sunlight of Scotland. Or here may be found the crowned monarch of mankind, and to wife and children and friends he may again tell the story of a Hamlet or King Lear; or Lord Macaulay will lay aside titles and dignity, and even with the children of the household have familiar discourse in those rich, resounding sentences that flow on forever, like a great and rapid river; or Charles Lamb, whose life was so sweet and so sad, a mingling of smiles and tears, may tell the children again and again the story of the invention of the roast pig; or Johnson, his coarseness and boorishness all gone now, in trenchant sentences may pour out his jeweled thoughts to eager ears; or bid Pope ' tell something of "Man's inhumanity to man; " or poor, gifted, erratic Poe, and his bird of evil omen, " Never flitting, still is sitting just above my chamber door; " or any of the other immortals whose names are luminous, and will shine on forever with unfading splendors, any or all of whom are at j the beck and nod of all men, high or low, to enter their humble houses or their gilded parlors, and cast their reflected lights upon the human race, lifting up and bearing all aloft.

Thanks, then, a thousand times thanks, to oar dear old Revolutionary sires for giving us the great boon of a free press. If our Government is to endure, and the people are to continue to be free, here will be much of the reason therefor, because freedom, though never so well established, will not maintain and perpetuate itself, as there are certain laws of heredity lurking in every man, more or less, and the latent habits of mind and body of his barbarous ancestors. True, the Americans are more exempt from this brutal bias of mind than any other people, as they are further removed than others from an ancestry that worshiped kings and tyrants, deified human monsters; yet even here it is as true now as when it was first uttered that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." The press, therefore, is essential to the perpetuation of our free institutions.

That the press can do no wrong, it is not our intention in any way to assert. So great an institution, so varied its interests, so numerous its editors and managers, and so different in degrees of intelligence, that it would be a foolish man indeed who would even hope that it would become infallible. In a country of much balloting, one of the most prolific of domestic animals are the ubiquitous, eternal demagogues, and then there is the bigot and fanatic, sincere, honest and idiotic, and the shams and the unscrupulous and dishonest, and the barnacles on the hull of the ship of State, all contributing their mite to the gathering evils. A wise people will jealously watch their press, and in time warn the people when it commences to go astray. In this country the man who votes takes a solemn responsibility upon himself; the act itself is a pledge to his posterity that he will discharge that high duty honestly, and earnestly desiring to promote his own and their best interests. He and they will have to pay the terrible penalty of his ignorance or dishonesty in this respect. And nature, when she uses her whip of scorpions, makes no distinction between the results that come of ignorance or rascality. While this is a mild statement of the responsibility of a voter in our Government, it is difficult to convey by language the great responsibilities of a newspaper. Its province is to guide and teach men the truth; point out the way that is safe for them to go. If it teaches a falsehood, or suppresses the truth, it is at once a monster criminal - levying blackmail upon the victims that it dooms to crime and suffering. Are we not then justified in the assertion that the first coming of the dingy little country newspaper to a new community is an event to be noted and commented upon f And is not its growth and spread and its well marked influences fit subjects of eager investigation ?

The first paper published in Bureau County was the Bureau Advocate, and the first issue of this paper was dated December 2, 1847. A six-column folio; terms $1.50 in advance - $1.75 after three months - $2.00 after six months. It does not locate its own office, but it was in the American House Block, in a little frame that stood where Richardson's hardware store now is. There was more about this paper that made it memorable than the fact that it was the first paper in the county. The publisher was Ebenezer Higgins, and the editorial page was divided into three departments - two columns each, and was Whig, Democrat and Liberty in the respective departments. The first was called "Whig Advocate," and was edited "By a Whig Committee;'' the next was "Democratic Advocate," and was edited " By a Democratic Committee;" and the next was "Liberty Advocate," and edited "By a Liberty Committee." This remarkable trinity was The Bureau Advocate. A happy family indeed. This strange combination of the political oil, water and vinegar, or, perhaps more truly, the high-toned vintage of the grape; Bourbon corn juice and black-strap. The last was once a favorite New England tipple made of rum and black molasses. At all events the arrangement was original and secured the best writers in the county in each department, and all questions were presented to the readers, side by side; it was a running debate every week, in which each watched, answered and confounded the other in presence of the same audience. This would make the writers more wary and careful in their assertions, and as all sides were in the best possible manner laid before the same readers, it could not be otherwise than that, other things being equal, it was vastly better for all than the present plan of too many voters only reading one side, and therefore remaining ignorant of what is said on the other side of the question.

The Whig Committee opens out with a tremendous " Salutatory," telling in most stately and well constructed sentences what We are going to do.

" It will probably be expected in our outset, that we will touch briefly relating to the course we intend to advocate. The political matters which cause our party divisions are very few. * * * We aim at the good of our common country. * * * We believe the people have a right to scan the measures of all our public men. * * * On the subject of banking we believe there exists a discrepancy of public opinion among all parties. The Whigs are in favor of banks mostly. * * * Some Democrats are in favor of banking under certain restrictions. * * We are in favor of a moderate tariff. * * And we believe in so discriminating as to afford protection to such articles manufactured and produced among us as may need it. * * * We are of the opinion that free trade will finally prevail. * * * When this time can war exists it will be the absorbing question of the day. Every other matter, whether | it belongs to the world of politics or elsewhere, is overshadowed by the gigantic hydra, the ill-begotten offspring of an evil spirit in an evil hour. * *

"We have little to say about slavery. * * Every State being 'a sovereign power has a right to continue the institution or abolish it, and no other power whatever has any equitable right to interfere. * * * If our Southern brethren can devise any means to rid themselves of the evil it will be our duty to assist them. * * * * Happy would it be for us if our country contained only the Caucasian race. * *

"One other subject * * * In the event of a conclusion of peace with Mexico, if we shall ever be so happy as to arrive at that period, * * let the territory we gain thereby - whether it be a splendid hacienda, a sand hill, a morass, a pond of horned frogs, or a bare rock, let it remain free. * * * We are fully committed to the Wilmot Proviso. "

" In assuming the editorial management of the Democratic department we deem it proper to state distinctly the principles by which we intend to be governed. * * It has been asserted the Advocate is to be a union paper, by which we suppose is meant a sort of amalgamation of the principles of the different parties. This we deny. The Democratic department is to be entirely independent of the others. It is our intention to sustain the great principles of Democracy. *

" We are opposed to a protective tariff, to chartered monopolies, and exclusive privileges of every description in favor of free trade, equal rights and the largest liberty which is consistent with the duties which men owe to each other. We are opposed to the abolitionists, as too much disposed to meddle with what concerns them not. * * But we abhor slavery - adhere to the principles of the Wilmot Proviso, and resist the extraordinary pretentious of the South, in casting aside the creed of Washington, Jefferson and Patrick Henry. * * * We disclaim all disposition to interfere with slavery where it exists. * * We contend it should be confined to where it now is."

Then follows a reprint of the resolutions of the New York Democracy, held on the 26th of October preceding. The resolutions are for free trade strong, and oppose works of internal improvement being undertaken by the general government; and in ringing resolutions endorses the Mexican war and extols our patriotic soldiers.

The " Committee " then proceeds to ably comment on the free trade resolutions, heartily endorses every word of them, and particularly in the fact that they passed the large convention without a dissenting voice.

Then follows an article from the New York Post, that furiously lashes protection and banks. And this finishes the two columns of the Democratic Committee.

" Strike but hear!" The writer then proceeds to vindicate the Liberty party from the aspersion of being an infidel party - or seeking the overthrow of the Church. * *

Many again suppose the Liberty party made up of disorganizers, who would shiver the fabric of the government; having no regard for the Constitution. * * No! Let us abide by the Constitution. * * We only seek to change the action of the general government in regard to slavery. We are no more against the Constitution than the Whigs or Democrats, when they seek to change the action of the government in reference to a bank or the question of free trade. * Did it never happen

We have no fault to find with the Constitution. * The gallant ship of State! She has traced on her prow the objects for which she was built, to wit: to establish justice and secure the blessings of Liberty. From this high and glorious object we think it has been turned aside. So we hold and think we can prove it. We want to pull down the flag of Slavery and run up that of Liberty."

Then follows an account of the Buffalo County Liberty Convention, which nominated John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, and L. King, of Ohio, for President and Vice-President. And then quotes an eulogy on the nominees from the Western Temperance Standard.

Then is a short article on the "press," extolling its good influences. Then follows a long article on Hale and King, copied from the Emancipator, and this closes the second page of the paper.

After all these committee bows and fulminated party platforms, and pointing out the guiding stars, the third page opens with another Salutatory, not signed, no "Committee' ' ever purporting to write it, and we infer it is from the publisher, Ebenezer Higgins. But this is all inference. He, she or it commences by saying; "As this is the first number of our paper and we come with a bow of salutation to our subscribers, it will be proper to say a few words," etc.

It next occurs to the writer to say, "Our readers need not be informed, that the Advocate is, in its character as a newspaper, somewhat peculiar. It is intended to be a channel of communication for the Whig, Democratic and Liberty parties."

The writer mildly proceeds to deprecate violent party spirit; predicts evil from it if not checked, and then coaxingly says, "Come, let us reason together." He says, of his happy household has been predicted that they would soon have each other by the hair and ears, but under the command of "Peace be to this house," he thinks he can hold the frisky youths of his different "committees" on a peace footing. He then says that all patrons who want "fish, flesh or fowl" can glut themselves in the Advocate columns.

He disclaims that he intends to make money - wholly for the good of a suffering people. He concludes by calling for subscribers, and promising to do his very best.

The next editorial on this, the fourth side of this many sided paper, is to the effect that he has not a single exchange to clip from. We suppose this defect was soon remedied.

The next is a clipping from the St. Louis Union, giving an account of the loss of the steamer " Talisman " by a collision with the " Tempest, " near Cape Girardeau, whereby upward of 100 lives were lost. Next the burning of the " Phoenix " near Sheboygan, 300 passengers, and only a few escaped. Then comes an original poem, "Autumn, " by some Princeton poet. Then follow the law cards of Charles L. Kelsey, Martin Ballon and William Chumasero, the last of Peru. Dr. Joe R. Jones and W. Woodward, dentists; E. S.

Phelps, watches and clocks; S. D. Hinsdale, gunsmith; Charles 8. Allen, blacksmith; Charles Stevens, tailor; Cyrus Bryant, Commissioner of Deeds; then half a column of Peru " ads." The next column is headed by Benjamin Newell, new goods, medicines and groceries, and nearly every thing else; S. D. Hinsdale, guns and rifles; S. M. Dunbar, cabinet making; John W. Braught & Clark B. Norton, dissolution; C. L. Kelsey, timber land for sale; Circuit Court notice by Cyrus Bryant, Clerk; J. Stevens & Son, Indiantown, and more Peru " ads."

Without a word of explanation, on June 1, 1848, the name of Ebenezer Higgins disappears as publisher or in any way connected with the paper.

The facts are, as we are informed by Mr. Bryant, a committee had purchased the office at the start from Higgins, and after it came here his connection was more that of an employee or printer than anything else.

August 24, 1848, "the happy family" was dissolved and the many headed departments disappeared, and the paper became an outand-out Free Soil organ, and hoisted the Van Buren and Adams ticket, with a motto at its head, "Free Soil, Free Speech, and Free Men."

Wednesday, December 13, 1848, Higgins' entire editorial was " This is our last sheet!" And the next issue informs the reader that Hammond (B. F.) & Welsh (T. W.) had bought out Higgins, and John H. Bryant was the editor, and then the paper changed to the hands of Bryant and Dean.

and rough weather, the rough mostly prevailing, we presume, as the population and busi - ' ness of the county were still too meager to give much support to a newspaper. Yet its editorial columns had generally been marked by unusual ability for a country paper of that day. It passed into the hands of Justin H. Olds in the latter part of the summer of 1851, and the name was changed to the Princeton Post - Vol. 3. - No. 2, September 28, 1851, Justin H. Olds, Proprietor and Editor and J. M. Wilkinson, Publisher. This was just thirty-three years ago. The editor says he had been just called on by William Smith, brother of the killed prophet, Joe, and William showed letters exonerating him in Joe's tricks at Nauvoo.

An article headed "mysterious" says : "Last Monday the bodies of two men and one woman were found near West Bureau Creek, a little distance below Sheffield, by a traveler. He reported the find and the neighbors collected by hundreds and the traveler piloted them to the place, and lo! the bodies had mysteriously disappeared; more neighbors then rallied and the search kept up two days, but "up to present time" no bodies found.

This paper gives an account of a Republican Convention at Aurora, "in which James H. Woodworth was nominated. ' ' The Convention resolved that "free and slave labor could not exist together." It was in favor of "free labor and freemen" with a big capital to each word. It also, "Resolved, that the public lands belong to the people and should not be sold to individuals nor granted to corporations, but should be held as a sacred trust for the people," etc.

attention to more congenial pursuits. This issue announces the last mass meeting in Princeton before the election. This meeting is called "to reply to Stephen A. Douglas' late arguments here on the Nebraska bill." The speakers to answer Douglas were: "Lovejoy, Stipp and Kelsey." The committee calling the meeting: R. T. Templeton, S. A. Pad. dock, G. W. Stipp, Austin Bryant, A. B. Church, and J. H. Olds.

May 4, 1854, Wilkinson steps out (no notice thereof in the paper), and for awhile Olds is alone, and then Faxon steps in as noted above. Faxon ran it until 1858, when he sold out to John C. Rhue and Hewitt, and the new firm changed the name to Bureau County Republican, the name it bears to this day. Rhue was in the paper but a short time when he sold his interest to Hewitt.

In October, 1851, the name was changed to the Princetonian. The firm name of the new proprietors was Coates Kinney & B. Clark Lundy. An issue of this paper, dated September 25, 1852, had been reduced in size and make-up, with a general retrenchment all around, especially in the editorials. The only general editorial in this issue is the report of the Supervisors' meeting. Not a line of local items. There were the notices of the death of two children - one of William Moulton's and the other E. C. Matson's - the former a daughter and the latter a son. Then Justin H. Olds, in a card, offers himself as an independent candidate for re-election as Circuit Clerk. J. I. Taylor has an insurance

"ad.," and so have the druggists, Dalrymple & Bailey. A. L. Merriman gives notice of sale under a deed of trust of the lands of William Peperel. W. Levisee says he has chairs and looking glasses for sale. L. M Beaumont, administrator of C. B. Beaumont, a notice of sale. The market quotations are: Wheat, 50 cents; corn, 22 cents; flour, $2; coffee, 12 J cents; sugar, 8; butter, 10; new potatoes, 37 J. Sidney Smith offers some woodland for sale; Arthur Bryant offers Osage orange plants; W. H. Winter, druggist; the Hamlin House, by E. B. Hamlin; quadrille band by C. A. Moffitt; AnsonP. Fish says that owing to the recent death of his partner, parties must pay up; John L. Ament, administrator of G. H. Smith, and Adaline L. Morse, and also Mary Collar, give notices as administrators; Dr. W. C. Anthony and Dr. - S. Allen Paddock have medical cards; Robert E. Thompson says he has sold out to Boyd & Baldwin; he informs the world that the new firm have engaged his old clerk, D. Robinson; E. H. & J. R. Phelps advertise water-proof paint brick, and Justin H. Olds, Circuit Clerk, gives attachment notice in suit of the county against Eohn, Mandlebaum & Moore; there is another similar notice of Amos Steadman against Elijah Hunt; then follow administrators' notices of Samuel D. Hinsdale, Lucius M. Keys, Theodore Nichols, John H. Campbell, William Campbell, James M. Campbell, Augusta Estey, David A. Schirmer and Phillip Schirmer; Chamber & Thomas, physicians; the I. O. O. F.'s, Joseph Mercer, Secretary; Benjamin Newell gives notice he will " take pay in grain and produce on accounts;" Miss J. S. Martin, millinery; Jane E. Hale, millinery; William Jones, whooping cough medicine; John Barnard, Justice of the Peace; P. W. Newell, new goods; John G. Bubach, orange plants; Martin

Ballon, Alton Ins. Co.; Stephen Purdy and Alexander Lore dissolve; William Carse gives notice of the close of Carse & Shinkle's books; Mrs. Hale gives notice she has quit teaching in Princeton and opens millinery goods.

November 13, 1852, we find returns of general election in Bureau County. Not a word of other news, and not a single comment on either the election or anything else. This issue was a half-sheet.

There were five candidates for State's Attorney, all running independent in politics except James Strain, who was the " Free Democrat " candidate : W. H. L. Wallace, 375; David P. Jenkins (Whig), 364; William Chumasero, 263; Milton T. Peters, 401; James Strain, 373.

In 1858 the name was changed to Bureau County Republican, and was published by Ehue & Hewitt, John H. Bryant, editor. In a little while Rhue sold his interest to John H. Bryant, and then the firm was Bryant & Hewitt. In 1861 Hewitt went to Washington City on some business and died there, and Mr. Bryant again had sole charge, Mrs. Hewitt retaining her husband's interest. This was continued until 1863, when the entire office was sold to John W. Bailey, the present senior proprietor. Bailey continued alone in the publication until 1872, when he sold a half interest to L. J. Colton, who was not a practical printer but whose fine business qualities and extended acquaintance in the county made him a valuable acquisition to the paper. Mr. Colton is a brother of Cyrus Colton, of this county. He is now a farmer in Kansas. In 1874 Mr. Colton sold his interest to Charles P. Bascom, the firm becoming and remaining as it is now - Bailey & Bascom. Until 1863 there had been no very tempting field here for paying journalism and there had not been, therefore, any considerable expense justifiable in the different publishers, but they had been compelled to follow the plan of most of the country press of that day, and practice every economy, especially in the way of a great deal of machinery or office material.

Under Mr. Bailey's administration the "old reliable" Bureau County Republican h&a nearly rivaled Jack's bean-stalk in rapidity of growth, until now, if not the largest, it is the second largest country weekly paper in the State. Its present circulation is over 4,300, and its supply of presses and materials is fully commensurate with its large business. And its job rooms, under the supervision of Mr. Streetor, are simply par excellence. The paper is a stanch Republican organ, and its opinions are universally deferred to by its army of subscribers. John W. Bailey was born in Cincinnati, and at seven years of age entered a printing office in that city, graduating at the case and in the job room. At a very early age he naturally commenced writing short sketches for the different city papers, and soon was a city reporter, and eventually the night editor of the Commercial. In 1854 he left the city and was engaged in Indiana in assisting to start a paper there; then went to Tiffin. Ohio, and published the Tiffin Tribune. From here he went to the Toledo Commercial and worked on this paper until he came to Princeton in 1863. In his chosen line of life he has been successful far beyond the average. At no time making or attempting to make any great stir in the world, yet he has worked always to the best purpose, and has honestly won the crown of complete success.

Charles P. Bascom is a college graduate. He is a son of Dr. Flavel Bascom. He has been a resident of Princeton since 1855. He is a young man yet, and the readers of the Republican may catch occasionally pleasant veins of humor from his pen in the locals. He is affable, genial and pleasant, and makes an important addition to the general interests of the office, and is justified in the aspirations that may lead him some day to the head of his chosen profession.*

Bureau County Herald. - In 1848 the Bureau County Herald was established by Philip Payne. This was supposed to be a Democratic organ, but Payne seems to have soon got to quarreling quite bitterly with his Democratic friends, and finally it was a state of open, active war. Cyrus Bryant was editing the Whig side of the Advocate, and his vigorous pen was prodding the Democrats and Abolitionists every week. Payne made the great mistake of a feeble and stupid at tack upon nearly everybody, and Bryant lampooned him in doggerel poetry that literally ran him out of the country. Payne and his paper had a brief and troubled existence here, and both soon departed, leaving the Advocate master of the situation. The Herald office went to Kewanee. / Yeoman of the Prairie Land was the abbreviated name of Dr. S. Allen Paddock's paper, started in 1861. He had purchased the office of Hooper AVarren, of Hennepin. It had an illustrated or pictorial head, and was intended to convey to the reader in the old

* Since the above was in type we learn that in our genealogy of this paper we have reversed in one case the true order of succesion. It was the Princetonian and then the Post, and not as above stated the Post and then the Princetonian. This is only material as a correction in the order of the names of paper.

States something of an idea of the West and its great and rich prairies. Dr. Paddock sold to some adventurous soul, who struggled against fate a short time and quit.

Judge Paddock was a strong sensed and able man, though not a printer or publisher. He served as County Judge, being elected in 1852. When the war broke out he was the first to respond to his country's call, raised a regiment, was elected Lieutenant-Colonel, and died when his regiment was on its way to the field.

Bureau County Democrat was started March 15, 1856, by C. N. Pine, an eightcolumn, Democratic organ. H. R. Lemar was his associate and the printer and publisher. It was furiously Democratic, and in the political campaign of 1856, supported Buchanan and " Old Dick " Richardson, and roundly abused Bissell and Lovejoy. A copy of the paper of date September 19, 1856, tells in biting sarcasm of a traveling lecturer, Gen. Pomeroy, of Kansas, at the Congregational Church, in Princeton, where a collection was taken up for "bleeding Kansas." Another editorial describes a great Republican demonstration in Princeton. Two traveling stump speakers came to town, and the people met and it was arranged that a Mr. Young should speak first, then Justus Stevens should speak for the Democrats, and then the other stranger should close. The paper says the programme was carried out, and a vote of the audience showed ' ' eight for Fremont and 125 for Buchanan." Another column in flaming headlines tells of a big Democratic rally at Peru; says there were at least 8,000 people present; a big crowd from Princeton, and in the delegation was a large vehicle from Hall Township filled with boys, carrying a banner inscribed ''Fathers preserve the Union for us." Justus Stevens, John D. Phillips and H. W. Terry, of Bureau, were among t,he Vice-Presidents. The chief speaker was E. D. Carpenter, a Kentucky Colonel (known to the writer as one of the veriest blatherskites). The next article is a long account of Milton T. Peters, one of the Democratic electors that year, walking out of his window at night, when asleep, atPontiac, and breaking his thigh and otherwise seriously injuring himself. The balance of the issue is full of abuse of the Fremont men.

The intensity of Pine's partisanism was pretty well indicative of the course that we understand was in store for him and his paper. Buchanan rewarded his services by making him Postmaster in Princeton, and in 1858 Buchanan required his Illinois Postmasters to fight Douglas - to be too Democratic to vote the ticket - or walk the plank for some other man. In this way Buchanan raised an army of nearly 5,000 anti -Douglas Democrats in Illinois in 1858-60, and we believe it is history that every one of the leaders in this band became intense Bepublicans, hating the South quite as intensely as they were in love with slavery in all the Ter ritories the day before. It is not intended here to question their motives, but to state a curious fact - a common anomaly among intense patriots.

In 1858 Pine sold the office to attorneys Eckels & Kyles, and J. S. Eckels says this firm really was as follows: Eckels, editor; Kyles, paymaster, and Bob OHbons, devil and printer. Bob says he had to set the small pica editorials of Eckels standing on tip-toe, because they (the editorials and not Eckels) were so tall, you see. Kyle stood heroically at the paymaster's desk for six weeks, and then " another soul made happy " as he closed out to Gilbert Gibons, and the new firm was democratically known as Eckels

& Gibons, with all the hard work on Bob, and a kind of lockout in the paymaster's department. It" ran along thus for nine months, and just as Bob got so he could set 5,000 a day, and at the same time do all the job work, and Jim and Gil had got trained down to short and few leading thunderers for each week's paper, and Bob had a pledge from a subscriber in the northwest corner of the county to bring in a watermelon in the fall, to help support the county paper with, they sold out, and with a broken heart he (Bob) went at the law, where he is to-day.

W. H. Mesenkop was the purchaser. He was only a bright and inexperienced boy at that time, but he was quick to learn, and full of resources for those daily emergencies that come to any one trying to establish a newspaper. He conducted it successfully for a short time, and then sold it to C. J. Peckham, who worked away till his last shirt was in soak, and then he re-conveyed it back to Mesenkop, who carried it on until 1863, when he sold it to C. N. Smith & Co. (the Co. was John). They changed the name to the Bureau County Patriot, and in this patriotic style ran it till 1871, when they sold it to J. C. Whitney, who changed it to the Bureau County Herald, and thus continued to herald the good news, such as ' ' Wood wanted on subscription," and other abstruse scientific problems of life that do so stare starving editors in the face, until 1876, when an unfeeling Sheriff took possession of the office, willy-nilly, and sold it at auction to the highest bidder for cash, and Mr. Cash removed the whole concern to Kewanee. Life's fitful fever, etc. Next!

Bureau County Tribune. - In 1872, in the month of August, W. H. Mesenkop again appears upon the tapis as a live newspaper publisher. The Bureau County Democrats as to an organ to voice their political faith, were as "one who treads alone some banquet hall deserted ; whose garlands dead and lights have fled and all but me departed" - to the Republican ' 'band wagon' ' perhaps. Horace Greeley was a candidate for President, and the Democrats made up a purse toward starting a paper. Mesenkop listened and heeded this cash call, and in a few days the Tribune j was flying its banner to the political breezes. In this style it was successfully run by Mesenkop from August to December, 1872, when the office was purchased by C: L. Smith and P. D. Winship. In 1873 Winship sold to E. K. Mercer, and the firm became Smith & Mercer. Winship went to Marshalltown, la., and became a practicing physician, where he is now. In 1875 Smith sold to E. F. Doran, and after Doran had been in the firm nine months, he sold back his interest to Smith. In June, 1879, Smith sold to E. K. Mercer, the present proprietor and editor, who is still sole owner and manager of the newspaper, with Dean as partner in the job department.

Mr. Mercer is one of the strong and solid writers on the weekly press, and his paper to-day is a firmly established, able and widely influential Democratic organ. Already in power presses and extensive materials of all kinds the office is very full and complete, and the bold, vigorous and sprightly editorials that mark the columns of the paper, upon political, literary, scientific or moral questions, has given it an enviable position in the world of modern thought and culture.

The Bureau County News. - In December, 1881, George M. Radcliffe and Charles B. Smith started this paper as an independent, anti-monopoly, greenback organ. A ninecolumn folio, handsomely printed, ably edited and fighting like a Trojan for Ben Butler for President. This paper was a religious, financial, political, mechanical and editorial success from the day of its first issue. Charley is an experienced newspaper man and a thorough, practical printer, while George is a ' 'free-trade" widower, who has had a varied experience in life, or as he expressed himself in a speech at the recent old settlers' meeting : " I commenced life at a very early period of my existence." When a callow youth he was Circuit Clerk of Bureau County, and while still a very young man was elected to the Legislature. He has made political speeches, preached the Gospel and published papers in nearly all the leading towns in this part of the State. We esteem him the sprightliestparagraphist in the county. He prods the two older and more dignified papers of Princeton without fear, favor or affection, and as the slangy gamins say, has "a barrel of fun."

The News is the only paper in North Princeton. Its already large patronage is rapidly growing, and a well equipped office is now prepared to meet the wants of many friends and patrons.

This concludes the newspaporial story of Princeton. And now a word of something of the different proprietors, of whom we have omitted giving an account in the preceding.

C. J. Peckham is in Independence, Kan., a prosperous land agent in that land of grasshoppers, hot winds, hard winds and dog towns. He was not a practical printer.

E. F. Doran was a printer, and when he got through with Princeton, struck out for Nebraska, laid down the "stick" and with grim determination seized the plow handles.

The Walnut Motor. - A five-column local paper in the town of Walnut, was started July 4, 1876, by a man named Townsend. He sold to J. T. Vasbough, who ran it for three years, when he sold to Reeve, Phillips & Co., and removed to Iowa, where he is now publishing a paper. In a little while C. G.

Glenn became the proprietor of the Motor. November 13, 1882, it passed to the hands of W. H. Frazer, who ran it for six months and sold to William Wilson, the present proprietor, in May, 1883. Mr. Wilson learned his trade in Oil City, Penn. When sixteen years of age, 1852, he became connected with a printing office at Morrison, Whiteside Co., where he remained until he completed his trade, since which time he has been in different printing offices in the State, the most of the time in Morrison and Prophetstown, until he took charge of his present paper. Mr. Wilson is entitled to great credit and is receiving the confidence and liberal support of the people in his portion of the county. He is the right man in the right place.

Tiskilwa Tidings was established by Sidney Averill, Jr., in June, 1884. A six-column folio, and independent in politics. The good people of Tiskilwa extend to the Tidings a generous support, and it is to be hoped Mr. Averill may find it sufficiently encouraging to make it a large and permanent institution.

Sidney Averill, Jr. , was born near Bahway, N. J., January 2, 1855. His father was a teacher in Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois. The family came to Whiteside County, 111. , about the beginning of the late war. The father has taught in this State and West among the Indians, and at other points. He is now retired from active life.

Karl. This was a six-column folio, and independent in politics. The initial number had a " Salutatory " over two columns long, which gave the paper a general top-heavy appearance. It expired May 8, 1857.

Buda Call was established October 26, 1877, by M. M. Monteith, who published about two years and discontinued it, and went to Peoria, and is again sticking type. He was a very good editor, and made a good paper.

In 1879 H. P. Fitch started the Home Guard, but after a little while changed to the Weekly Call, and sold to D. P. Payne, who changed the name to the Buda Gleaner, and thus published it for one year, and then sold to Dr. C. E. Barney, who changed the name to Bureau County Times. October 1, 1882, he sold the paper to Charles A. Pratt, the present proprietor, who was born in Green County, Penn., January 20, 1856. He refurnished and fitted up the office anew, and changed the name to the Buda Press. An elegant quarto, weekly, and about the largest paper in the county, full of live and sprightly editorials, and fat with handsomely set adverj tisements.

, newspaper when eighteen years old - the Princeville Times. He was some time city reporter on the Peoria Democrat before he was twenty years old. He established the Cass County Journal at Cbaadlerville, which he published two years, and sold it, and then was on the staff of the Peoria Transcript. He then established the Argus, at Astoria, 111., from whence he came to Bureau County. He was a natural born newspaper scribbler, having commenced to write articles when sixteen years old, while attending school, and his varied experience shows him to be also a natural born publisher. His success at Buda with his present paper is remarkable, and all have no hesitation in predicting for him a splendid future career.

Among the publishers who came and went in the early day of newspapers in the county ae above given, appears the name of Hooper Warren - a name deserving more than a passing word. Hooper Warren started the third paper published in Illinois - the Spectator, Edwardsville, 111., in the year 1819. D. W. Lnsk, in his "Politics and Politicians of Illinois," says it was established as an " antislavery paper." This statement cannot be true. The same writer says: Henry Eddy and S. H. Kimmell, who started the Emigrant, in Shawneetown, 1818, the second paper in the State, established it as an antislavery paper. Lusk's statement is as true of one paper as the other, but it is not the fact about either. At that time there were people in Illinois who wanted to make it a slave State, and there was the large majority who were opposed to slavery coming here. These did oppose slavery coming into Illinois, and there ended the entire question. The absurdity of the proposition that Hooper Warren's paper was an anti-slavery paper (in the universal acceptation of that term), is the fact that he started it in 1819. It was published in Edwardsville, the county seat of Madison County. Alton is in Madison County, and is only fifteen miles from Edwardsville. Elijah P. Lovejoy was murdered, and his press destroyed by a mob in Alton, in 1837, because his paper was supposed to be an anti slavery paper.