Jefferson County, Illinois - Chapter 16: Jefferson County Newspapers, 1909

Chapter 16: Jefferson County Newspapers

Mount Vernon a Veritable Newspaper Grave Yard. The Many Changes that have Taken Place - Steady Decay of Long Felt Wants - Lots of Fun, but not Much Funds.,

Print brothers, print with "caire," Print the sayings of ye "editaire;" Print em bright and print 'em strong; Commend the right, condemn the wrong.

A county without a newspaper to conserve its interest can never amount to much. Like many other county seats. Mount Vernon has been a veritable grave yard for newspaper enterprises. And those of us who have from time to time attempted to hold up the "art preservative" have fared much the same in our efforts. We have had so many failures - dismal and otherwise - that it is difficult to prepare a full and connected history of Jefferson county's newspaper enterprises, but here goes: in Grand Prairie, was an old editor and printer, having published papers in Virginia and having learned the trade in the Globe office at Washington City - went out to his farm and camped with him for a few days to talk newspaper for Mount Vernon. To talk newspaper to a retired newspaper man is to simply arouse his desire to "resume" and so it proved in Bogan's case - the paper was decided upon. A subscription was taken up and one hundred and fifty-six dollars raised - not enough. Harvey Pace asked "how much more was needed?" "Two hundred dollars" was the answer. He loaned them that sum, taking notes due in two years. Bogan found a printer at Belleville, A. A. Stickney by name, made him a partner and the two came to Mount Vernon to "do and to dare." An old mahogany-framed press - called the Rammage - was secured at Belleville or Alton, and about a good shirt-tail full of type and a few cases and stands were purchased and the enterprise launched in the room over Joel F. Watson's store, which stood next to what is now Buckham's drug store. In August, 1 85 1 , the first number of the "Jeffersonian" greeted the admiring eyes of the citizens of Mount Vernon and Jefferson county. It was "pulled off" by Stickney - each page requiring a pull - while the editor of this book "played the devil" by inking each page with a hand roller before it was printed. "The Jeffersonian" was a neat, six-column folio with some advertisements and mostly foreign reading matter. It was "helped out" a little by receiving the "official printing" from Hamilton county - there being no paper there, and the only one near us was Goesman's Benton Standard, which was started in 1849. After "pulhng off" two or three issues, Stickney became tired and went over to Fairfield and started a paper. He afterwards went south and finally to Alaska, where he is - or was - publishing a little emigrant paper.

and others, came along and helped Bogan and with the aid of local talent, like Manly, Wall, Satterneld, and others, the paper continued to come out weekly, but proved too weakly financially and soon Bogan, paper and farm all went under together, simply because "Uncle Johnny" was determined to pay his debts. Tanner, who was at this time Circuit Clerk, reproached himself as the cause of Bogan's misfortune, resigned his office and had Downing Baugh, who was then judge, appoint Bogan to the place. And from this appointment and subsequent elections, Bogan served in the Circuit Clerk's office for upwards of thirty years. He sold the printing office to a couple of youngsters from St. Louis - Bowman and Robinson - for three hundred and twenty-five dollars in gold. They came, expecting to "run" the town, but soon they ran home, leaving the office in the hands of Dodds, Johnson & Co., who bought it from them. The new company was composed of William Dodds, J. N. Johnson, Z. Casey, W. B. Scates, T. B. Tanner, Anderson & Mills, J. Pace & Son, with a view of advocating the building of a railroad with the proceeds of nineteen thousand acres of swamp lands which belonged to the county. This was in April, 1855. The paper was revived. Tanner became editor, with Lute B. Smith, an ordinary printer, as foreman; he had as aides, John A. Wall, T. T. Wilson and others. Tanner got St. Louis ads and run the subscription up to one thousand. He bought a new press and made things hum. After having "things go his way" on the railroad question. Tanner stepped down and out, but at the solicitation of Tom Casey and Bill Anderson, who formed a "spike team" and announced themselves editors of the Sentinel, as successor of the Jeffersonian. Before the year was out, the "big editorial" trio found out they could not write - at least did not write - so the office boys could read it; so they stepped out and the office boys. Wall and Baugh, stepped in and finished the year.

The Egyptian Torchlight

The company then leased the plant to William B. Hollingsworth and John A. Wall. They published the Egyptian Torchlight under the firm name of Hollingsworth & Wall. In the fall of 1857, Wall withdrew and spent the winter in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Hollingsworth soon quit and went to Arkansas. Ed Satterfield ran the paper a few weeks, adding the ambiguous motto: "Egyptian darkness and Jackson Democracy - one and inseparable." Then Dr. S. Turner Brown took the paper and ran it a few weeks, when he married a visiting young lady and ran away to parts unknown. Ed Satterfield then came back and ran the paper till the tax-list was ripe - Judge Satterfield having bought it. After the tax-list, the office was sold to Curtis & Lane, two young teachers from Michigan. They moved the office to the second story of the Johnson house, and induced Wall to come back and take the formanship while they edited. At the end of the year they left, but leased the office to Wall, who moved it to the lower rooms of the old Odd Fellows hall, where he ran it till Satterfield closed the mortgage he held against Curtis & Lane and took the office to the court-house to run it as part of the county court of which he was the head, with his sons, Ed and John in command. Finally, in 1865, the plant was sold to C. L. Hayes, who started the Mount Vernon Free Press and the "old thing" was finally burned in the Pheonix block fire of 1869.

Mount Vernon Guardian

Wall, feeling that he had not been fairly treated in the trade, joined with Alex Russell in the purchase of the Modern Pharos office at Centralia, moved it here and began the publication of the Mount Vernon Guardian on the south side of the square. It was an independent sheet, with probably RepubHcan leanings, and turned out to be a staunch supporter of the War for the Union. When the war broke out. Wall dropped the pencil, paste-pot and "shooting stick" and, as he believed, went to shooting in the right direction. The fact that he came back shot through the shoulder made no change in his opinion. He secured possession of the old Guardian office and started the Unconditional Unionist and shot at everything that opposed the flag and the Union. His paper was of such a character that he had over fifteen hundred subscribers among the boys at the front, who not only wanted to hear from home, but wanted to know what Wall was saying to the "fire in the rear" fellows. This list was largely increased when in 1864 they learned that their old comrade had been way-laid at night by three of these fellows who attempted to assassinate him simply because he would not refrain from publishing his Union sentiments. After the war was fully over. Wall went to Salem and took charge of the Republican there. Jack Alden succeeded Wall here; then Henry Hitchcock came and took the office and started the Statesman, which lasted but a short time.

After his burn out, Hayes resumed the publication of the Free Press, but sold out to Bob Wilbanks and George Haynes. who let William Mantz have it a while; then Don Davison got it and ran it as a Greenback paper. In 1 876 a Greenback Printing Company was organized and William B. Anderson became editor of the Free Press, and fired many hot shots at the old parties.

The News

bought the Free Press - thus combining the News and the Free Press in one and making the News the only really financially successful paper thus far published in the county.

Sucker State Exponent

Another Hitchcock, Edward, moved his Clark county Exponent here in 1878 and made a fair success of it as a Republican paper until 1884, when he sold out to Morris Emmerson, who changed the name to Mount Vernon Register. Emmerson put it on a paying basis and sold to the present proprietor, M. J. Seed, who is fairly making it hum, both as a weekly and a daily. The Register is good property, ably edited and is a credit to the city and county. Mr. Seed is a native of Southern Illinois, a young man of sterling worth, a graduate of the Northwestern University, and stands high (six and one-half feet) in every good word and work. His full name is Morris Joy Seed - the Joy being in honor of Rev. E. Joy, who used to preach in the Methodist church here and who was a relative of the Seed family. Mr. T. H. Seed, father of M. J., is also connected with the Register. He is an old newspaper man, a veteran soldier and a Christian. The Seeds' are in the paper business both for revenue and for the cause of truth and morality. W. B. Goodrich is the local editor.

H. H. Simmons made the News a reliable, good paper and was making some money with it, but age creeping on, he sold to Grear & Baker, in 1887, who made a fair run of the paper until

1892. R. F. Pace bought Grear's interest and the firm was Pace & Baker. Pace found out that running a newspaper was not all "fun" and in 1895 sold his interest to William T. Summer and Summer and Baker distilled Democratic enthusiasm for the Jeffersonians until Summer's health failed and he left for the port of editorial bliss "over the divide." Under Summer the News was successful and spicy.

Was established by J. F. Bogan in 1894, but after running it awhile he sold to C. F. Ellis, and he to J. V. Baugh & Son, by whom it was published two years and consolidated with the News. The News is now run by a syndicate, with J. J. Baker as business manager, Joe VanCleve Baugh, editor, and Joe. E. Pace, as localizer - putting out both daily and weekly editions, and is good paying property. The News has maintained its name longer than any other Mount Vernon paper, but it has had various other changes - including a change in politics. Mr. Simmons remained in the News office until recently as a typo. If the simple "passing away" of a friend appals us, we certamly have reason to feel sad at the departure of so many dear friends since we began writing this brief history of Jefferson county. Many of the friends of our early days, have, in a few brief moments "wrapped the drapery of their couches about them and laid down to pleasant dreams." Among the last to go was that veteran newspaper man, so long connected with the Mount Vernon News and other papers, who left for the "golden shore" this winter, aged eighty-one years. The writer used to work for him, and it was his habit to pay off his help Saturday morning, so, as he said, the boys could pay their debts early. He had us set up an obituary one day and all it said was: "He was a good man."

Brother Simmons said that was the best obituary a man could have. Such being true we write his obituary in his own words - "He was a good man" - enough.

We have before us an illustrated edition of the Register pub- Hshed in 1893. and also one of the News, 1904. They are both gems in the line of the printatorial art - a credit to the two offices and their managers.

The Journal was published for a while by A. S. Phillips as a weekly, later by Pavey & Phillips as a daily, but soon failed for lack of patronage.

A few years ago the Mount Vernon Times was established by the Times Printing Company, with B. C. Wells as editor. It was established as a weekly. Later a daily edition was issued for a time, but proved unremunerative and was suspended. The plant was purchased by W. E. Roberts, of Coffeen. It passed into the hands of Ralph Jackson, who taught school and published a Republican paper for a while. The office was finally sold and went to Dahlgren.

The Progressive Farmer

A Farmers* Mutual Benefit Association paper, with John P. Steele as manager, was published here for several years, and attained an immense circulation throughout this and adjoining states. Its circulation ran up to many thousands, it cut a broad swath, but finished its course and has taken its place in the Mount Vernon newspaper graveyard, where - peace to its ashes - as well as to the ashes of the various other sheets that were also "unfortunate, rashly importunate."

It would be a great pleasure for the writer to swing back into the editorial harness here in Mount Vernon were it not for a few facts - two of which are he is simply a back-number and as poor as Job's turkey. This field is a promising one for an editor who

"Truth crushed to earth will rise again. The eternal years of God are hers; While error wounded writhes in pain And dies amid her worshippers."