Tipton County, Indiana - Chapter 14: Journalism in Tipton County, 1914

Chapter 14: Journalism in Tipton County

In 1855 Drs. Rooker and A. M. Vickrey, of Tipton, bought an oldfashioned Franklin press and a small quantity of type and other printing materials of Mr. Chapman, of Indianapolis, and began issuing a small sixcolumn folio newspaper of Democratic proclivities, called the Tipton County Democrat. The material was purchased on credit, and the first printer was James Mahaffie, who, a year or so later, was succeeded by Archibald Ramsay, father of A. W. Ramsay of the Tipton Tribune. Ramsay was one of the most valuable journalists in the history of the county ; he was a man of in¬ credible energy and his devoted labors to the county press were in a large measure responsible for its success. The able Doctor Rooker was editor for the period of one year, when he retired permanently, leaving his portion of the indebtedness to be shouldered by his partner.

In 1857 the name of the paper was changed to the Western Dominion. The ownership remained with Doctor Vickrey, although O. P. Baird was the editor. It has been stated that Baird bought the establishment, but being un¬ able to pay for it, the paper reverted to the hands of Vickrey.

The Times

In 1858 the paper was again sold to G. W. Fisher, and the new owner changed the name again, this time to the Tipton County Times , and began issuing the sheet with John Chambers as principal editor and A. Clark as local editor. Ten of the foremost Democrats owned the paper, among whom were John Chambers, William Stivers, A. J. Redmon, Hugh Dickey, J. V. Cox, A. Clark, Bamibus Geltner and A. M. Vickrey. The office at this time was valued at four hundred dollars. In i860 interest in the enterprise became lax, and the publication was suspended for six months.

Early in 1861 the paper was again issued, with J. V. Cox in the role of editor-in-chief. Cox wrote leaders, while the remainder of the composition, type-setting, printing, etc., was done by the faithful Archibald Ramsay, the printer. Late in the year 1861 Judge N. R. Overman secured an interest in the paper, and contributed a few regular, though very short, paragraphs.

In 1862, for partisan reasons, the name of the paper was changed to the Democratic Union , the paper still being Democratic in "color/' Early in 1864 the office was sold to William J. Turpen, who was at the time in the army, and who contributed very interesting letters from the firing line. He was mustered out before the close of the war and returned to take personal control of the paper. One of his first moves was the changing of the trade name of the Tipton County Times. He conducted the paper very successfully until 1869, when he sold out to J. C. Brady and removed to Nashville, Ten¬ nessee, where he became connected with another paper, which he ran with far less success. It is stated in records that he brought upon his head the wrath of the Southern "colonels" to such an extent that he was given "time" to get out of town.

Brady was fairly successful with his new possession and he installed the first job press ever in the county. In 1874 he sold out to Judge N. R. Over¬ man, who employed J. T. Cox to edit the paper. In the spring of 1875 Emsley A. Overman bought a half interest in the paper. At this time the first cylinder power press ever in the county was bought for four hundred dollars and placed in the office. E. A. Overman became editor and financial manager. In January, 1876, William Haw bought the office, and issued the paper until January, 1877, when, being unable to pay for it, he relinquished it and the office went back to the Overmans. E. A. Overman conducted it until Sep¬ tember, 1878, when he purchased the interest of N. R. Overman and thus became sole owner and proprietor. Early in 1880 the office was sold to P. and J. O. Behymer, brothers, but a year later it reverted to E. A. Overman, who continued it until November, 1881, when it passed to S. Ray Williams, who, in January, 1882, took as a partner D. A. Alexander. In September, 1882. Williams retired, leaving Alexander the sole owner, but near April 1, 1883, the latter was joined by Jeremiah Fish, who continued with the paper until May, 1883, when he retired.

Shortly afterward the paper became the property of J. O. Behymer, and on January 1, 1914, he is still the owner and editor. An evening paper is issued, a six-column quarto, and a morning edition is sent to the country. The weekly paper was abandoned one year ago. A large amount of job printing is done at present by the Times office.

The Tipton Republican

paper in the county. G. W. Lowlev bought the office in i860 and he issued the paper until September, 1861, when he enlisted in the army, and soon after¬ ward the office was sold to satisfy the indebtedness hanging over it on ac¬ count of the purchase. This killed the paper forever.

The Tipton Enterprise

Joel Reece began issuing in Tipton a paper called the Enterprise in August, 1872. Frank Ristine was the printer. The October elections of 1874 put the quietus on this sheet without hope of resuscitation.

The Tipton Advance

In the early spring of 1874 W. J. Turpen and L. H. Emmons issued the first number of the Tipton Advance, and it was called an independent Democratic newspaper. It continued to be published with varying success until the spring of 1876, when it was purchased by William Haw and merged with the Times.

The Tipton Republican was started in April, 1876, by John Greeves, in response to the urgings of many prominent Republicans. The start was not very auspicious, for there was barely enough type to print the paper. After a few issues, M. W. Pershing traveled to Chicago for the purpose of buy¬ ing proper material for the office. He accordingly purchased one hundred and fifty dollars' worth of apparatus, which he loaned to Mr. Greeves. At this juncture, a number of Republicans bought the paper of Greeves and em¬ ployed Pershing to edit the sheet temporarily, or until a permanent editor could be secured. These Republicans were Dan Waugh, Park Russell, J. PI. Fear, M. V. B. Newcomer, R. B. Beauchamp, S. I. Davis, W. P. Weed, S. Lowley, M. Rosenthal, J. C. Gregg, William Barlow, H. Mehlig and W. M. Grishaw. This company owned the office with the exception of the material which had been purchased by Mr. Pershing in Chicago. In August, 1876, Mr. Solon Snook took the office on the same terms under which Mr. Pershing had issued it, namely, to maintain its Republicanism, and to have all he could make from the office, the ownership, of course, still remaining with the company. Mr. Snook continued the publication until after the October state election, when he suspended it and J. C. Gregg took the editorial chair on the same terms and successfully issued the paper until August of 1877.

The Advocate

T. M. Smith started a Greenback and Republican campaign sheet in September, 1878, and placed the subscription price at twenty-five cents for the campaign term. Mr. Smith was the Greenback editor and M. W. Persh¬ ing superintended the Republican side. This paper was called the Advocate . The campaign closed and with it the paper.

In October Mr. Pershing became editor of the Advocate . The first three months of this paper's existence was a struggle for life. These tortur¬ ous days safely weathered, things began to boom, and at the end of the first year the paper was enlarged to an eight-column folio. The uncovering of malfeasance in office and the merciless light turned on certain public of¬ ficials won a reputation for the paper, and contributed most strongly to its material success. In 1889 Mr. Pershing equipped the office with steam power presses, new material and enlarged the paper to an eight-page quarto.

Mr. Pershing continued the publication of the Advocate until the year 1901, when he disposed of it to W. H. Barnhart, after the former had been appointed postmaster of Tipton. Mr. Barnhart continued the publication of the sheet to January 1, 1902, when he sold out to W. H. Staley, who pub¬ lished the paper until his death. At this period it passed into the hands of his son, Ed T. Staley. The paper was a weekly publication until April 4, 1910, when the Morning Daily Advocate was established. This publication was continued until January 1, 1913, when it was suspended, the weekly Advocate having suspended the year before. This suspension left the Re¬ publican party without a newspaper representing it in the county.

The Windfall Herald

This small weekly newspaper was established in April, 1891, by J. C. Day, who is the present owner and publisher, although in the time since the establishment there have been other proprietors, namely: Mr. Cilis, S. A. Gordon and 0. G. Couch. The present sheet is independent, and is a sevencolumn folio.

The Truth Teller and Windfall News are two other newspapers which have arisen in Windfall in the past quarter century, and which have ex¬ pired.

The Kempton Courier

The Kempton Courier was organized on September 8, 1907, to succeed the Chronicle , and has become one of the largest papers in the county. Frank Ristine is the owner and editor of the sheet at present. The paper is a seven-column quarto, and is issued weekly.

The Baptist Herald and the Little Indian , a fraternal paper, have been issued in Kempton during the past twenty-five years, but are both now ex¬ tinct.

The Car Of Progress

In the late fifties a small folio sheet, named the Car of Progress, was inaugurated at Tipton by Mr. Kelsaw. The paper fought against the Demo¬ cratic principles of that period and became involved with the Democratic paper on the leading questions of the day, such as the extension of slave territory and the probability of war with the South. This paper had a life of nine months.

Saturday Express

J. O. Behymer, in the forepart of 1882, endeavored to give life to a new Democratic county organ, the Saturday Express . In the early part of 1883 this sheet uttered its swan song.

The Windfall News

Near May, 1876, Messrs. Sweet and Fugit established at Windfall an independent newspaper, and gave it the name of the Windfall News. They conducted this paper for one year, when the office was sold to P. and J. O. Behymer, who, in turn, issued the paper until the spring of 1880. Then it expired. In the fall of 1876 Sweet and Fugit issued a monthly paper de¬ voted to the interest of the children, called Our Home. This paper attained* a circulation all over the United States, amounting to over three thousand. When the News outfit was sold to the Behymers, this children's sheet went with it, and thereby terminated.

The Tipton Tribune

At the present time one of the leading newspapers in the county of Tipton is the Tipton Tribune. It was established as a six-column folio daily in the year 1895 by A. W. Ramsay and J. E. Anderson. Two years later I. M. O'Banion succeeded Mr. Anderson in the firm. At first, or until 1905, the office issued a weekly and a daily paper, but on the above date the weekly suspended publication. The Tribune is now a daily newspaper, with a morn¬ ing and evening edition. Each edition is eight pages, the morning paper being for the rural patrons and the evening for the city. Politically the paper is independent, and enjoys a large circulation and liberal advertising list This paper has come to be a power in Tipton county, and has won a reputa¬ tion on account of its unprejudiced treatment of all news stories. It is es¬ sentially a county paper, covering every community in the county fully. The facilities of the paper for doing job work are also excellent, and quite an amount of this business is done. M. W. Pershing, the former editor of the Advocate, is now identified with the Tribune as associate editor. A. W. Ramsay is the editor. I. M. O'Banion is circulation and business manager. The Tribune was the first newspaper published in the county to introduce the Merganthaler typesetting machine, it now having two machines in the office.

The Early Newspaper

In this day of newspaper excellence, it is hard to conceive of the early print shop and the amount of fortitude it required to issue a small sheet, often a sheet, every week. The modern newspaper, both in city and country, has become an institution, both as a news medium and as an educator. In the matter of up-to-date improvements and methods, it is safe to say that the country newspaper in general has kept pace with the city - that is, compara¬ tively. Mechanical advancement has rendered possible a high type of jour¬ nalism, a necessity to civilization and the progress of the industries, com¬ mercial enterprises and society.

The early newspaper was often a "one man" publication - that is, the office ©f editor-in-chief, business manager, circulation manager, managing editor, advertising, subscription and general manager, press foreman, printer, and "devil," were filled by one man, and he was generally a man whom busi¬ ness and hard work made unapproachable. With a hatful of type, a hand press and radical ideas, the first journalist worked. The individuality of tVie editor of the early newspaper was more pronounced than it is today. The editor was known and his opinions were quoted as authority on questions of public importance. The editor was a molder of public sentiment, but since rapid transit, free city and rural mail delivery and the farm anejj the city are brought closer together, the personality of the editor has not., that commanding influence that it once had. The newspaper is today almost ex¬ clusively given over to publicity of current events, rather than creating pub¬ lic sentiment.

Efficiency is the keynote of modern journalism, and also dispatch and punctuality. Telegraph connections have made the impossible possible, in the way of timely news. No sooner does an event occur than it is the knowledge of the world.