Butte County CA Archives History - Books .....The Press Of Butte County 1882 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com December 16, 2005, 1:22 am Book Title: History Of Butte County THE PRESS OF BUTTE COUNTY. BY HON. GEORGE H. CROSSETTE. It was a sultry day in October, 1853, that the writer was wearing out the time in front of the hotel he was endeavoring to keep in the valley, some eight miles from Oroville, and about thirteen from the county-seat, Bidwell's bar, when a printing-press and material for a newspaper passed on its way to the capital of the county. Reared in a printing-office, the sight of the familiar press made everything pale into insignificance, and rendered the hotel business, always tiresome and disagreeable, doubly so. The valley in which the hotel was located seemed dry and yellow in the October sun, and the glorious hills hounding it on the east seemed only a prison-house. The material was labelled to "C. W. Stiles & Co.," and composed the material for the Butte Record, the first number of which was issued November 12, 1853. The material was purchased by C. W. Stiles with money contributed by the prominent citizens and officers of the county. Some of the material still remains in the Record office, after a lapse of nearly twenty-nine years. Associated with Stiles in the mechanical and editorial department of the paper were L. P. Hall, still a resident of the State, Harry DeCourcey, a writer of considerable ability, who was found dead in his bed in San Francisco shortly after leaving the county, and James Kerr. The typographical force was composed of Messrs. Hall and Kerr. Mr. Stiles was not a printer, and the business being new to him, the paper was scarcely a financial success from the start. A difficulty between DeCourcey and Hall, in which the latter received a cut under the shoulder-blade which disabled him for some time and sent DeCourcey to do penance in the county jail, left the office in a helpless condition, and Mr. Stiles sought out the present proprietor, and assuming the ownership of the paper and its material, sold it to him, taking his hotel and ranch in exchange therefor. It was in February, 1854, that the paper passed into the possession of George H. Crossette, who has continued its publication since, with the exception of a period of about two years, from 1864 to the spring of 1866. During this latter period it was run by James Wagstaff, as the Oroville Union Record. After its re-purchase by Mr. Crossette, the name of Butte Record was restored to it. Mr. Wagstaff died with consumption shortly after disposing of the office. The Record office was removed to Oroville, following the county-seat, in July, 1856, and its publication continued there until 1873, when it was removed to Chico. From July, 1856, to September, 1858, it was issued as a morning daily. Frazer river and other distant mining excitements carried off the population of Oroville to such an extent that it was not deemed advisable to continue it as a daily, and its weekly publication was resumed in September, 1858. John De Mott, a Marysville pioneer of 1850, was associated with Mr. Crossette in the publication of the Record, from its removal from Bidwell's bar to Oroville, in 1856, to his death, which occurred in January, 1860. 1873, it was removed to Chico, and issued daily and weekly during the election campaign of 1S73. In January, 1877, the Chico Daily Evening Record was issued, and since that period it has continued to issue a daily and weekly edition. In the spring of 1856, C. G. Lincoln started the North Californian, in Oroville, a weekly publication, which continued during the exciting presidential election of that year. In 1857, during a somewhat exciting local election for district judge, the paper was issued daily, one day as the North Californian and the next as the Butte Democrat. Of course, under such circumstances, the paper did not last long after the excitement of the election had passed, and its material was absorbed by the Record. Mr. Lincoln secured a position in the San Francisco custom-house, and some time in 1863 or 1864, returned to the east with Trainer W. Park, and became cashier of Park's national bank, at first located in Vermont, but afterwards removed to New York, which position, we believe, he yet fills. Some time in the summer of 1859, a man named Johnson brought a press and material for a printing-office to Oroville, and announced his intention of publishing a paper. He did not, however, and the material was sold to John Charlton, who started a paper at the present village of Tehama. In July, 1859, the Butte Democrat made its appearance in Oroville as a weekly, with A. N. Wyman as editor and proprietor, and was continued until sometime in 1860, when the material was purchased by Mr. Wentworth, who published the Oroville Weekly Union until his death, in 1863. The material was then sold to a Mr. Langmore, who removed it to Susanville, and issued a weekly paper known as the Sage Brush. Mr. Wyman remained in Oroville for some years, being employed in the Record office. He was also employed in the office of the Quincy National (Plumas county) for some time, but finally returned to his friends in Washington, D. C., where he died. The town of Chico was laid off into streets and blocks in 1862, and in 1863 a Mr. Hatch started a small weekly publication, known as the Chico Index. It had a brief struggle for existence, when the material was removed to San Francisco in payment for its purchase-money. In November, 1864, A. W. Bishop, now of Oakland, began the publication of the Chico Courant. It was continued until 1869. In July, 1867, C. H. Wilson, of Chico, issued the Butte County Press as a weekly. He continued in it but a short time, when the proprietorship was assumed by R. H. O'Ferrall. He was succeeded by L. P. Hall, who sought to give the publication a new lease of life by taking advantage of the growing feeling against Chinese immigration, and christened his paper the California Caucasian. It expired in March, 1869. The material then passed into the hands of W. N. DeHaven, who issued the Northern Enterprise, until 1871, when it passed into the hands of Dr. Wm. P. Tilden, who continued its publication for a year. In October, 1871, W. Chalmers issued the Chico Semi-Weekly Review, which had a brief existence until May, 1872, when it was absorbed by the Northern Enterprise, with Ed. Hoole as ostensible proprietor, and W. N. DeHaven as editor. Mr. DeHaven continued as editor of the Enterprise until his death, in 1876. Since then its editorial chair has been filled by W. C. Chalmers, E. Haley, W. H. Atwell ("Bill Dad"), W. Loy, H. K. Goddard, and again Chalmers. It is still in existence, and for something over a year it has been issued as a semi-weekly. In 1873, L. D. Clark began the publication of the Oroville Mercury, and continued its publication for about one year, when it passed into the hands of DeMott & Gray. Mr. Wm. DeMott soon became sole proprietor, and continued its publication up to the period of his death, in the spring of 1880, since which time it has been continued by Mrs. Wm. DeMott, with Warren Sexton as business manager. The historian of the press of Butte county might as well lay down his pen at his period. Papers have multiplied within the county during the past four or five years so rapidly that it is almost a hopeless task to mention them. The "patent outside" and "inside" fiend has been at work, and Biggs and Gridley boast their papers, with Nord, Cana, Dayton, Dogtown, Centerville, Paradise and Helltown to hear from. Some four years ago, William Sharkey began the publication of the Butte County Register at Biggs. After about two years it was removed to Oroville, where its publication has since been continued. Some two years since, C. N. Reed began the publication of the Gridley Herald, at Gridley. and has been reasonably successful, with good prospects of continuing as a local newspaper. On the removal of the Register from Biggs to Oroville, Mr. F. F. Carnduff occupied the place with the Biggs Recorder, which is still in successful operation. Chico seems to be the center of attraction for ventures in the newspaper line. In 1879, C. L. King issued the Daily Amusement and Advertiser. It continued in existence until after the presidential election of 1880. The following year the Chico Morning Chronicle made its appearance, with Manning & Brown as proprietors, and H. R. Goddard, late of the Enterprise, as editor and carrier. At present there are eight printing-offices and papers in Butte county, viz., the Chico Daily Evening Record, Weekly Suite Record, the Semi-Weekly Enterprise, and the Morning Chronicle, Chico: the Weekly Mercury and Butte County Register, Oroville; the Biggs Recorder, and the Gridley Herald. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF BUTTE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, IN TWO VOLUMES. I. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA FROM 1513 TO 1850. BY FRANK T. GILBERT. The Great Fur Companies and their Trapping Expeditions to California. Settlement of the Sacramento Valley. The Discovery of Gold in California. BY HARRY L. WELLS. II. HISTORY OF BUTTE COUNTY, From its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. BY HARRY L. WELLS AND W. L. CHAMBERS. BOTH VOLUMES ILLUSTRATED WITH VIEWS AND PORTRAITS. HARRY L. WELLS, 517 CLAY STREET, SAN FRANCISCO 1882. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1882, by HARRY L. WELLS, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. FRANCIS, VALENTINE & Co., Engravers & Printers 517 Clay St., San Francisco File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/butte/history/1882/historyo/pressofb241ms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/cafiles/ File size: 10.0 Kb