Kern County CA Archives History - Books .....First Newspaper Is Founded 1934 ************************************************ 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@yahoo.com February 19, 2006, 5:50 pm Book Title: Where Rolls The Kern CHAPTER VIII. First Newspaper is Founded. AS A general rule a California mining camp numbered among its early acquisitions a local newspaper. A saloon—or rather saloons, with heavy accent on the plural—gambling halls, dance halls, hotels, livery stables, stores and a newspaper constituted about the usual order of civic growth. The order seems to have been quite generally followed in the early day camps of the Kern country, with the exception of the newspaper. Keysville, Quartzburg and Kernville seem to have attained commercial greatness, in a comparative degree at least, without having been able to boast of a newspaper. It seems almost incredible that Kernville should have grown to its 3500 population, and its neighboring rival with 1300 population, should have blossomed and flourished without some enterprising pioneer editor fulfilling the proverbial "long felt want;" but there appears to be no record of either of these places having boasted of a news organ. Still more incredible seems the fact that the fight for the new county of Kern should have been carried on without a newspaper appearing on the scene to encourage the proposal, and to later profit from the accomplishment of the task by means of the necessary legal publications that ensued; but such seems to have been the case. Not only was it several months after the official legislative enactment creating the county before an active publisher appeared on the scene, but the county had been formally organized and was functioning as a body politic for nearly a month, before the first newspaper made its bow to the public. The first meeting of the Board of Supervisors was held August 1, 1866, and not until August 18th of the same year did Kern County's first journal make its appearance. It was called The Courier, and it was a most creditable publication, indeed, even compared with the standards of that time, which were exceptionally high, when methods of production, relative scarcity of population, and news sources are considered. The first issue came off the press at Havilah, Saturday, August 18, 1866, with the Courier Publishing Company, as publisher; C, W. Bush, editor, and George Tiffany, printer. It was a six-column, four-page sheet, and espoused the Democratic cause. To its early files we are indebted for much valuable historic information. Among the many interesting items in the first number was a directory of public officials, who were listed as follows: State Senator, J. W. Freeman; Member of the Assembly, I. C. Brown; County Judge, Theron Reed; District Attorney, E. E. Calhoun; Sheriff, W. B. Ross; Clerk, Recorder and Auditor, H. D. Bequette; Treasurer, D. A. Sinclair; Assessor, R. B. Sagely; Surveyor, Thomas Baker; Superintendent of Public Schools, J. R. Riley; Coroner and Public Administrator, Joseph Lively; Supervisors, Henry Hammel, S. A. Bishop and J. J. Rhymes. Bishop, by the way, was a man of considerable prominence. He later removed to the Owens Valley, and the town of Bishop, now the metropolis of Inyo County, was named in his honor. When he resided in Kern he had large holdings of acreage not far from El Tejon. Among the advertisers in the initial issue were B. Brundage, Thomas Lespeyre and E. E. Calhoun, Attorneys; J. A. Davidson and C. W. Bush, Physicians and Surgeons (the latter was evidently the one whose name appeared as editor of The Courier); E. W. Doss, "Pioneer Druggist;" Bridger & Howeth, Proprietors of Sozarac Billiard Saloon; Clear Creek Exchange Hotel, by H. T. Miller; Bell Union Hotel, Hammel & Denke, Proprietors; Mead & Clark's United States Mail Stage Line for Visalia; Grocery and General Store, by W. G. Mills; Clear Creek Store, D. A. Sinclair, Proprietor. There were a number of other local advertisers in the same edition, giving evidence that The Courier was a most welcome and fully appreciated addition to the commercial life of the thriving young town. Its issue of September 15, 1866, makes mention of the formation of a hook and ladder company, but a later day historian tells us that Havilah never possessed a hook nor a ladder —at least a fire ladder. In the same paper a mention is made of L. F. Humiston as County Judge; and a most interesting list of price quotations is given. It follows: Flour, ger barrel, $12; butter, per pound, SO cents; cheese, 37 cents; potatoes, 3^ cents; beans, 8 cents; eggs, 62 cents per dozen; coal oil, $2.25 per gallon; candles, 37 cents per pound; crushed sugar, 30 cents; brown sugar, 20 to 25 cents; coffee, 37 to 50 cents. October 13th, of the same year, the paper appears in a much improved mechanical form even over its creditable initial appearance. The title appears as Havilah Weekly Courier, with J. K. Acklin, as printer and business manager. Saturday, December 29, 1866, the name of A. D. Jones appears on the masthead of the paper as editor. Before continuing with the story of Havilah's heyday it will be interesting to go back to the year 1864—the year that a Mr. Thomas of Visalia erected the first steam quartz mill in the district. It was an eight-stamp mill In that year Havilah had a population of 500 inhabitants. Of that number there were twenty-five family groups, the remainder of the population being made up of unattached miners, prospectors and others. All told there were 147 buildings or tenements in the town. Included among them were four hotels, twelve mercantile establishments of various kinds—all doing an extensive business—two drug stores, three boot and shoe stores, two livery stables, two breweries, three bakeries, two billiard saloons, two barber shops, three fruit stores, two bath houses, one paint shop, three blacksmith and wagon shops, four physicians, one civil engineer and surveyor, besides the full quota of saloons and palaces of relaxation. Some of the buildings were quite attractive and substantial in character. The Bell Union Hotel, built and conducted by Messrs. Hammell & Denker, cost $16,500. As has been previously stated, the first meeting of the Board of Supervisors was held at Havilah, August 1, 1866. Henry Hammell and J. J. Rhymes were present. Mr. Hammell was chosen chairman of the Board. This meeting was held "Pursuant to the act of the Legislature creating the county of Kern, to define boundaries and to provide for its organization." It is presumed that the boundaries referred to were the township boundaries. The act had also provided for such organization by appointing the first corps of county officials. At this first meeting the Board proceeded to organize, and defined the boundaries of Townships One, Two and Three. At this same meeting the important duty of levying taxes was not overlooked, the rate for County and State being fixed at $2.61 on each $100 valuation. The clerk was also instructed to call for bids for the erection of a county jail. The first regular meeting of the Board at which all members were present was held August 6, 1866. At this meeting four proposals for the erection of the jail were presented, the award of the contract being made to Thomas B. Stuart, who agreed to fulfill the terms of the contract for the sum of $1600. The specifications called for the construction of a jail 16x20 feet, to contain three cells. The building was to be constructed of one-foot square timber, the partitions to be of wood six inches thick, and the doors to be constructed of half-inch iron to be made as a grating. The contract also included a sheriff's office, to be constructed over the jail, and the entire undertaking was to be completed in sixty days, on a lot of two acres previously purchased by the-Board for County purposes. At the same meeting, the Board entered into a contract with Thomas Baker to make or construct irrigation ditches on the Lower Kern River, by which thousands of acres of land then held valueless would be made productive and of great value. Baker and his associates were to receive a portion of said lands for their work. In November of 1866, The Courier makes mention of F. W. Doss as Superintendent of Public Schools; and refers to Henry Hammell, J. J. Rhymes and John M. Brite as the members of the Board of Supervisors. In this same month and year—November, 1866—the County's first grand jury was drawn, as follows: W. W. Hudson, foreman, Robert Palmer, W. T. Henderson, Thomas H. Bennix, J. P. Swearingen, B. T. Mitchell, W. H. Williams, M. H. Erskine, E. R. Burke, Solomon Jewett, Edward Tibbett, V. G. Thompson, Henry Pascoe, J. J. Murphy, J. S. Totty, Daniel Munction, W. D. Ward, T. W. Barnes, Stephen Chandler and Isaac Lightner. The Edward Tibbett referred to in the above list of pioneer grand jurors was the grandfather of Lawrence Tibbet, present day celebrated grand opera star, himself a native of Kern County. The first deed recorded in Kern County was recorded July 23,1866, prior to the initial meeting of the Board of Supervisors, and conveyed a Havilah lot from H. C, Harding to James R. Watson. Back in those days, the State laws provided that elections be held in the odd- instead of the even-numbered years, as at present. Thus, within a little more than a year of its birth Kern County had to undergo the turmoil of an election. Undoubtedly spirited, the election seems to have passed off without bloodshed; at least there appears no record of any. As a result of the election of 1867 Kern County found itself with the following members in its official family: Sheriff, R. B. Sagely; Clerk, H. D. Bequette; District Attorney, Thomas Laspeyre; Treasurer, D. A. Sinclair; Assessor, James R. Watson; Surveyor, Thomas Baker; Coroner, A. D. Jones; Superintendent of Schools, E. W. Doss; Supervisors, District No. 1, D. W. Walserm; District No. 2, J. J. Rhymes; District No. 3, John M. Brite. At a special election held in October, 1868, F. W. Craig was elected Supervisor of District No. 1 to succeed D. W. Walserm, who had evidently resigned. In writing his history published in 1891, Myron Angell said: "It will be of interest to those who may read these pages in 1925, after all wild animals have been exterminated, to know that as late as 1867, there were many large bears in the county. In April, 1867, a Mr. Petit, who was herding sheep for William and D. S. Lightner at Allen's Camp, Walker Basin, wrote to The Courier that he had a few days previously killed an immense bear by poisoning. He stated that the bear's estimated weight was 1,000 pounds. There were many in the county at that date, and they were very destructive to sheep." January 1,1868, there were three postoffices in the county: Havilah, Kernville and Lynn's Valley. The election of October, 1869, brought a few new faces into the County official family, as will be seen by reference to the following list of successful contenders for public office in that year: Sheriff, William H. Coons; Clerk, T. J. Williams; Assessor, James R. Watson; Treasurer, D. A. Sinclair; District Attorney, Thomas Laspyre; Surveyor, E. E. Calhoun; Coroner, Herman Hersfeld; Superintendent of Schools, J. H. Cornwell; Supervisor of District No. 2, C. T. White. Although by 1869 Havilah had probably passed the peak of its fame as a mining town, due to the encountering of rebellious ores in the deeper workings of its mines, it is doubtful if any of the then residents of the town even dreamed that the town was headed for anything but continued growth and prosperity. Even if the net returns from the mines in the immediate vicinity might have been declining slightly, it was still the metropolis and capital of the new and flourishing county, and had every hope and prospect, apparently, of continuing to prosper as the result of the development of the entire region. However, that year was to witness the birth of a new town that was eventually to take the county seat from Havilah, and to become, after many difficult struggles, the permanent metropolis of a rich territory of many thousands of square miles. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Where Rolls the Kern A History of Kern County, California By Herbert G. Comfort MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA: The ENTERPRISE Press 1934 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/kern/history/1934/whererol/firstnew274nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/ File size: 12.7 Kb