A Brief History of Union Parish Louisiana Newspapers Submitted for the Union Parish Louisiana USGenWeb Archives by Timothy D. Hudson, 5/2004 ................................................................................. ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ ================================================================================= A Brief History of the pre-1900 Newspapers of Union Parish Louisiana researched, written, and submitted by T. D. Hudson ================================================================================= It appears that Union Parish has had local newspaper coverage almost continually since the 1840s. The 1850 census lists three printers living in Farmerville, including Elisha Russell, a 21-year old born in Mississippi living in the household of Union Parish courthouse clerk Reuben Ellis (whose beautiful penmanship can be seen in all of the Union Parish courthouse records of that era), C. B. Ballou, a 23-year old born in Louisiana, and G. A. Hammond, a 28-year old born in Missouri. We cannot determine if any of them worked in a newspaper office in 1850, but given that the Farmerville “Enquirer” was in publication by 1853, it seems likely. Although the “Enquirer” continued publication until about 1857, no known issues of this paper survive today. It is possible that other papers were printed in Farmerville during the 1840s and 1850s. No newspapers were published in Union Parish between late 1857 and 1858. On 4 December 1858, the Union Parish deputy sheriff stated that “...there is no newspaper published in this parish...," forcing him to post legal notices in person on the courthouse door in Farmerville as well as at public places in the Union Parish villages of Shiloh and Downsville. However, a year later, by late October 1859, the “Union Democrat” was in publication in Farmerville. We have no precise record of the publisher or editor of this paper, but the 1860 census indicates that Savory B. Pernette, a 27-year old living in Deputy Sheriff W. W. Guthrie's household, worked as a printer in Farmerville. Living in the adjoining household was 16-year-old John H. Guice, who worked as a “printer’s devil”. With no record of another paper in publication in Farmerville that year, it certainly appears that Pernette and Guice worked for the “Union Democrat”. The “Democrat” remained in publication at least through the issue of 4 January 1861, but apparently ceased later that spring or summer when its staff joined the Confederate army. Printer Savory B. Pernette enlisted during the summer of 1861, and his young assistant Guice joined in early 1862. By October 1861, Union Parish was without a local newspaper, forcing the sheriff to once again post legal notices in various public places throughout the parish. The parish remained without a newspaper through January 1862, and the dire political situation in the South occasioned by the war prevented any papers from being established in the next few years. In December 1864, District Court Clerk Thomas C. Lewis stated that he had legally advertised by “...by posting a copy of the advertisement at the Court House door in the town of Farmerville, La, and by causing a copy of the same to be posted in the town of Downsville La. and also one in the town of Shiloh two other public places in said Parish there being no newspaper published in the Parish of Union at this time...” ==================================== Judge Thomas C. Lewis ==================================== Thomas Charles Lewis, III (30 July 1838 – 12 Jan 1900) played a central role in both Union Parish politics as well as its newspaper business for over thirty years. Lewis was the son of Rev. Thomas C. Lewis, II (3 Mar 1809 – 28 Dec 1853) and the grandson of Ouachita Parish Judge Thomas C. Lewis (c1780 – 17 Oct 1819). The elder Judge Lewis settled in northeastern Louisiana between 1805 and 1810, and he quickly became politically influential in Monroe. Rev. Lewis worked as a Methodist minister and lived in Claiborne Parish in the 1830s when Lewis III was born, but the family settled in Farmerville in 1849. Later in life the younger Lewis described quite fondly his early memories of growing up in the piney hills of north Louisiana. Thomas C. Lewis, III presumably studied law in the latter 1850s, and in the fall of 1859, the citizens of Union Parish elected him as the Clerk of the District Court. In 1860, Lewis’ household in Farmerville consisted of his widowed mother, younger brother, and the printer's devil John H. Guice, with printer Savory B. Pernette living next door. This strongly suggests that Lewis played some role in the publication of the “Union Democrat”, but we do not know precisely in what capacity. Thomas C. Lewis and Savory B. Pernette both joined the same military company formed in the Farmerville region in mid-1861: Company I, 12th Regiment Louisiana Infantry. They served together with their regiment during the Confederate defense of the forts in the Columbus, Kentucky area in late 1861 and then of Island No. 10 near New Madrid, Missouri in early 1862. However, in November 1862, the army issued Lewis a medical discharge due to disability, while Pernette remained on duty in the Confederate army. After service in Tennessee and Mississippi during the rest of 1862 and early 1863, Pernette’s regiment went with General Joseph E. Johnston’s army from Jackson, Mississippi towards Vicksburg in an attempt to unit with the Confederate forces there and together attack Yankee General Grant. In the bloody Battle of Champion’s Hill on 16 May 1863, Pernette was captured by the Yankees and sent to a Northern prison, where he died the following October. Lewis and Pernette apparently enjoyed a close friendship, for Lewis named his second son “Savory”, undoubtedly in Pernette's memory. After his discharge from the army in late 1862, Lewis returned to Farmerville and resumed his former job as Clerk of Court between 1863 and 1866. He was apparently admitted to the Louisiana bar sometime around 1865 or 1866, and after that operated his own private law practice in Farmerville. After nearly five years of being without a parish newspaper, the “Union Record” debuted its first issue in early February 1866. It is not clear who actually founded the “Union Record” or acted as its publisher or editor between 1866 and 1870. A Mr. Mims penned the paper's editorials in the fall of 1869, when he engaged in a war of words with the infamous founder of the “New York Tribune”, Horace Greeley. However, in January 1870, Mims retired from the newspaper business and T. C. Lewis & Co. assumed the paper’s editorial duties. Evidence from December 1870 indicates that Union Parish Judge Thomas B. Tompkins helped operate the “Record” with Lewis. Some claim that Lewis himself founded the “Union Record” in February 1866 and hired Mims as editor while he focused upon his law practice. While this may certainly be the case, no definitive evidence has yet been found to verify it. Despite his ownership of the “Union Record”, the 1870 census enumerator listed Lewis’s occupation as a lawyer. However, his 21-year-old brother-in-law, James H. Mason, lived with Lewis and his wife Margaret Mason Lewis in 1870 and worked as a printer, undoubtedly of Lewis' “Record”. Tompkins' term as parish judge ended in 1871, and the citizens elected Thomas C. Lewis as parish judge in the volatile 1872 elections. As a result, he handed over many newspaper duties to his brother-in-law. By March 1873, Mason published the “Union Record”, and Lewis' friend, local attorney Robert W. Futch, had taken over as editor. Lewis still functioned as the paper’s business manager in 1873. However, by 1876 John B. Holstead had purchased the “Union Record” from Lewis and served as its editor. The only known surviving issue from 1876 does not mention Lewis except as parish judge, so his association with this paper may have ended by then. Incidentally, Holstead was another friend of Lewis’; by the early 1880s he had moved to Ruston in neighboring Lincoln Parish and founded his own paper, the Ruston “Caliagraph”, and would later serve as a judge there. The Lewis and Holstead families remained close, and in 1900, Lewis’ son married Holstead’s daughter. ==================================== Judge James E. Trimble & Reconstruction Politics in Union Parish ==================================== A full appreciation of the subsequent events in the history of Union Parish newspapers requires a basic understanding of what happened politically in Union Parish during Reconstruction, as well as background on one of the most colorful characters in Union Parish history, Judge James Etherington Trimble (22 Feb 1834 – 19 Dec 1887). Trimble was born in Bridgewater, Pennsylvania. After graduating from William College in Williamstown, Massachusetts in 1857, he briefly studied law in Iowa. Trimble came to Farmerville in February 1859 to become the president of the Farmerville Female College. During or after the war, Trimble resumed his legal studies, was admitted to the Louisiana bar in 1866, and then practiced law in Farmerville with William K. Rutland in the firm of Rutland & Trimble. Despite living in the staunchly secessionist Deep South, Trimble remained a unionist throughout the war, and afterwards, he became political oddity. During the presidential election of 1868, Trimble has the distinction of casting the only Republican vote in Union Parish for Yankee General U. S. Grant. Although isolated politically, in the early 1870s, Trimble apparently gained the respect of many townspeople for firmly holding to his convictions and standing up to his political adversaries. After the war ended, Northern politicians refused to admit representatives from the former Confederate states to Congress or to allow the Southern states back into the Union without some atonement for their struggle for independence. This led to what is known as the Reconstruction period, basically a military occupation of the South lasting until 1876. It was an unpleasant period for most Southerners, rife with election violations that caused much resentment among the whites. Former slaves of course suffered the most, being manipulated by both carpetbaggers and white Southerners, many of whom struggled desperately to regain political control of their region. Although Reconstruction was a trying period for all Southern States, it was particularly so for Louisiana. The widespread corruption among Louisiana state officials and the federal ones serving in the state raised the enmity of citizens and prompted Congressional investigations and hearings. The attempt to rid the state of Republican control caused the 1872 elections to be extremely divisive among Democrats, especially for those in Union Parish. The Unionist Democratic ticket headed by gubernatorial candidate John McEnery fought to return Louisiana to self rule and rid the state of the occupying Federal troops (detachments of which were stationed throughout the state, including one in Monroe). However, Republican William Pitt Kellogg usurped the governor’s post from McEnery in what was regarded as another rigged election, and in the ensuing uproar many prominent Union Parish citizens were arrested on various charges. During this tense 1872 election season, James E. Trimble ran for Judge of the Eleventh Judicial District for Union Parish, while Thomas C. Lewis ran for parish judge against Trimble's associate Benjamin Ford. Although they did not run against each other, Trimble and Lewis reportedly had serious political disagreements during the campaign season, perhaps motivated by lingering events from past years (they were competing Farmerville attorneys between 1866 and 1872). Both men won election to their respective judicial posts, but the election tarnished Lewis’ reputation. Although we have no record of the precise events that occurred, many Union Parish citizens felt Lewis was elected unfairly, an impression that haunted Lewis for many years. The 1872 elections politically divided the parish into groups headed by Judge Lewis and Judge Trimble. Joining Lewis were several other Farmerville lawyers, including James A. Ramsey, and they vocally opposed the political ideals of Judge Trimble. Lewis' editorial position via his “Union Record” allowed him to espouse his political views and ideals to the entire parish, even during the period in which he served as parish judge. This angered many Union Parish residents who politically disagreed with Lewis, resulting in much sympathy for Judge Trimble and his group, even though Trimble was a native Yankee. Very quickly, this political feud became personal, with Trimble and Lewis developing an apparent vicious revulsion of each other. The feud became so heated that both men armed themselves, swearing to shoot the other. Despite the threats of violence, no record of any actual violence exists as long as the men held their judicial positions. Both Lewis and Trimble’s terms ended in 1876, and they each returned to private law practice. Trimble resumed his former partnership with William K. Rutland in the revived firm of Trimble & Rutland. Lewis may have returned to the “Union Record” in some capacity, although we do not know this for certain. Their exit from public office did nothing to smooth the hard feelings between Trimble and Lewis. Apparently tired of not having a forum for his own political viewpoints, in 1878 Judge Trimble founded his own paper, the Farmerville “Gazette”, to compete with the “Union Record”. Trimble's editorials in 1878 and 1879 appear to have increased the hostility between him and Lewis, who was also unable to cleanse himself of the lingering overtones from the 1872 election. Receiving threats to his life and in fear of his family’s safety, Lewis and Holstead ceased operation of the “Union Record” in late 1879, and Lewis moved south to St. Landry Parish, settling near Church Point. Meanwhile, the little paper founded by Trimble has survived to this day, being printed each week in Farmerville for the past one hundred and twenty-seven years. ==================================== Build-up to the 1887 Farmerville Shootout ==================================== Even with Lewis out of the picture, the political divisions within Union Parish remained, and Lewis' group now needed a voice in print. His friend Oliver Cromwell Dawkins founded a paper to compete with Trimble's “Gazette” in 1881, the “North Louisiana Appeal”. Dawkins continued publication of the “Appeal” until spring 1884, when Judge Lewis, believing the danger to his life had passed, returned to Farmerville. In June 1884 he purchased the printing machinery of the now-defunct “North Louisiana Appeal” from Dawkins. Lewis purchased the “…News and Job Printing Presses belonging to the ‘North Louisiana Appeal’ Printing office in the town of Farmerville La... together with all type, paper cutter, and Paper...” Early the next year, Lewis founded a new paper in Union Parish to compete with Trimble's “Gazette”. He issued the first edition of his new “Home Advocate” on 11 February 1885. The past disagreements among the Farmerville Democrats erupted once again with Lewis’ return and the publication of his new paper. James E. Trimble gave a terse acknowledgement of the first issue of the “Home Advocate” by questioning why it was only a six-column paper rather than the seven-column one expected by Trimble; Lewis chose not to respond to that jibe in print. However, a public dispute between them began in July with a sarcastic comment Trimble made in response to the issue of the “Home Advocate” intended for publication on 10 July 1885. Lewis was apparently short of paper and his supply did not arrive by the Choudrant stage line as scheduled (the bayous were too low in July for steamboats to run between Monroe and Farmerville, so the only way for supplies to arrive in Farmerville from the outside world was via the Choudrant stage line). As a result, that edition of the “Advocate” was not printed, and Trimble ridiculed Lewis. Trimble also questioned the veracity of a statement Lewis made concerning Judge William K. Rutland upon Rutland’s departure from Farmerville for Baton Rouge in late April. Rutland was Trimble’s law partner in the 1860s and again in the 1870s; however, the two became estranged by the early 1880s, with Rutland then befriending Lewis' group. The ensuing war of words between Lewis and Trimble appears intense, although one-sided to us today, as no issues of the “Gazette” survive from 1885. Many other Louisiana newspapers referenced this latest Lewis – Trimble public dispute, with most of them siding with Lewis. Reportedly these hard feelings grew to the point where both men again armed themselves and threatened to shoot the other. Only a few Union Parish newspapers survive for 1886 and precisely one issue for 1887, none of which make any reference to the feud between Judges Lewis and Trimble. The hostility among Farmerville's businessmen did not limit itself to Trimble and Lewis. Trimble and Farmerville lawyer James A. Ramsey (9 Mar 1852 – 19 Dec 1887) also shared quite a bit of animosity. These hard feelings may have lingered from the Reconstruction issues of the 1870s, but tradition suggests a more personal basis. At some point Ramsey’s children boarded at Trimble’s house in Farmerville while attending school. Trimble filed a lawsuit against Ramsey for failure to pay their board, and in court Ramsey produced a receipt for payment, humiliating Trimble. If this were not enough, between 1878 and 1881 Ramsey and Trimble were the opposing legal councils for a vicious tug of war over family property between David Ward and his niece’s husband, Thomas N. Bailey. This matter was heard twice before the Louisiana Supreme Court, with Ramsey finally emerging as the victor. Incidentally, in 1880, Trimble, his law partner William K. Rutland, and Ramsey all lived in Farmerville within only a few houses of each other; possibly due to the continued personal angst between them, Ramsey moved to the country soon after 1880. With all these long-standing personal animosities lingering among the leading citizens of Farmerville, the stage was perfectly set for a violent showdown. Given that these problems were originally political in nature, it is perhaps natural that a Farmerville political rally sparked another controversy. At this public gathering on 8 November 1887, James A. Ramsey gave a speech in which he sharply criticized Judge Trimble for his editorials in the “Gazette” against Louisiana Governor Nichols’ official conduct; apparently Ramsey had previously presented Trimble with proof that his public criticisms of Nichols were without merit, yet Trimble refused to publish a retraction or correction. In response to Ramsey’s speech, Trimble assailed Ramsey’s moral character in his next editorial. Incensed at Trimble’s attack on his friend, in the November 18th issue of his “Home Advocate”, Thomas Lewis published an ad signed by him and many of Farmerville’s citizens in which he certified Ramsey’s "high moral rectitude” and integrity. Lewis’ ad also announced that Ramsey’s conscientious scruples prevented him from “...appealing to the dueling code to wash out the affront put upon him by Editor Trimble...” We have no records of the precise events that occurred over the next month. However, what we do know is that Judge Trimble drank heavily on December 19th. In several public outbursts that day, he threatened to shoot Ramsey if Ramsey came to town. Not wanting to appear cowardly, Ramsey ignored Trimble’s threat and came to Farmerville. In a chance encounter in front of Stein’s store in Farmerville at about 5:15 pm, Ramsey met Trimble. After a hot exchange of words that drew a large crowd of men in front of the store, the two lawyers drew their pistols, five or six shots were fired, and both fell dead. A coroner’s investigation revealed that Ramsey died from a bullet fired by Trimble’s gun, but Ramsey’s gun had not been fired. According to tradition passed down in the Ramsey family, Ramsey’s nephew George McFarland was in the crowd of men gathered in Stein’s store watching the altercation between Ramsey and Trimble. After Trimble pulled his gun and shot Ramsey, McFarland, an excellent marksman, shot Trimble. The ensuing events suggest the sentiment of most Union Parish residents surrounding this debacle: Lewis’ paper only survived a few more years after the gunfight, whereas Trimble’s has survived down to the present day. Trimble’s son James G. Trimble took over the ownership and editorial duties of the “Gazette”, and that paper thrived in the 1890s and 1900s. The last known extant issue of Judge Lewis’ “Home Advocate” is dated 10 June 1887, but publication reportedly continued until around 1890. About that time, he moved from Farmerville to Ruston and assisted his son Savory Mason Lewis with the publication of the Ruston “Leader” for a few years. By 1894, Judge Lewis returned to Church Point in St. Landry Parish, where he founded a new paper, also called the “Advocate”; this last public service of Thomas Charles Lewis, III lasted until 1895. He died in Church Point in 1900. ================================================================================= SOURCES: 1) Microfilmed issues of these Farmerville, Louisiana newspapers: “Union Record”, “Home Advocate”, and “Gazette”. 2) Microfilmed issues of these newspapers of Monroe, Louisiana newspapers: “Ouachita Telegraph” and “Monroe Bulletin”. 3) Proof of the existence of the “Farmerville Enquirer” comes from Union Parish Succession Book A-3, pp. 74 – 75, which refers to the issues of that paper dated 25 March 1853 and 1 April 1853. 4) Proof of the lack of a newspaper for Union Parish in 1858 and early 1859 is given by Union Parish Succession Book A-3, p. 114. Proof of the existence of the “Union Democrat” comes from Union Parish Succession Book E, pp. 110, 138, 173, 206. Page 280 of this same book proves that publication has ceased by October 1861. 5) Succession Book A-3, p. 10 proves that there was no paper published in Union Parish between 16 December 1861 and 18 January 1862. Page 180 of this same book shows that there was no paper in the parish in December 1864. Succession Book F, p. 192 proves that no paper was in publication in January 1866, whereas page 208 shows that the “Union Record” was in publication by 7 July 1866. 6) The 15 February 1866 issue of the “Ouachita Telegraph” proves that the “Union Record” had recently published its first issue. The issue of 14 March 1873 was volume 7, number 20. If each volume of the “Record” had the standard 52 issues, it had fallen seriously behind between 1866 and 1873. 7) Union Parish Louisiana Deed Book U, pp. 263 – 264 is the record in which Lewis purchases the printing equipment of the “North Louisiana Appeal” from Dawkins. 8) 1850 – 1880 United States Census Records for Union Parish Louisiana. 9) Information from Dr. Max H. Williams, a Union Parish historian, including information from his Northeast Louisiana University Master’s thesis, “Union Parish, 1829 – 1900.” 10) “Encyclopedia of Individuals and Founding Families of the Ouachita Valley from 1785 to 1850”, Part Two, by Dr. E. Russ Williams, Jr. (1997). ####################################################################