History of the pre-1900 Newspapers of Union Parish Louisiana Submitted by T. D. Hudson Date: 01 Mar 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 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 quite possible that other papers were printed in Farmerville during these early years as well. 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 public notices in person on the courthouse door in Farmerville as well as at public places in the other Union Parish villages of Shiloh and Downsville. However, by January 1860, the "Union Democrat" was in publication in Farmerville. We have no precise record that indicates the publisher or editor of the "Union Democrat", 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". This little paper continued its publication at least until July 1860, but due to the Civil War, likely did not last for long. Printer Savory B. Pernette joined the Confederate army during the summer of 1861; he was captured by the Yankees at the Battle of Champion's Hill in May 1863 and died in a Yankee prison the following October. Pernette's assistant, John H. Guice, joined the Confederate army in early 1862. ============================================================= Judge Thomas Charles Lewis, III (30 July 1838 – 12 Jan 1900) ============================================================= Thomas C. Lewis, III played a central role in the both Union Parish politics as well as its newspaper business for over thirty years. Lewis worked as a Farmerville teacher, store owner, attorney, and newspaper editor/publisher/owner. In addition, he served as the Union Parish Clerk of Court in the 1850s and 1860s, and in 1872 won election as the Union Parish Judge. 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 1814 and was 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. Lewis presumably studied law sometime after his father's death in 1853, and by the latter 1850s, he had assumed the duties of the Union Parish Clerk of 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 in what capacity. Thomas C. Lewis and Savory B. Pernette both joined the same military company formed in the Farmerville region in mid-1861 as privates: 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 the spring of 1862. However, in November 1862, the army discharged Lewis due to disability. He returned to Farmerville and resumed his former job as Clerk of Court between 1863 and 1866, and after that apparently operated his own law practice in Farmerville. Lewis and Pernette apparently enjoyed a close friendship, for Lewis named his second son 'Savory', undoubtedly in Pernette's memory. The publication of the Farmerville "Union Record" began no later than 9 November 1866. The issue of 14 March 1873 was volume 7, number 20. Assuming that each volume had 52 issues (standard for papers in that era), publication must have begun by the above date; however, periodic technical problems (mechanical failures or problems getting printing supplies to Farmerville) occasionally delayed the publication of an issue. Thus, the actual publication date of the first issue of the “Union Record” was probably several months earlier than November 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." took over editorial duties. Evidence from December 1870 indicates that Union Parish Judge Thomas B. Tompkins helped operate the "Union Record" with Lewis. It appears likely that Lewis founded the "Record" in 1866 and hired Mims as editor, but no definitive evidence has yet been found of this. Despite his ownership of the "Record", the 1870 census enumerator listed Lewis 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 with 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 duties of the "Record" to his brother-in-law. By March 1873, Mason published the “Union Record", and Lewis' friend, local attorney Robert W. Futch, took over as editor. However, Lewis still functioned as the business manager of the “Record” in 1873. 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 Etherington Trimble (22 Feb 1834 - 19 Dec 1887) & 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 the background on one of the most colorful characters in Union Parish history, Judge James Etherington Trimble. Trimble was born on 22 February 1834 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, who were struggling 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. At this same time, Trimble was elected Judge of the Eleventh Judicial District for Union Parish, while Thomas C. Lewis ran for parish judge against Trimble's associate Benjamin Ford. Lewis won the race, but the events surrounding his election haunted him for years. Lewis apparently quarreled severely with James E. Trimble during the events leading up to the election, and many Union Parish citizens felt Lewis was elected unfairly. The 1872 elections divided the parish politically 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 District Judge Trimble and his group. 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. However, no record exists of any violence while the men held their judicial positions, and both Parish Judge Lewis and District Judge Trimble left office in 1876 and returned to private law practice. Trimble resumed his former partnership with William K. Rutland in the revived firm of Trimble & Rutland. Lewis apparently returned to the "Union Record" in some capacity. However, their exit from public office did nothing to smooth the hard feelings between the two men. Apparently tired of not having a forum for his own political viewpoints, in 1878 Judge Trimble founded his own paper, the Farmerville "Gazette". Trimble's editorials appear to have merely increased the hostility between him and Lewis, who was 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 ceased operation of his "Union Record" in late 1879 and 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 six years. Even with Lewis out of the picture, the political divisions within Union Parish remained, and Lewis' group needed a voice in print. His friend Oliver C. 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 and purchased the printing machinery of the now-defunct “North Louisiana Appeal” from Dawkins. Early the next year, Lewis founded a new paper in Union Parish to compete with Trimble's "Gazette". Lewis issued the first issue 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 to not 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” scheduled 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 from the outside world was via the Choudrant stageline). As a result, that issue of the “Advocate” was not printed, and Trimble ridiculed Lewis and his paper. 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 apparently siding with Lewis. Reportedly these hard feelings grew to the point where both men again armed themselves and threatened to shoot the other. There are only a few surviving Union Parish newspapers for 1886 and exactly one for 1887, and none make any reference to the 1885 feud between Judges Lewis and Trimble. The hostility among Farmerville's businessmen was not limited 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. Interestingly, in 1880 Trimble, his law partner William K. Rutland, and Ramsey all lived in Farmerville within only a few houses of each other; Ramsey moved to the country soon after 1880. Possibly building upon these earlier conflicts, on 8 November 1887 at a political rally held in Farmerville, James A. Ramsey gave a speech in which he sharply criticized 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..." The precise events that occurred over the next month are unknown. 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 town. 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 these Monroe, Louisiana newspapers: "Ouachita Telegraph" and "Monroe Bulletin". 3. Union Parish Court Records, including successions and deeds. 3. United States Census Records for Louisiana. 4. Information from Dr. Max H. Williams, a Union Parish historian, including information from his Northeast Louisiana University Master’s thesis, “Union Parish, 1829 – 1900.” 5. “Encyclopedia of Individuals and Founding Families of the Ouachita Valley from 1785 to 1850”, Part Two, by Dr. E. Russ Williams, Jr. (1997).