THE PRESS OF SAGADAHOC COUNTY, Maine. BATH. MAINE GAZETTE. The history of the Gazette, the first newspaper published at Bath, must be very brief It was commenced by Messrs. Torrey and Simpson on the 8th day of December, 1820. Mr. Simpson, after one year's connection with the establishment, sold his right to Mr. Torrey, who continued the publication until 1830. The politics of the Gazette were merely of a nominal charac- ter; as, at that time, under the administration of James Monroe, there was very little political excitement. When John Quincy Adams was brought before the public, the Gazette took a decided stand for his election. This movement resulted in the establish- ment of the Maine Inquirer, which advocated the promotion of Wm. H. Crawford to the Presidency; and the final result was the consolidation of both papers, in 1832, under the name of Gazette and Inquirer. The Gazette was the medium for the promulgation of the Laws of the United States, while Henry Clay was Secretary of State under the administration of J. Q. Adams. The editorial of this paper was conducted principally by the publishers. The contribu- tors were Hon. William Thorndike, Hon. Benjamin Randall, and Hon. Joseph F. Wingate. The bound volumes of the Gazette were presented by Mr. Torrey to the Bath Public Library in 1830, when Dr. N. Weld was Librarian. NOTE. -Mr. Torrey, who has favored us with the above, is now a retired typo- grapher, enjoying, we hope, the eve of his laborious life at No. 19 Winthrop street. Boston Highlands. SAGADAHOC COUNTY. 167 MAINE INQUIRER. This paper was established at Bath, Oct. 14,1824, by Thomas Eaton, who graduated from the office of the Eastern Argus, which was then published at Portland by Messrs. Todd and Smith. Mr. Eaton continued publisher and editor of the Inquirer until Nov., 1832, when he disposed of his interest in the paper to Mr. Harris, of Haverhill, Mass., who published it about a year, And then sold his interest to J. S. Swift, recently publisher of the Farmington Chronicle. Mr. Eaton was appointed postmaster of Bath in April, 1833, and continued in the office until Dec. 31, 1850. The Inquirer was the first paper in New England that advo- cated the election of Gen. Jackson for President, commencing the canvass soon after the choice by Congress of John Quincy Adams for President in 1825, -the States failing to elect. The Inquirer was rigidly Democratic in its doctrines. In this enterprise Mr. Eaton was assisted and patronised by some of the most prominent citizens of Bath, among whom were Gov. King, Hon. Peleg Tallman, Col. Peter H. Green, Gen. James McLellan, Gen. Joseph Sewall, Judge Henry Tallman, Judge Groton, and others, who were especially active and efficient in sustaining the paper and extending its circulation. GAZETTE AND Inquirer., In 1832 the Maine Gazette and the Inquirer were united and published weekly under the title Gazette and Inquirer, first by Mr. Harris, and afterward by Hamlet Bates until 1834. Josiah S. Swift then became the proprietor and publisher, under whose supervision it was published until March 17,1836, when the estab- lishment was purchased by Elisha Clarke, who changed the name and called his issue the LINCOLN TELEGRAPH. The circulation of the paper was quite limited at the time Mr. Clarke took charge, being less than 100; but under his manage- ment it soon gained a very large circulation for the times, and a good pecuniary basis. Mr. Clarke continued as editor and pub- lisher until September, 1846, when he sold to Chamberlain, Haines and Plummer, and retired. 168 THE NEWS PRESS OF MAINE. The new publishers were all enthusiastic and sanguine young men; they felt that enterprise was the direct road to success, and in that faith they enlarged the paper, and gave it a new title- THE NORTHERN TRIBUNE, - They made expensive additions to the establishment, and struggled manfully to realize success. In 1848 they commenced the publication of the Daily Northern Tribune. This experiment proving less profitable than was hoped, Mr. Raines retired from the firm about 1849; and a few months later Mr. Chamberlain withdrew and emigrated to California, where, it is understood, he has been very successful in life. Mr. Plummer then took as a partner in the business, George Ross, at that time foreman in the Portland Advertiser office; and soon afterward sold his interest to Benjamin H. Meder of Brunswick. Messrs. Meder and Ross discontinued the publication of the daily, and issued, instead, the Tri-Weekly Northern Tribune. Mr. Meder, however, did not long retain his position as publisher, but sold out to Mr. Ross. All these changes took place previous to 1862. The various persons who at different times were proprie- tors of the establishment, were at the same time editors of the pa- per. Mr. Ross, on becoming sole proprietor, being an excellent practical printer, devoted himself mainly to the business part of his office, employing editorial assistance. Hon. John S. Baker was the first who edited the paper for Mr. Ross, which he did for some length of time. He was succeeded by Chas. G. Came, Esq. of Portland, who furnished editorial matter a few months, until he became connected with a Boston newspaper. Through the fill and winter of 1854-1855, W. H. Crosby, at that time Principal of the Bath High School, acted as editor for Mr. Ross. He left Bath for Kentucky in March, and Mr. Upton supplied his place during the remainder of Rosss administration, which terminated on the first day of June, 1855; the weekly and tri-weekly Northern Tribune then becoming consolidated, under new owners, with the DAILY AND WEEKLY MIRROR. The Weekly Mirror was started by Rufus R. Haines, one of the former publishers of the Tribune, and Hiram L. Wing of I SAGADAHOC COUNTY. . 169 Waterville- * Mr. Haines had subsequently associated with him, at different times, H. L. Whiting, a Boston printer, Edwin Sprague, now of the Rockland Free Press, and Charles Cobb, then of New York city. (t) The Mirror was published weekly until the spring of 1853, when it also appeared as a daily; the Tribune being still issued thrice weekly. Both the Tribune and -Mirror were wbig in poli- tics; the former having free-soil proclivities, and the latter repre- senting the conservative element of the party. Mr. Cobb became associated with Mr. Haines in March, 1855. On the first day of June, the same year, Mr. Haines of the Mirror and Mr. Ross of the Tribune disposed of their respective inter- ests to Charles Cobb and George A. Kimball. The two papers were now consolidated; the name of the Tribune being retained for both weekly and daily issues. Cobb and Kimball's proprietor- ship was of short duration, being just three months. On the first (Jay of September the office was sold and possession given to the Tribune Association. Political as well as Pecuniary considerations had something to do with these various changes. Tbe repeal of the Missouri Com- promise,' and the consequent attempt to establish slavery in Kan- sas worked thorough disintegration of tile old Democratic and Whig parties, and finally resulted in establishing the dominance of the republican party. Neither Ross nor Haines liked the idea of continuing in the business and making a paper to conform to the changed political situation, after each had so long and so earnestly fought under the Whig banner. Having disposed of their newspaper interests in Bath, Mr. Ross went to Kansas, engaged in the lumber business, and was meeting with a fair degree of success, when his mill and lumber were swept away by fire. His friends in Bath assisted him to be- gin again, but he died within the year. Mr. Haines remained in Bath and took the position of foreman I Mr. Wing, a few years later, was burned to death on the Steamer Ocean; the accident being occasioned by collision with one of the English Mail Steamers in Boston Harbor in 1851. (t) See Appendix. 22 170 THE NEWS PRESS OF MAINE. for the Tribune Association, which he held one year and a half, and then went to California. THE TRIBUNE ASSOCIATION was composed of a number of gentlemen - Straight Whigs they delighted to call themselves -who put into the concern an actual paid up capital of $6,000; a sum which at that time was supposed to be ample for the purpose of making a first class local paper, both weekly and daily. No member of the association had a practical acquaintance with the business, either as publisher or editor; their prime object in the undertaking being to gain politi- cal advantage, and in this they were for a time eminently suc- cessful. As has been stated, the Association assumed the publication of the daily and weekly Tribune on the first clay of September, 1855, just two weeks before the closely contested State election of that year. Thee politics of the Tribune were changed, just at that im- portant crisis, from an earnest advocacy of republican policy to an equally earnest support of the Whig party, and of its alliance with the Democratic party. The Lincoln senatorial district was then entitled to four Senators, whose election was determined by one or two hundred votes. The change in the politics of the Tribune, it cannot be doubted, decided the senatorial election in favor of the allied Whig and Democratic candidates, thus secur- ing the election, by the Legislature, of Samuel Wells as Governor of the State. Financially, the success of the Tribune while under the man- agement of the Association was by no means commensurate with the means employed. R. R. Haines was engaged as general fore- man, with D. Garland and S. Drake as foremen respectively of the newspaper and job departments. These were excellent men for the positions assigned, and they were supported by a strong force of subordinates, male and female. Wm. H. Whitman was employed as business manager, and whatever his qualifications for that post, it is certain lie did not manage to make the experiment of the Association a pecuniary success. Albert G. Tenney, now of the Brunswick Telegraph, was in- SAGADAHOC COUNTY. 171 stalled as editor; and it must be said of him that no person has ever occupied the editorial chair in Bath who had a greater de- gree of general fitness for that position. To a liberal education and a mind capable of close reasoning and of arriving at logical conclusions, he added unweari ed industry and constant applica- tion. With such an array of professional and mechanical talents, the Association not unnaturally looked for a fair dividend on their in- vestment. But although a paper of a higher class than was ever before issued in Bath -one, too, which has not since been ex- celled, if indeed it has been equalled -still the income was so far from giving it support that within the second year the stock- holders were assessed 100 per cent. on each share. The questions of the day having become settled adversely- and very emphatically so -to the politics of the Tribune, the Stockholders made but a slight response to the assessment just mentioned. With them it had been a political venture, one that had wholly miscarried. Their cash had been absorbed, and it is not to be wondered at that in such case their interest abated. Still the paper struggled on a few months longer, being very ac- ceptably edited by Wm. L. Putnam, Esq., then a young college graduate and law student; - now a prominent lawyer in Port- land, who has once been chosen Mayor of that city. Early in September, 1857, the Association disposed of the Tribune establishment, at a very low price, to Eldridge Roberts and Elisha Clarke, who continued the publication of the daily and weekly Tribune under the style of E. Roberts and Co., Elisha Clarke, editor. They at the same time made purchase of the Eastern Times newspaper establishment, and united its subscrip- tion list with that of the Tribune, calling the consolidated paper NORTHERN TRIBUNE AND EASTERN TIMES. The politics of the paper under E. Roberts and Co. were of a Democratic cast, while the community in which it was located was Republican, more than two to one. Of course the publishers found that money was coined in the business somewhat slowly. September 8,1857, John T. Gilman started the People's ORGAN, 172 THE NEWS PRESS OF MAINE. a small triweekly and weekly paper, Democratic in politics, and an active rival of the Tribune. The rivalry, however, was brought to a close in a few months by the sale of the Tribune es- tablishment to Mr. Gilman, who joined to it that of the Organ.* Perhaps no editor in Bath was ever more popular than Mr. Gilman, though we think not deservedly so. He was an affluent writer, sharp and, racy, quick at a retort, and pungent in his thrusts which were as often aimed at his political friends as his opponents. As to the truth of his statements, it was not always easy to find a voucher. He gave an earnest support to the war against the rebellion until June, 1862, when he sold the office to Jas. M. Lincoln, publisher of the American Sentinel. As this was the last newspaper consolidation that has taken place in Bath, it is proper to go back and bring forward an account of two impor- tant branches of what is being considered as the main line; a third one - the Mirror - having been already noticed. The first to be mentioned is the MAINE ENQUIRER. From the time that the old Maine Inquirer was united with the Gazette to May, 1842, the Democratic party in Bath bad no paper to advocate its principles. In this year, however, John J. Ramsey commenced the publication of the Maine Enquirer,-a change of a single letter from the name of a former publication, and which was supposed sufficient to evade the rights of Mr. Clarke, of the Telegraph, as purchaser of a trade mark. Mr. Ramsey published the paper four years with fair success, pecunia- rily, and with a respectable show of ability. * On the adoption of the Chicago platform in 1860 by the Republican party, and the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency, Mr. Clarke at once noticing and proclaiming the identity of that platform with that on which he had always stood, as a Whig, disposed of his interest to John T. Gilman, editor and proprietor of the Organ, an opposition paper started a few months previously, claiming to represent more truly the views of the Democratic party. Mr. Clarke was a member of the State Senate for the years 1853 and 1854, and is now Deputy Collector of Customs in the Bath Custom-house, where he has held office since June, 1861. In the spring of 1846 John T. Gilman became associated with Mr. Ramsey, and the name of the paper was changed to EASTERN TIMES. In November of the same year Mr. Gilman purchased the entire establishment, and continued the publication of the Times some- thing over a year, and then sold to Joseph T. Huston, a gentle- man who had spent about twelve years as Professor of Mathe- matics in the U. S. Navy. On March 7, 1850, Mr. Huston sold to George E. Newman, a practical printer, then of Boston, but formerly of Hallowell, where he had been associated with his brother, Thos. W. Newman, in the publication of the Hallowell Gazette. Upon assuming the management of the Times Mr. Newman devoted himself largely to the reconstruction and rejuvenation of a run-down establish- ment, employing as assistants in the political department, Fred E. Shaw, Esq.,* now editor and proprietor of the Oxford Democrat, and Thos. W. Newman, then of Hallowell. The paper was' strongly identified with what was known as the Hubbard interest; always persistently advocating the doctrines of the Democratic party, as set forth at their convention in Portland in 1849, and subsequently as held by that great apostle of Democracy, Stephen A. Douglas. Under this management the Eastern Times was the first Democratic paper in the State to rebuke and denounce the bolters at the Legislative Caucus for the nomination of a candi- date for the U. S. Senate upon the expiration of Mr. Hamlin's first term, and the weight of its influence was exerted to show the justness, the fitness, and the consistency of returning that gentle- man, which was done. Mr. Newman succeeded in greatly improving the typographi- cal appearance of his paper, as also its circulation and patronage, until April 7, 1856, when he sold the establishment to a company of gentlemen formed for the purpose. They installed, as editor, John Abbott (familiarly known as "Long John "), who occupied the position only a few months, the editorial management then devolving upon different members of the company, until after the * Mr. Shaw had been some months with Mr. Huston in the same capacity. 174 THE NEWS PRESS OF MAINE. election of Mr.Buchanan,when the paper was left to run alone while the stockholders went to Washington to assist the Presi- dent in filling the government offices, particularly those in the latitude of Bath. Two young ladies were employed in the office as compositors in the mean time, and for six months acting as editors. After nearly two years of newspaper experience, at a cost of several thousand dollars, the material of the office was dis- posed of to Clarke and Roberts,- then publishers of the Northern Tribune. AMERICAN SENTINEL. Who that was old enough to be a voter at the time does not remember that most singular political development, styled the Know Nothing movement; which swept over the whole country, taking Maine in its course, in the summer of l854. The American Sentinel was one of the first, if not the very first paper in the State, which was started solely as an organ of the Know Nothing or American party. In 1854 certain gentlemen, among whom were Hon. E. B. French, Hon. Abner Stetson, Hon. E. W. Stetson and other promi- nent individuals, procured the necessary materials and established a weekly paper in Damariscotta village, and employed Joseph M. Hayes, then a young graduate of the Eastern Times office, in Bath, as printer. Hon. Ezra B. French was editor, and the name -American Sentinel -given to the sheet, at that time was sup- posed to be a sufficient indication of its politics. As has already been stated in the account of the Northern Tribune, that journal, early in September, 1855, was sold to the Straight Whigs, and the Republicans of Bath were left without a paper to advocate their views. Negotiations were at once commenced for the purchase of the Sentinel and its removal to Bath. A self-appointed committee of active Republicans took hold of the matter, and in less than a week the press and materials were set up in Bath, and volunteer compositors, pressmen and editors got out the largest edition ever before that time issued from a Bath office. There was a wonder- ful lack of almost everything needful for getting out a paper, SAGADAHOC COUNTY. 175 except determination on the part of those engaged in it. To the writer of these paragraphs fell the duty of making a sheet iron mold for casting the rollers; a job very easily performed so far as the casting was concerned; but the pinch was to get the rollers, out of the mold. In two or three weeks, however, the "office " was removed from the livery stable counting-room to Pierce's Hall, where it was amply accommodated, and where it soon became well estab- lished under the proprietorship of Mr. James M. Lincoln, who assumed the rights, credits and liabilities of the volunteer pub- lishers. Previous to his connection with the Sentinel, Mr. Lincoln had been known in Bath as an excellent mechanic, working at his trade - that of a coppersmith - for Messrs. Mitchell and Low, and at the same time as an earnest advocate of the cause of tem- perance. Before coming to Bath he bad been connected with the Native American party in Boston, in 1852, and thus very naturally became a leader in the "American" movement of 1854, and was by that party chosen that year to represent the city in the State Legislature, and was by no means the Jeast influential member of that body. Mr. Lincoln commenced formally as publisher of the Sentinel in the latter part of September, 1854, and continued until his death in August, 1866.* The publishing of a daily paper in connection *From a Memoir of Mr. JAMES M. LINCOLN we learn that he was born in Bos- ton, February 27, 1820. He was the son of Jared and Sila Lincoln, and grandson of Matthew Lincoln of Hingham. His father, a man of vigorous intellect and unbend- ing integrity, still survives, in his eighty-eighthyear. His mother,a woman of refine- ment and culture, with a sensitive nature ever ready to heed the call of the needy and distressed, was called to her heavenly home when he was but three years of age. In early youth, he enjoyed all the advantages of the excellent schools of Boston ; and at the age of thirteen received the Franklin Medal - a token of the highest merit - at the Mayhew School. The Editors and Publishers' Association, at their meeting in 1866, passed this reso- lution - That in the sudden death of our brother, James M. Lincoln, our Association has lost the counsel and co-operation of a good man, interested in all which concerns our welfare, and the progress of society to a higher civilization. His activities were in aid of the public good. His friends all felt that he was a good man and true, and worthy of the highest confidence." 176 THE NEWS PRESS OF MAINE. with the weekly Sentinel was often discussed, but took form only through the exciting "Freemont and freedom " campaign of 1856, during which a daily Sentinel was issued, which will not suffer in -comparison with other papers of that day in the zeal, spirit and ability it displayed in maintaining Republican principles and policy. While publishing the Sentinel Mr. Lincoln was three years in succession chosen Assistant Secretary, and the three succeeding years Secretary, of the Senate of Maine. In his absence on his -official duties the paper was under the editorial supervision of Mr. Upton, the present proprietor of the Daily Times. Joseph M. Hayes was foreman in the office of the Sentinel from the com- mencement of its publication in 1854 to October, 1863, when he entered upon the office of Clerk of Courts. In 1862 Mr. Gilman, publisher of the Tribune and Daily Times, finding his views changed by the logic of events, and him- self in harmony with the Republican party in advocating a vigo- rous prosecution of the war for the maintenance of the Union, proposed the sale of his office to Mr. Lincoln, and negotiations to this end were consummated in the month of June. The two offices were consolidated under Mr. Lincoln; Mr. Gilman removing to Portland, where he was at once installed as joint proprietor and edi- tor in chief of the daily and weekly Press. The Sentinel office was removed across the street into the office given up by Mr. Gilman;. the name American Sentinel supplanted that of Northern Tribune on the consolidated weekly, while the name of the Daily Times was changed by Mr. Lincoln to the Daily Sentinel and Times. Thus it is seen that, with one or two unimportant exceptions,, the American Sentinel of to-day is the lineal successor, by actual successive consolidations, of every paper that has been published in Bath. There has been no break in the lines which come down from the Maine Gazette, the Maine Inquirer, the Maine Enquirer, the Lincoln Telegraph, the Eastern Times, the Northern Tribune, and the People's Organ. All have converged and united, and the subscribers of each of the papers have been served to this day without interruption, excepting such as had otherwise directed. SAGADAHOC COUNTY. 177 With a clear field to occupy, Mr. Lincoln had a fair degree of pecuniary success, and contintued.to issue the Sentinel and the Daily Sentinel and Times until his death, which took place, as al- ready stated, Ang. 14, 1866. Without any claim to brilliancy, and with a repugnance to the sensational, he gave the papers a high tone; and by unremitting labor and straightforward purpose on his part, they maintained a respectable standing and exerted a positive influence in giving direction to public opinion. Toward the last of July, 1866, finding himself obliged to take a vacation on account of failing health, Mr. Lincoln at-ranged with Mr. Cobb to carry on the office as foreman, with Mr. Hayes to as- sist in looking after the finances, and with Mr. Upton to attend to the editorial department. He then went to Farmington, hoping in that beautiful and quiet village to find not only rest from ha. rassing and wearisome labors, but also relief for a long time troublesome complaint. Instead, however, of finding improved health he at once sank under disease, and a medical examination disclosed that what he had been considering dyspepsia was really an incurable disease of the stomach; an opinion which his death within the fortnight seemed to verify. The publication of the papers was continued by the widow un- til the first day of the following December, when the office was sold to Elijah Upton and Henry A. Shorey, who published the daily and weekly papers until Sept., 1869. Under their adminis- tration there was no change in name or general character of the papers. In the last named year, certain parties becoming dissatis- fied with the paper, both for its outspoken advocacy of tempe- rance and for its equally outspoken opposition to the re-nomination of Gov. Chamberlain, induced W. E. S. Whitman to become its purchaser. He put a new dress on the paper, and exhibited not a little tact in editorial management. But finding the business very much less renumerative than he had been led to expect, after a trial of thirteen months he re-sold the office to Mr. Upton, who is still the publisher. 23 178 THE NEWS PRESS OF MAINE. TELESCOPE. In 1837 a small sheet, called the Telescope, was issued by James Nelson, which survived about one year. Mr. Nelson grad- uated from the office of Mr. Griffin at Brunswick. He is now a compositor in Houghton's Riverside printing-house at Cambridge, Mass. SAGADAHOC REVIEW. This was the title of a daily and weekly paper published a few ,months in 1853, or near that time, by Josiah S. Swift, afterward publisher of the Farmington Chronicle. MAINE TEMPERANCE ADVOCATE. In the winter of 1869-1870, Henry A. Shorey commenced pub- lishing a weekly paper with the above title, in the interest of the "third party," or the. political party of that time which made Temperance and a more stringent temperance law its leading is- sue. A trial of nine months proved the impracticability of the enterprise; the subscription list was disposed of to the Riverside, and Maj. Shorey removed to Bridgton and established the Bridg- ton News. *********************************************** Source for the above: "The Press of Maine" by Joseph Griffin 1872 Brunswick, Maine *********************************************** Courtesy of the New England Old Newspaper Index Project of Maine (R) and the Androscoggin Historical Society ] PO Box 152 Danville, Maine 04223 ************************************************* * * * * NOTICE: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. 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