- Interesting History
-
- At the Shield’s Outing
Last Saturday, Hon.. S.
S. Bloom gave a Brief History
of the
- Newspapers Published in Northern
Richland County.
-
- Mr. Bloom, in substance said,
that the first newspaper published in the North-western part
of Richland county was the Plymouth Journal by E. H. Sanford,
in 1851, the year before he visited this county.
-
- In 1853, Mr. H. M. Wooster
bought it, and soon after sold it to Messrs Robinson and Locke,
who changed its name to the Advertiser, he said he knew Mr. Locke
quite well. He afterwards became the celebrated Petrolium V.
Nasby, who had embalmed in history what we call "West Liberty;"
west of Shelby into "the Confederate Cross Roads" where
Squire Bascum figured so extensively. Locke was publishing the
paper in 1854, when he, Bloom, permanently settled in Shelby,
and continued to do so until 1859, when he sold to A. H. Balsley,
who was its proprietor and publisher then until 1864, when he
sold it to J.M. Beelman, who in 1876 transferred it to his brother,
J. Frank Beelman its present owner, and publisher. The paper
had always an ample support, but was evidently very prudently
managed and was well conducted as a "home paper,’ without
the ruinous competition, that had fallen to the lot of some other
papers in the county.
- It had always been a republican
paper, during its earlier history had been intensely and he thought,
even foolishly so; but although always loyal to its party, so
far as his knowledge extended it shared the fate of too many
other party newspaper editors, was never called from its sanctum
to assist either county, state or national administrations, to
gather plums sure to fall from the party trees. It had deserved
a better fate.
-
- Shelby Papers.
-
- The first paper issued for
Shelby was the Pioneer, in 1857-8. Hon.. C. R. Brown if living,
a noted Judge in Michigan, occupied the same office with Mr.
Bloom on Gamble St. (by the way, the same in which Abe Farrington
has now his office, on Main street.) he made arrangements with
the publisher of the Herald, in Mansfield to print the paper,
and Brown and Bloom edited it. Brown moved to St. Joseph Michigan
, and Bloom filled out the year. The printers got all the money---the
editors got---left. That was the last of the Pioneer!
-
- Next in 1862 came the Enterprise
by C.M. Kenton, who recently died, as the editor and proprietor
of the Marysville Democrat . In 1863 he sold the paper to S.
S. Bloom, who entered into partnership with A. H Balsley, of
the Advertiser , who proposed to publish the Shelby Express.
Before, however, Mr. Balsley took possession of the office, political
feelings began to run high, and it was announced to Mr. Bloom,
that if his name as a democrat was connected with the paper it
would not be successful. "Very well" replied Mr. Bloom,
"I’ll sell out to you." The offer was accepted
the terms arranged, the notes passed, turned into cash, and then
the prediction was made, "Now, you’ll see, that without
my name it will not be a success." and it wasn’t.
-
- In 1864, the same day the
Express office left Shelby a new press and material arrived for
Mr. Bloom. It was set up in the east room of the D. Rabold &
Son block, and was operated by Bloom and Glover. The Gazette
was published from it "occasionally" as an advertising
sheet, and did the printing and advertising for the time, and
was afterwards moved west to the place where the Agency Block
now stands.
-
- In the meantime Messrs Young
and Hill brought a printing press to Shelby, and commenced to
publish The Chronicle, until in the fall of 1868, when it fell,
and was purchased by Mr. Bloom, and on Nov. 12, 1868, The Independent
News, first appeared, and Mr. Hill was installed as its publisher.
During all these years however, from ’64 to ‘68, the
Gazette still appeared occasionally, serving the purposes of
its proprietor. No sooner however had the News, got well under
way, that the Barkdull Bros., came to Shelby and published the
Gazette the name Mr. Bloom had discarded and from thence on again,
"two papers, both weakly’ appeared in Shelby.
-
- This state of affairs continued
for about four years, when the "good will" of the Gazette
whatever that was, was bought by Mr. Bloom, and once more there
was only one paper in Shelby.
-
- For a number of years, thereafter
peace among newspapers reigned on the head waters of the Blackfork,
and the News prospered beyond precedent, registering about thirteen
hundred subscribers, was enlarged to a nine column quarto, and
under the management of Bloom and Hill was equal to, as was prone
to believe, the best paper ever published in Shelby, all things
considered. During the time the Gazette was published, the subscription
price was cut down to $1.00 per year, which left it without ample
means to develop its possibilities.
-
- However, during the close
of 1876 Mr. Hill commenced the publication of The Times, of which
he is still the proprietor and publisher. The Times came out
as a republican paper, and Bloom hauled down the word "Independent"
and entered the contest with the News as a democratic paper.
-
- In the fall of 1877 its editor
was elected to the Legislature and his son, W.P. Bloom, for four
years after become its manager. On the day he became 21 years
old in March 1881 he ceased its control and moved to Columbus,
and the News once more came solely into the hands of its old
proprietor, who continued to have it issued by various publishers,
until 1889, when he sold the plant to L. E .Mackey, after having
been connected with the News in some way, about 21 years. The
News has now reached its twenty ninth volume, is published by
a corporation of which Mr. Mansfield is Pres. and Mr.W.L. Dickerson
the Managing Editor; is a seven colume octavo, democratic paper
and claims to register eighteen hundred subscribers. The paper
is all "home made and enjoys prosperity.
-
- The Richland Republican was
published from its press for a season, and then publishers of
the News, but in an evil hour to them, they have discarded the
old name, there were those in Shelby, who "knew a good thing
when they saw it," took up the discarded name of News, were
proud of it, pushed it to the front and vowed they would again
make it the "talisman of victory".
-
- The Free Press was another
paper published in Shelby, by M. E. Dickerson, who had formerly
published the News. The material of this paper was burned at
the time the Bowman hall was consumed, but soon after again appeared
and was successfully published from 1882 to 1893, when Mr. Dickerson
moved it to Crestline, where he is now making a success of it
under the name of Crestline Vidette.
-
- Thus it has been seen that
the News has had a particularly stormy history, until it now
claims to have reached the highest point of success of any paper
ever published in Shelby.
- Submitted by Mr. Kim Butler
Histed
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