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James Gordon Bennett and his New York Herald…
April 8, 2010 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
A book I am currently reading, “An Empire of Wealth” by John Steele Gordon, has a page or two concerning newspapers, mostly focused on the innovations of James Gordon Bennett (image to the left is from the Harper’s Weekly dated July 10, 1858) and his “New York Herald“, offering some insights new to me and likely new to you. It is a bit lengthy but has some interesting information I felt was worthy of sharing:
“The biggest difference between the newspapers of the pre-industrial world and those of today was politics. Most general-interest newspapers were the instruments of political factions, praising one party and excoriating all others. They were, in reality, little more than an editorial page wrapped in some highly tendentious news.
A Scots immigrant to New York, James Gordon Bennett, changed all that. Born in 1795 into one of Scotland’s few Catholic families, Bennett was always a man apart, which can be an asset for a journalist. He was also remarkably ugly, with severely crossed eyes. When a young journalist interviewed him in the 1850’s at his office across from New York’s City Hall, he reported that Bennett ‘looked at me with one eye, while he looked out at the City Hall with the other.’
Well educated in Aberdeen, he wrote his first piece of journalism about the Battle of Waterloo, when he was twenty, and four years later, sensing greater opportunity, immigrated to the United States. He worked at a series of newspapers from Boston to Charleston before settling in New York where, three times, he tried to found a newspaper that would expound Jacksonian principles. Each attempt was a failure.
Steam, however, was changing the newspaper business as it was changing everything else by the 1830’s. The new rotary presses, powered by steam, could turn out thousands of copies of a newspaper a night and at a much lower price than had been possible before. Bennett decided to try something new. On May 6, 1835, with $500 in capital, an office in a dank cellar, and himself as the only employee, Bennett began publishing the “New York Herald“.
Bennett made the Herald nonpartisan in its news articles, sought always to be the first with the news, and sold it to a mass audience by having it hawked on the streets at a penny a copy by the armies of newsboys that would quickly become a feature of the American urban scene for more than a hundred years. None of these ideas was original with Bennett. But it was he who put them all together for the first time. He also introduced a dazzling array of other journalistic innovations. He was the first to print a weather report and to cover sports regularly. He was the first to cover business news and stock prices in a general-interest newspaper. And while ‘respectable’ papers weren’t supposed to notice such things, when a beautiful prostitute was murdered in one of New York’s more fashionable brothels, Bennett played the story for all it was worth.
The “Herald’s” circulation soared, and other papers were forced to follow suit as the city, and then the country, became transfixed with the story. Within a few years the ‘Herald” was among the city’s most successful papers. Bennett traveled to Europe, where he signed up correspondents in London, Rome and Paris to supply the “Herald” with exclusive copy, the world’s first foreign correspondents. He fought Congress to establish the principle that out-of-town newspapers had as much right to the congressional press galleries as the local papers, the beginning of the Washington press corps. He even coined the use of the world ‘leak’, to refer to the stores slipped to reporters by politicians for their own purposes.
As the telegraph began to spread across the country, Bennett exploited it to the hilt. When the Mexican Was broke out, only two years after Morse’s successful demonstration, Bennett organized a consortium of newspapers to fund a pony express from New Orleans to Charleston, which was connected to New York by telegraph. The reports the New York papers published were often days ahead of the official reports arriving in Washington.
By the time of the Civil War the “Herald” was, by far, the largest and most influential newspaper in the country, and all other major papers had followed its model, profoundly transforming the newspaper business. Its daily circulation during the war reached as high as 400,000, many times the total circulation of all American newspaper combined fifty years earlier.”
The first newspaper in Kentucky…
April 5, 2010 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The first newspaper ever published west of the Allegheny Mountains was established in Lexington, in 1787, by John Bradford. It was then called the “Kentucke Gazette“, but the final “e” of Kentucky was afterward changed to “y”, in consequence of the Virginia legislature requiring certain advertisements to be inserted in the “Kentucky Gazette“.
Go To: http://www.kentuckygazette.com/
This paper was born of the necessities of the times. The want of a government independent of Virginia was then universally felt, and the second convention that met in Danville, in 1785, to discuss that subject, resolved, “That to ensure unanimity in the opinion of the people respecting the propriety of separating the district of Kentucky from Virginia and forming a separate state government, and to give publicity to the proceedings of the convention, it is deemed essential to the interests of the country to have a printing press.”
John Bradford informed the committee that he would establish a paper if the convention would guarantee to him the public patronage. To this the convention acceded, and in 1786 Bradford sent to Philadelphia for the necessary materials. He had already received every encouragement from the citizens on Lexington, and at a meeting of the trustees in July, it was ordered “that the use of a public lot be granted to John Bradford free, on condition that he establish a printing press in Lexington; the lot to be free to him as long as the press is in town,”
At last, after many months on the route, the precious printing material arrived, and on August 18, 1787, appeared the first number of the first newspaper ever published in the then western wilderness. It was a quaint little brown thing, about the size of a half sheet of common letter paper, “subscription price 18 shillings per annum, advertisements of moderate length 3 shillings.” The first number is without a heading, and contains one advertisement, two short original articles, and the following apology from the editor:
“My customers will excuse this, my first publication, as I am much hurried to get an impression by the time appointed. A great part of the types fell into pi [disorder] in the carriage of them from Limestone (Maysville) to this office, and my partner, which is the only assistant I have, through an indisposition of the body, has been incapable of rendering the smallest assistance for ten days past. JOHN BRADFORD.”
Source: Much of the credit for this post goes to George W. Ranck’s “History of Lexington, Kentucky…”
The Civil War…
April 1, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Not too long ago we had a collector ask several questions regarding rare newspapers from the Civil War. We thought others might be interested in the questions and responses as well.
Most major city papers had a daily and bi-weekly edition, and some a tri-weekly edition. The cost of a newspaper from the pre-1890 era was no small expense, so the latter two were more affordable for many. I suspect the “Evening Edition” did not publish 7 days a week; perhaps 2 or 3, maybe 4 (?). If this was the case it was easy for them to fill in the balance of the issue with news from a day or two before as the type was already set and those who purchased it hadn’t read it. This was more clearly defined with the Phila. Inq. run we had because they had in the first column that it was the “tri-weekly” edition, and in the same issue was another masthead from the day before. The Tribune did not print such a notice, or at least I haven’t found it yet.
And such editions with 2 masthead are quite uncommon because libraries would have only subscribed to the regular daily edition, given their desire to document all news for every day, and 95% of early newspapers on the market came from some institution after microfilming. So the 2 masthead issues are typically only found as never-bound issues which have survived the years in attics, trunks, etc.
Thanks for the member inquiry which led to these responses from Tim. Feel free to send your questions, comments as well.
The first newspapers in Kansas…
March 30, 2010 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The first permanent settlement in Kansas was made at Fort Leavenworth in 1827, but until 1854 when the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by congress the region remained a part of the somewhat indefinitely bounded Indian Territory.
Early in 1834, missionary Jotham Meeker set up his printing press–the first press to be used west of the Missouri River–at the Shawnee Baptist Mission in present Johnson County. That year he published hymns, religious tracts, and other materials that were the first items printed in Kansas.
On February 24, 1835, Meeker printed at the Shawnee Mission the first number of the “Shawnee Sun” (Siwinowe Kesibwi), the first periodical publication in Kansas, and the first printed entirely in a Native American language. The paper was issued at irregular intervals from 1835 to as late as 1844, probably in limited editions of 150 or 100 copies. Measuring about 6 3/4 inches by 10 3/4 inches, the paper had two 8 1/2-inch columns of text per page.
The “Shawnee Sun” circulated among the Indians at and near the mission settlement. Today only one copy of one issue is known to have survived–the issue for November 1841, now in the library of the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
The “Kansas Weekly Herald” was established at Leavenworth on Sept. 15, 1854 by William Osborn and William Adams. It was a truly pioneer enterprise as is evidenced by the fact that the town site was occupied only by four temporary tents. The editor in his first number noted: “Our editorials have been written and our proof corrected while sitting on the ground with a big shingle for a table.”
Another newspaper was begun in Kickapoo, Kansas, in 1854 titled the “Pioneer“, and a year later the first newspaper at Topeka was established, the “Kansas Freeman“.
The first newspapers in Iowa…
March 22, 2010 by TimHughes · 1 Comment
The state of Iowa had various “owners” over the last 300+ years. It became a French possession in 1682, in 1762 was ceded to Spain, in 1800 it was returned to France, who in 1803 passed ownership to the United States under the terms of the Louisiana Purchase.
In 1804-5 as part of the District of Louisiana it was under the government of the Indiana Territory. During the next seven years it was in the Missouri Territory, and from 1821-34 it was a part of the unorganized territory of the United States. From 1834-6 it was part of the Michigan Territory, and from 1836-8 a part of the Wisconsin Territory. In 1838 the Wisconsin Territory was divided & the western portion was named the Iowa Territory, which in 1846 was admitted as a state.
The first printing in the district was in 1836 when John King, who moved from Ohio to Dubuque, believed the town should have a newspaper and on May 11, 1836 began printing the “Visitor“, the first newspaper in Iowa. A year later the name changed to the “Iowa News“, and 4 years later to the “Miners’ Express“. Iowa’s second newspaper was the “Western Adventurer and Herald of the Upper Mississippi” (not sure how they fit that in the masthead) begun by Dr. Isaac Galland on June 28, 1837 in Montrose. It lasted for just a few months when the equipment was sold to James Edwards who took it to Fort Madison & on March 24, 1838 the first issue of the Fort Madison “Patriot” was published.
Featured websites – TeachHistory.com
March 18, 2010 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
Teachers with a love of history, listen up! The following resource can improve your curriculum and make you a stronger educator. Students of history will enjoy the breadth and depth of the historical journey as well.
TeachHistory is a fantastic website (blog), developed and maintained by Ben Edwards, which provides engaging information & a plethora of useful educational resources related to history. It describes itself as:
“a blog dedicated to social studies and history teachers across the United States who use Colonial American history, imagination and multisensory teaching methods to inspire their students. Our goal is to provide a resource where teachers like you can access information about colonial history plus technologies, methods and products that are making a difference in education today.”
While Ben’s experience with teachers and students is varied, perhaps the most useful channel for keeping him in touch with the pulse of teacher/student interests and needs occur via the many intimate conversations had while engaging teachers and students through his Walking Tours of Historic Boston. Combine this with both his (historic) heritage and his natural love of history, and you have the making of a blog which is sure to stay relevant over time. Some of the recent posts include:
Colonel Shaw, Sergeant Carney and the 54th Massachusetts
Remembering Alex Haley and Roots
Black History Month: A Tribute to Phillis Wheatley
Young Ben Franklin and the Silence Dogood Letters
Teachers: Are You Engaging AND Empowering Your Students?
Many of the posts include detailed images and reference accounts of actual Rare & Early Newspapers – most of which come from his personal collection. Ben fully grasps a foundational truth regarding primary sources: “History is never more fascinating than when it is read from the day it was first reported.” Thanks Ben, for your contributions to both the Rare Newspapers and Educational communities.
Indiana’s first newspapers…
March 15, 2010 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Indiana was the first state to be named after America’s original inhabitants, meaning “land of Indians”. When the Indiana Territory was created in 1800 it encompassed all of the present states of Illinois & Wisconsin, nearly all of Indiana, and parts of Ohio, Michigan, and Minnesota.
In Vincennes in 1804 Elihu Stout, a Virginian, printed the first number of the “Indiana Gazette“, the first newspaper in Indiana. It continued until 1806 when the establishment was destroyed by fire. Stout purchased a new printing outfit and on July 4, 1807 he resumed publication under the new name of the “Western Sun“.
It was the custom, and a natural one, for printers, in seeking new locations, to choose towns with promise of a prosperous future. In the undeveloped western wilderness such towns were believe to be only those located on navigable rivers. Such towns as Madison saw the start of the “Western Eagle” in 1813, and tow town of Corydon had its “Indiana Herald” begin in 1816; Vevay had the “Indiana Register” by 1816, and Brookville had the “Plain-Dealer” also by 1816.
Yes, he’s dead again (but not really)…
March 13, 2010 by TimHughes · 1 Comment
Given that newspaper reporting from the 18th and 19th centuries was as much hearsay as factual, it was not uncommon for many reports to be refuted in the same newspaper a few days later. This included deaths as well. I suspect all of us collectors have found false reports deaths of someone notable.
The “New York Tribune” was not immune to this problem, and even seemed to make light of it in their front page headlines when they reported the Battle of Antietam in their Sept. 20, 1862 issue. Among the heads is “Stonewall Jackson Dead Again” (see photo). But they only rubbed salt in their own wound—he (Stonewall Jackson) actually didn’t die until seven months later, the result of being shot at the battle of Chancellorsville (by one of his own soldiers).
First newspapers in Illinois…
March 8, 2010 by TimHughes · 1 Comment
Kaskaskia, a thriving town on the Mississippi River and the territory’s first capital, was the place of the first printing done in Illinois while it was still a territory. 
Mathew Duncan, a printer who had moved from Kentucky, began publication of Illinois’ first newspaper, the “Illinois Herald” in 1814. The name would change to the “Western Intelligencer” in 1816, and again to “Illinois Intelligencer” in 1818. Two years later it would be moved to Vandalia which had become the capital of the state.
The second newspaper in Illinois was the “Illinois Emigrant” which began on June 13, 1818 at Sawneetown. A year later the title was changed to the “Illinois Gazette”.
The first newspaper in Chicago was a weekly paper titled the “Chicago Democrat“, which began on Nov. 26, 1833.
It caught my eye…
March 6, 2010 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The front page of the “Weekly Missoulian” newspaper from Missoula, Montana Territory, December 12, 1873 has an article titled: “The Value of a Newspaper” which logically caught my eye. Although the item had nothing to do with the value of an historic newspaper, it does say much about the relative cost to subscribe to a newspaper in the 1870’s, and has a nice story associated with it as well. Enjoy.
I have typically found Old West newspapers to have some of the more interesting tidbits of any era or region. We have hundreds to choose from for your browsing.