CHAPTER XX.
THE COUNTY PRESS.[1]
Early Papers—The First Publication in the County—The Warren Republican and its Career—The Lake George Watchman—The Glens Falls Observer—The Warren County Messenger and its Immediate Descendants—The Glens Falls Spectator—The Glens Falls Gazette—The Glens Falls Clarion—Another Republican—The Rechabite and Temperance Bugle—Glens Falls Free Press—The Warrensburgh Annual—Glens Falls Advertiser—The American Standard—The Warren County Whig—The Present Messenger—Daily Press—The Daily Times—The Morning Star.
WARREN COUNTY does not possess a long or exciting newspaper history. The sparse population of the county at large, and with the exception of Glens Falls, the absence of any large villages, have operated against the establishment of public journals, and have been the prime cause of the premature decay and death of many papers from which their learned editors expected fame and fortune. It is a very sterile and thinly populated district in this great country of ours where at least one man cannot be found who believes himself born to be a journalist; and nothing can ever dispel this prevalent belief but the hard lesson of experience. Hence the number of newspapers that have been started in the county, insignificant as it may seem when compared with those of other larger fields, cannot be counted on one's fingers and toes; and those that have survived the struggle for existence have been and are a credit to the county and to their editors, and have wielded a vast influence in the communities, and no little power in the politics of the State.
In the fall of 1812 John Cunningham, of New England, accompanied by Eben Patrick, a journeyman, and Eliezer Wheelock, an indented apprentice, removed from Windsor, Vermont, to Glens Falls. They brought with them an ample supply of type and an old-fashioned press. Cunningham being taken sick on the way was obliged to defer his coming until the following spring, but the others continued their journey and opened a job office in a building on the corner of Ridge and Glen streets. In April, 1813, Cunningham came on with his family, and in the succeeding month issued a prospectus written by William Hay. On Thursday, the 16th of June, 1813, the first number of the first paper issued in Warren county, was published under the name of The Warren Republican. It was a journal but little larger than a " common spelling book," so folded as to make twelve pages to each number, and was nearly half filled with advertisements. This sheet was devoted to the interests of the dominant party and existing administration, and until the close of the war was well stocked with the exciting reports of domestic and foreign battles and coups d'états, which have since become matters of history. After the publication of a few numbers the office was removed to the rooms long afterwards occupied by George Vanderheyden, where it was continued until the completion of the "long building," erected in 18 13 by John A. Ferris. The Republican office was soon after removed to one of the upper rooms of this building.
The name of the Warren Republican was changed to that of the Warren Patriot in 1815 by Linus J. Reynolds, who had purchased it from Cunningham. The paper was then enlarged from its duodecimo size and double column to a demy sheet with four columns. In about a year Reynolds sold back to Cunningham, who associated with himself Adonijah Emmons. The office was removed to an upper room in the north end of Emmons's house. Cunningham, though a man of refined tastes and brilliant parts, was addicted to intemperate habits, and his prosperity was not commensurate with his enterprise or deserts. The paper, therefore, in 18 19, fell into the hands of the Hon. WillHam Hay, who assumed its publication on the 5th of February. On the 16th of the following April it reverted to Cunningham. The journal lingered along until the following year, and then died.
The second newspaper published in the county was unquestionably the Lake George Watchman, started about the year 18 16 by Timothy Haskins, of Salem, Washington county, N. Y., with the assistance of Oliver Lyons, formerly of the Troy Budget. Haskins soon transferred his interest to Storer, and Storer to one Cushman, who conducted the paper until 1820, under the name of The Guardian. At that time it was again sold, and the name changed to the Warren Recorder. It was ably conducted, but met with indifferent success, and the interest was soon disposed of to William Broadwell, who continued its publication at Caldwell in 1822-24. It was then removed to Glens Falls, and with a view to increasing the circulation of the paper and extending its patronage, Broadwell sent post-riders through all the surrounding country. The expense was greater than the return, and Broadwell becoming bankrupt, and the paper went over to the majority. In 1826 the press and its appurtenances were bought by Edwin Galloway Lindsay. On the first Monday in January, 1827, he issued the third newspaper in the county under the style of The Glens Falls Observer. Lindsay being a thoroughly educated printer, edited the paper with extraordinary ability for two years, when the publication ceased.
On the first of January, 1829, was issued the first number of the Warren County Messenger, conducted by Abial Smith, who had formerly been employed with Broadwell and Lindsay. The paper had a good circulation and support. In January, 1831, the name was changed from Warren County Messenger to Warren Messenger, and the heading enlarged. The publication day was also changed from Thursday to Saturday, and in the following year to Friday. In 1834 the paper changed hands again. Zabina Ellis, who had commenced his apprenticeship with Adonijah Emmons in the office of the Sandy Hill Sun, in 1825, and worked as "jour" for Abial Smith on the Messenger, bought the property, and changed the name of the sheet to Warren Messenger and Glens Falls Advertiser. In September of that year the office was removed "to the building heretofore occupied for that purpose, directly over C. L. Brown's fancy store, and a few doors north of the Glens Falls Hotel." The next change occurred in May, 1835, when the Messenger and Advertiser was discontinued, and the press and type were leased by H. B. Ten Eyck. The new proprietor resumed the publication of the paper under the old name of the Warren Messenger, and continued at its head for two years. When he ceased in May, 1837, the press and type reverted to Zabina Ellis, who immediately issued the first number of the Messenger' s successor under the title of the Glens Falls Spectator. In his salutatory which accompanied the first number of the new paper Mr. Ellis said:—
" In presenting to the public the first number of the Glens Falls Spectator, we feel it incumbent upon us to state at least the general course we shall pursue in its future publication. Our political views are in accordance with those of the present administration [Van Buren] whose measures we shall support so far as we shall deem them consistent with the best interests of the community. A portion of our columns will be devoted to literary, miscellaneous, foreign, domestic, agricultural, and such other objects as are calculated to disseminate general intelligence; and will at all times be open for communications upon such subjects as may be of public interest. We shall on all occasions tender a proper respect to those opinions which may be at variance with our own. A well conducted periodical has been long desired in this county, and whether ours shall merit this distinction we leave to the discerning public to decide. To the people of this county we look for a generous patronage. We have before been the recipients of their favor, and, we humbly trust, no omission of duty on our part will forfeit a continuance of them. "
On the 16th of November, 1839, the last number of the Glens Falls Spectator was published. In the same month the type, furniture and presses were purchased by George Cronkhite and Dr. Bethuel Peck, with a view to the publication of an anti-administration paper. On Wednesday, December 3d, 1839, was published the initial number of the Glens Falls Gazette. The new editor was Warren Fox, a son-in-law of Mr. Cronkhite. The Gazette was immediately recognized as the organ of the Whig party, at that time largely in the majority in this town. The paper was the same size as the Spectator, but, though more elaborate as to its editorial department, had deteriorated in typographical and mechanical beauty and arrangement. Meanwhile Zabina Ellis, having purchased an entire new outfit of type, and new furniture and cases, and procured the use of the old Ramage press used in the publication of the Warren Recorder, made arrangements to start a competing journal, and on the 18th of December, 1839, published, in continuation the 28th No., 30th Vol. of the Glens Falls Spectator. This continued to be the organ of the administration, and for the first time in the history of the county, two papers were published contemporaneously, and assumed that active partisan character which has ever since distinguished the press of this part of the State. About this time, too, sprang up a corps of newspaper correspondents that kept the papers constantly supplied with contributions and original matter. After about eighteen months of journalistic warfare, the interest of Mr. Ellis in the Spectator was purchased by Winfield Scott Sherman, who formed copartnership relations with Warren Fox, and consolidated the two presses into one concern. The new paper was entitled the Glefis Falls Clarion, and was ostensibly neutral in politics and religion. In December, 1841, Hon. A. N. Cheney purchased Fox's interest, and the joint editorship thereafter was W. S. Sherwood and George W. Cheney. In May, 1842, the irrepressible Zabina Ellis bought out Mr. Sherwood and the firm name was Cheny & Ellis. After the lapse of a year Ellis retired from the firm, and left Cheney to conduct the paper alone until January 1, 1851.
Meanwhile newspaper enterprise seemed to be increasing. In September, 1843, two brothers, Marcellus and Thomas J. Strong, practical printers, bought out the press and type of the Literary Pearl, a sheet which had been started by Newton M. Curtis, and which had died after the fitful fever of a short life, and issued a paper under the name of the Glens Falls Republican. This sheet, besides containing the usual literary and miscellaneous matter of a country paper, ardently espoused the principles of the Democratic party, which, being then in the ascendent in Warren county, gave it at once an extended and liberal patronage. The circulation soon reached five hundred greater than had previously been attained by any paper. During the year following, September 23d, 1846, Dr. A. W. Holden, the author, subsequently, of a valuable history of the town of Queensbury, and a coadjuter in the preparation of this history, was associated with T. J. Strong in the publication of the Republican. During the political canvass of 1 844 the Clarion, which had claimed to be a neutral paper, came out vigorously for the Whigs. A campaign sheet called The Whig Reveille was published at the Clarion office, and another called The Hickory Leaf at the office of the Republican.
But political newspapers are not the only kind which constitute the history of the county. During the temperance agitation which began about 1845, the object of which was to procure the enactment of a law restricting the sale of intoxicating drinks to specific and manifestly necessary cases, a small semimonthly publication was started at Glens Falls, devoted to the principles of the agitators, and laboring under the euphonious title of The Rechabite and Temperance Bugle. The date of the first issue was July 29th, 1847, and the names of its editors, for it had two, were Marcellus and Thomas J. Strong. The intensity of the interest in the movement may be inferred from the circulation (1,500) which this paper soon attained; and the evanescence of the same from the rapid falling off from this encouraging number until the enterprise was pronounced a failure. In August, 1848, while its prosperity was most flattering, the issue was made weekly. On the 29th of November, 1849, T. J. Strong purchased the entire interest and led it through its feeble career to the close, in May, 1853. In 1845—46—47, an annual, or occasional paper, called The Token, was published by the pupils of the Glens Falls Academy.
Zabina Ellis reappears in January, 185 i, as the purchaser of the Clarion. InstalHng his brother-in-law, William Rogers, in the editorial department, and changing the name of the paper to the Glens Falls Free Press, Ellis consecrated the regenerated sheet to the interests of the Whig party. At the end of the year Rogers, who had conducted the editorial work with signal ability, was superseded by Ellis himself. In 1854 the paper wheeled into the ranks of the new Know Nothing party, and remained its champion while the party remained a palpable fact.
The next effort at attaining newspaper fame in Warren county was made in 1859 by John A. Bentley, a young lawyer, who hired the press and type of the Glens Falls Free Press, and with Edwin Pike for publisher, issued No. i, Vol. I, of a politico-religious paper called the Free Press. Four numbers of this paper were published, and Zabina Ellis resumed the management.
The Free Press establishment burned in the great fire of 1864. Mr. Ellis, having enlisted in the Twenty-second Regiment and been transferred to the Seventy-sixth, he was not at the time of the fire acting as its editor. The paper was never resuscitated.
On January 1st, 1847, the Warrensburgh Annual was first published at Saratoga Springs, under the editorial management of William B. Farlin. B. C. Butler, the founder of the Warren County Agricultural Society, was the leading spirit of this new enterprise, but Dudley Farlin was the responsible editor. It was short-lived.
Returning to the Republican, we find that in May, 1853, William Tinsley and his two sons, William T, and James H. Tinsley, purchased the effects of the oflSce, and took possession in the following July. The paper was then a six column sheet, but in September was enlarged by the addition of a column to a page, and a proportionate increase in length. The interest of James H. Tinsley was bought in April, 1855, and the firm name changed from William Tinsley & Sons to William Tinsley & Son. In the succeeding March the. establishment was sold out to Hillman A. Hall and Meredith B. Little for $1,100, who continued the publication under the firm style of Hall & Little. During the next two years the proprietorship passed from Hall & Little to Harris & Hall, Little's interest being purchased by H. M. Harris. Next it became Harris & Little, Hall's interest passing to the latter, and finally, Mr. Harris became the sole editor and proprietor. He has ever since retained his interest and made his paper one of the leading Democratic journals of the State and a power in the party. Mr. Harris is a clear and incisive writer, and from his stock of broad information on general matters, gives his paper an unusually interesting character.
H. M. Harris, proprietor of the Republican, was born in Schenectady on the I2th of May, 1833. He began his apprenticeship as a printer in the office of the Granville Telegraph, a weekly published at Granville, Washington county, in 1849; this paper was the especial organ of the Washington County Mutual Insurance Company, then doing the largest business of any insurance company in the world, issuing as many as one thousand policies a week. He remained there two years and in January, 1851, came to Glens Falls and finished his apprenticeship on the Glens Falls Free Press, under Zabina Ellis. The next year Mr. Harris proceeded to New York for the purpose of perfecting himself in the art of job printing, and assisted in the publication of a political campaign paper in Brooklyn in the Scott and Pierce campaign. Returning to Glens Falls after an absence of two years, he became foreman for Messrs. Hall & Little, on the Republican, which he soon after purchased, as above narrated. Under his administration of nearly thirty years the Republican has been remarkably successful; it was enlarged in June, 1873, to its present handsome proportions. The establishment passed through the great fire of 1864, and did not lose an issue. In an editorial in a number succeeding the fire, Mr. Harris wrote as follows:
"Like the Messenger, our material, presses, etc., were nearly all destroyed; but the next day after the fire an extra was issued by the Republican from the Sandy Hill Herald office, and two or three numbers succeeding were issued from the same office." The new material was at once purchased and the paper re-established as previous to the fire.
This was an era of ephemeral journals. In 1853 a single edition of 3,000 copies of a paper called the Glens Falls Advertiser was issued from the office of the Free Press for George C. Mott & Co. It was an advertising sheet containing some original literary and historical matter and an exposition of the business interests and resources of Glens Falls. Jackson & Seymour, under their firm name, issued a similar paper in 1854. In October, 1853, the first number of a literary monthly called The American Standard, was issued from the Republican office. It was edited by Holdridge & Wait, but was not a pecuniary success, and died with the eighth number. In 1855 the Hon. A. N. Cheney purchased a new font of type and a press for James Kelley, who began the publication of the Warren County Whig. The paper soon collapsed.
On January 2d the following year the Rev. A. D. Milne, who for some months had been engaged in the publication of a Baptist monthly called The Star of Destiny, purchased the Whig office and started the Glens Falls Messenger. Mr. Milne was of Scotch descent, and possessed more than ordinary ability as an effective author, preacher and writer. He wrote a temperance book which was published in an illustrated edition by Shepard & Co., New York, and had an unprecedented sale in this country and Europe, receiving high commendation from the press. He was an easy and vigorous writer, and started the Messenger as a paper "devoted to subjects of a moral and religious character, with the intention of having nothing to do with politics except so far as they may have a direct bearing upon the destinies of the great brotherhood of man." But being a strong temperance and anti-slavery advocate, the paper in a few months naturally drifted into the support of the Republican nominee for president, John C. Fremont. Since that date the Messenger has been an unwavering Republican paper. In the issue dated April 8th, 1858, Mr. Milne, in a valedictory, stated that "feeble health has admonished lis for some time that our labors as a publisher and editor must cease," and introduced L. A. Arnold as the future editor, who had associated with him Norman Cole, to superintend the mechanical part of the business. Arnold acted as editor and Cole as publisher. It was announced Nov. 25th, 1863, that Norman Cole had purchased Arnold's interest and assumed the duties of both publisher and editor. On the last day of May, 1864, the paper was greatly crippled and its office completely consumed in the great fire which swept so disastrously through tbe village. It immediately sprang from the ashes, but did not emerge from the dark war cloud, which at that time hung over the land, nor did it appear in its full proportions until the 16th of September, when its new cylinder press arrived and the arduous work of publishing and editing so large a country newspaper was fully resumed. Not an issue was lost, however, although the copies intervening between the last of May and the 1 6th of September were of a smaller cast and different form. A copy of what was called the "Phoenix Edition" of the Messenger, which is herein printed, explains itself, and illustrates the condition of the village after the fire of 1864; the difficulties which the publishers encountered in continuing the publication without the loss of an edition, and the style of the paper itself The copy is as nearly as possible a facsimile of the original. That issue was printed from type borrowed of the Sandy Hill Herald office, on a little hand press saved from the Messenger office during the fire, the work being done in the editor's corn-house. During the following ten years it prospered so well that it was encouraged to celebrate the 4th of July, 1873, by still another enlargement of an additional column on each page. On the 2d of July, 1875, it celebrated the advent of the grand water system of this village by first running its presses by hydraulic power. On the 1st day of February, 1882, Mr. Cole associated with himself F. A. Bullard, the firm name being Norman Cole & Co.—a relation and style which still exists. On the 7th of July, 1882, the Messenger was again enlarged to thirty- six columns. In an editorial of that issue, after a succinct retrospect, the purpose of the paper is set forth in the following language:—Vol. 9.phe:n^ix edition. GLEN'S FALLS, N. Y., FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 1864. No. 23. A GREAT FIRE !— One of the most destructive fires that ever happened in any village in the Northern States, visit- ed Glen's Falls on Thursday last, May 31st, consuming the entire business por- tion of the village and sweeping away the wealth and accumulations of years. The central part of the place is one mass of ruins. Only three stores remain. All the printing offices were destroyed — we saved our little Card Press, but not enough type to set a card. — The morn- ing after the fire we received the follow- ing from the Editor of the Sandy Hill Herald, to whose kindness we are in- debted for type and ink to print this paper : — "Friend Cole: My office is at your disposal. E. D. Baker." The following account is mainly taken from the Republican extra, issued from the Herald office : — About 3 o'clock the flames, were first seen bursting through the roof of the Glen's Falls Hotel kitchen. The alarm was instantly given. Engines, Firemen and Citizens sprang as if by magic to the threatened spot, but owing to a high wind and scarcity of water the flames rapidly spread, in a few moments envel- oping the main portion of the Hotel, and from thence to the Commercial Bank, Rich's Jewelry Store, the Centre House, Glen's Falls Bank, Weed & Sherman's store, law office of Davis and Harris, Keenan & Wing's office, Wing's dry goods store. Ranger's book store. Re- publican printing office, Harris' Boot and Shoe store. Peat's tailoring estab- lishment and the Mansion House. Above the Glen's Falls Hotel, the fire had spread to Smith & Ambler's, De- Vol's and Hubbard's clothing stores,. Sheldon's drug store, Fonda's, Lasher & Freligh's, Rice's and Cowles & Co.'s dry goods stores, Sisson's drug store, Mes- senger office. Leavens' store, Goodman's- marble shop, Bolles' book store and Colvin's cabinet store. Crossing Glen street the fire first attacked Brown & Byrne's grocery store, and Vanderhey- den's building with Bassinger's jewelry store and Clements' restaurant, and from thence ran rapidly to Ide & Co.'s boot and shoe store, Farrington's liquor store, the fruit stand of Bevins, Smith's boot and shoe store, Tearse's grain store — finally arrested by almost super- human exertion at the residence of Mr. Samuel Ranger. On the west side of Ridge street, the warehouse of Brown & Byrne, Norris' wagon shop, and two dwelling houses^ were soon enveloped in flames. On the east side the fire communicated with D. H. Cowles & Co., Clendon's drug store, Conkey's daguerrean rooms, internal revenue office, gas office, dentist's office^ etc., driving with demoniac fury to the Post Office, Ferriss' law office. Seaman & Richards' candy establishment, Mrs. Brydon & Whiting's millinery store,. Traphagan's harness shop, and from thence to the fine residence of Mr. Ezra Benedict, attacking at the same time- the dwellings of A. W. Flack and Mr. Ketchum. The County Press. 28s Arrested by the solid stone dwelling owned by Mrs. William Peck, on Ridge street, the flames swept down on both sides of Warren st., destroying in their rapid course Vanderheyden's brick building, Kenworthy's hardware store, C. & D. Peck's grain store and lumber yard, DeLong and Co.'s hardware store, the dweUings of Harmon Peck, Doct. N. E. Sheldon, Mrs. Rogers, Methodist, Presbyterian and Universalist churches. Engine House, Fonda's Masonic Block, in which were Vermillia's meat market, Hine & Bartlett's grocery store, the Free Press office, Buswell's gun shop, Senate Masonic Lodge, &c. Onward rushes the •devouring element to Baldwin's cabinet shop, the dwellings of Mr. Kellogg, Rev. Mr. Fennel and Abraham Wing, Star- buck & Sanford's wagon shop, the dwel- lings of Seth Sprague, L. A. Arnold, Mrs. Ray, E. T. Johnson, Alvin Cool, M. B. Little, J. Johnson, Doct. Patterson, David Roberts — destroying everything; arrested again, the flames shoot across three buildings, one of which is the old Furnace, and alight upon the dwellings of Mrs. Hawkins and Mrs. Lapham, burning both to ruins. Down Glen street, on the east side, commencing at the chothing store of Albert Hall, the sea of fire hurls its red and hissing billows, engulfing the entire row to the open space half way down the hill, destroying Hall's clothing store, Mrs. Williams' millinery shop. Star- buck's express office, Ferguson's liquor store, Keeffe & Briggs' store, Bush's meat market, Kelley's grocery, Numan's large hall, a new dry goods store just opened, Austin's paint shop, S. Carpen- ter's saloon, Staples' meat market, Cros- sett's vegetable store. Potter's boot and shoe store, A. N. Cheney's residence, H. Wing's store, Bennett's building, Wil- marth's cabinet shop. Farmer's Hotel, Mechanics' Place, Burdick's planing mill, Geo. Cronkhite's and L. B. Barnes' dwellings, Rappe's dwelling and grocery. At this time, about 6 o'clock P. M., the centre of the village for blocks was one sea of Hvid flames. The hurrying to and fro of excited and almost despairing people, men, women and children, the crackling, seething fire, the wild at- tempts to save property, the hoarse commands of the firemen, mingled with the sound of falling buildings, formed a picture which we hope never to look upon again. The main losses, as near as can be estimated, naming each suf- ferer as far as it is possible at the early hour of going to press, are as follows : Exchange Building, goods and building, loss $25,000 — insured for $8,000. Charles Rice, store and goods, $30,000 — insured 10,000. Geo. W. Sisson, store and goods, 30,- 000 — insured 12,000. Messenger office, printing material and stock, over 2,000 — insured r,ooo. Lasher & Freligh, store and goods, 20,- 000 — insured 10,000. W. A. Fonda, house, store and goods, 20,000 — insured 5,000. N. E. Sheldon, store, goods and house, 10,000 — insured 6,000. Hawley's store, goods and house, $3,- 000 — insured 1,000. Mansion House and the Glen's Falls Hotel, 20,000 — insured 15,000. M. C. Rich, 3,000 to 4,000-insured 1 ,000. Commercial Bank, 4,000-insured 2,000. Rosekrans building and contents, 4,000 — no insurance. Glen's Falls Bank Building, 6,000 — in- sured 4,000. Ezra Benedict, store and house, 8,000 — insured 2,000. Republican office, printing material, r,- 000 — insured 800. H. M. Harris, boot and shoe store, 600 — no insurance. A. N. Cheney, house and contents and store, 8,000 — insured 6,000. Ira Green, 500 — no insurance. Doct. M. R. Peck, store and goods, 3,- 000 — insured 2,300. A. E. Smith, store and goods, 3,000 — insured 1,500. J. K. Farrington, store and goods, 5,000 — insured 3,000. 286 History of Warren County. Geo. Bassinger, 1,500 — insured 1,900. Brown & Byrne, 40,000 — insured 8,000. J. H. Norris, 6,000 — insured 2,000. W. H. Gayger, 2,000 — insured 1,500. E. B. Richards, 2,000 — insured 1,500. Miss Mott, 1, 000 — insured 800. Mrs. Martin, 1,500 — no insurance. J. T. B. Traphagen, 2,000 — ins. 2,000. A. W. Flack, 1,000 — no insurance. Seaman & Richards, 1,009 — no ins. D. H. Cowles & Co., 40000 — ins. 11,000. Vanderheyden, 5,000 — insured 2,500 S. Benedict, 3,000 — insured 1,000. J. L. Kenworthy, 4,000 — insured 2,800. Wm. Cronkhite, 2,000 — no insurance. C. & D. Peck, 20,000 — insured 3,000. H. Peck and DeLong & Son, 25,000 — insured 6,000. M. E. Church, 5,000 — no insurance. Firemen's Hall, 2,000 — no insurance. E. H. Rosekrans, 1,000 — no insurance. Universalist Church, 3,000 — no ins. Albert Hall, 5,000 — insured 2,000. John Ferguson, i,ooo — fully insured. Keeffe & Briggs, 2,000 — insured 5,000. Mr. Benedict, 1,000 — insured 200. Mrs. Grace, 500 — no insurance. J. B. Cool, 500 — fully insured. D. Peck, 1,000 — insured 600. Mr. Staples, 2,000 — insured 1,000. Wm. Crosoett, 1,500 — no insurance. Bennett's building, 4,000 — ins. 3,000. M. L. Wilmarth, 4,000 — insured 2,000. Farmer's Hotel, 2,000 — insured i,ooo. Mechanics' Place, 2,000 — insured 1,000. Wm. Rappe, 1,500 — insured 500. Masonic Block, 20,000 — insured 7,000. Numan's Hall, 3,000 — insured 1,000. Widow Peck, 2,000 — no insurance. Presbyterian Church, 12,000 — ins. 5,000. Allen Burdick, 5,000 — no insurance. A. J. Fennel, 2,000 — insured 1,000. Abraham Wing, 8,000 — no insurance. Starbuck & Sanford, 2,000 — ins. 1,000. C. B. Sprague, 2,000 — insured 1,500. Miss Ray, 1,500 — insured 800. D. Norris, 1,500 — insured 600. Miss Mary Hunt, 2,000 — insured 1,200. J. Johnson, 1,000 — no insurance. M. B. Little, 2,200 — insured 2,000. Doct. Patterson, 1,500 — insured 1,200. Mrs. Hawkins, 1,000 — no insurance. Mrs. Lapham, 1,000 — no insurance. The entire loss will reach nearly to one million dollars. — The insurance is being promptly paid by the different conipanies; their agents, arriving here soon after the fire, are rapidly settling claims. The loss is as follows : Home, New York $65,000 Hartford, Conn 40,000 City, Albany 16,500 Dividend Mutual, Glen's Falls. 22,000 Glens Falls Co 3,000 City Hartford, Ct 5,000 Massasoit, Springfield, Mass. 5,900 Liverpool and London. . . . 5,000 Phoenix, Brooklyn 2,200 Security, New York 8,300 North American, Hartford. . 1,400 The total loss on buildings has been footed up to $260,000, and on merchan- dise at $300,000. About one hundred and twelve buildings were burned, in- cluding some sixty stores, &c. 1^^ At an adjourned meeting of the citizens of this village held this after- noon a committee of five was appointed to make equitable distribution among the sufferers by the late disastrous fire, of such contributions as have been and may be made for their relief That com- mittee consists of Col. A. W. Morgan, Jerome Lapham, Stephen L. Goodman, Walter A. Faxon and Enoch H. Rose- krans. A further committee of nine, of which A. Sherman is chairman, was ap- pointed to consult with property owners in regard to the time and mode of re- building upon the burnt district, and endeavor to -secure a uniform -style of building, as far as practicable, which shall be both substantial and ornamen- tal. The citizens of this place are very grateful to the Firemen of Sandy Hill and Fort Edward, who came as it were on the wings of the wind to our assis- tance, and who, with our own " Defiance" and "Cataract," nobly fought the de- vouring element. Had it not been for their aid, much greater would have been the ruin. 1^° The citizens of Troy have con- tributed and sent up over eighteen hun- dred dollars towards relieving the great- est sufferers by the fire, with word that " more will- be sent." The recipients will be exceedingly grateful to the donors. At the time the fire broke out, we were printing the first side of the Messenger, which was all destroyed, with press, and nearly everything else in the office.
— The Messenger office was insured for $1,000, which has been promptly paid. There was a mortgage on the office of $500 ; after paying this with interest, we have left, out of the insurance, onlv four hundred and sixty-eight dollars and thirty-three cents. Those who are in- debted to the Messenger will see that we need all that is our due, and we trust they will promptly respond, that we may be enabled to procure material for printing the Messenger on a larger sheet than this. With our next issue we pro- pose to send bills to all subscribers in arrears, and all others who feel disposed to aid us in getting a new press, may pay in advance, for as long a period as they can afford, and they will be credit- ed with the amount and the paper sent the full time — or paid in advertising — if it be for a thousand years. Providence permitting. Money may safely be sent by mail. — Already "shanties" are being built along the streets, and quite a number of our dealers have resumed business. The funds and valuables in the Banks came out all right. The Commercial Bank is now located in the insurance building, to which the Internal Revenue Collector's office has also been removed. The Glen's Falls Bank is in the brick dwelling house nearly opposite the American Hotel. The post office occupies the place for- merly known as Judge Hay's office, on Park St. G. W. Sisson's drug store is opposite the American Hotel, on Bay St. The Messenger office is now operating in a cornhouse, one mile north of the old place, on the Lake George road. I^All property taken from the fire, the owners of which have not been found, should be left at the new stone church on Glen St., where it may be identified. Our files of the Messenger were burned, and we will be thankful for back num- bers returned to us. — Hardly room enough this week for the letter just received from the ii8th Regiment. — Gen. Grant is pounding away at the very doors of Richmond. SUPREME COURT— The Dividend Mutual Insurance Company against Albert N. Cheney, George W. Cheney and Lucinda Cheney, his wife. Notice is hereby given that in pursu- ance and by virtue of a judgment of fore- closure and sale rendered in the above en- tilled action on the 22d day of April, 1863, the judgment roll whereof was filed and the judgment entered in the Warren Coun- ty Clerk's office on the loth day of May, 1864, I shall expose for sale and sell at public auction to the highest bidder, as the law directs, at the Glen's Falls Hotel in Glen's Falls, Warren County, New York, on the 2 5thday of June, 1864, at ten o'clock A. M., the premises and property described in said judgment as follows : " All that certain piece or parcel of land situate, lying and being in the village of Glen's Falls aforesaid and bounded as fol- lows, to wit ; Beginning in the center of the Plank Road leading from Glen's Falls to Lake George and at the southwesterly corner of Orville Cronkhite's land" [now owned by the Glen's Falls Insurance Company], "and running thence north sixty-si. degrees east along said Cronkhite's land eleven chains and eighty-three links to James Sisson's land , thence south along said Sisson's land two chains and sixty-one links ; thence south sixty-six degrees west ten chains and eigh- teen links to the centre of said Plank Road ; thence north twenty-nine degrees west along the centre of said Plank Road two chains and thirty-seven links to the place of begin- ning, be the same more or less." Dated May loth, 1864. D. V. BROWN, Sheriff By Wm. Cosgrove, Deputy. S. Brown, Plff's Att'y, Glen's Falls, N. Y. ALVRRIED.— In Greenwich, May 23d, by Rev. Mr. Abbott, Mr. Wesley Allen, of this village, to Miss Abbie White, of Sandy Hill. EXECUTORS' NOTICE.— Notice is hereby given to all persons having claims against Benjamin S. Thomp- son, late of the town of Chester in the County of Warren, deceased, that they are required to exhibite the same with the vouchers thereof to the subscribers, Henry Thompson, one of the executors of the last will and testament of said deceased, at his dwelling-house in said town of Chester, on or before the 4th day of Sep- tember next. Dated March 3d, 1864. HENRY THOMPSON, ISAAC TOWSLEY, nnm6 Executors.
" We shall aim to make the Messenger the most reliable and the best newspaper in the county, by constantly guarding its columns and keeping out false reports and sensational and degrading matter that floods upon the press from every direction, and by sifting out and printing that which is good and true. We shall endeavor to so condense the news as to give a faithful weekly summary of the important events of the world, paying especial attention to home matters and all that interests or affects our town, county, state or nation." It is only fair to say that the purpose of the publication as above expressed has been faithfully adhered to, and is the leading characteristic of the paper today.
Norman Cole, at present at the head of the firm publishing the Messenger, was born in the town of Queensbury near Glens Falls, June 1st, 1835. His father, Levi Cole, and his grandfather Isaac, were both blacksmiths and remembered as noted for good honest work. When Norman was eight years old his father died, leaving a widow with fourjchildren of whom Norman was the oldest. The limited means left was soon absorbed, except the homestead of ten or twelve acres of land, on which he had to labor to his utmost for the support of the family. Three months of schooling in the winter of each of several years constituted the public educational advantages of the boy; but he studied, read and thought a good deal outside of his school days, which, with the careful and intelligent training of his mother, gave him a solid foundation of character as well as the basis of a fair education. It was contemplated finally that Norman should learn a trade, but his mother could not entertain the thought of his leaving home; neither did he incline towards any of the various occupations mentioned, until printing was mentioned, which, as he now expresses it, came to him like an inspiration, and he resolved to learn that profession. He did not begin the attractive handiwork until the December following his twentieth birthday, but he was armed with a wonderful determination to master it, and of course success awaited him. He has risen to an honorable position in the great field of journalism and can look back upon his Hfe, as far as it has passed, as one well spent.
On the 17th of January, 1878, the Warrensburgh News was started by G. A. Morris and Son (A. H. Morris). In January, 188 1, the establishment was purchased by L. C. Dickinson, who is present editor and proprietor, with C. E. Cole as assistant. It is a handsome country journal of eight pages, six columns to the page and independent. It is very ably conducted.
The thrift and energy of the village of Glens Falls is particularly manifested by the fact that although as yet but a village, it possesses two daily newspapers. It is a sign of enterprise and prosperity, and of that spirit which is the most distinguishing characteristic of modern times, especially in the United States. It is the spirit, become a habit, with which a business or professional man, or an artisan sits down to his breakfast, paper in hand, and, learning of the movements of foreign armies, of the dissensions in the English House of Commons or the German Reichstag; and of the measures proposed and adopted or rejected by the Legislature of his own State and country, as well as the rumors of gossip and the reports of crime and casualties the world over, finds argument for the reflections of a day. The daily press disseminates intelligence, while the weekly press and more deliberate publications give utterance to the prophecies which wise and experienced men deduce from the significant happenings of the times.
The Glens Falls Daily Times, a handsome, eight-column sheet, was started June 2 1 St, 1879. It was at the beginning but a 16x10 paper, printed on a quarto- medium Gordon press, one side at a time.. The first proprietor was A. B. Colvin. On January ist, 1883, John H. Burnham bought a half interest in the business and has been associated with Mr. Colvin ever since. The Glens Falls Weekly Times was first published in the spring of 1880, by Mr. Colvin. The editorial rooms are situated in the Times building in Glen street. The paper is ably edited both with reference to its mechanical appearance and the editorial expressions of its proprietors. Five libel suits have been brought against it, none of which terminated in a judgment for the plaintiff", a fact which is most significant as revealing at once the fearless aggressiveness and fidelity to truth and justice of those who are responsible for the utterances of the paper.
The Morning Star, published daily excepting Sundays, was started on the 2d day of April, 1883, by its present proprietors, J. C. Mahoney, T. J. Lord, B. W. Sprague and A. L. McMullen, who compose the Star Publishing Company. In August, 1883, they began the issue of their weekly papers. The office is on the corner of Glen and Ridge streets. The paper is a world of methodical mechanical arrangement and neatness, and contains always a full and cornplete account of the local. State, national and foreign news of the day. Its editorial expressions are judicious and impartial. These qualities conspire to increase its circulation and value as an advertising medium, and augment the encouraging prosperity of the enterprise.
- ↑ Largely prepared from newspaper sketches published some years since by Dr. A. W. Holden.