Through his long life he was connected with many publications as editor or manager, and he served for years as custodian of the Oregon Historical Society's museum at Champoeg. He served many years as secretary of the old Oregon Press Association. He had a great love for Oregon.
Tozier did not stay long on the Hillsboro paper; his partner, W. L. Jones, bought him out two .years later. S. T. Linklater became publisher about 1890, followed by D. M. C. Gault in 1892. J. R. Beegle appears to have been in charge after his return from the World's Fair in 1893, but Gault resumed and stayed a long time.
Gault, born in Iowa in 1842, had received his formal education at the Forest Grove academy in the fifties; had broken in on the old Jacksonville Sentinel in 1865; was city editor of the Salem Statesman in '68 and '69; the next year he was one-third owner of the Polk County Republican at Dallas; he served a term in the legislature from Washington county and one from Multnomah county.
Gault remained in charge of the Independent for about 13 years. After two years under Irving Bath, publisher, and D. W. Bath, editor, the paper was purchased by S. C. Killen, who continued at the helm, running a paper as independent as the name implied and building up a reputation for his editorial soundness which made up for increasing weakness on the news end as time took its toll. He sold the paper, in his old age, to the Argus, lusty young competitor, only about 38 years old, in 1932 and retired to Portland, to watch the other fellows do it.
E. H. Flagg, Oregon editor-publisher whose record of half a century in Oregon journalism includes several papers started and many others edited, launched the Washington Democrat at Hillsboro, February 15, 1869. The Independent, a Republican paper, was then running, under the editorship of W. L. Jones, at the time.
The Democrat was an eight-column, four-page paper, the outside printed in Portland by Palmer & Rey. In about a year the paper was moved to Forest Grove, reversing the journey made by the old Independent in the early seventies. Prof. S. T. Adams of Pacific University was announced as local editor in the issue of August 15, 1890.
Almost simultaneously with the advent of the Democrat in Hillsboro, the Forest Grove Times was started, February 14, 1889, published by the Forest Grove Printing Company.
This provided plenty of competition in a field already occupied by the Independent.
Taking up the Democrat:
In the masthead, above the salutatory, was carried a card of endorsement for the new publisher, Mr. Flagg. It was signed by D. J. Switzer, county judge; E. E. Quick, county clerk; G. W. Cole, county treasurer; and W. A. Meeker, sheriff, all Columbia county officials, saying they had known Mr. Flagg for six years (he
