FRASHER, George Howell 1845 - 1928

FRASHER, PARK, BAIRD, STUMP

Posted By: Mary Ellen Lanigan
Date: 5/12/2005 at 10:08:39

Added by Admin, April 2022 --

"The Fairfield Daily Ledger"
Monday, October 22, 1928
Page EIGHT, Column 2

Just Among Ourselves

... --George H. FRASHER, who was taken very ill Satudray (sic) night at their apartment at 307 East Briggs street, is somewhat improved today. ...

... --Mr. and Mrs. John FRASHER of Cedar Rapids were called here yesterday by the illness of the former's father, George H. FRASHER. ...

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Original posting by Mary Ellen --

"The Fairfield Daily Ledger"
Wednesday, October 24, 1928
Front Page and Page 2

G. H. FRASHER IS DEAD; OLD TIME NEWSPAPER MAN
Civil War Veteran Edited Papers In Salina, Pleasant Plain, Richland, Fairfield

George H. FRASHER, veteran newspaperman of Jefferson county, Civil War soldier and one of the three men in the county who survived the horrors of Andersonville prison passed away this morning at the apartment at 307 East Briggs street, after having been in very poor health in the past ten years. He was taken ill early Sunday morning and since then hs condition has been critical.

The funeral services will be held tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 oclock from his old home at 207 North D Street in charge of Dr. Gilbert Voohies of the Presbyterian church with interment in Evergreen Cemetery.

Mr. FRASHER was born February 9, 1845 in Licking county, Ohio and went with his family to Monroe county, Wis. His father died there and his mother with her family of four girls and four boys came to Jefferson county in a covered wagon to be with her own people who had come to this new country. That was in 1857.

His War Record

When the Civil War broke out he was not old enough to go, but although only 17 years old in 1862, he enlisted anyhow, joining Co. D, 17th Iowa Volunteer infantry.

This company was in the battles of Corinth, Forth Gibson, Raymond and Champion Hill. In the latter engagement the regiment lost heavily and at its close only sixty-three men were able to stack their guns. It received great praise from General Grant and later participated in the seige and capture of Vicksburg.

In October, 1864, the regiment was captured by General Hood at Kingston, Ga. Mr. FRASHER with the others was sent to Holly prison and later taken to Andersonville. Here he remained six and a half months and had never recovered from the cruel treatment accorded the men. Of the three hundred men of his regiment who entered this terrible prison only half ever came out alive and these were broken in health to such an extent that they were never strong again.

He wrote home to his mother on his release from Andersonville October 13, 1865, that he was a mere skeleton, but hoped to be able to get back home. He was sent by boat around to Annapolis and thence in box cars to Davenport where he mustered out.

Andersonville!

"Andersonville was a hell hole--the awful sights of that place, my comrades dying by hundreds from ill treatment, dirt, filth and disease, I will never forget", said Mr. FRASHER in recounting his experiences.

He was mustered out of service June 14, 1865 and returned to the family home near Salina, Jefferson county. Soon he was married to Sarah A. PARKS (sic - PARK) and to them was born one daughter. Mrs. FRASHER died Jan. 29, 1879. He was again married in 1883 to Vina E. BAIRD and they have two children John H. FRASHER of Cedar Rapids and Mrs. Noah A. STUMP of Rosemead, Calif.

Mr. FRESHER (sic) had found in the meantime that he could not farm because of his health and he received the appointment of postmaster of Salina.

The Old Sewing Machine

An old sewing machine stood in the corner of the Salina postoffice and caught the fancy of a man who had a printing press that he could not use. In a few minutes the stranger had convinced Mr. Frasher that the printing press would do him more good than the sewing machine and the result was that the old job press was brought into Salina in 1876. The elect of the town probably got the forst (sic) end of the deal, that a sewing machine could
be used most any day while a press was an idle curiosity for any one who didn't know how to run one.

Starts Paper

After the excitement had died down and every one had seen the press and figured the price of it as so much junk, Mr. FRASHER sprang the surprise that Salina was going to have a newspaper, and backed up his statement by publishing the Salina Banner twice a month. The town was mighty proud of that little paper, but was far more proud of their eminent citizen who had learned how to set the type and run the press, and do the many odd jobs that are necessary in publishing a paper. He almost had a monopoly of the towns industries for he was the postmaster, editor and notary public.

The biggest job he had was setting the type, for in those days that was the hardest job in a newspaper office. An editor learned that trade first, and how to edit as a side issue. It wasn't a question of what was going into a paper, but how. The Banner was four columns wide and about 12 inches long and had a circulation of about 200. It contained all local stories and was so very interesting to people of the community.

To Pleasant Plain

Then Mr. FRASHER and S. L. Machesney decided that Pleasant Plain offered more advantages for the development of a newspaper and so they moved the Banner plant to the new field and called it the Pleasant Plain News. It favored the republican party and trumpeted its platform. The News had a more or less thrifty existance for two years when Mr. FRASHER sought a wider field and went to Brighton and began publishing the Brighton News, leaving Peasant Plain a vacant newspaper field. For fifteen years the Brighton News molded public opinion and did its full share in uplifhing (sic) the community.

Mr. FRASHER held a $300 mortgage on the Richland Clarion and the men in charge walked out and left it then he went to Richland and built up the paper. Within two years a man came into the office and asked the cheapest price that the owner would take for the paper. Mr. FRASHER asked for $1,400, and the man wrote out the check.

The long vacation that the editor had promised himself was within his grasp. For a while he enjoyed himself but it was not long until he yearned for the smell of ink and loving feel of printing press. So in 1897 he moved his family to Fairfield; established the Jefferson County Republican and ran it according to his high ideals until his son John went to war, and his health began to fail.

Never Sidestepped

Mr. FRASHER never sidestepped an issue but faced the problem squarely. His pen called spade a spade and made temporary enemies of many men who opposed his views for whatever he thought was right he stood for regardless of any one else. But he was happy for he felt that he had followed the path that duty mapped out for him.

[Admin. note: The photo appearing at the end of this posting was run with the above article, and was added by the Admin. Also, the above article was proofread and many spelling and contextual errors were corrected.]

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Added by Admin, April 2022 --

"The Fairfield Daily Ledger"
Friday, October 26, 1928
Front Page, Column 3

GEORGE FRASHER RITES YESTERDAY
At 3:30 O'Clock From the Old Frasher Home, 207 North D Street

Impressive funeral services yesterday afternoon at 3:30 oclock at the old FRASHER, home, 207 North D sareet (sic), marked the last tribute paid George H. FRASHER by his friends and relatives.

Dr. Gilbert Voorhies of the Presbyterian church officiated. The songs were sung by Miss Cora Ball and Mrs. Gilbert Voorhies and the latter accompanied on the piano. The pall bearers were: D. I. Leech, W. G. Robinson, A. L. Berray, William, Cupp and Vern Speer. Interment took place in Evergreen cemetery.

Those from away at the funeral were: Mr. and Mrs. J. H. BAIRD of Washington, Mrs. Edward Dose and Mrs. (sic - Mr.) and Mrs. J. H. FRASHER of Cedar Rapids.

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"The Fairfield Daily Ledger"
Friday, October 26, 1928
Page FOUR, Column 1

SAW NEWSPAPER'S PROGRESS

George H. FRASHER, early day editor, whose funeral took place yesterday afternoon, saw much newspaper history in the making. When he traded an old sewing maching machine for an equally old printing press, back in 1876 and with the meager equipment that went with it and established the Salina Banner, newspapers still were in their infancy.

Fifty years ago newspapers were springing up everywhere. Every town, aspiring to be a metropolis, had to have its paper to further its interests and carry its boasts and claims to the workd in general. Anybody with burning zeal ,a (sic) hatful of type and a Washington hand press ,could (sic) plunge into journalism, and the attractions of printer's ink usually kept them in the thrall. Even the exigencies of such a career, the indifferent advertisers, the subscriber who paid for his paper with wet elm cordwood or pumpkins--these were mundane things and could not outweigh the glories of wielding a trenchant pen and seeing his effusions in type.

And from that throng of zealots, those men with ideals who suffered hardships and privations for the sake of blazing a path of public opinion, there rose an army of men who served their day and did the pioneering in their profession. Theirs was the day of romance in newspapering. They were men of force and conviction. They stood firm for their convictions and let befall what may. No man controlled them, none held a club over them. Their investments were not large, they did their own work largely, their expenses were not burdensome, they occupied no luxurious quarters. Sometimes they climbed rickety steps to their sanctums. But when they were able men, as many of them were, they wielded a wide influence and their contribution to progress scarcely can be estimated. In those good old days the toast "To the Press" was as much a matter of course as that other one "To the Ladies." And a very great deal more was heard of the power of the press and moulding public opinion than in these days of large investments, expensive machinery, high speed presses and efficient news agencies and picture services.

Mr. FRASHER saw all these latter things come into being. The procession began with the rotary press and blossomed into splendor with the linotype. The development of the telegraph news service and the syndicates to supply feature articles and speedy picture service followed in due course. And now the age of consolidation is upon us. Mr. FRASHER lived through it all and noted the changing character of journalism. His little old job press would be a museum piece today. But a short half-century ago it was a symbol of progress.

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Admin entries copied with permission from The Fairfield Ledger, Inc. IAGenWeb Bylaws PROHIBIT the COPYING AND RE-POSTING OF THIS MATERIAL IN ANY PUBLIC VENUE such as Ancestry or Find A Grave without WRITTEN permission from the submitter ~ copyright restrictions apply.
*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.

Note: Buried in Lot 3rd.054 with his second wife Melvina 'Vina' BAIRD FRASHER, who died in 1934. First wife Sarah Ann PARK FRASHER was buried in Lower Richwoods Cemetery.

Jefferson Obituaries maintained by Joey Stark.
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