CHAPTER VI.
CASS TOWNSHIP (CONT'D).
BIRTH OF THE COUNTY PRESS.
In the midst of the organization of the first churches and schools of Lewis the citizens of the town and county seat commenced the agitation for the establishment of a newspaper; in common with many other growing communities in the West, when the Southern States actually seceded, commenced the seizure of Government property and made the War of the Rebellion a certainty, Lewis realized that the favorable time had arrived for the birth of the county press. The honor of establishing the "Cass County Gazette," the first newspaper in the county, belongs to John C. Brown, its editor. Neither was he simply a newspaper patriot, as his subsequent record with the Twenty-third Iowa Infantry and his death while in the service, abundantly prove. John J. Van Houten, his printer and foreman of the "devil," Seth M. Young, also went to the front with the editor and, upon Mr. Brown's death, succeeded him as captain of their company.
"CASS COUNTY GAZETTE."
Hon. Lafayette Young, so long identified with the "Atlantic Telegraph," the founder of the first daily newspaper in the county, and now editor of the "Des Moines (Ia.) Capital," has to say about the "Cass County Gazette": "The first newspaper published in the county was the 'Cass County Gazette,' established at Lewis in January, 1861, by J. C. Brown. John J. Van Houten, late of Atlantic, was foreman of the office, and Seth W. Young, now (1884) of the 'Storm Lake Pilot,' was the devil. The press and material were moved on a sled from Audubon City, then the county seat of Audubon county, to Lewis, on the 4th day of January, 1861. The next day the office was rigged up, and on that day the first type ever set in the county were put in a stick by John J. Van Houten. The press had been used seven weeks at Audubon City in the publication of the 'Audubon City Pioneer.' Brown was editor of that paper while it was published and Van Houten the printer.
"The 'Cass County Gazette' was Democratic in politics, and was a four-page paper with six columns on a page. The motto under the heading on the first page was: 'Fidelity to the Constitution and the Union,' which was a good motto for the time (1861) and a good one for all time. The paper was well gotten up mechanically, spicily edited, with a pure tone to every item. There are but a few copies of the 'Gazette' in existence, and those are the property of Mrs. William Waddell, of Atlantic, who kindly placed them at the disposal of the writer (in 1884). The regular files of the paper were destroyed when the Union House was burned in Lewis, in 1864. The office was in the hotel building, but was mainly removed and saved without material damage. The files, however, were left to be consumed. Thus perished a good record of the county's early events and its progress--for every well gotten up local journal is, as Shakespeare says, 'an abstract brief chronicle of the time, a map of busy life; of the world's events, its vicissitudes and its vast concerns.'
"One issue of the 'Gazette' which has been examined bears the date of April 20, 1861, that memorable month in that memorable year when the Civil War began. It is filled with news pertaining to the bombardment of Fort Sumter; the effect of that event on the country, and accounts of Union meetings held in various cities of the North and non-union meetings in various cities of the South. Lincoln's first call for 75,000 volunteers is given, together with the insolent replies to the same by C. F. Jackson, governor of Missouri, and B. McGoffin, governor of Kentucky. The paper also records the fact that 'Hon. Stephen A. Douglas sustains the President and has had a long interview with him at Washington.' Another telegram says: 'Jeff Davis' answer to Lincoln's proclamation is rough and cruel. It is as follows: "Fort Sumter is ours and nobody hurt--with Paixhan and Petard we tender Old Abe our Beauregard." This one issue of the 'Gazette' contained a good history of the beginning of the great rebellion, and told of the great excitement which then prevailed in the whole country. The paper appeared to be better in its general than in its local features.
"Local advertisements were scarce, the following comprising the list: J. W. Brown, attorney; H. H. Oberholtzer & Co., general merchandise; Dr. J. B. Cary, physician; Dr. N. W. Whitted, physician and druggist; Isaac Dickerson, notary public and land agent; Peck & Keyes, proprietors of the Badger Mills, in which they say that they can sell flour and feed cheaper than any one east of Denver; M. T. Jones, dealer in dry-goods, groceries and hardware, who announces that he has 50,000 pounds of bacon and 7,000 pounds of lard on hand and for sale; John Keyes, who wants to buy fifty head of steers; W. Smithson Newlon, family physician, Newlon's Grove; F. H. Whitney, land agent and deputy county surveyor, Whitneyville, etc. A column advertisement also was inserted by Messrs. Thomas Meredith, Joseph Everly and William Haworth, who announced for sale a few thousand acres of land on the Nishnabotna river, fifty miles east of Omaha and forty-five miles east of Council Bluffs, in the immediate vicinity of Lewis 'which is truly a handsome village of from 300 to 500 inhabitants, with good stores, hotels and an industrious, enterprising class of citizens. In Lewis are two good schools, a printing office, and one magnificent church house of the Methodist denomination. Others are in contemplation, as good societies of the Baptists and Congregationalists are already in Lewis. We are pioneers in the Far West and purchased our lands immediately after the Indian title to the same became extinct, and it is true that they embrace the most magnificent lands in the Missouri river valley--a valley that ere long is destined to be the most densely populated portion of the Far West.<'/p>
"In August, 1862, J. C. Brown enlisted in the Twenty-third Infantry and sold the 'Gazette' to F. H. Whitney, who continued its publication as a Union Democratic paper. Mr. Whitney, in his editorials, urged the vigorous prosecution of the war. T. P. Ballard, now (1884) county clerk of Mills county and part owner of the 'Glenwood Opinion,' was Mr. Whitney's foreman and mechanical manager. Mr. Whitney made an enterprising editor, and during several month of 1862 published the war news from first hands--that is, he took the dispatches on the day of publication and the day previous, giving his readers the news from the front in advance of all competitors. The Western Union telegraph line then passed through lewis and had an office there. Monroe Smith, the operator, was one of the best who ever touched a key.
"LIGHT HEART, LIGHT PURSE."
"In the summer of 1863 the 'Gazette' passed into the hands of J. M. Holaday, who changed its politics to Republican and its motto to 'Westward Ho!' T. Q. Morgan was Mr. Holaday's printer. The paper under Mr. Holaday's management was exceedingly spicy, but was too prone to call things by their right names to be popular."
In May, 1864, his valedictory, issued in an extra to all subscribers, is well worth reproducing as the words of an honest but too-plain-spoken man: "After much meditation, hesitation and tribulation upon the subject, we have unanimously concluded to abandon the editorial profession in Lewis, to throw our quill down in the dust, like unto the servant who hid his talents--giving place to some other man who possesses more tenacity, philanthropy and purse. Country papers, to yield fair profits in these times, ought to receive $6 for each subscription, but they cannot get this, of course, while eastern paper are furnished so easily and cheaply.
"Doubtless many of our friends will be somewhat regretful at our departure, but the copperheads will dart forth forked tongues from their lying lips in great glee; and there are a few of the reptile race in this vicinity that may well breathe more freely, as it had become part of our editorial ambition to yet skin them from head to tail, or get badly snakebitten in the attempt; but their time will come, nevertheless. If our ten months' sojourn here had been a pleasure, it has not been a profit, and we depart hence, as we came, with a light heart and pocket. If not 'grafted into the army,' we intend at once to resume our former trade, namely, typesetting.
"The amount due to subscribers cannot be repaid at present; but their proper credit will remain on the subscription book, and when the paper shall be revived they will receive it for the remainder of the time subscribed for. The publication of the paper, we are confident, will again be resumed, though perhaps not till the close of the war. We shall leave Lewis, perhaps, on Monday next."
DEATH OF THE "GAZETTE."
It seems that the office reverted to Mr. Whitney who, in July, 1864, sold it to G. F. Kilburn, who removed it to Fontanelle. So ended the career of the pioneer journal of Lewis and the county of Cass, and it has never been resuscitated. In July, 1864, when Frank H. Whitney sold the press and material of the "Gazette" office, H. C. Johnson, an old printer who had worked in the office purchased a newspaper outfit of a Mr. Fuller of Adel, Dallas county, and bringing it to Lewis established the "Messenger." It was then a small six-column folio paper, printed all at home and well edited by Mr. Johnson. No copy of the first issue of the paper is known to be in existence. The proprietor received a liberal patronage and continued to issue the "Messenger" in Lewis, until March, 1869, when he removed the office to the then new town of Atlantic, changing its name accordingly.
"Compendium and History of Cass County, Iowa." Chicago: Henry and Taylor & Co., 1906, pg. 101-104.Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass, August, 2018.
