It would require more space than can be given here to merely enumerate the
different newspaper ventures that have been set afloat in Cleveland, some
to disappear almost as soon as launched, others to buffet the waves for a
few months, or even years, and then to pass away and be forgotten. In the
days when nothing more was required to start a newspaper than a few pounds
of type and a hand press, or credit with the owner of a press, new
journals appeared and disappeared with great rapidity. Even now, when it
is hopeless to think of attempting the establishment of a journal without
first sinking a large capital, there are people venturesome enough to try
the experiment of starting a newspaper upon little or nothing. The end of
such experiments is always the same.
The first newspaper issued in Cleveland was the Cleveland Gazette and
Commercial Register, commenced July 31, 1818. It was ostensibly a weekly
publication, but the difficulty of procuring paper with the desired
regularity, and other untoward circumstances, sometimes caused a lapse of
ten, fourteen, and even more days between each issue. In October, 1819,
the Cleveland Herald was started as a weekly, by Z. Willes & Co.
In the Summer of 1836, the Daily Gazette was issued. This ran until March
22, 1837, when its owner, Charles Whittlesey, united it with the Herald,
under the name of the Daily Herald and Gazette, the new firm being
Whittlesey & Hull, and after a few days Whittlesey & J. A. Harris. The
Gazette title was subsequently dropped, and that of the Herald preserved,
Mr. Harris being the sole proprietor and editor. Messrs. W. J. May, A. W.
Fairbanks, G. A. Benedict and John Coon were at different times added to
the firm, Mr. May and Coon afterwards retiring, and being followed after
some years by Mr. Harris, who was the veteran editor of the city. The
Herald is now the oldest paper in the city, and the oldest daily in
Northern Ohio. It was always Whig or Republican in politics.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer was the natural successor of the Cleveland
Daily Advertiser, a Democratic paper published about a third of a century
since, by Canfield & Spencer. The Plain Dealer was owned and edited from
its start by J. W. Gray, who made it a sharp and spicy journal. His
declining health compelled him to take less interest in his paper, which
soon lost prestige, and having gone into incompetent hands after Mr.
Gray's death, it was before long compelled to suspend. Being purchased,
after a short suspension, by Mr. Armstrong, it was resuscitated, and is at
present, under the ownership and management of Messrs. Armstrong & Green,
a successful enterprise.
The Leader dates its origin on one side to the True Democrat, an
Independent Free Soil paper, dating back over twenty years, and on the
other to the Daily Forest City, a "Silver Gray Whig," started about 1852,
by Joseph and James Medill. After some coquetting an alliance was formed
between the two papers, and the name of Forest City Democrat adopted for
the Consolidated paper which was afterwards changed to the Leader. None of
those connected with either of the original papers are now connected with
the Leader. Of those who became the publishers of the latter paper Mr. E.
Cowles retains his connection and is the largest proprietor.
The German Wachter am Erie completes the list of regular daily papers now
published in Cleveland. The Herald is published morning and evening, there
being two editions of the evening issue. The Leader is issued in the
morning with an evening edition under the name of the News. The Plain
Dealer publishes two editions in the afternoon, and the Wachter am Erie
one afternoon edition.
[Illustration: Yours Truly, A. W. Fairbanks]
A. W. Fairbanks.
A. W. Fairbanks, the senior proprietor of the Cleveland Herald, was born
March 4, 1817, in Cornish, now Claremont, Sullivan county, New Hampshire.
When twelve years old he entered a printing office in Waterford, Saratoga
county, New York, with the purpose of learning the business. In those days
it was held necessary to serve a regular apprenticeship as a preliminary
to becoming a journeyman printer, and the apprentice had to pass through
an ordeal to which the learner of the present day is a total stranger.
There were then no machine presses out of the city of New York, nor
rollers for inking. The types were inked by dabbing with buckskin balls,
as had been done since the invention of printing. Rollers were, however,
introduced within a short time of our young apprentice entering on his
course of education as a printer.
The office in which he worked, owned by a man named Johnson, was for book
and job printing, thus affording the apprentice an opportunity of
acquiring a more extensive and varied knowledge of the business than could
have been acquired in a newspaper office. He had a taste for the life on
which he had entered, and soon made rapid headway in obtaining a knowledge
of the "art preservative of all arts." He remained in the same office
until it was discontinued. He afterwards went to Schenectady, Ballston,
Spa, and Troy, following the fortunes of the man he was apprenticed to,
before finishing his trade. His first situation, as a journeyman, was in
Rochester, New York.
In 1836, he removed from Rochester to Michigan, then a territory, and
assumed charge of the job department of the Detroit Advertiser. In this
position he remained for a year, when he was induced to remove to Toledo.
Some time previously an attempt had been made to establish the Toledo
Blade as a newspaper. The town was young, and though giving promise of
vigorous growth, was yet unable to make such a newspaper enterprise an
assured success. About fifty numbers were issued, under several
ownerships, and then the enterprise sank, apparently to rise no more. Mr.
Fairbanks saw his opportunity and availed himself of it. Possessing
himself of what remained of the Blade establishment, he announced its
revival, got up and got out the first number himself, working it off on a
hand press, and announced to the public that the Blade had this time "come
to stay." In spite of difficulties and discouragements he persisted in the
work he had undertaken, and in a short time had secured for the paper a
good circulation. There was in the office scarcely enough type to get out
a single issue; there was no imposing stone on which to make up the forms,
and but one press to do all the work of the office. Mr. Fairbanks worked
diligently with brain and hands, wrote matter for the Blade, managed its
mechanical details, and at the same time spent time, labor, and money in
enlarging the capabilities of the office and building up a valuable
job-printing business. In fourteen years he built up out of nothing, or
next to nothing, a newspaper with a profitable circulation and a wide
reputation, a job office admitted to be one of the most complete in the
State, having five presses and material abundant in quantity and
unsurpassed in quality. The office had made money every year since his
connection with it, except in 1840, when he gave all his labor to the
Harrison campaign.
In 1850, Mr. Fairbanks left Toledo for Cleveland, and became connected
with the Cleveland Herald, then edited by J. A. Harris and W. J. May. He
found the establishment without a press, the newspaper being printed on
the press of M. C. Younglove, under a contract, giving him twelve and a
half cents per token, Mr. Younglove having the only steam press in the
city. Land was purchased on Bank street and the present Herald building
erected. The entire book and job office of Mr. Younglove was purchased, a
Hoe cylinder press for working the Herald purchased, and the establishment
placed on a footing for doing a greatly enlarged and constantly increasing
business. Additional and improved facilities were furnished yearly, to
keep pace with the rapidly increasing demands, the single cylinder
newspaper press was changed for a double cylinder, and that had been
running but a short time when it proved insufficient for the rapid
increase of circulation, and its place was taken by a four cylinder, which
remains the only press of the kind in Ohio outside of Cincinnati, and
which is capable of running off ten thousand impressions per hour. From a
small part of the building this establishment grew until it crowded out
all other occupants; then the building itself was altered so as to
economise room, and finally additions made, doubling its size, the whole
of the space being immediately filled with material, presses and machinery
containing the latest improvements. From an entire valuation of six
thousand dollars the establishment has reached an inventory value of about
a hundred and fifty thousand dollars; and from a newspaper without a press
it has grown to an office with ten steam presses, a mammoth four-cylinder,
and a large building crowded full with the best machinery and material
required in a first-class printing office, giving employment to
ninety-five men, women and boys, and sending out the Morning Herald and
two regular editions of the Daily Herald, every day, except Sunday,
besides a Tri-Weekly Herald and Weekly Herald.
The entire mechanical details of the establishment have, from his first
connection with the office, been under the control of Mr. Fairbanks, and
he feels a just pride in the perfection to which these details have been
brought. His heart is in his profession, and it is his constant study. No
improvement in it escapes his observation, and he is ever on the alert to
avail himself of everything promising to increase the efficiency of his
establishment. It is a noticeable fact, that the Herald has never missed a
daily issue, although at times during the war the scarcity of paper was so
great that the issue of the Morning Herald, then but a recent venture, had
to be suspended for a day or two.
The firm, which, when Mr. Fairbanks became connected with it, was Harris,
Fairbanks & Co., is now Fairbanks, Benedict & Co., Mr. Fairbanks being the
only member of the original firm yet connected with the concern.
J. W. Gray.
J. W. Gray was born in the village of Bradport, Addison county, Vermont,
on the 5th of August, 1813. When only two years of age his parents removed
to Madrid, St. Lawrence county, New York, where his early life was passed,
receiving such meagre education as those early days afforded, during the
Winter months, to farmer lads. He afterwards became a pupil in the
Institutes at Potsdam and Governeur, founded by the New York State
Association for Teachers, where he made rapid progress, his mind,
naturally fond of study grasping knowledge intuitively. His scholastic
career terminated here, the pecuniary means being wanting to enable him to
prosecute a collegiate course, and he was soon after launched upon the
world to carve, with nothing but his own right arm and resolute will, the
future high public and social position he subsequently attained.
In 1836, he came to Cleveland, then, though recently incorporated as a
city, in reality but a flourishing village, and was soon engaged as a
teacher in one of the public schools, the old Academy, on St. Clair
street, being the scene of his first labors. He continued here but two or
three terms, when a more advantageous position was offered him as
instructor of a district school in Geauga county, to which he repaired and
where he continued about a year. On his return to the city, having fitted
himself in part previously, he entered the null of Hon. H. B. Payne and
U. S. Judge Willson, who were then associated under the law firm of Payne &
Willson, and after a little over a year under their preceptorship, during
which time his remarkable talents attracted the attention of many, he was
admitted to the bar, and almost immediately after receiving his diploma
commenced the practice of his profession. He soon formed a law connection
which led him to the State of Michigan, where, however he remained but a
short time.
On January 1st, 1842, in connection with his brother, A. N. Gray, he
purchased the Cleveland Advertiser, which he converted into the Cleveland
Plain Dealer.
In July, 1845, the firm of A. N. & J. W. Gray was dissolved, the latter
becoming sole proprietor and editor. The bold, poignant and dashing
talents he brought to bear, soon made the Plain Dealer widely known as a
political journal and placed its editor among the foremost men of his
party in the State. In 1853, he received the appointment of post master of
Cleveland from President Pierce, which position he continued to hold till
the Summer of 1858, when, owing to his refusal to advocate the infamous
Lecompton constitution of Mr. Buchanan, he was beheaded with the scores of
other martyrs who remained true to Senator Douglas and the constitutional
rights and liberties of the people.
In 1858, he received the Democratic nomination for Congress against Hon.
B. F. Wade, his successful competitor. In 1860, he was chosen, with Hon.
H. B. Payne, delegate from this district to the Charleston-Baltimore
convention where he labored with untiring devotion for the nomination of
Judge Douglas. When the revolt was raised by the traitorous South, he
rallied at once to the support of the constitution and Union, and,
following the example of Douglas buried the partizan in the noble struggle
of the patriot for the preservation of the liberties of the country.
Of the Silas Wright school of politics, he labored during his editorial
career of over twenty years, for his cherished principles. The friend of
Mr. Pierce, he was the beloved and confidential exponent of the great
Douglas. No man possessed the friendship and esteem of the Illinois
statesman in a larger degree than did Mr. Gray. The Plain Dealer was Mr.
Douglas' recognized organ--more so than any other paper published in the
country, and the close intimacy which existed between them was never
interrupted, and continued to the hour of that statesman's death.
Mr. Gray died May 26, 1862. He had been feeble for a few days previously,
and for a day or two before his death had not left the house, yet nothing
serious was apprehended by his family or physicians, and though the nature
of his illness was such as to have long made him an invalid, the hope was
firmly entertained that he would regain his general health. On the morning
of the day of his death, however, paralysis seized his heart and lungs,
soon depriving him of speech, and under which he rapidly, but gently, sank
away and died at fifteen minutes past two of the same day.
His life affords another example to the rising young men of the day, of
the power of will to triumph over all obstacles, when to indefatigable
industry are added those exemplary virtues, strict integrity and
temperance.
George A. Benedict.
George A. Benedict, of the printing and publishing firm of Fairbanks,
Benedict & Co., and editor-in-chief of the Cleveland Herald, is a native
of Jefferson county, New York, having been born in Watertown, August 5,
1813. Mr. Benedict was well educated and in due course entered Yale
College, from which he has received the degree of A. B.
When eighteen years old he commenced the study of law with Judge Robert
Lansing, in Watertown, finishing his legal education in the office of
Sterling & Bronson. He was admitted to practice in New York, and
immediately thereafter, in 1835, removed to Ohio, taking up his residence
in Cleveland. Here he entered the office of Andrews & Foot and
subsequently of that of John W. Allen, being admitted to practice in the
Ohio Courts in the year 1836.
As soon as admitted to the Ohio Bar a partnership was formed with John
Erwin, under the name of Erwin & Benedict; this arrangement continued
three years. On its dissolution Mr. Benedict formed a partnership with
James K. Hitchcock, the firm of Benedict & Hitchcock continuing until
1848, when Mr. Benedict was appointed Clerk of the Superior Court, Judge
Andrews being the Judge. With the adoption of the new constitution of the
State this court became extinct.
Immediately after the termination of his duties as Clerk of the Superior
Court, Mr. Benedict purchased an interest in the Herald establishment,
and became co-partner with Messrs. J. A. Harris and A. W. Fairbanks. The
subsequent retirement of Mr. Harris from editorial life left Mr.
Benedict as editor-in-chief of that paper, a position he has from that
time retained.
In 1843, Mr. Benedict was a member of the City Council, and president
of that body. For one term previous to that time Mr. Benedict was
city attorney.
In August, 1865, Postmaster General Dennison, of Ohio, tendered to Mr.
Benedict the office of Postmaster of Cleveland. The appointment was
accepted, and at this writing, 1869, he still holds the office.
Mr. Benedict is impulsive in temperament, but his impulses are more of a
friendly than unkindly character. He is warm-hearted, quick to forgive a
wrong atoned for, and still quicker to apologize for and atone an injury
done to others. In nearly a score of years editing a newspaper he has
never intentionally done injustice to any man, no matter what
differences of opinion might exist, and has never knowingly allowed the
columns of his newspaper to be the vehicle of private spite. Nor has he
ever refused any one, fancying himself aggrieved, the privilege of
setting himself right in a proper manner in the same columns in which
the alleged injury was inflicted. He has the genuine and unforced
respect and esteem of those employed by him, for his treatment of them
has always been kind and considerate, and although no newspaper
conductor can possibly avoid creating prejudice and temporary
ill-feeling. Mr. Benedict has probably no real enemy, whilst among those
who best know him he has none but warm friends.
In addition to his editorial abilities, Mr. Benedict is one of the few
really good writers of an occasional newspaper letter, and in his
journeyings from home his letters to the Herald are looked for with
interest and read with keen relish.
Mr. Benedict was married June, 1839, to Miss Sarah R. Rathbone, of
Brownsville, Jefferson county, New York, and has three children, the
oldest, George S. Benedict, being one of the proprietors and in the active
business management of the Herald.
[Illustration: Yours Truly, J. H. A. Bone]