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THE press in America is one of the most potent factors in the education of the masses, and its power and influence cannot be overestimated. The number of journals published in this country to-day is simply wonderful, and they circulate throughout the length and breadth of the land. The improvements in use in the art of printing now, in comparison to the time Benjamin Franklin started his historic journal in Philadelphia, is one of the wonders of this age of civilization and enlightenment.
If it were possible to give in this chapter the number of individual copies of newspapers, of all kinds, taken and read by the entire population of Camden City and County, very few readers would credit the statement. There are editors now living in Camden who remember when there were but four or five papers published in West Jersey south of Burlington; there are now a hundred or more. The proximity of Camden to the city of Philadelphia, and the circulation of the journals of that city in Camden and vicinity, doubtless prevented the establishment of papers here before 1820. The influential Philadelphia journals, for many years past, have each had correspondents in Camden County, who regularly have collected and prepared the local news of the day, and their interesting communications can be found in the files of those papers. The city and county of Camden, since the date of the establishment of the first paper here have been well supplied with local journals, some of which have had a phenomenal existence and others a checkered history. There are those which have been, and still are, enterprising and influential journals, ably edited, vigorous exponents of public opinion, and neat in typographical appearance. In the succeeding pages of this chapter it is designed to give an accurate history of journalism in the county, together with a few prefatory notes relating to early newspapers of the vicinity.
The first newspaper published in West Jersey, south of Burlington, was the Bridgeton Argus, of which James D. Westcott was editor and proprietor. It was started in 1794, continued two years, and, by a change of name, was published by John Westcott, a brother of the proprietor of the Argus, until 1806. Peter Hay, in 1815, started, at Bridgeton, the Washington Whig, the second paper in West Jersey. It was the organ of the Jefferson Democrats. It was a prosperous journal, but, after many changes of ownership, ceased publication in 1837. In 1818 John A. Crane established, at Woodbury, the Gloucester Farmer. This was the third paper in West Jersey. He continued to publish at that place until 1820, when he removed presses and material to Camden, and thus it became the first paper ever issued in Camden County. The files of this paper are in the possession of Samuel H. Grey, Esq., whose father, the veteran editor, in 1819, commenced, at Woodbury, the publication of the Village Record, and soon thereafter removed to Camden, and there purchased, of John A. Crane, the Gloucester Farmer.
Samuel Ellis, a well-known school-teacher of his day, on December 29, 1824, began, in Camden, the publication of the American Star and Rural Record. This office was on the west side of Front Street, between Cooper and Plum (Arch). This luminary, under the control of Master Ellis, did not shine very brilliantly, and, after continuing it two years, he sold it to Israel Porter and J. Wollohon, who had been apprentices in the same office. The new proprietors changed the name to the Camden Mail and the office was moved to the southwest corner of Second Street and Market. Dr. John B. Sickler afterwards bought it, and moved the office to the "west side of Second Street, above Taylor’s Avenue." Dr. Sickler disposed of the paper to a Mr. Ham, and he, on April 2, 1834, sold it to Philip J. Grey, Esq. The printing-office was then at the southwest corner of Second and Arch; price of sheet, two dollars per year. In September, 1834, the office was removed to a building near Toy’s Ferry, and, on September 3, 1835, the name West Jerseyman was adopted. It was then next to the largest paper in West Jersey, and, under the management of Mr. Grey, was an influential and popular journal. The name of this successful exponent of public opinion, under the ownership of Judge Grey, was changed to the West Jerseyman. It was ably edited and obtained a large circulation. It was enlarged at different times. The complete files of the Mail and the West Jerseyman were carefully preserved and are now owned by Samuel H. Grey, Esq., of Camden, through whose kindness and courtesy the use of them was allowed the author in the preparation of this history and from which much valuable information relating to Camden County was obtained.
PHILIP JAMES GREY, ESQ., was the second son of Martin and Eliza Derham Grey and was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1798. His father, participating in the political movements then agitating Dublin, was obliged to seek safety in flight, and came to this country in the early part of this century. Dying suddenly in 1804, his estate was lost in an unfortunate business enterprise in which he had invested it, and his widow was left in very straitened circumstances. Philip J. Grey, the subject of this sketch, was, at the instance of the late Matthew Carey, Esq., placed in the establishment of Mr. Macculloch, a printer and bookseller, with whom he remained until he had grown to manhood. Upon the death of Mr. Macculloch, who had bequeathed to him a sum sufficient to purchase an outfit for a printing-office, Mr. Grey removed from Philadelphia in the summer of 1819 to Woodbury, N.J., where he established himself in the printing business as editor and publisher of the Columbian Herald, the first number of which was published September 23, 1819. He continued at Woodbury, where, in 1824, he was postmaster, taking a prominent part in public affairs until 1830, when he removed to Blackwoodtown and entered into business with John C. Smallwood, late of Woodbury. From Blackwoodtown he went, at the instance of his friends, Hon. Samuel L. Southard and General Zachariah Russell, to Trenton, where he established a Whig newspaper, The Union. Leaving Trenton, Mr. Grey entered into the business of bookselling and publishing in Philadelphia. While so engaged he caused to be reported and afterward published the proceedings in the case of De Cou vs. Hendrickson, which involved the settlement of the property rights of the Society of Friends, then at difference among themselves upon the orthodoxy of the teachings of Elias Hicks. Returning to his earlier employment, Mr. Grey came to Camden in 1833, where he bought the Camden Mail and published it until March, 1849, when the paper was enlarged and its name changed to The West Jerseyman, under which title it was published by Mr. Grey until January 1, 1860, when he retired from journalism. The Camden Daily was published by Mr. Grey front January 4, 1858, to March 6, 1858, when its publication was discontinued for lack of public support.
Mr. Grey was a man of marked individuality, independence and firmness of character. He was of a generous, enthusiastic and sympathetic nature, and for many years he was a prominent and influential man in Southern New Jersey. In his political opinions he was a Whig. After the defeat of General Scott, in 1852, and the consequent disintegration of the Whig party, Mr. Grey identified himself with those who opposed the extension of slavery into the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska. He was a leader and became at an early period actively interested in the formation of the Republican party. The first meeting in Camden of those in sympathy with that organization was held at his residence, No. 709 Market Street. He held at different times several important and responsible offices. He was secretary of the New Jersey Senate and for many years collector of the port of Camden. For fifteen years he was one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas of Camden County, and during a large part of that time the presiding judge. He was for a long period a vestryman, and at the time of his death a warden of St. Paul’s parish, Camden. He was twice married, - first at Woodbury, in 1822, to Rachel, daughter of Jacob Glover, Esq., formerly surrogate of Gloucester County. After the death of his first wife he married, in 1834, Sarah Woolston, daughter of Isaac Stephen, Esq. His surviving children are two sons. - Samuel H. Grey, Esq., of Camden, and Martin P. Grey, Esq., of Salem, N.J. - and two daughters, - Mary G. Grey and Anne Grey. He died at his residence, No. 709 Market Street, Camden, on the morning of January 8, 1875, in the seventy-seventh year of his age.
About 1830 Josiah Harrison, of Camden City, issued a small sheet called the Republican, which was continued by him for several years, after which time Franklin Ferguson became its proprietor.
In 1840 a new paper made its appearance, called the American Eagle. It was published by Charles D. Hineline, who had his office in a frame building on Bridge Avenue, next to Elwell’s Hotel. This building was afterwards removed. Mr. Hineline connected with him in its publication Henry Curts, and afterwards sold out his interest to a man by the name of Bossee, and went to the West. Bossee sold his interest to Mr. Curts, who was quite a facetious writer. The paper, which was the organ of the American party, was eventually changed to the Phoenix and after a checkered history ceased publication.
The Camden Journal a vigorous organ of the American party, was established and conducted by David W. Belisle, who afterward became mayor of Atlantic City. It was continued for quite a time. Mr. Belisle became the New Jersey correspondent of the Public Ledger of Philadelphia, and after a long career as a journalist died in Camden during the year 1886.
The New Republic, a weekly journal, Republican in politics, was started in 1866 by Henry L. Bonsall and James M. Scovel. It soon gained influence and popularity and secured a large circulation, being ably edited and neat in typographical appearance. Mr. Scovel, at the expiration of nine years, retired from the paper. Henry L. Bonsall and T.M.K. Lee, Jr., continued its publication until a joint-stock company, composed of H.L. Bonsall, George W. Gilbert, John S. Lee, T.M.K. Lee, Jr. and James Warrington took charge of it. Eventually the paper came into the possession of Bonsall & Carse, soon after which the senior proprietor retired to start the Daily Post. John H. Fort was the last owner of the New Republic.
The Argus was a Sunday paper, owned and edited by John H. Fort.
The Jersey Blue was an interesting family newspaper, and was started about 1858 by Charles N. Pine, who continued its publication for several years, and its editor afterward became connected with the Philadelphia Day and subsequently the Record. He was an able journalist.
THE WEST JERSEY PRESS is the sole survivor of several newspaper enterprises started in Camden since 1820, and is the legitimate offspring of the Camden Mail, and subsequently of the West Jerseyman, both of which were the property of the late Philip J. Grey, the former being first published in the city April 7, 1834.
The West Jersey Press was bought by the present owner, Sinnickson Chew, in April, 1862, the negotiations for the purchase being conducted by the late Charles P. Smith, clerk of the New Jersey Supreme Court, and a brother-in-law of the then owner, Colonel S.C. Harbert, who was at that time a paymaster in the army. Colonel Harbert entered the editorial field well equipped for its duties by a long and active participation in State and national politics, but whose connection with the army rendered his retirement from newspaper work, in his judgment, imperative. The first number under the present ownership was issued May 7, 1862. The office was at that time equipped with a Washington hand-press and an antiquated Ruggles press, they constituting the entire printing machinery of the establishment. The new proprietor met with a generous support from the beginning, which has continued and increased until the present time, and until he has been compelled to enlarge his equipment by the addition of six of the latest improved printing presses, with other material to correspond in the various departments, making the West Jersey Printing house one of the largest establishments of the kind in the State. In 1870 the building, fifty by ninety, was erected, the entire third floor being used for newspaper, book and job printing, while the corner room on the first floor is used as a stationery store and business department.
Every expense incurred or improvement added to meet the wants of a growing city, have met with popular approval, as has been shown by a marked and permanent increase of business. The West Jersey Press has always been a stanch and outspoken advocate of Republican principles and a firm supporter of the Republican party, its long and consistent career having obtained for it a wide influence in political circles. Its original size was twenty-four by thirty-eight inches, but it has been successively enlarged until now it is a thirty-six-column sheet, thirty by forty-six -the third largest paper in the State. Its circulation was never so large as at present.
SINNICKSON CHEW was born January 27, 1830, in Mannington township, Salem County, N.J., where his parents then resided. His Christian name indicates his ancestry as being of the Swedes, who settled along the shores of the Delaware River as early as 1638, long before the English or Dutch saw the land. Among those who received deeds from John Fenwick to confirm their title, the names of Sinnic, Sinnica and Sinnicker occur, and the records of Upland Court (on the opposite side of the river), which date back to 1676, show this name among the litigants before that tribunal. The blood of the early comers was diffused among the English families, and as a consequence the name followed the line of relationship and was gradually changed to the present spelling. The direct and collateral branches of the family have always been prominent in the affairs of church and State and still have a firm hold upon the confidence and good opinion of the people in Southern Jersey. Equipped with such education as could be gathered there from the country schools and fancying the business of a printer, Sinnickson Chew, in 1845, entered the office of the Constitution, published at Woodbury, N.J., by A.S. Barber. Here he soon mastered the "art and mystery," and in due time became the "post-boy" to the office. With a horse and sulky he rode the length and breadth of the counties of Camden and Gloucester, distributing the news of the week at every store and crossroads, where he was a welcome visitor. Perhaps the poet can better describe him as he -
"Who whistles as he goes, - light-hearted wretch,
Cold, and yet cheerful, messenger of grief
Perhaps to thousands, and of joy to some:
To him indifferent whether grief or joy."
In 1851 he left his master’s employ and went to Philadelphia, in the composing department of the type foundry of L. Johnson & Co., but the same year he became connected with the National Standard, of Salem, N.J., Charles P. Smith, editor. In a short time, associated with William S. Sharp, he purchased this paper and continued its publication, under the firm-name of Sharp & Chew, until 1862, when he made overtures for the purchase of the State Gazette, at Trenton, N.J. In this he was defeated by Jacob R. Freese, at that time the lessee, and soon after (May, 1862) he bought the entire interest of the West Jersey Press, of Camden, and became its editor and publisher. He soon infused new life into this journal and made it the leading Republican paper in the western part of the State. Although a forcible writer, and firm in his political convictions, yet he concedes to his opponents the right to their own line of thought. He never loses sight of the great moral necessities of the times, nor will he sacrifice them even when a political advantage is at stake. His paper is always a means to discuss local or general topics, but not open to personalities or questionable correspondence. With such a reputation, the West Jersey Press is regarded as a safe medium of county news, and is read by all who are in full faith with its political notions, and by many who neither think nor vote as the editor would advise.
For three years, from 1872, he was consecutively elected by the House of Assembly of New Jersey to the responsible position of clerk of that body, and was conceded by his political opponents to have been courteous and polite to all. His fidelity to his political friends is strong and lasting, and his devotion to the principles of the political party of which he is an honored member, is well known throughout his native state. His tact and energy are evidenced in the erection of the "Press" building, where he conducts an active business, giving personal attention to the details of the various kinds of work, and not neglecting improvements that aid so much in speed and finish.
As one of the active members of the Editorial Association of New Jersey, Mr. Chew has brought about many improvements in the working of that body. The business meetings bring the members into closer intercourse, and the annual excursions are popular and make friendships where otherwise none would exist. On May 8, 1860, Mr. Chew married Sarah A., daughter of Samuel W. Miller, then sheriff of Salem County. His surviving children are, - Lillie M., the wife of Oliver Smith, Jr., and William H. and Eddie H.
THE CAMDEN DEMOCRAT. - The first number of the Camden Democrat, under that name, was published Saturday, January 3, 1846, by Charles D. Hineline. It was a well-printed, carefully-edited four-page paper of twenty-eight columns. Its office of publication was the second story of a frame building (since destroyed by fire), which stood at the southeast corner of Second and Federal Streets. Hineline was a man of considerable ability, as handsome as he was able, and the Democrat, under his administration, soon took front rank among the newspapers of the day. Mr. Hineline continued as publisher of the paper until 1853, when he disposed of his interest to Colonel Isaac Mickle, who held the editorial reins of the publication until his death, in 1855, when it passed into the hands of his cousin, Isaac W. Mickle. Colonel Mickle was perhaps the brainiest of the many able men whose intellects have illumined the pages of the Democrat during its forty years of life. He was a lawyer of acknowledged ability, but a reformer for all that. He was also known to have been the author of several well-written dramas, which, however, his innate modesty prevented from appearing on the stage, and this same trait, or lack of self-assertion, is shown in his "Reminiscences of Old Gloucester," an invaluable contribution to the historical data of West Jersey, in which the name of Mickle does not appear, although his ancestor, Archibald Mickle, was one of the first settlers, and contemporaneous with William Cooper, William Royden and John Kaighn. His successor was familiarly known as "Captain Ike" and "General Ike," both titles being his of right - that of captain not for service in the Mexican War which he rendered, but from his being the commandant of the Camden Light Artillery, a crack military organization of a generation ago, and also because of his service as a company commandant in the War of the Rebellion. His title of "general" came with the Governor’s commission appointing him brigadier-general of the militia of Camden County. Captain Mickle was a well-educated lawyer, of more than ordinary merit, but he cared nothing for literary work, and under his management the Democrat lost ground. Twelve months later James M. Cassady became possessed of an interest, and, under his aggressive direction, would have soon retrieved its declining fortunes, but other arrangements interfered, and he, in turn, made way for John Hood, who became, in 1858, the sole proprietor of the paper. The period was a fateful one to Democratic newspapers.
The all-absorbing Kansas-Nebraska controversy, disintegrating the party, made it difficult to steer clear of the many reefs protruding above the surface of the political waters, and Mr. Hood’s case was not an exception to the rule. But the Democrat, however it may have erred in opinion, was never a cowardly neutral on any question, and, amid the cross-seas of those troublous times, the helm was set hard a-port, and the colors of the "Little Giant" - Stephen A. Douglas - were floated to the breeze. This led to a rupture with some of the Democratic leaders, and, although Hood was fully able to take care of himself, he cared little for fraternal strife, and was induced to relinquish the property to parties in the interest of Colonel Morris R. Hamilton, the present State librarian. Colonel Hamilton assumed charge of the Democrat in 1860, but only for a short time, being offered a more responsible position on the Newark Journal.
The Democrat’s next editor was Charles N. Pine. He was a brilliant writer, but his stay was brief, and for years thereafter the career of the paper was of varied and gloomy uncertainty. William Zane was, for a time, its foreman and business manager, and, under his care, the mental pabulum of the institution was supplied by a multitude of volunteers, and yet it managed to survive. In 1867 Colonel Alexander Donelson, formerly of the Somerset Messenger, took editorial charge, but he died a few months afterwards, and the veteran Zane again found himself dependent for editorial matter upon volunteers, whose offerings were in too many cases worth no more than they cost.
In 1870 a company was formed as the "Camden Democratic Co-Operative Association," the incorporators being Thomas McKeen, Isaiah Woolston, James M. Cassady, Chalkley Albertson, Cooper P. Browning, John Clement, William Sexton, Richard S. Jenkins, Henry Fredericks and James S. Henry. John H. Jones, editor of the American Banner, the organ of Native Americanism in Philadelphia, was appointed editor, and Lyman B. Cole, manager. Financially, the business of the office was not a success, but Jones was a man of unpolished power, talking to the people in language and of subjects they understood, and with an earnestness which carried conviction to those appealed to. He was a large-hearted man, and an earnest advocate of the cause of the laboring classes. Under his régime the Democrat became quite popular, and wielded its old-time influence in the community. In 1874 Jones was elected mayor, but did not live to serve his term out, his death taking place in 1876. The paper was then conducted for a time by Dr. Thomas Westcott and Charles G. Dickinson, stock-owners in the company, and, in 1878, was sold to Messrs. Wills & Semple, the former at that time as now publisher of the Mount Holly Herald. Mr. Semple assumed editorial control, and continued to direct the fortunes of the paper until June, 1884, when Mr. Wills purchased his interest. The following January the paper passed into the hands of Messrs. Courter & Carpentcr, who, in turn, six months later, transferred the property to C.S. Magrath, who, for fourteen years had controlled the interests of the Cape May Wave. Under his management the Democrat was enlarged to a thirty-six-column folio.
The first attempt to publish a daily in Camden was made by Judge Grey. The name of this sprightly little journal was the Camden Daily, and the name was soon changed to the Camden Evening Daily. It was started January 4, 1858, and continued until March 6th of time same year.
THE TRIBUNE was a daily paper started in September, 1875. It continued to be published for two short weeks and then collapsed, its effects having fallen a prey to an officer of the law. It gently succumbed and never recovered from the disaster that so defiantly caused its untimely death and burial.
THE POST, the first daily of Camden that succeeded and became a permanently established journal, was founded on October 2, 1875, by Henry L. Bonsall, Bartram L. Bonsall and Jacob C. Mayhew. It was first issued as an independent daily and sold at two cents a copy. Its office was originally at 205 Federal Street, where the type was set, and the paper was run off at the Camden Democrat office.
The edition for the first year was small, and the patronage was not very encouraging. The enterprising publishers, however, held that if they could continue the publication of the paper one year, the public would conclude that it had come to stay. The office was moved to 116 Federal Street and a new press purchased. At the close of the first year the circulation was not more than three hundred. The price was reduced to one cent per copy and the patronage was thus greatly increased. Jacob C. Mayhew retired from his connection with the paper, and Charles Whitecar and W.E. Schoch, now editor of the Woodbury Liberal Press, became members of the firm. The Bonsalls soon afterward became sole proprietors. The determined policy of the Post, in bold and defiant attacks upon public wrong-doing, gave it prestige and popularity and won for it many firm friends. It became an Independent Republican paper and has maintained that policy to date, being recognized as a fearless advocate of the rights of the people and a faithful chronicler of the news of the day. When the office was removed to its present location, the proprietors purchased new printing material, a double cylinder Hoe press, and the size of the paper was enlarged.
August 1, 1883, the one-half interest of Henry L. Bonsall was sold to his son, who became the sole owner and who retained individual control for three years, when, on July 14, 1886, the business was merged into the Camden Post Printing and Publishing Company, purchasers of it. Improvements were added, and upon the occasion of the eleventh anniversary, October 2, 1886, the paper appeared enlarged from twenty-four to thirty-two columns, in a very handsome new dress.
The paper is well printed and contains a great variety of local and general news.
HENRY L. BONSALL, of the Post, was born in Philadelphia December 24, 1834, of Quaker stock, whose ancestors came to the country with Penn. Coming to Camden under six years of age, he has made it his permanent residence ever since.
His introduction to the printing business was in the office of Judge P.J. Grey’s West Jerseyman, where, as a boy of twelve, he made his mark with composition rollers - a different kind of composition from that subsequently used in the profession, with which he has always been connected. Following this experience on the weekly, a few years’ exercise on the Camden Democrat, under Charles D. Hineline, the Mickles, Garren & Figner, John Hood, Morris R. Hamilton and others, a position of responsibility on the Camden Daily finished the education of the then young man, albeit, not yet in his majority. Going to Philadelphia, he edited and conducted a workingman’s journal, The American Mechanic, for Hineline & Van Nortwick, following Hineline’s checkered fortunes to Harrisburg, where, the principal being ill, he managed Governor Packer’s organ, the Pennsylvania State Sentinel, the demise of which was quickly followed by the death of Hineline.
Mr. Bonsall then established in Philadelphia and removed to New York, an influential trades union paper, the United States Mechanics’ Own, taking into its conduct Wm. H. Sylvis and Isaac S. Cassin. At the outbreak of the war this paper had a circulation of twelve thousand, extending all over the country, but its editor and proprietor could not resist the impulse to "go to the front," where he pursued his vocation as army correspondent for several metropolitan journals for three or four years. After a short rest as an attache of the House of Representatives he returned to Camden, established the New Republic and managed it with success still remembered, until, after varying fortunes, in connection with Jas. M. Scovel, Thos. M.K. Lee, an association composed of Geo. W. Gilbert, John S. Lee and James Warrington, afterwards succeeded by Bonsall & Carse, it went the way of all mismanaged concerns after Mr. Bonsall’s withdrawal, having experienced the height and depth of newspaper prosperity and decadence in an existence of ten or twelve years.
Then came The Post, a daily journal, under the control and sole ownership of H.L. Bonsall & Son, passing into the hands of the latter, Bartram L. Bonsall, who merged it into an association, of which he holds the controlling stock interest. The history of The Post is part of the history of Camden for a dozen years past, and needs no further mention in this regard than that the subject of this sketch is still its editor, with what acceptance its large constituency in its enlarged and improved form can judge of.
During his newspaper career Mr. Bonssll, always active in politics and public affairs, as capable journalists must be to a greater or less extent, has held two public trusts, having been sent to the State Legislature four times and held the office of superintendent of education in Camden City for ten years. He now occupies the post of honor, the private station, devoting all his matured energies to The Post.
THE CAMDEN COUNTY COURIER was the outgrowth of a small weekly paper originally published at Haddonfield, the plant being moved to Camden City in May, 1880, and the ownership vested in ex-Sheriff Calhoun, from whom the present owners purchased it the following September, and on the 1st day of June, 1882, commenced the publication of the Daily Courier, both editions having been regularly published since, with Mr. F.F. Patterson as the editor, and his son, Theodore N. Patterson, as business manager.
The daily and weekly Courier, although both have been established but a few years, have wielded an important influence in the journalism of Camden County. The enterprise and energy brought to bear upon them by their experienced editor and his assistants have made them justly popular among their numerous patrons, and the influence of these journals as family newspapers and vigorous exponents of public opinion is constantly increasing. They contain an excellent selection of news, vigorous editorial matter and a great variety of local news carefully collected by a corps of trained reporters and correspondents. This paper is another evidence of the success and growth of the profession of journalism in the State of New Jersey. In politics it is an ardent advocate of the principles of the Republican party.
F.F. PATTERSON was born near Swedesboro’, in Gloucester County, in 1834, two years before Camden and Atlantic Counties were cut off from it, and boasts of being the only newspaper man in the Stats who can claim a birth-right in three counties of the twenty-one into which New Jersey is now divided.
In 1848 he entered the office of the Constitution at Woodbury, as an apprentice, to learn the art and mystery of printing. After five years of service, of which two days in each week for three years were given to the riding of a post-route, or delivery of the papers through the counties of Gloucester and Camden, with a horse and sulky, and sometimes in the saddle, when the roads were particularly bad from snow or mud, he next went to New York and held a responsible position on the New York Times for two years, and on the day he was twenty-one years of age, purchased the Bridgeton Chronicle, the oldest paper in South Jersey, and at that time the official or legal paper for both Cumberland and Cape May Counties, only one other paper being printed in both counties at that time, and but four in the six lower counties of New Jersey outside of Camden.
In 1857 he was elected, engrossing clerk of the New Jersey Senate, a position he has since held three other terms. Selling the Chronicle, he purchased the Trenton True Democrat publishing it as a daily and weekly, the latter being more a campaign sheet in the interest of the election of Hon. John T. Nixon, now judge of the United States District Court, and of Hon. John L.N. Stratton to Congress from the First and Second Districts. Both were elected after one of the most desperate contests ever known in the State. Disposing of the True Democrat, he was, for a brief period, connected with the Salem Standard; but the owners being unwilling to dispose of the paper in whole or in part, he went to Newark, in June, 1866, and established the Newark Evening Courier, which he successfully conducted for nearly eight years. He disposed of the Courier to give attention to large real-estate interests during the panic caused by the failure of Jay Cooke & Co. He subsequently established the Newark Sunday Call, but owing to the death of his wife, removed back to South Jersey, and was connected with the Philadelphia Press for some time previous to his purchase of the Camden County Courier, in 1880, and on the 1st day of June, in 1882, established the Camden Daily Courier. February 24, 1886, by James M. Fitzgerald and Alvah M. Smith. The paper is Democratic in politics. A feature of the enterprise was the construction of a telegraph line from the office, 95 Federal Street, to Coopers Point, where connection was made with the Baltimore and Ohio cables. By this means the journal secured, in fact, became a part of, the eastern circuit of the United Press system, and by locating an operator in their office, received dispatches direct. It is the only journal in the State having a direct telegraphic news service. On September 16th, Mr. Fitzgerald purchased the one-third interest of Mr. Smith, and the latter retired from the business.
THE NEW JERSEY TEMPERANCE GAZETTE was established in 1869 at Vineland, as a monthly publication, under the name of the New Jersey Good Templar, N.P. Potter, editor. With varied success and failure, the paper continued to be published under the above name until 1875, when it was purchased by J.B. Graw, and its name changed to the New Jersey Good Templar and Temperance Gazette; its place of publication was changed from Vineland to Toms River. In 1881 the paper was moved to Camden and its name changed to the New Jersey Temperance Gazette. From 1881 to 1883 it was published as an Independent Prohibition newspaper. In 1883 it began to advocate the principles of the Prohibition party and supported Rev. Solomon Parsons for Governor of New Jersey. From that time onward it advocated and defended the principles of the Prohibition party. In 1884 A.C. Graw was admitted as a partner, and the Gazette is now published by J.B. Graw & Son, at 131 Federal Street, Camden.
REV. J.B. Graw, D.D., editor of the Temperance Gazette, was born in Rahway, N.J., October 24, 1832, and was educated at Rahway and Bloomfield Seminaries, and in New York High School. He was admitted into the New Jersey Annual Conference in 1855. He entered the United States service as chaplain in September, 1861, having taken a prominent part in organizing a company of volunteers. For a few months, while in the service, he had command of a regiment. He has taken a deep interest in the temperance cause, assisting in the State organization in 1867, and occupying one of the highest positions for five years. He represented the State organization in various places in the United States, and was sent to London as a delegate in 1873. He also edited the New Jersey Gazette for several years. He was a delegate to the General Conference of 1872 and 1876, and has been a member of the book committee since 1875. He has served as trustee of Pennington Seminary and as a trustee of Dickinson College. He has also been presiding elder on tbe Burlington and New Brunswick Districts.
The CAMDEN COUNTY JOURNAL is a weekly, printed in German, and was established by Alexander Schlesinger, in March, 1883, as the first newspaper published in that language in Southwestern New Jersey. The publisher, who had thirteen years experience as a managing editor, both in the Fatherland and in this country, moved from Philadelphia to Camden, for the purpose of giving the German citizens of this district an organ printed in their own language. It was first issued as a four-page six-column sheet. It seemed, indeed, to meet a long-felt want, for fifteen weeks later it came out regularly with a supplement of the same size. After four more months it was enlarged to eight columns, and after an existence of eleven months it greeted its readers as a nine-column sheet. The paper gained popularity when it encouraged the Germans in America to celebrate the 6th day of October, 1883, the bicentennial of the foundation of Germantown, and advocated German emigration to this country. The German citizens, aided by the mayor, the police and the Fire Department, turned out a splendid section to the parade held in Philadelphia under the auspices of the German-American Bi-Centennial Executive Committee. Since 1884 the paper has been the main instrument to build up a German settlement in the so-called Liberty Park, in the Eighth Ward of Camden. The paper is Independent-Democratic in politics.
ALEXANDER SCHLESINGER was born at Breslau, Germany, in 1853; was educated in schools of his native city, and studied political economy in the University of Berlin. He was next employed as a clerk in Paris, and was also a newspaper correspondent. He then returned to Breslau, where he was a reporter on the Wahrheit, and afterward editor on the daily Freie Pressse of Magdeburg. In 1878 he came to America and became a correspondent of a New York German newspaper, and in 1879 came to Philadelphia as the editor of the Tageblatt of that city.
The NEW JERSEY COAST PILOT was first issued in 1882, T.F. Rose as editor and manager. It is published weekly. It is devoted to the development of the coast interest; its circulation is confined principally to its patrons along the coast of New Jersey. Its present editor and proprietor is G.W. Marshall.
The METHODIST HERALD, published in the interest of the Methodist Episcopal Church in New Jersey, was established January 1, 1886, by the present editor and publisher, Rev. Robert J. Andrews. It issues monthly at fifty cents a year, and is a folio, twenty by twenty-four incites, six columns to the page.
Gloucester has had two newspapers, - the Gloucester City Reporter and the Gloucester City Weekly Tribune. There have been others published elsewhere which sought a circulation in Gloucester, but their stay was short. The Reporter was published by a company, of which James P. Michellon, Frederick P. Pfeiffer and James E. Hayes were the principal stockholders. The paper was published weekly, and the first number was issued November 15, 1874. The office was over the bank building at the corner of Monmouth and King Streets, afterwards removed to King Street, above Hudson, and in 1885 to Camden. The Reporter at one time exercised considerable influence, and its views on the questions of the day were quoted and discussed throughout the State. In 1885
it was purchased by Sickler & Rose, of the New Jersey Coast Pilot, and by them sold to James M. Fitzgerald, of the Camden Evening Telegram; from that office it is now published. The editors and managers, while it was owned by the Printing and Publishing Company, were Professor William Burns, John T. Brautigam, Thomas R. Hamilton, John H. McMurray, Benjamin M. Braker and Frederick H. Antrim.
The WEEKLY TRIBUNE, of Gloucester, was published by Thos. R. Hamilton and John H. McMurray. The first number was issued in April, 1882. On the 1st of January, 1883, they sold out to A. Aden Powell, who published it until May, 1884, when it was united with the Reporter.
William Taylor started a paper in Haddonfield and continued it for a year or more. Charles Whitecar also published a paper for a time in that interesting town.
SOUTH JERSEY NEWS, of Haddonfield, first saw light on February 2, 1882. Its original name was The Directory, and was founded by its present owner, H.D. Speakman, who was an invalid; yet possessing plenty of enterprise, presented to the people of his town a little seven and three-fourths by eleven-inch sheet, three columns to a page and two pages. He printed and gratuitously distributed one thousand copies per week, thus establishing a good circulation. The proprietor kept on increasing the size, and, in a few months, commenced a subscription price of fifty cents per year. This was cheerfully responded to by the people and the name was altered to the present one. The circulation has steadily increased. The News, from a small beginning, has grown to be quite a good-sized paper.
THE CHESILHURST TRIBUNE was founded in August, 1885, by the "Chesilhurst Tribune Company," of which W.G. Taylor became the manager and editor of the paper, and so continues. The Tribune is a neat, six-column quarto, devoted to local matters and the dissemination of Democratic principles. It is printed at Philadelphia, but mailed from an office in the Richter block, at Chesilhurst, through the Waterford Works post-office.
THE ATCO ARGUS was founded October 1, 1878, by W.D. Siegfried, and published by him as a seven-column folio. After a few months H.Y. Smith purchased a half-interest, and the paper was consolidated with the Williamstown Advocate, the paper being then published with a dual head in the interest of both villages. In May, 1880, Smith sold out his interest to M.J. Skinner and removed his press to Berlin, where he published, for a short time, a paper devoted to the interests of Sabbath-schools. The Argus and Advocate was continued until February 4, 1881, when M.J. Skinner changed the name of the paper to the Herald and Times, and has since continued its publication. It is an eight-column folio, local in its purposes and independent in politics.
SOURCE: Page(s) 319-330, History of Camden County, New Jersey, by George R. Prowell, L.J. Richards & Co. 1886
Published 2010 by the Camden County Genealogy Project