Our visit at Sterling ended, we left Dixon on our last stage ride, for Aurora, 70 miles, and reached there at noon the next day, having stayed all night on the way. The railroad from Aurora to Chicago was the only one in Illinois in 1851, except that from Naples to Springfield. Chicago had only 30,000 inhabitants, but was beginning to boom. Buildings low; no skyscrapers, many of frame. Our hotel was the old Tremont. The streets were covered with plank. Omnibuses were the only means of transit. No union depots, as no through lines of railroads radiated from the city. The purchase of some good corner lots then on State street would have associated our name with Marshall Field's.

From Chicago, a varied and delightful course homeward. Across Lake Michigan to New Buffalo, the western terminus of the Michigan Central, which had not then entered Chicago. It was late at night when we took the train and at 11:00 the next day we were in Detroit. Here resting all night, at 11:00 the next morning we embarked on the steamer Mayflower and after a charming sail, the boat was at her wharf in Buffalo before we were out of our berths. By rail to Niagara Falls. My boyish enthusiasm was aroused as I gazed at last on the wondrous curiosity so often admired in my geography. The suspension bridge below the falls had been erected not long before and was considered one of the engineering triumphs of the age. Cataract House was the principal hotel on the American side. Mrs. Sigourney was a stranger to me then or I should have uttered her appreciative lines:

"Flow on forever, in thy glorious robe Of terror and of beauty. Yes, flow on, Unfathomed and resistless."

Buffalo to Albany over the New York Central, down the Hudson in the Reindeer; New York to Philadelphia via Jersey City, Trenton and the Delaware, Philadelphia to Lancaster.

We were gone nearly eight weeks, June 3 to July 26, traveling by actual measurement 3,226 miles, at an expense for both of us of $180, not much more than the trip would cost today with all our improved facilities.

Although over 50 years have passed since that early tour and my dear father, whose affectionate companionship added so much to its pleasure, has gone to his reward, many of the incidents have the vividness of yesterday. I live the trip over every year of my life. "Haec olim meminisse juvabit.

"Oft in the stilly night.

'Ere slumber's chain has bound me, Fond memory brings the light

Of other days around me."

NEWSPAPERS AND NEWSPAPER MEN OF ILLINOIS.

(Hon. E. A. Snively.)

Considering the part the newspapers and newspaper men have played in the history of Illinois, the entire time of this meeting could be taken up in recounting their victories, and then the half would not be told. For this occasion I have determined to make no reference to any person whose connection with the press began subsequent to 1860, leaving a history of the latter part of the last century to be taken up by some one at a future meeting of the society.

I have selected this period in the State's history, at this time, because with the beginning of the war of the rebellion, there was a complete change in the newspapers of the State. The campaign of 1860 was so closely allied to this change that it should be included in a history of the press of the State, which deals with it as it is today. As we know newspapers there were few of them in Illinois in the years of which I shall speak.

I propose to tell of the newspaper as it was in an era when no one had dreamed of a telephone, an ocean cable, an automobile, a woman's club, the daughters of the American revolution, a steam thresher, a selfbinder, appendicitis, heart failure, or any of the other many modern improvements that now engross so much of our attention.

The average citizen of today, who takes his evening paper with his supper knows little of the paper 60 and 70 years ago, and still less of the struggles of the earnest men who, under the very greatest difficulties, produced the early newspapers of the State.

The first newspaper published in Illinois was published at Kaskaskia and called the "Illinois Herald," the publisher being Mathew Duncan, the first issue dated Sept. 6th, 1814. It was a three column folio, and the most of its space was given up to the publication of the laws of Congress. The paper was subsequently sold to Daniel P. Cook and Robert Blackwell. Mr. Cook sold his interest to Elijah C. Berry, who subsequently became the purchaser of Mr. Blackwell's interest. When Cook and Blackwell purchased the paper they changed its name to the "Illinois Intelligencer." When the seat of government was removed to Vandalia, the "Intelligencer" or at least

a goodly portion of it, went along and the name of the paper was changed to the "Vandalia Intelligencer.' Its name was again changed in 1823, to "Illinois Intelligencer," and it was an important factor in the fight against the calling of the constitutional convention in 1824. When the printing material of the "Intelligencer" was divided, that part which remained at Kaskaskia was utilized in the publication of a paper called the "Republican Advocate." Elias Kent Kane was the editor, and after his election to the United States senate, he sold the paper to Robert K. Fleming, who had been in charge of the mechanical department. Mr. Fleming moved the material to Vandalia and attempted to establish a paper there, but meeting with no encouragement, he moved the material to Edwardsville and established the "Illinois Corrector." In about one year the "Corrector" was suspended and the material taken again to Kaskaskia where a paper called the "Recorder" was published, and it continued from November 1828 until October 1833, when the material was removed to Belleville and the "St. Clair Gazette" established.

In July or August, 1818, Mr. Henry Eddy started from Pittsburg with a printing outfit, intending to go to St. Louis and there publish a paper. At Shawneetown the boat was stranded on a sandbar. The citizens of the town, learning Mr. Eddy's intentions, induced him to unload his printing material and the "Shawnee Chief" was given to the world on the 5th day of September, 1818, and Illinois was the proud possessor of two newspapers. After a few issues the name of the paper was changed to the "Illinois Emigrant."

On May 23rd, 1819, at Edwardsville, Hooper_Warren began the publication of the "Edwardsville Spectator.' Hooper Warren was one of the great men of his day. A most forceful writer, his bravery was a twin brother to his ability. He was opposed to slavery, and in the battle to make Illinois a slave State his editorial pen was one of the greatest weapons in the conflict. He sold the "Spectator" and then repurchased it, moving the material to Springfield, where he published the "Sangamon Spectator." In 1829, in company with two other gentlemen he went to Galena and established the "Galena Advertiser" and "Upper Mississippi Herald." In 1836 he removed to Chicago and established the "Commercial Advertiser," which was the third paper published in Chicago. Subsequently in 1850, he removed to Princeton and published the "Bureau Advocate," and afterwards again removed to Chicago where, in company with Z. Eastman he published the "Free West and Western Citizen."

The fifth paper published in the State was called the "Star of the West," and was published at Edwardsville. A man named Miller, accompanied by his son, owned a printing office in Pennsylvania, which they started with to the West looking for a location. Upon arriving at Edwardsville they were induced to unload the material and set up an office, and the paper was called the "Star-of the West." It became an advocate of the pro-slavery constitution and was published from Sept. 14th, 1822, until July 28th, 1824, one week before the convention was defeated.

On the 25th day of April, 1829, the first issue of the "Pioneer," published at Rock Spring, made its appearance. It was printed by Thomas P. Green and his son, but it was edited by Rev. John M. Peck. No mention of the early history of Illinois is complete without bringing out prominently the life and history of Rev. John M. Peck, and paying tribute to his work and worth not only in aiding to defeat the pro-slavery constitution, but for the publication of his Gazetteer and his untiring zeal in behalf of the upbuilding of the new State. The "Pioneer" was a five column folio and was the first religious paper published in Illinois.

Some of the historians assert that the publication of the "Western News" began in 1826 or 1827. This is an error. The "Sangamon Spectator" of Jan. 26, 1828, contains the prospectus of the "Western News" and "Farmers' Weekly Intelligencer" The paper was to be published as soon as 300 subscribers were secured at $1.50 each. Evidently when this prospectus was printed there had been a suspension of some of the papers because it states there was then only four newspapers in the State.

Beginning with the early 30's and from that time on newspapers were established as the towns grew in population, and I will not follow up, in chronological order, the various papers which made their

appearance.

The first daily established in Illinois was the "Gazette," published then, as now, at Galena. Its first issue was June 1, 1847, and nine days later the first issue of the "Chicago Daily Tribune" made its appearance.

Prior to the war, the editors of papers had a more extended personal acquaintance-or were known by a much greater proportionate number of people-than are the editors of today. The reason for this can be found in the smaller number of papers then as compared with the present time and the impersonality which now surrounds the papers, and especially the great metropolitan papers.

In the earlier days the establishment of a newspaper was not caused by the desire on the part of the business men to advance the business interests of their town and county, so much as the material interests of the politicians. The majority of newspapers in Illinois, or at least, so far as numbers go, a most respectable minority, were owned and controlled by the politicians of the county seat. While printing material was high-priced, the amount required to establish a political "organ" was small, and the advantages to the party, or a faction of a party, were considered very great. The early history of newspapers shows that many were established. They were published through one campaign and then suspended and the material hauled away to some other field. Thus a part of the old

"Intelligencer" printing office went from Kaskaskia to Vandalia, thence to Belleville and finally again landed at its starting point.

The newspaper then was not published to furnish news, but ideas. The small amount of news furnished, was intended merely to give force and effect to the editorial utterances The paper seldom contained more than one editorial in each issue, and in a majority of cases, the article was written by the local politician whose native sense and acquired education made him the most prominent figure in his party. The editorial was not written hurriedly and neither was it written in the style of a freshman or a sophomore. It was the result of the same study and research which characterizes the minister in the preparation of his sermon. The principles of government, the action of congress and the State legislature were discussed in a manner that showed the development of great study and profound thought. This one article was called the "leader," and the country paper of ante-war days would, under no consideration, go to press without its "leader." If the politicians had not written one and the editor could not, there was recourse to the scissors and one of the exchanges published farthest away. Seldom was the editorial page graced with more than one article. At times of great political excitement more than the usual amount of space was sometimes devoted to the discussion of political matters, but it required a presidential or gubernatorial election to bring this about. There was practically no local news. A matter which now would be served up in a column in any newspaper would then be disposed of in a half dozen lines. Mrs. Jones might give the most elaborate pink tea ever known in the county, but there would be no mention of it in the paper. The birth of a two-headed calf, the sale of a 900 pound hog or a visit of the member of congress might be recorded in a line or two, but it required some such event to produce a local item. The subscription list was small and often paid in cord wood, beeswax, potatoes, pork, cabbage or anything else the farm produced.

While all that I have said of the meagerness of the editorials in the press, it is no doubt true, that the greatest battle, in the newspapers, ever known in Illinois, was that waged for and against the adoption of the pro-slavery constitution. The papers were few in number and small in size. But their columns were filled with such brainy production as never before or since have been known. Among those opposed to the convention were Governor Coles, Morris Bickbeck, John M. Peck, Samuel D. Lockwood, Robert Blackwell, Daniel P. Cook, Henry Eddy, George Forquer and others. Among those who favored the convention were Elias Kent Kane, Jesse B Thomas, John McLean, Samuel McRoberts, Chief Justice Phillips, Judge Casey, and others of equal ability and prominence. While but few of these men were actively engaged in the newspaper business, it is but just to them and the craft, that their names be considered when newspaper history is written, because they were all, more or less, financially interested in the publication of the papers of that day.