INFLUENCE OF NEWSPAPERS—PART PLAYED BY THE EARLY PRESS—“SQUATTER SOVEREIGN”—“FREEDOM’S CHAMPION”—“CHAMPION AND PRESS”—PIONEER EDITORS—LATER NEWSPAPERS AND NEWSPAPER MEN.

Of all the mighty powers for good and evil, none can excel the newspaper. Take all the newspapers out of the world today and there would be chaos. Mankind would lie groping in the dark, and life itself would be a vain and empty thing. Newspapers are the arteries through which the lifeblood of the world runs. They carry to our firesides the continued story of civilization.

Early in the history of Atchison county, before the schools and the churches, the newspaper appeared. It received a bounty of the original town company when that association, September 21, 1854, by a resolution, donated $400 to Robert Kelley and Dr. J. H. Stringfellow, to start a printing office, and it was then that the Squatter Sovereign was conceived, and after a brief period of gestation, was born February 3, 1855. By a strange stroke of misfortune this first newspaper in the county stood for a wrong principle and preached bad doctrine, for it advocated human slavery. Yet it was a creature of environment, and reflected the prevailing sentiment of its constituency. It was fearless in its attitude and rabid in its utterances. It was a violent organ of hate and bitterness toward all Free State men, and in it appeared a constant flood of inflammatory comment directed against those who opposed slavery, and were determined that Kansas should be the land of the brave and the home of the free. But as the pro-slavery cause waned, the Squatter Sovereign waned with it, and in the fall of 1857, when saner counsel and the feeling of brotherhood grew, the town company disposed of its 218interest in the Squatter Sovereign to the New England Aid Society, of which S. C. Pomeroy was agent, and the paper then passed into the hands of Robert McBratney and Franklin G. Adams. Mr. Adams and Mr. McBratney were both Free Soilers, but they did not run the paper long. It was shortly sold to O. F. Short, who ran it until the following February, and on the twentieth day of that month, 1858. John A. Martin purchased the plant and changed the name of the paper to Freedom’s Champion. Under that name Colonel Martin made of his paper one of the leading Free State organs of the Territory. Always a brilliant editor, of courage and deep convictions, Colonel Martin during his whole career never performed a greater service than during the time he shouted the battle-cry of freedom through the columns of Freedom’s Champion, from 1858 to 1861. In September of the latter year, he laid aside his pen and took up his sword in defense of the principles he so stoutly advocated, and thus translated his words into deeds. When he went to the front he left the Champion in charge of George J. Stebbins, who continued in charge until the fall of 1863, when it was leased to John J. Ingalls and Robert H. Horton. These two men afterwards became political rivals. Both were lawyers and both residents of Atchison for many years. Horton was a typical lawyer, smooth and tactful, who enjoyed a successful career in the practice of his profession and on the bench. Ingalls was of a different temperament, being more intellectual, caring little for the law, less tactful, but ambitious. They both met in the arena of politics, and Horton was the vanquished. Following the senatorial election of 1879, at which they were both candidates, they became bitter enemies, and did not speak until they met, by chance, in London, in 1891. While these two men were editors of the Champion. Ingalls did most of the writing and kept things warm until the return of Colonel Martin from the war in January, 1865, one of the Nation’s heroes. Three months after his return, on the twenty-second day of March, 1865. Colonel Martin became the publisher of a daily paper, and on August 11, 1868, the Freedom’s Champion was consolidated with the Atchison Free Press, under the name of Champion and Press. The Free Press was a Republican daily paper, and first appeared May 5, 1864, with Franklin G. Adams as its editor and proprietor. In April, 1865, Frank A. Root became a partner, and subsequently, L. R. Elliott, who had been an assistant editor, became a proprietor, with Mr. Root retiring later, when the paper was consolidated with the Champion.

The office of the Champion and Press was destroyed by fire May 20, 1869, but three weeks later the paper was in running order, with John A. 219Martin as sole editor and proprietor, and from that date until the death of Mr. Martin October 2, 1889, it remained one of the most influential and prosperous papers in the State of Kansas.

Upon the death of Mr. Martin, the newspaper property was turned over to his father-in-law, W. L. Challiss, as executor of Mr. Martin’s estate, and on the day of Mr. Martin’s death the name of Phillip Krohn appears as managing editor. Krohn occupied that important place until March 29, 1890, when his name appeared for the last time as editor. Dr. Phillip Krohn was a man of brilliant attainments, a fluent writer, and a pleasing public speaker. He was a Methodist minister by profession, but, although he occupied the pulpit upon occasions, his name was seldom taken seriously in connection with religious work. From the date of Governor Martin’s death the paper gradually waned in influence. The paper remained the property of the estate of Governor Martin, and Luther C. Challiss was editor and manager, until October 11, 1804, when A. J. Felt, an ex-lieutenant governor of Kansas, became its editor and proprietor. The paper did not prosper under the management of Mr. Felt, and four years later a company was organized by Charles M. Sheldon, a promoter, and Mr. Sheldon became its editor May 2, 1898. Mr. Sheldon was an enthusiastic and aggressive individual, who had very little respect for the value of money, which he spent so lavishly that two months later, July 1, 1898, his name appeared for the last time as editor of the Champion. On the twentieth of that month the paper was sold to satisfy a mortgage and the property was re-purchased by A. J. Felt, who immediately transferred it to the Champion Linotype Printing Company, a partnership, composed of Edward Skinner, George T. Housen, Charles O. Hovatter, James McNamara and A. J. Felt. Mr. Felt again resumed the editorial management of the paper, and remained in charge until January 1, 1899.

February 3, 1899, Henry Kuhn, who surveyed the townsite of Atchison, returned to the city with his son, James G. Kuhn. They made a heroic effort to restore the lost prestige of the Champion, but soon became discouraged, and in the latter part of May or early in the June following, they gave up the ghost and silently disappeared. The mortgagees continued the publication of the paper, and July 31, 1899, the name of John A. Reynolds appears as business manager. It had no editor until August 23, 1899, when James G. Day, Jr., a young lawyer, occupying a desk in the office of Waggener, Horton & Orr, became editor and manager. Mr. Day ran a daily until January 9, 1900, when it was discontinued. The following March he 220published a daily for one week, “as the devil would run it,” a piece of cynicism in reply to an effort the Topeka Capital made a short time before, when that paper was turned over to Rev. Charles M. Sheldon, the eminent Congregational preacher, who ran that paper one week, “As Jesus would run it.”

Meanwhile, the Champion had its ups and downs, but did not die. A daily again appeared April 22, 1901, with Ewing Herbert, one of the celebrated newspaper men of Kansas, as its editor and owner. Mr. Herbert was at that time the owner of the Brown County World, at Hiawatha. He conceived the idea that Atchison offered an attractive field for a newspaper venture, and he succeeded in interesting some local capital in his enterprise. Capt. John Seaton was a stockholder, among others, and Jay House, the present mayor of Topeka (1915) and a brilliant newspaper paragrapher, was city editor. Mr. Herbert spent only part of his time in Atchison, and turned over the management of the Champion to Mr. House. It looked for a time as if Mr. Herbert was going to make a success of his venture, but just at the height of his prosperity he was guilty of an editorial indiscretion, which turned some powerful influences against the paper, and on August 17, 1901, Mr. Herbert gave up his effort as a bad job and turned the plant over to one W. A. Robinson, formerly of St. Louis, Mo. Mr. Robinson was a follower of Henry George, the great single taxer, and conceived it to be his duty to spread the single tax propaganda through the editorial columns of the Champion. His efforts in this direction did not prove profitable, and becoming disheartened and discouraged he fled from the city shortly thereafter, a much poorer but wiser man.

The Champion next fell into the hands of Corman H. Young, for many years a successful music merchant, of Atchison, who incidentally acquired a small job printing plant, which he operated on North Fifth street, and which he subsequently merged with the Champion plant, having acquired that by paying off the mortgage which Mr. Robinson gave Ewing Herbert at the lime he undertook to acquire the property. Mr. Young ran a weekly paper for a number of years, until May, 1907, when he employed Walt Mason, the famous prose poet of the United States, to assume the editorial management of a daily. Mr. Mason many years before had been a resident of Atchison, and ran the Globe during the absence of Mr. Howe in Europe. He was not so famous in 1907 as he is in 1915, but he was just as brilliant. He published the daily Champion on pink paper and filled it with columns of editorial matter and humorous running comment on current affairs. Mr. Mason had a wonderful capacity for work and could prepare more “copy” in one 221day than all the other writers on the paper could prepare in a week. During the summer of 1907, Sheffield Ingalls, having returned from the legislature, where he was a member of the house of representatives, became an editorial writer on the Champion. November 20, 1907, Mr. Young prevailed upon Mr. Ingalls to give up his other work and become editor of the paper. As Mr. Ingalls walked into the office, Mr. Mason walked out, never to return. Mr. Ingalls remained editor and manager of the Champion until October 6, 1909, having been frustrated in plans he had made to acquire the property as his own. Mr. Young continued to run the paper until July 1, 1911, when Mr. Ingalls, with the assistance of J. C. Killarney, succeeded in organizing a company, which purchased the paper and turned it over to Eugene C. Pulliam, as editor. Mr. Pulliam was a young man, who had served his apprenticeship on the Kansas City Star as a reporter. He was a good writer, but lacked experience and business judgment, and while he made a vigorous effort to run the paper, and had the benefit of strong financial connections, he did not succeed, and September 1, 1914, he turned the paper over to Sheffield Ingalls as trustee, and it was subsequently sold to A. S. Andereck and his brother, A. P. Andereck, of Kankakee, Ill. A few months later a company was organized, composed of the Andereck brothers, O. A. Simmons, vice-president of the First National Bank, Wilbur C. Hawk and Sheffield Ingalls, who in 1915 are conducting the paper, and it is enjoying its most prosperous days since the death of its brilliant editor, John A. Martin.

In 1877 there came to Atchison a young man who subsequently became one of the famous editors of the United States, Edgar Watson Howe. Mr. Howe was born in Wabash county, Indiana, May 3, 1854, a son of Henry and Elizabeth Howe. When he was about three years of age his family removed to Bethany, Harrison county, Missouri, where the father, a Methodist preacher, published a newspaper of strong abolition sentiments. The younger Mr. Howe served an apprenticeship at the printer’s trade in his father’s office, and in 1868 started out for himself. He visited various cities, working at the case to earn money to pay his way from one place to another, and at the age of eighteen became the publisher of the weekly Globe, at Golden, Colo. From there he went to Falls City, Neb., where he published a newspaper, subsequently coming to Atchison, and established the Daily Globe. When Mr. Howe reached Atchison, the Champion, under the management of John A. Martin, was the most powerful newspaper organ in the northern half of Kansas, and the field here was none too promising on this account. However, Mr. Howe proceeded to publish a paper of an entirely 222different type than that published by Mr. Martin. It was a small sheet, and was devoted to “gab, gossip and paid locals,” and for over thirty years this policy was successfully maintained by Mr. Howe. It was unique in the journalistic world, and under the management of Mr. Howe it acquired a National reputation, chiefly because of the quaint, homely philosophy it contained and the unusual treatment he gave the ordinary incidents of human life. As a reporter of this class of news, Mr. Howe was perhaps without a peer in the country. For over thirty years he tramped the streets of Atchison with note-book and pencil, and to practically every item he turned in he gave a peculiar twist, which reflected a remarkable insight of human nature. With Mr. Howe were associated Miss Frances L. Garside, Ralph (“Doc”) Tennal, Miss Nellie Webb and J. E. Rank. To each of them Mr. Howe was indebted for much of the success the Globe attained. The death of Col. John A. Martin and the collapse of the Champion, that followed, gave Mr. Howe his opportunity, and for the greater part of his active newspaper career in Atchison he had the field to himself. The Globe was a great financial success and in one year it has been said that Mr. Howe cleared close to $24,000 on his property. “Doc” Tennal was the first one of Mr. Howe’s faithful associates to break up the Globe family. Mr. Tennal was a remarkable reporter of local news, but being ambitious and realizing the limitations by which he was surrounded, he concluded to acquire a newspaper property of his own, and in pursuance of that plan, he bought the Sabetha Herald in 1905, subsequently relinquishing it to become editor of the Kansas City Weekly Star. He returned some years later to Sabetha, and re-purchased the Herald plant, and is now the editor of that prosperous and progressive paper (1915).

J. E. Rank left the Globe a few years later, and went to Bartlesville, Okla., where he ran a paper a short time, and then returned to Atchison, and his first newspaper love.

Miss Garside, who was one of the most brilliant newspaper women in the country, went from the Globe to the New York Journal, and in 1909 Mr. Howe turned the Globe over to his son, Eugene Howe, who is now (1915) its editor and principal owner. Associated with him are Mr. Rank and Miss Nellie Webb, together with other old Globe employes.

Miss Webb is the society reporter, and in this capacity she has acquired a brilliant reputation among the newspaper women of Kansas. The “policy” of the Globe remains unchanged, and, while it may not enjoy the same prestige it had during the days of the elder Howe, it is still one of the moneymaking 223newspaper plants of Kansas. Eugene Howe is a young man of much promise. He is still young and has spent his life in newspaper work. He has carried the new responsibilities thrust upon him by his father both gracefully and tactfully, and there is every reason to predict a successful future for him.

Among the early newspaper enterprises of Atchison was The Patriot, established by Nelson Abbott October 25, 1867. In September, 1868, Messrs. H. Clay Park, B. P. Waggener and Mr. Abbott formed a partnership, under the name of H. Clay Park & Company, and purchased the establishment, and in October of the same year, the paper passed into the hands of C. F. and C. P. Cochrane, but shortly thereafter reverted to Nelson Abbott, who remained in control until December, 1875. Dr. H. B. Horn, for many years a respected and honored citizen of Atchison, was connected with the paper as bookkeeper and business manager, and performed much of the editorial work, and when Mr. Abbott finally relinquished control of the paper, it fell again into the hands of H. Clay Park, who together with F. L. Vandergrift and P. H. Peters, assumed control. Mr. Peters did not remain long in the partnership, and in 1877 he sold his interest to E. W. Beall. The paper was Democratic, and Mr. Park, who was very actively identified with the affairs of Atchison in the early days, was an able editor. He left Atchison twenty-five years later, to become an editorial writer on the St. Joseph News and Press. F. L. Vandergrift is one of the famous newspaper men of Kansas, and for many years was the representative in Kansas of the Kansas City Star. He is one of the best loved and best known newspaper writers of the West, and is now (1915) editor of the Earth, a publication devoted to the interests of the Santa Fe railroad.

One of the well known newspaper men of the West connected with The Patriot was Tom Stivers, who was connected with the Champion for eight years, and in January, 1879, became a partner with Mr. Park and Mr. Vandergrift.

The Patriot was an afternoon daily paper, and always stanchly Democratic in politics, and for many years was a successful journalistic enterprise. This paper continued to be published either as a weekly or a daily until about October 12, 1895. It was in a precarious condition many years before that date, and had a number of different editors, among them F. M. Stambaugh and W. J. Montgomery. The Atchison Morning Star and Daily Patriot was built upon the wreck of the original Patriot, its first issue being dated October 13, 1895, and running until February 23, 1896.

The Atchison union was a Democratic paper, established by Gideon O. 224Chase, about 1858. It had an office in a frame building at the southwest corner of Fifth and Commercial streets, subsequently occupied by the Champion. Mr. Chase came from Waverly. N. V., and his paper, while Democratic, was for the union and against slavery. Mr. Chase did not remain in charge of the paper very long, and turned it over to W. H. Addoms and G. I. Stebbins. Shortly thereafter Stebbins retired, and Addoms went to Leavenworth, where he started a paper, turning his interest over to A. P. Cochrane, who was an employe in the office. Cochrane did not run the paper but a short time, when a Mr. Leland, Francis J. Marion and Franklin G. Adams assumed control and ran it a short time, when Marion took the plant of Plattsburg, Mo., and junked it, and for many years what was left of the paper was piled up in the court house at that place.

The Atchison Church Visitor was established in 1906, and was published by the pastors of the following churches: English Lutheran, Methodist, Christian, Congregational, Presbyterian, Baptist.

On January 14, 1911, Paul Tonsing became its editor and publisher. The paper is printed by Mr. Tonsing in the office over 500 Commercial street, so long occupied as the editorial room of John A. Martin, of whom Mr. Tonsing is a son-in-law. Mr. Tonsing is a Lutheran minister by profession, and for a number of years after his graduation from Midland College, he did pastoral work in a number of Lutheran churches in Nebraska and Kansas. Mr. Tonsing is a reformer, and a man not without courage and ability. His views are looked upon as too extreme by the conservative liberal element of Atchison, but all give him credit for being conscientious and honest. He is a hard-working, industrious citizen, and, while he has made inane active enemies in his reform work, he enjoys the personal satisfaction of seeing many of the reforms he has advocated come to pass. He is an avowed foe of the liquor traffic, and has perhaps done more than any other individual in the community to make his views on that question effective. In connection with the publication of the Church Visitor, Mr. Tonsing also prints and edits the Western Chief, a monthly publication devoted to the Improved Order of Redmen.

E. W. Howe’s Monthly was started by Mr. Howe in March, 1911. It is published monthly and contains practically all of the present literary efforts of its editor. Mr. Howe has adopted the use of pink paper for this publication, which is composed of four pages. It contains no advertising matter, but has a large circulation among friends and admirers of Mr. Howe’s peculiar literary type. Mr. Howe has popularized this monthly by making 225the price so low that no subscriber can afford not to take it, and when he has reached a circulation large enough, he plans to put it on a profitable basis as an advertising medium.

The Effingham New Leaf was started about April 12, 1894, with M. C. Klingman, editor, and his wife, Mrs. Ima L. Klingman, as associate editor. The New Leaf was the successor of the Effingham Times, founded in 1887, and the Effingham Graphic, founded in 1891, and the Effingham World, founded in 1893. After the death of M. C. Klingman, at the Missouri Baptist sanitarium, at St. Louis, Mo., May 5, 1899, Mrs. Klingman took charge as editor and publisher, and employed W. W. Cahoon, associate editor. January 4, 1901, J. W. Coleman became the editor and publisher, and W. W. Cahoon, associate editor. In December, 1903, W. W. Cahoon purchased a one-half interest and the firm became Coleman & Cahoon. Mr. Coleman re-purchased the paper October 16, 1903, and continued its publication until September 8, 1903, when Mr. Cahoon and C. E. Sells became............