TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 475 Bank of Commerce. On July 1, 1907, this bank absorbed the National Bank of Toledo, which had been established as a private bank by Keeler, Holcomb & Company in 1870 and converted into a national bank in 1905. At this time the capital stock was increased to $1,000,000. On January 1, 1921, the bank was consolidated with the Guardian Trust & Savings Bank, when the present name was adopted, viz : Commerce-Guardian Trust and Savings Bank. Its place of business is at the northeast corner of St. Clair Street and Madison Avenue. The Union Savings Bank was organized in May, 1888, with a capital stock of $300,000 and the following officers : James Secor, president ; William H. Maher, vice president ; Leander Burdick, cashier. This bank is located at 233 Summit Street. Although the country was suffering from an industrial depression, the Home Savings Bank opened its doors for business on December 20, 1893. The organization of the bank began about a year earlier. Herbert Baker was the first president and Dean V. F. Manley was the first cashier. The bank was located in 1923 in the Gardner building, on the corner of Madison Avenue and Superior Street. It had bought, however, the old Toledo Club property, southeast corner of Madison and Huron, upon which a fine banking and office building was planned for erection in 1923-24. The Citizens' Safe Deposit & Banking Company, located in the Gardner building, at Madison Avenue and Superior Street, is another financial institution that was organized in the midst of the business depression in 1893. Notwithstanding the adverse conditions at the time it began business, the company pulled through and is now a depository for the state, county and city. In November, 1896, the Ohio Savings Bank and Trust Company was incorporated with a capital stock of $350,000, and the following officers : David Robison, Jr., president ; Dennis Coghlin, George E. Pomeroy and Joseph L. Wolcott, vice presidents ; James J. Robison, cashier. The main bank is located in the Ohio building, northeast corner of Madison Avenue and Superior Street, and it has seven branches located in different parts of the city. The Commercial Savings Bank and Trust Company was incorporated in 1898, with a capital stock of $100,000, and the following officers : M. V. Wolf, president ; A. M. Chesbrough, vice president ; Carey B. Close, cashier. David Harpster became president in 1903 and was succeeded by George W. Close. The main bank is located in the new five-story Commercial Bank building, on Superior Street, near Adams Street, and there are six branches in different parts of the city. On June 14, 1898, the Security Trust Company was incorporated, with a capital stock of $200,000 ; F. B. Shoemaker, president ; Noah H. Swayne and John J. Barker, vice presidents ; C. F. M. Niles, secretary and treasurer. About two years later the State Savings Bank Company was organized, numbering among its stockholders several men who were interested in the Security Trust Company. On November 13, 1903, the two institutions were consolidated as the Security Savings Bank and Trust Company, with a capital stock of $250,000. In April, 1923, the bank was located at 313-317 Superior Street, with a branch at 1518 Cherry. Later the capital was increased to $600,000, and the Nasby building at Huron and Madison was purchased to be taken over later for bank quarters. In the early summer of 1923, The Opieka Savings Bank, established in 1916 for the convenience of the large Polish population of Toledo, was consolidated with 476 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY the Security Savings Bank and Trust Company, bringing to the latter two additional branches, one at 1341 Nebraska Avenue and the other at 2804 Lagrange Street. In November, 1900, the Dime Savings Bank Company was incorporated and began business with a capital stock of $100,000. W. H. H. Reeder has been president of this bank since it was first organized. The first vice-presidents were J. S. Hallaran and I. I. Millard, and A. B. Hood was the first cashier. The People's State Savings Bank was incorporated in 1908 by W. H. Tucker, David Harpster, P. J. Dolan, O. D. Tiffany, and W. J. Von Ewegen, with an authorized capital stock of $50,000. It was decided to erect a building bef ore opening the bank and 0. D. Tiffany was selected to supervise its construction. The building was completed early in April, 1909, and on the first of May the bank opened its doors for the transaction of business. During the first year over one thousand accounts were opened. The bank is located on the corner of Starr Avenue and East Broadway and is the first successful banking concern established in East Toledo. It has now two branches on the East Side. The Summit Trust Company is the youngest financial institution in Toledo. It was incorporated in 1919, with a capital stock. of $500,000, and has offices at suite 1605 Second National Bank building. Toledo also has a Morris Plan Bank, with a capital of $200,000, which was incorporated under the laws of Ohio in December, 1916. It is located on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Huron Street. RURAL BANKS An institution known as the Maumee City Insurance Company Bank was established at Maumee in 1838—the second bank in Lucas County. Its authorized capital stock was $250,000 but of this only $12,500 was paid in, constituting the working capital. James H. Forsyth was elected president and J. T. Guthrie, cashier. In November, 1839, the institution was placed in the hands of Morrison R. Waite for liquidation. Maumee is entitled, however, to the distinction of having the oldest bank in the county outside of Toledo. This is the Union Deposit Bank of Maumee, which was established in 1866. It has $35,000 of capital and surplus. In 1908 The State Savings Bank of Maumee was incorporated with a capital stock of $25,000. Two banks were established in Sylvania in 1901—the Farmers' and Merchants' Banking Company, with a capital stock of $50,000, and the Sylvania Savings Bank Company, with a capital of $25,000. On September 15, 1917, the former moved into its new building, which is the handsomest and most substantial in the village. In 1904 the Whitehouse State Savings Bank began business with a capital of $25,000. It proved a great convenience to the merchants of the village and the farmers in that section of the county. The Waterville State Savings Bank was established in 1907 with a capital of $25,000. Toledo has eight savings and loan associations, or companies : The People's Savings Association, the Ohio Savings Association, the Home Building and Savings Company, Broadway and Segur Avenue ; the Industry Savings and Building Company, 313-15 Huron Street ; the Mutual Savings Association, 218 Superior Street ; TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 477 the Ohio Polish Savings and Building Association, 3032 Lagrange Street ; the Star Building and Loan Association, 10 Ontario Street ; and the Toledo Savings Association, 228 Superior Street. The authorized capital of several of these associations is over one million dollars. There are more than a score of firms dealing in bonds of states, counties, municipalities and industrial concerns, or which loan money on first mortgage security. CHAPTER XXIV CITY AND COUNTY PRESS ORIGIN OF THE NEWSPAPER-ROMAN ACTA DIURNA-FIRST NEWSPAPER IN LONDON -IN THE UNITED STATES-IN THE MAUMEE VALLEY-TOLEDO NEWSPAPERS-PERSONAL MENTION OF PROMINENT JOURNALISTS-TOLEDO PUBLICATIONS IN 1922—DEFUNCT NEWSPAPERS-TOLEDO PRESS CLUB-RURAL NEWSPAPERS-DAVID R. LOCKE. In practically every office and household in the United States the daily newspaper, once a luxury that only the rich could afford, is now regarded as a necessity. But as the average man culls the news from his favorite daily, does he ever consider the long process of development that has given him such an opportunity of learning what is taking place in all parts of the world ? How many know that to the civilization of ancient Rome the nations of modern times are indebted for the idea—crude as it was at first—that has step by step been elaborated into the daily or weekly newspaper ? The Roman "Acta Diurna" were manuscript publications—written or engraved upon wax tablets with an instrument called the "stylus." As the method of production was somewhat tedious, the edition was necessarily limited. The few copies issued were displayed in the most public places in the city, in order that the people might acquaint themselves with current events and the political trend of the times. These "Acta Diurna" (Acts of the Day) were not published at regular intervals, but only upon the occurrence of some event of more than ordinary interest. When a new one appeared, each place where it was posted would be surrounded by people who listened eagerly while some one read the .contents, much as the crowd of today scan the bulletins in front of a newspaper office on the day after a Presidential election, or during a "world's series" of baseball games. The first publication really worthy of the name of "newspaper" made its appearance in London in 1622, more than a century and a half after Guttenberg invented the process of printing with type. It was called the "Weekly News from Italie and Germanie." Prior to its appearance the wealthier classes of Europeans had been accustomed to receiving their accounts of the world's doings through the medium of the weekly "news-letter," but this form of manuscript literature was too expensive for any but the rich to afford. The "Weekly News from Italie and Germanie" was printed upon a crude and clumsy press operated by hand power—the invention of Nathaniel Butler—yet this primitive and imperfect machine occupies a place in history as the progenitor of the modern printing press with a capacity of several thousand newspapers hourly. The contents of this first small newspaper consisted mainly of social items and satirical essays until about 1641, when the Parliamentary reports were published in its columns. The first advertisement ever published in a newspaper appeared in this little - 479 - 480 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY weekly in 1648. It was written in rhyme and was intended to call the attention of the public to the merits of a merchant tailor of Belgravia. In 1709 the "London Courant" was established. It was the first daily morning newspaper, so far as known, and consisted of a single page. With the inauguration of the daily newspaper, the press gained rapidly in popularity and importance and the "Courant" was not long without competitors. In 1750 over seven million copies of daily newspapers were circulated in England annually. IN THE UNITED STATES The first newspaper in the United States was the "Boston Public Occurrences," a small quarto sheet, established in 1690. After a brief career it was suppressed by the colonial authorities of Massachusetts because of its radical utterances. Next came the "Boston News-Letter," which was started in 1704 by John Campbell, then postmaster at Boston. In 1721 James Franklin established the "New England Courant" and conducted it for five years or six years, when it was suspended "for want of adequate support." Soon after the "Courant" was suspended, Benjamin Franklin started the "Pennsylvania Gazette" at Philadelphia, which was published as a weekly until 1765, when it was merged with the "North American." In 1728 Benjamin Franklin founded the "Saturday Evening Post," which is still in existence, but in an entirely different form. The "Evening Post" of New York City was founded in 1801 and is still published. It was the first daily in the United States. With the improvements in the methods of printing, the cost of producing newspapers was reduced, until now there is scarcely a town of any consequence in the country that has not its daily or weekly newspaper. IN THE MAUMEE VALLEY The first newspaper in the Maumee Basin was "The Miami of the Lake," which was founded by Jessup W. Scott and his brother-in-law, Henry Darling, at Perrysburg. The first number made its appearance on December 11, 1833. It was printed upon a hand press, which with a supply of type, had been brought from New York by Mr. Darling. In June, 1834, the outfit was purchased by J. Austin Scott, a brother of Jessup W., who associated with himself as publishers J. H. McBride and Henry Reed, Jr. About eight months later, Mr. McBride acquired Mr. Scott's interest and with the issue of August 18, 1838, changed the name of the paper to "The Ohio Whig." The publication continued for several years under different names, and among those connected with it were H. L. Hosmer and H. T. Smith. Jessup W. Scott, one of the original publishers of this newspaper, was born at Ridgefield, Connecticut, February 25, 1799. He attended the local schools and at the age of sixteen years became a teacher, following this occupation in his native state, New Jersey, Georgia and South Carolina. He began the study of medicine when he was eighteen, but soon changed to the law and in 1822 he was admitted to the bar in both Georgia and South, Carolina. In 1830 the slavery question became an important political issue and Mr. Scott, being in sympathy with the free states, came north. In the spring of 1831 he located at Florence- TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 481 then in Huron but now in Erie County—Ohio, where he began the publication of a monthly called the "Ohio and Michigan Register and Emigrant's Guide." Two years later he removed to Perrysburg and there became associated with Mr. Darling in the publication of the newspaper above mentioned. In 1836 Mr. Scott returned to his native state and located at Bridgeport. The financial panic of 1837 brought him back to Ohio and for the next seven years he was a resident of Maumee. He came to Toledo in 1844 and was for several years connected in an editorial capacity with the "Blade." In 1857 he went to Castleton, New York, where he remained for a few years and then returned to Toledo. Mr. Scott was united in marriage in May, 1824, with Miss Susan Wakeman, of Southport, Connecticut. On October 21, 1872, this couple, whose fortunes had so long been linked with Toledo, joined in the execution of a deed to 160 acres of land to a board of trustees to found the "Toledo University of Arts and Trades." Mr. Scott died in January, 1874. TOLEDO NEWSPAPERS Concerning the first newspaper in Toledo, accounts differ in some essential particulars. In a sketch of Andrew Palmer, on page 695 of Clark Waggoner's "History of Toledo," occurs this statement : "In the fall of 1834 he purchased the material and established a paper—the first numbers of which were called the `Port Lawrence Herald, and printed by J. Irvine Brown. At this period in its history the name of Toledo was adopted for the embryo city. The meeting to consider the matter was held at the office of the 'Herald' and as a result of its action the title of the paper was changed to that of 'Toledo Gazette'—Mr. Brown continuing to act as publisher, and Mr. Palmer as editor and manager, as before the change." On page 637 of the same history is given the following account of the establishment of the first newspaper in Toledo : "In May, 1834, James Irvine Browne came from Easton, Pennsylvania. He was then about twenty-eight years of age, a gentleman of education and refinement, and withal, quite a poet. He came under an arrangement with Edward Bissell and others, for the purpose of starting and conducting a newspaper and it was expected that the printing press and materials would soon follow. Delays were caused in different ways. In the first place there was no building which could be occupied for such purpose and it was necessary to await the construction of the building which was to become Toledo's first printing office. It was located on the south side of Lagrange Street, about half-way between Summit and Water, on the second floor of a two-story frame building and over a grocery and provision store kept by Daniel Washburn. Then a contest arose between 'Upper' and 'Lower Towns' for the location of the new paper. Finally, about the 1st of August, the materials arrived, a compromise between the 'Towns' was effected and operations commenced. Mr. Browne set up his own type and worked his own press, having neither 'Jour.' nor 'Devil' to assist him. About the 15th of August, 1834, appeared the first number of the `Toledo Herald,' the first newspaper issued within the present limits of Lucas County. It was a very creditable sheet, in both contents and appearance. But three or four numbers were issued, when Mr. Browne was taken sick, necessarily suspending the paper." 482 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY The latter story is corroborated by other authorities and is doubtless the correct one. It will be noticed in the first account that Mr. Browne's name is spelled without the final "e" and it is stated that the name was at first "Port Lawrence Herald," while it is generally understood that Port Lawrence and Vistula were consolidated and the name Toledo was adopted in the latter part of the year 1833. It is not likely that the first newspaper would bear the name of one of the rival towns. Mr. Browne soon recovered from his illness, when he again took charge of the paper, the name of which was changed to the "Toledo Gazette." During the next eight months only twenty-one numbers of the paper were issued. Although Mr. Browne was in charge, it is doubtful if he ever had a pecuniary interest in the publication. Andrew Palmer was active in getting the paper started and had some money invested in the enterprise. In May, 1836, Samuel Allen announced that he had purchased all interest in the "Gazette." He published the paper for a short time, when he sold the entire oufit to Adolphus Kramer for the purpose of establishing a newspaper at Hartford, Ottawa County, a town that no longer appears on the map. In the spring of 1836 the "Toledo Blade" was founded as a weekly newspaper. Just who projected this publication is not certain. The late Judge John H. Doyle says : "George B. Way in 1836 took charge of a printing press and materials, which had been provided, and started a newspaper which was named the "Toledo Blade," etc. In the spring of 1837 the paper passed into the hands of Abel W. Fairbanks and L. L. Willard. The latter retired after a few months, but Mr. Fairbanks continued to publish the paper until about April, 1841, when S. S. Blanchard became a partner. In July, 1842, the name of Edward A. Graves appeared as publisher, with Daniel McBain as editor. Several changes occurred in the ownership and management during the next few years. In May, 1846, Abel W. Fairbanks and Jessup W. Scott began the publication of a tri-weekly edition, which marked an incident of special importance in the paper's history. In July, 1847, Hezekiah L. Hosmer became a partner and assumed editorial charge. He was educated for the legal profession and prior to his connection with the "Blade" had been editor of the "Perrysburg Journal" and the "Maumee Express." As a writer he was fluent and forceful. His account of the grand celebration at Fort Meigs on June 11, 1840, when General Harrison was present and delivered an address, was 'copied by every Whig newspaper in Ohio, as well as in several outside of the state. He remained with the "Blade" until 1849, when he went to California and there passed the remainder of his life. Ayer's "Newspaper Annual" gives the date of the founding of the Toledo "Blade" as 1848. This is due no doubt to the fact that on April 17, 1848, was issued the first daily edition of the paper, Fairbanks & Hosmer at that time being the publishers. Among those financially interested in the paper during the next five years were Stephen H. Hosmer, H. T. Smith, Peter E. Latimer, Samuel Andrews and G. G. Lyon. In May, 1853, the establishment was sold to Joseph R. Williams. Mr. Williams was born at Taunton, Massachusetts, November 14, 1808. At the age of eighteen he entered the Sandwich Academy, at New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he prepared for college, and in 1831 he graduated at Harvard. He then began the study of law at. Worcester and was admitted to the bar in TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 483 1833. Two years later he arrived in Toledo, but in 1837 went to Constantine, Michigan, where he built a large flour mill and made other investments. In May, 1853, he returned to Toledo to take charge of the "Blade," which he conducted until 1856, when he sold to Clark Waggoner and G. T. Stewart. He then returned to Michigan and died there in June, 1861. From the time Waggoner & Stewart became the owners until the spring of 1858, Samuel G. Arnold was the editor. He was succeeded by William C. Earl, who remained but a few months, when Mr. Waggoner assumed the editorial duties, continuing in charge until his withdrawal from the paper in August, 1865. Clark Waggoner was born on September 6, 1820, in that part of Huron County now constituting Erie County. He was educated in the district schools, supplemented by two terms at the Huron Institute at Milan. At the age of thirteen years he was apprenticed to the printer's trade in the office of the "Milan Times." After completing his apprenticeship he worked as a "jour" printer in various newspaper offices until May, 1839, when he became the publisher of the "Lower Sandusky Whig." In 1843 he removed the outfit to Milan and started the "Milan Tribune." His connection with the "Toledo Blade" has already been noted. In 1866 he and his son, Ralph H. Waggoner, purchased the "Toledo Commercial," which had been started in March, 1849, of which he was editor until 1876. The following year he was appointed collector of internal revenue at Toledo by President Hayes, which position he held for five years. In 1888 his "History of Toledo and Lucas County" was published. It is the last work of his pen, as he died a few years after its appearance. In September, 1865, Alonzo D. Pelton became the proprietor of the "Blade," with David Ross Locke as editor. Between 1865 and 1876 several changes occurred in the ownership of the "Blade." While the paper wielded considerable influence in public matters, it had never been a profitable undertaking from a purely business point of view. In August, 1876, the Toledo Blade Company was incorporated with A. P. Miller as president and editor ; T. P. Brown, vice president ; Frank T. Lane, secretary and treasurer. A few months later Mr. Locke purchased a controlling interest and became president. Under the new management the paper was placed on a sound financial basis for the first time in its history. Besides the "Blade," the company published "Locke's Monthly" and the "American Farm Journal." Upon the death of David R. Locke his son, Robinson Locke, became president and held the office for about a quarter of a century. The publication office of the "Blade" was in various places until August 1, 1902, when it moved into its new quarters at 414-420 Jefferson Avenue, where the paper is still published every afternoon except Sunday. In 1922 the officers of the company were : Barton Smith, president ; Florence E. Cottrell, vice president and treasurer ; Maurice Allen, secretary. At the present time, with telegraph lines and long distance telephones, the various press associations, etc., the facilities for obtaining news are vastly different from what they were when the "Blade" was in its infancy. An illustration of the difficulties that beset the early newspaper, and the manner in which the "Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Courier" accomplished a "scoop," is found in the story told some years ago by the late Edward A. Calkins, of Milwaukee, who was a compositor on the "Courier" in his youth. He says : 484 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY ."All hands at the 'Courier' office had sat up two nights in the middle of December, 1846, waiting for the President's message. On the third night I was standing by the exchange table and pickedup a newspaper in a wrapper, which had been there for forty-eight hours. I pulled it open and it happened to be a copy of the 'Toledo Blade' containing the message. The publishers of that paper had got hold of a New York paper that came west partly by rail and partly by stage, and had printed the message in time to get it to the western stage for Chicago. The copy had got into the Milwaukee mail and had so come through ahead of time. We all got busy and printed the 'Courier' with the message long ahead of the other papers, and their editors wondered where we had procured the copy. But it might have been put on the street a couple of days earlier if the wrapper had been torn from all the exchanges on Brown's table." Besides those already mentioned, Rev. Robert McCune, W. H. Busby, John H. McElroy and S. S. Knabenshue were at different times managing editor of the "Blade." Among the early contributors to the paper were Pierre M. Irving, Richard Mott, John R. Osborn, Charles W. Hill, Hiram Walbridge, Myron H. Tilden and Emery D. Potter. In 1922 the managing editor was William Hedrick. In March, 1849, the "Commercial Republican" was started with Charles R. Miller as editor, Miller & Company, publishers. It announced its policy as being "Free Democratic," that is Democratic with a leaning to the Free Soil doctrines of that period. In 1851 James Myers and Josiah Riley purchased the paper and the latter assumed the editorial management. About the beginning of 1854 Silas W. Wilder succeeded Mr. Myers. He was a native of Massachusetts and had been connected with several newspapers in that state. He died in November, 1854, and in 1855 the paper passed into the hands of Riley, Boyd & Company. In February, 1862, the name "Toledo Commercial" was adopted and in January, 1864, the Commercial Printing Company was organized. During the next two years a half dozen or more persons were connected with the paper, among them being Isaac R. Sherwood, J. W. Bailey, Joseph E. Marx and Stephen J. Meany. In September, 1866, the outfit was purchased by Clark Waggoner and his on, Ralph H. Waggoner, and the firm of Waggoner & Son continued to publish the "Commercial" until April, 1871. Then the Toledo Commercial Company was organized, with Clark Waggoner as president and editor ; Ralph H. Waggoner, secretary and treasurer. This company was succeeded on March 1, 1877, by the Toledo Newspaper Company, the Waggoners having withdrawn early in 1876. S. D. Rich became the proprietor in November, 1878, and remained in control about a year, when he was succeeded by A. W. Search of Coshocton, who conducted the paper only a few weeks. The plant then reverted to the Toledo Commercial Company, which sold it in November, 1880, to J. B. Battelle & Company, who changed the name of the paper to the "Toledo Telegram." James M. Comly, Alf red E. Lee and Andrew W. Francisco formed a partnership and purchased the establishment, changing the name back to the "Commercial." Mr. Lee withdrew after a few months and Mr. Francisco sold his interest to A. D. Pelton in 1885. The firm of Comly & Company then published the paper until 1889, when the property again reverted to the Commercial Company. About a year later Patrick C. Boyle became president of the company and he controlled the editorial policy until 1892, when the paper again changed hands, Henry C. Vortriede becoming president and editor. On December 7, 1896, Levi A. Cass acquired TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 485 a controlling interest and continued at the head of the company until 1899, when the paper was succeeded by the "Toledo Times," published by the Toledo Times Company, of which H. P. Crouse was president ; George P. Jones, vice president ; H. A. Eoff, secretary and treasurer. The "Times" is the only morning newspaper in Toledo. It is issued every day in the week, the Sunday .edition frequently containing from seventy-two to ninety-six pages. The publication office is at the corner of Huron and Orange streets and the officers of the Toledo Times Company in 1922 were : R. C. Patterson, president and treasurer ; Clara C. Dun, vice president ; John D. Dun, secretary. On January 1, 1873, the Toledo Printing and Publishing Company was organized, with J. C. Frankenberger, president ; S. C. McCullough, secretary and treasurer. For about three years the business consisted of book and job printing. In April, 1876, H. S. Chapin started an afternoon newspaper called the "Evening Bee," the first number appearing on the 26th of that month. A little later Mr. Chapin became president of the Toledo Printing and Publishing Company, and the "Bee" was transferred to that corporation and the name of the concern was changed to the Toledo Bee Company. In December, 1883, Mr. Chapin was succeeded as editor by John Paul Jones, who in turn was succeeded by Flavius J. Oblinger in January, 1885. Mr. Oblinger was one of the best known newspaper men in Northwestern Ohio. Before taking editorial charge of the "Bee" he had been connected with newspapers in various Ohio cities, having learned the printing trade with William Gunckel, publisher of the "Germantown Gazette," father of John E. Gunckel, and founder of the Toledo Newsboys' Association. After learning his trade, Mr. Oblinger was employed for a time in a book printing establishment in Cincinnati. But the call of the newspaper office was too strong arid from 1850 to 1885, he was compositor and editor on probably a dozen publications. He was the first president of the Toledo Press Club when it was organized in 1881. R. W. Harris succeeded Mr. Oblinger in the fall of 1885, but remained in charge only about one year, when Elmer White became editor. He remained at the helm until about the latter part of 1892. Archibald Stuart conducted the paper for about three years, when he was superseded by Thomas A. Starr. In 1897 the business was reorganized under the name of the "Bee Publishing Company," with Negley D. Cochran as president and editor. Frank M. Heller was managing editor at the beginning of 1922. James M. Bloomer and Thomas O'Keefe began the publication of the "Toledo News" in 1881. Mr. O'Keefe soon retired and Mr. Bloomer became sole proprietor and editor. In 1883 he changed the day of issue to Sunday and the name of the paper to the "Sunday News." About three years later the paper became the property of the Toledo News Company, which had been organized in 1878, and the old name was resumed. In 1887 it was made a daily, conducted by the News Publishing Company, with Henry Stocks, president ; James M. Bloomer, secretary. During the next ten years several changes were made in the personnel of the management. By 1890 it had become one of the leading newspapers of Toledo, presenting both foreign and domestic news in a concise form, which especially commended it to busy people. In 1900 the outfit was sold to the Toledo 486 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY Times Company. Its publication was continued as the afternoon edition of the "Times" until 1902, when it was consolidated with the "Bee," thus forming the "Toledo News-Bee," with Negley D. Cochrane as editor. The "News-Bee" in 1922 was published every evening except Sunday by the Toledo Newspaper Company, the officers of which were as follows : W. H. Dodge, of Cleveland, president ; C. A. Collin, vice president ; C. F. Mosher, of Cincinnati secretary and treasurer ; W. K. Stewart, business manager. The publication office is at Huron and Jackson streets. TOLEDO PUBLICATIONS IN 1922 Besides the "Blade," "Times" and "News-Bee," whose history has already been given, the following list of Toledo newspapers and periodicals has been compiled from Ayer's Newspaper Annual and the Toledo City Directory, with brief notice of the main points in their history. "American Flint," a monthly, is published in the interests of the glass workers' unions. It was established in 1909 and is edited by C. J. Shipman, secretary of the glass workers. "Ameryka Echo," a Polish daily and weekly, was established as the "Gwiazda" in 1887 by A. A. Paryski. About two years later the name was changed to "Ameryka," under which it was continued until 1906. The "Echo" was started as a daily by Mr. Paryski in 1902, the former paper having been published twice a week. In 1906 the two were merged as the "Ameryka-Echo." The publication office is located at 1140 Nebraska Avenue. Mr. Paryski continues as the publisher and the paper is edited by M. S. Dunin. The "Converted Roman Catholic and Protestant Missionary" was established in 1911. As its name indicates it is devoted to religious subjects. It is published monthly by J. L. King at 146 Huron Street. The "Correspondent" is a matrimonial publication edited and published by Mrs. L. E. Smith, 2608 Parkwood Avenue. The "East Side Sun" began its career in 1920. It is published every Thursday at 504 Main Street by James Toppin and gives the local news relating to East Toledo. The "Dental Summary," published in the interests of the dental profession by the Ransom & Randolph Company, was founded in 1881. L. P. Bethel is the editor. The "Toledo Express," a German weekly, made its appearance on New Year's Day in 1854, under the name of the "Ohio Staats Zeitung." It was founded by Marx & Hauschild, the latter occupying the editorial chair. Upon his retirement the Marx Brothers took control and in the latter part of 1856 started a small daily, with Julius Vortriede as editor. At that time the name was changed to the "Toledo Express." The daily was afterward suspended, but the weekly is still published every Thursday by the Toledo German Publishing Company, 632 Southard Avenue, with Henry C. Vortriede as editor. The "Family Grocer," a monthly magazine devoted largely to domestic science, family affairs and the interests of the retail grocery trade, was started in 1911 and is edited by August Weinandy. TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 487 A monthly publication called "The Gleaner" is issued by the students of St. John's University, and in 1918 the students of Toledo University commenced the publication of the "Teaser." These periodicals are devoted to the interests of their respective institutions and give news of interest to the student body. "Grocer and Butcher," a semi-monthly magazine calculated to promote the interests of grocers and meat dealers, was established in 1903. It is the organ of the Toledo Retail Grocers and Butchers Association and is edited by Nellie M. Ames, 207 Chamber of Commerce building. The "Headlight," the official organ of the Toledo Automobile Club, is published monthly at 138 St. Clair Street. It is a neat magazine, devoted to the automobile interests, an advocate of good roads, etc., and is ably edited by John L. Corey. "Kuryer Katoliki" (Catholic Courier), a Polish religious weekly, was started as a small sheet in 1900 and has gradually grown in both size and importance. It is published every Thursday at 1152 Nebraska Avenue and is edited by Adam Solarczyk. Next door to this office is published the "Nasze Zycle," a monthly devoted to the interests of the Polish Baptist Church in America. "The Northwestern Miller" is published in the interest of the flour trade. William H. Wiggin, Jr., is the manager of the publishing company, the office of which is at 543 Ohio building. The "Toledo City Journal" is issued weekly by the Commission of Publicity and Efficiency of the city government and is edited by C. A. Crosser, secretary of the commission. It publishes the proceedings of the city council and other items of interest to the citizens of the city. The "Toledo Israelite," a Jewish Weekly, was established in 1915. It is published every Thursday by the Israelite Publishing Company, with Aaron J. Gould, manager ; Joseph L. Cummins and Elsie E. Gould, editors. The "Toledo Legal News" is the successor of the "Toledo Daily Reporter," which was started in 1892 by George M. Luttrell. The next year Mr. Luttrell began publishing the "Legal Bulletin," the name of which was later changed to the "Toledo Bulletin." In 1903 the "Reporter" and the "Bulletin" were consolidated as the "Legal News," which is issued daily by the Toledo Legal Printing Company, 436-442 Huron Street ; John L. Corey, president ; H. J. Chittenden, secretary and treasurer. The "Toledo Record" (Catholic) is published every Friday at 306 Nasby building by the Record Publishing Company, and is edited by James Nolan. The "Union Leader," the organ of the Toledo Central Labor Union, was established in 1907. It is published every Saturday at 1103 Cherry Street by the Union Publishing Company, August Smith, business manager ; Joseph P. Keating, editor. The "West End Herald," an independent weekly devoted to the social and business welfare of West Toledo, was started in 1916. It is published every Friday by the Herald Publishing Company, 1328 Detroit Avenue, and is edited by Perry Wilson. The "Toledo Clubwoman," a monthly edited by E. E. Gould, and the "Toledo Oddfellow," published monthly by the Goodrich Printing Company, need no comment, as their names indicate the field each covers. The American Legion also publishes a paper in the interest of those who served in the World war. 488 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY DEFUNCT NEWSPAPERS There is scarcely a town of any size in the United States, in which there has not been at some time a citizen filled with an ambition to start a newspaper. Many such have commenced the publication of newspapers to further some special interest, advocate some pet theory, or advance the political aspirations of an individual. Papers of this class have usually been short-lived. Toledo has had its quota of such, and it would be unprofitable to attempt a history of each, because the public generally has lost interest in them, if the editors have not been entirely forgotten. But there were a few that deserve notice. On September 14, 1841, Charles I. Scott issued the first number of the "Toledo Register," which was the first Democratic newspaper in Lucas County, the first paper having been neutral in politics and the Blade a Whig organ. In 1843 Mr. Scott sold the outfit to Garrett D. Palmer, who changed the name of the paper to the "Toledo Herald." In May, 1844, it was suspended. In the last issue the editor stated that the suspension was due to "the general apathy of the Democrats of the district. . . . The present number, then, will be the last, until an entirely different state of feeling exists among the Democracy of the county and this district." The paper was never revived. A newspaper called the "Toledo Times" was started in the latter part of 1856. In the spring of 1857 the name of Norman T. Nash appeared at the head of the editorial columns and it is believed that he was the founder, though the first numbers have all disappeared. H. T. Smith acquired an interest in 1858, when the name was changed to the "Herald and Times." The paper suspended shortly afterward. Another "Toledo Times" was started in 1865 by S. J. Meany, but only a few numbers were issued. A third paper bearing this name was established in 1870 by A. C. Tucker. It lasted but a few months. In 1875 Sumner, Folsom & Company began the publication of a semi-monthly called the "Toledo Times." It was changed to a monthly in 1877 and the following year it passed into the hands of C. H. Coy, who published it as a weekly until 1880, when it was suspended. E. A. Higgins started the "Democratic Record" in 1865: He was succeeded after a short time by William S. Glessner, who, to use the printer's vernacular, "attempted to publish a six-point paper in a twelve-point town." The result was he was forced to suspend in 1867. Not long after the suspension of Glessner's paper, Thomas P. Ackers, H. A. Hoyt and R. D. Dunn launched the "Toledo Democrat." In 1870 the plant was purchased .by Powell & Bebout and about a year later the Toledo Democrat Company was incorporated by the proprietors. The Toledo Newspaper Company took over the property of 1873 and changed the name to the "Democrat and Herald." Dodd & Bebout purchased the paper in 1874 and changed the name to the "Northern Ohio Democrat." Gen. James B. Steedman became the president of the Northern Ohio Democrat Company in 1880 and continued in that position until his death. The Ohio Printing Company then took charge and conducted the paper until 1886, when the paper suspended. It was soon succeeded by another Democratic paper called the "Herald and Times," published by R. Selner & Company. This paper passed out of existence in 1889. P. H. Bateson began the publication of a weekly paper called the "Toledo Journal" in 1868. John J. Manor soon afterward became associated with him and the firm of Bateson & Manor continued to publish the paper three times a week until TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 489 1871. H. S. Chapin then acquired an interest and the paper was changed to the "Sunday Journal." A Woman's Rights Department was started in 1870 and in 1874 Mrs. Sarah R. L. Williams took charge of this feature. In November, 1875, the plant was purchased by Isaac R. Sherwood and George S. Canfield and the department was suspended. Several changes in ownership and management occurred during the next ten years. In 1892 the Journal Company was incorporated and in 1900 the name was changed to the "Sunday Morning Courier-Journal," owing to the consolidation of the paper with the "Courier," which was also a Sunday paper. This paper was afterward merged with the Sunday edition of the "Toledo Times." A number of German newspapers have appeared in the field at different times. Among them may be mentioned the "Demokrat," established in 1859 by Charles H. Buelow, and suspended in 1863 ; the "Volksfreund," established in 1878 by C. G. Busch, suspended in 1896 ; the "Freie Presse," established by Emil V. Schleinitz in 1887 and published for three years before it gave up the ghost. All these were weekly papers and the "Freie Presse" published a daily edition for some time before the suspension. A list including all the newspapers and periodicals that have been published in Toledo would run into the hundreds. Among these (leaving off the quotation marks for convenience) were : The Corn City Compliments, the Critic, the Crystal Fountain, the Toledo Review, Locke's Monthly, Railway Bulletin, Railway Guide, the Argus, the Social Mirror, Tri-State Farm News, Scientific Monthly Magazine—changed to the International Journal, the True Nationalist—a Greenback paper, Farm and Fireside, Ohio Good Templar, East Toledo Gazette, Sunday Republican, Medical and Surgical Reporter, the Toledo Eagle, the Labor Record, the World, the East Toledo Enterprise, the Advocate and Reporter, the Dorr Street Press, the Labor Search Light and a host of others. Most of these papers lived but a short time. A few managed to exist for several years and some were absorbed by other publications. TOLEDO PRESS CLUB Along in the summer of 1880 some of the representatives of the Toledo newspapers, in informal discussions, came to the conclusion that, as other cities had their press clubs, why not Toledo ? Accordingly a meeting was called in November to consider the advisability of organizing such a club. A committee was appointed to form a constitution and by-laws and at another meeting a little later the following officers were elected : Flavius J. Oblinger, president ; William R. Leflet, vice president ; James W. Erwin, secretary ; Fred W. Baker, treasurer. In the selection of men for these offices, they were impartially chosen from among the writers on the different newspapers. For several years the meetings of the club were held in the office of the "Evening Bee." During the ten years from 1887 to 1897 the club moved its domicile at least four times. It then met in rooms on Summit Street for awhile and after two or three other changes of location, pleasant and commodious quarters were secured in the Smith & Baker building on the corner of Adams and Superior streets. Among those who have held the office of president, probably the most prominent were : Flavius J. Oblinger, Charles Reed, William R. Leflet, William Beatty, 490 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY Negley D. Cochran, Robinson Locke, Samuel S. Knabenshue, Michael P. Murphy, A. G. Anderson, E. R. Kelsey and W. F. Hedrick. RURAL NEWSPAPERS The first newspaper in Lucas County outside of Toledo, was the "Manhattan Advertiser," which was started by Benjamin F. Smead in July, 1836. Manhattan is now within the limits of the City of Toledo, but in 1836 it was one of several rival towns competing for the terminus of the canal. Mr. Smead was a practical printer and was engaged by the proprietors of the Town of Manhattan to publish a newspaper to advertise the advantages of the town to prospective investors. When the "Advertiser" was first issued the town was not a year old and the paper was started without adequate capital and virtually without a subscription list. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, through the efficiency of the editor, it soon assumed abroad the character and influence of a real newspaper. During the winter seasons Mr. Smead spent much of his time at Columbus, working at his trade as a compositor, applying his wages to keep the "Advertiser" going. The paper was suspended in the spring of 1840, but it was revived in July. After issuing one edition Mr. Smead died suddenly and the paper was edited for a time by the late Horace S. Knapp, author of a "History of the Maumee Valley." The growth of Toledo soon overshadowed Manhattan and the "Advertiser" passed into history. Early in the year 1837 a few of the enterprising citizens of Maumee formed an association for the publication of a newspaper. Calvin Frary was employed as manager and on March 25, 1837, the first number of the "Maumee Express" came from the press. It was a neat, well printed sheet, 22 by 33 inches in size, and was edited by Henry Reed, Jr. After six weekly editions were issued Mr. Frary was succeeded by J. H. Brown, who had formerly been connected with a newspaper at Tiffin. A little later the press and materials became the property of Henry Reed, Jr., Hezekiah L. and Stephen T. Hosmer, the last named having charge of the mechanical branch of the work. This newspaper, under different owners and editors, continued for more than half a century. After the "Express" came the "Maumee River Times," which was published by H. T. Smith at both Maumee and Perrysburg. In 1855 the office of this paper, or at least the press, type, etc., was removed to Toledo, leaving the "Express" master of the field. P. C. Holt & Company began the publication of the "Maumee New Era" in' 1872. J. E. Wilcox purchased the paper and conducted it until 1881, when he sold out to F. D. Crane. Under his management the name was changed to the "Advance-Era." Early in the present century Herbert S. Dixon became the editor and continued in charge of the paper for several years. According to Ayer's "Newspaper Annual for 1922," the editor and publisher at the beginning of that year was H. M. Pomeroy. The "Advance-Era" has always been independent in politics and a good purveyor of local news. The Sylvania "Sentinel" unfurled its banner to the breeze in 1908, as a local weekly independent newspaper. A year or two later the Sentinel Publishing Company was organized and assumed control of both the newspaper and the job printing plant. The "Sentinel" is published every Thursday and at the beginning of 1922 was ably edited by J. J. A. Parker. The only other rural newspaper in Lucas County is the "Waterville Chronicle," TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 491 which was established in 1914. It is independent in politics, devoted chiefly to local interests, and has a satisfactory circulation among the farmers in the southeastern part of Lucas County and a considerable portion of Wood County, just across the Maumee River. It is published every Thursday by the Crown Publishing Company, with Henry Scherer as editor. DAVID ROSS LOCKE For the benefit and instruction of a younger generation it might be necessary to explain what all well informed people of thirty or fifty years have tested as a current coin of knowledge. David Ross Locke was the Ohio journalist who, under the literary name of "Petroleum V. Nasby," was a mighty factor in molding opinion and creating history during the period of the Civil war. Abraham Lincoln in the White House read and chuckled over the humor and appreciated the fine philosophy of the Nasby letters. The Nasby letters were among the current documents of the Civil war time that stirred people to right thinking and decisive action. While it could hardly be claimed that their influence was as great as "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and one or two other vital human documents of that period, any collection of writings which did most to influence and excite to action the people of the North from 1850 until the close of the Civil war would include the writings of Petroleum V. Nasby. As Petroleum V. Nasby, Mr. Locke was known to the world at large. A much smaller circle of those who knew him personally and not as a literary character identified him with a Northwest Ohio editor, and one institution which stands as the permanent memorial of his career is the Toledo Blade. David Ross Locke was a great editor, writer and publicist, and Toledo probably esteems him greatest among all of its former citizens. Mr. Locke's character was one of strongly marked individuality, and as an intimate friend said of him, he was a child of the people, he had eaten the bread of poverty, and in his eleventh year he started out without fortune beyond that of his own talent, to battle with the world and carve out a career. When opportunity came he was ready to seize it. He had talent and courage and an unusually effective manner of using his mental endowments. Having been acquainted with poverty in his youth, it is said that he never forgot his early struggles, and a few days before his death he said to a friend that he "always believed in giving every man a chance." Perhaps the most dominating characteristic was his thorough sincerity. He had no sympathy with men not actuated by sincere motives. He was a hard worker and a practical believer in the adage that "there is no excellence without labor." He worked hard himself, demanded the utmost of others, though this did not interfere with the exercise of an active sympathy and a tendency to credit each man as he deserved. He had many of the rugged characteristics and the simplicity of the man whom he afterward came to admire and praise so unstintingly, the great Illinois rail-splitter and President. David Doss Locke was born at Vestal, Broome County, New York, September 20, 1833. His father Nathanial Reed Locke, died in Lucas County, Ohio, when nearly a century old, having outlived his son. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. He became an abolitionist before that organization existed, and when the doctrines had a strange and far-away sound to American people. He was always 492 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY ready to maintain his beliefs and advocate them boldly. Thus from him the late David R. Locke acquired a strong feeling for liberty and a determined opposition to everything that was not true republicanism. Both the father and son possessed in equal amount a decision of character that made them invincible in any undertaking, no matter what the difficulties might be. When David Ross Locke was ten years of age he left home and was regularly apprenticed to the publisher of the Courtland Democrat for a period of seven years. In the office of that paper, though busied with innumerable details that might have seemed petty, he was led by an unconquerable ambition to higher things, and he learned the printing trade as he did everything else, with a thoroughness that made him a master. He attended school only a few years. In a printing shop he found his great university. He had an acquaintance and knowledge of books and literature such as very few men of his time possessed. Those who were not familiar with the struggles of his early life imagined him to be university trained. Others who were more familiar with his early experiences could never understand what had given him his extensive acquaintance with men and books. After finishing his apprenticeship he became a real journeyman in the actual sense of that term and passed several years as a journeyman printer, wandering about the country, first working in one office and then another. In that time he visited nearly every large city in America, earning his living by his trade as printer or reporter, and with little desire to make money beyond the bare necessities and expenses. Early in life he showed great powers of observation. In these years of wandering he spent some time in the southern states, and what he saw there of industrial and economic and social conditions confirmed the strong anti-slavery sentiment which he had acquired from his father. He came to hate, with a hatred bred of experience and close knowledge, everything connected with the institution of slavery. At Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he became reporter and then assistant editor on the Pittsburgh Chronicle. This was about his last experience as a journeyman printer. He soon afterward joined his fortunes with a friend, James G. Robinson, and the two went to Plymouth, Ohio, and started the Advertiser. The Plymouth Advertiser is still in existence, and is a paper that takes great pride in having been founded by the renowned Petroleum V. Nasby. The Advertiser was started in 1852. For two years these young men, rich in nothing but their brains and capacity for hard work, and starting with only $42.00 in capital, labored night and day at an enterprise that seemed almost as hopeless as anything that could be undertaken. They bought a secondhand outfit, they edited the paper, they set the type, they did the press work, and, in fact, they performed all the menial details of a small country newspaper. They were earnest, hard working sober young men, rwho gained and kept the confidence of the public and won a deserved success. When they sold out at the end of two years they had $1,000 to be divided between them. That seemed like a large amount of money in those days, and besides this comparative wealth they had also acquired good business credit and many friends. It was during those months of hard work in Plymouth that David Locke met and married Miss Martha Bodine, the faithful wife of his youth, the mother of his three sons and the devoted companion and comforter of his later days. In 1856 Mr. Locke started the Journal in Bucyrus, Ohio. It was in Bucyrus that he began winning the reputation which later on placed him among the chief literary men of the Civil war epoch of American TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 495 history. He wrote a series of stories, one for each week, for six years. Some of these stories had weird and pathetic features, others were tragic and startling, but all were illustrative of certain social phases. The scenes were laid in Bucyrus, and the surrounding country. They contained realistic descriptions of scenery and names were given unflinchingly. Though the incidents related were illogical and improbable, there was just enough truth at the bottom of each story to excite not only interest but a great deal of criticism and feeling. But the interest in these stories was not confined to local readers. They had such a strength, due to their realism, and were so full of incident and adventure that they were widely copied, and were republished in some of the leading newspapers of the day and even carried across the ocean into English papers and occasionally were translated into French and German. One of the more popular of these tales had its scene in a Pennsylvania mining town. It was so similar in incident and character to Tennyson's "Enoch Arden," which appeared some years later, as to afford scarcely a doubt that the Locke story was the real basis for the great poet's much admired work. In the meantime Mr. Locke was successively and successfully identified with several other Ohio newspapers, including the Mansfield Herald and the Bellefontaine Republican. During the first year of the Civil war he was editor and proprietor of a weekly paper called the Jeffersonian, published at Findlay, Ohio. His labors there were a repetition of those upon the Advertiser at Plymouth. "If there is any grade of poverty," he once said, "from which there is no further defense, editing a paper in a sparsely settled country is that grade. I was on that grade, and well on to the further end of it, too, when running the Jeffersonian in Findlay. I set my own type, carried my paper from the stage office on my shoulder, worked off the issue on a rusty old hand press and wrote or scissored out of exchanges everything the sheet contained." As to how the Nasby letters came to be written, Mr. Locke told in after years the story in substance as follows : About the time the war broke out he heard of a paper being circulated for signatures petitioning the Legislature to prohibit negroes from coming into the state and asking for legislation to remove all the colored population the state then contained. This petition was being circulated in Findlay by a shiftless, worthless fellow named Levi Flenner. The few negroes then in Findlay were hard working, law abiding men, and to remove them and leave Levi there was an inconsistency that was startling but strangely enough was not apparent to a great many who signed the petition. One night, in a drug store, where people were gathered as is the custom in country towns, Mr. Locke met Levi, who had the paper in his pocket. He read the petition aloud with comments, and as he read he interpolated. Then and there he was inspired by the paradox of the situation, and made up his mind to write the Nasby letters. That week, under the signature of "Rev. Petroleum Vesuvius Nasby," a letter purporting to come from an ignorant and penniless Kentucky democrat who was devoted to free whisky and the perpetuation of slavery and who desired to be postmaster, was published as the first Nasby letter. Thus commenced the most remarkable series of satires upon public men and measures that were ever written. It was the development of this character which brought about the long series of Nasby letters, and these in turn gave distinction and peculiar vitality to the Toledo Blade, of which Mr. Locke soon became editor. At the close of the war George S. Boutwell said in a speech at Cooper Union, that the crushing of the Rebellion could be credited to three forces, "the army, the 496 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY navy and the Nasby letters." Before these letters had reached their highest degree of popularity Mr. Locke raised a full company of recruits in Findlay to go to the front, and he sent to Columbus for a. commission as captain. This was emphatically refused by the governor upon the ground that the would be soldier could do more at home fighting with his pen through his paper than upon the field of battle. Thus he never became a soldier in the ranks, though perhaps no brigadier general in the army accomplished so much in behalf of the integrity of the Union as this quiet Ohio editor. Later he sent a substitute into the army, a matter to which he often facetiously alluded without mentioning the circumstance just related of the official command that he remain at home. The popularity of the Nasby letters created a. demand for the appearance of their author upon the lecture platform. He lectured in all the principal cities of the North, and though not a master of oratory, as he often declared, he never failed to draw a crowded house and to evoke a prolonged applause. In Philadelphia; when he came before the assembled thousands, he was accompanied and introduced by Anna Dickinson, then a young girl who was electrifying audiences everywhere by her wonderful eloquence. The appearance of the two together called forth the wildest enthusiasm, and it was some time before quiet could be restored to allow the lecturer to proceed. One of the striking phases of Mr. Locke's character was his determination not to accept any public office. Few men finding themselves in a position to command so much would have refused what the world in general would regard as brilliant opportunities. As author of the Nasby letters he was in a position to ask for some of the most conspicuous public places. President Lincoln offered to appoint Mr. Locke to office, and later President Grant urged him to accept a. foreign mission, either to St. Petersburg or. Berlin, but both offers were declined. Mr. Locke had not the slightest desire for public office of any kind, and he was not to be swerved from his determination by any consideration, whatever its source. His greatest ambition was to build up a family newspaper that should circulate in every state from Maine to Georgia and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In October, 1865, Mr. Locke removed to Toledo and took editorial charge of the Blade, which was then a fairly prosperous daily, the property of A. D. Pelton. The weekly as it is now had no existence then, though there was a weekly issue more for the publishing of the county advertisements than anything else, and with a circulation of about 1,000. On this basis Mr. Locke began the work of establishing a paper which should have a national circulation. .He labored with all his might first as a salaried editor and then as part, and finally as sole proprietor. During the first few years he did a great amount of editorial writing, equal to what two ordinary persons might accomplish, though in later years his part in the Weekly Blade was of a different character, but none the less vitally connected with its prosperity. In 1871 Mr. Locke removed to New York city and became managing editor of the Evening Mail, though still maintaining his connection with the Blade. Several years afterward he returned .to Ohio. It was in the Weekly Blade that Mr. Locke saw the dreams of his early manhood and his highest ambitions fulfilled. Of the power that the Weekly Blade has exercised on public opinion throughout America it is not necessary to speak. Gradually Mr. Locke withdrew from all save a general supervision over the Weekly Blade, and during the last five years of his life he wrote nothing for its columns save occasionally a Nasby letter and a few temperance TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 497 articles over his own signature. Continued overwork had made such inroads into his fine constitution that he found it necessary to take life somewhat leisurely. His time in his later years was spent principally in promoting large business interests and in advancing the welfare of the city which was his home and with which his name and fortunes are most closely identified. While much of his life was devoted to practical affairs which have their chief significance in the immediate undertaking and in the time for which they were planned, Mr. Locke never gave up his work as a writer and he won for himself an enduring place in American literature because of the vital influence his writings had over a critical period of American history, and some of his things will be read and appreciated by coming generations. He wrote several successful plays, a number of books and pamphlets and many poems. A list of his More important publications are: "Divers Views, Opinions and Prophecies of Yours Truly" (Cincinnati, 1865) ; "Swingin' Round the Cirkle" (Boston, 1866) ; "Ekkoes from Kentucky" (1867) ; "The Moral History of America's Life Struggle" (1872) ; "The Struggles of P. V. Nasby" (1873) ; "The Morals of Abou ben Adhem," or "Eastern Fruit in Western Dishes" (1875) ; "A Western Land Circulation" (1878) ; "Hannah Jane," a poem, and "Nasby in Exile" (1882). It was in the spring of 1881 that Mr. Locke went to Europe, accompanied by his son Robinson, and the two traveled almost two years through Great Britain and Ireland, France and Germany, Switzerland and Belgium, returning home only once during the time. Mr. Locke recorded his impressions of these countries in a series of letters to the Blade under the title "Nasby in Exile." He made no attempt to describe scenery or buildings and works of art, for he said that this had been done before, but he was deeply interested in the men and women of the different countries, in their mode of living, their industries, their customs and habits, and he tried faithfully to put on paper what he saw. These letters were afterward collected and put in book form under the same title, and while the work was classed in the same category as to humor with "Innocents Abroad," it contained much information upon different topics of unquestionable value. After his return from Europe Mr. Locke spent most of his time in Toledo. He built a beautiful home, in which he gathered together a large library and many fine works of art,' and settled down there to enjoy himself with his family. His life in Toledo was interrupted only by an occasional journey to the east, and in home and its pleasures he found the ideal fruitage of a long life. He died at his home in the city of Toledo, February 15, 1888. The following beautiful hymn was written by Mr. Locke on the train, when he was returning, ill, from a trip to Boston. After reaching Toledo. he mailed it to the "Boston Traveller," which promptly sent him a check for $50.00. We reproduce it because of its beauty and because it is so absolutely different from his best known writings. THOU SON OF DAVID HAVE MERCY ON ME (Petroleum V. Nasby in the Boston Traveller) "What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, receive thy sight ; thy faith bath saved thee." St. Luke XVIII, 41, 42. 498 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY All blind I sit beside life's dusty way, My heart scaled o'er with self-invited sin ; Oh, Jesus, help me ! So I more than pray; Tear off the world and let Thy lovelight in. Not like the man who for his outward sight Was bold the pitying Jesus to assail, A sin-encrusted soul begs for the light ; Hear, blessed Jesus, my despairing wail ! Sweet Savior, give to me the living faith Whose grasp alone Thy promises can hold, The only shelter from offended wrath, The pitying arms that can a sin enfold. I care not—take from me my mortal sight, Shut out from me the land, the skies, the sea. But on my darkened soul, oh shed the light That gives a nearer, closer view of Thee. Oh, give to me the faith to trust that grace Which, when 'tis trusted, fully saveth all ; No sinning world too large for its embrace, No shrinking, fearful, sin-vexed soul too small