Page:History of the Press in Western New York (1847).djvu/48

Rh ONTARIO COUNTY.

The next County in order, in which the Printing business was established, is Ontario County. , in 1797, tempted by the love of gain, or the more philanthropic principle of spreading light and knowledge into the dark recesses of an almost unpeopled country, selected Geneva, as his head quarters, from which he issued the "Geneva Gazette and Genesee Advertiser." Either the good people of Geneva did not appreciate the motives which induced Mr. to come among them, or for some other good and satisfactory cause, and which I am unable to say, for the records of the times are blind on this subject, true it is, however, that the attempt was a failure, for soon after, he removed the establishment to Canandaigua, and in 1802 sold it to a company of "ten federalists," who procured it to be "published for the proprietors," by John K. Gould, who had previously been employed in the office of the Albany Sentinel. Under this arrangement, in May, 1803, the first number of the "Western Repository and Genesee Advertiser" was given to the world, the "Salam Editorial" being from the pen of Nathaniel W. Howell.

The paper was thus continued until October, 1804, when James D. Bemis became interested in the establishment as joint proprietor with Mr. Gould. Mr. B. soon became sole proprietor of the paper, and in 1828 disposed of it to Morse & Harocy. Various proprietors have since that period, been interested in the publication of the "Repository," until at the present time, it is in the hands of George L. Whitney.

Opposition, says the old adage, is the life of business, and the "Repository and Advertiser" were not long permitted to enjoy, like Alexander Selkirk, the consciousness of undisputed monarchy, for 1806 ushered into existence the "Ontario Messenger," by John A. Stevens.

was the projector of the "Ontario Freeman," a little paper started in the same village in 1803. Its light was soon after extinguished, and all memorial of its doings have passed away with it.

, whose brother was somewhat conspicuous in the famous Tripoli expedition, started a paper at Geneva in 1800, called the "Impartial Observer and Seneca Museum." It lived but a short time.

The "Geneva Gazette," by James Bogart, was established at the delightful village of Geneva, at the foot of Seneca Lake, in the year 1806.

A. N. Phelps, started a paper called the "Republican," at Canandaigua, in 1824. It soon after passed into the hands of Thomas B. Barnum, and was finally discontinued.

Another paper was for a time published in the same village by George Wilson and O. P. Jackson—but no particulars have been furnished in relation to it.

W. W. Phelps commenced in Canandaigua, in 1827, an Anti-masonic paper, with the title of "Phoenix," which soon after passed into the hands of R. Royce, and changed its name to that of "Freeman"—in 1836 it was joined to the "Repository," which paper was then in the hands of Orville L. Holley, and finally its name has become extinct.

In 1824 a small paper had its rise in the village of Naples. It was called the "Village Record." Who claims the honor of bringing it into existence, or when it took its exit, is more than I am able to chronicle.

This, so far as I have been furnished with the material, comprises the sum total of the Newspaper Press in the County of Ontario; and I am sorry to say it is woefully deficient in many of its parts. But what has become of the men who figured in their establishment? To this inquiry I propose to devote a brief space, and will endeavor, so far as it can be done, to answer the interrogatory.

Of, the man who first planted the standard of the Newspaper Press in Ontario County, I regret to say no means are at my disposal to trace his personal history from the time he disposed of his establishment in 1802. It is reasonable to conclude, however, that he has long since worked off his last page, and been distributed in the case prepared for all beings. I regret that so little is known of his early history, but am unable to supply the deficiency.

, who succeeded Mr. Carey and published the paper for the "proprietors," died in 1808. As an interesting reminiscence in the history of the "Repository and Advertiser," it may be stated that Judge Howell, who wrote its prospectus, still lives to peruse its columns in the 44th year of its existence! Blest with age and honors, he has survived, a living witness to the mighty improvements that have been going on around him.

JAMES D. BEMIS who became interested with Mr. Gould, in the publication of the "Repository and Advertiser," in 1804, is still living at Canandaigua. Mr. B. has been extensively engaged in Printing, Bookselling and Binding in that village.

I will here state, that in relation to Mr., I shall be a little more particular, and give the facts in his case a little more minutely, than I shall do in other cases. His age—the position he occupies in relation to the Press In Western New York, demands this much at my hands. Mr. B. first came to Canandaigua, 15th January, 1804, and was then about 21 years of age. His first business was the establishment of a Bookstore, being in partnership with the proprietors of the Albany Bookstore. In October of the same year, he sold out to Myron Holley, and was then induced to buy one half of the Printing establishment, for which he paid $700. In 1810 he purchased back the bookstore of Mr. Holley, and added to the establishment a Bindery. He was also Agent for Ink Makers, Type Founders and Press Manufacturers. By the way, however, for many years he made his own Ink.

Previous to the opening of the Canal in 1825, Mr. was very extensively engaged in the