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ONE
spring day in the year 1851 a man boarded the
state in Bloomington and rode to Decatur to give
the place the "once-over". He had head
about Decatur and decided to look it over before
determining on a location to establish his
business. He liked the town. He was
encouraged by Decatur citizens to locate here.
In fact, he was told that Decatur needed a
business of his kind, and he was urged to come.
In a short time the man, whose name was James
B. Shoaff, was back again with his
"plant" loaded on a wagon.1
It was soon set up. It turned out its
first product June 26, 1851.
JAMES B. SHOAFF
Decatur had made another stride. The
first product of that plant was Decatur's first
newspaper issue, and nearly all Decatur turned
out to get a copy as it came from the press.
Since that day to this, Decatur has never been
without a newspaper.
Shoaff's Family Gazette was the
name of the first newspaper published in this
city. James B. Shoaff was the
owner, managing editor, reporter, circulation
manager, advertising force, printer, all in one.
A newspaper outfit in that day was not as
extensive as one today. A hand press, a
case of type and a few odds and ends of
equipment were all that was necessary.
The first copies of that paper, still damp
from the press, were literally grabbed by the
citizens of Decatur. It was a big day for
Decatur when it became a city with a newspaper
of its own. It had struggled along more
than twenty years with out one, but he need for
a medium of disseminating news had been keenly
felt.
It was a good paper, too, which Mr. Shoaff
issued. A perusal of a few copies which
are still extant will prove this statement.
The paper was newsy and interesting. Mr.
Shoaff announced that his advertising rates
would be $18 a year for a half column, and $28
for a full column. The subscription price
of the paper was $1.50 a year if paid in
advance; otherwise $2 a year. Mr.
Shoaff arranged for agents in other cities,
Urbana, Taylorville, Bloomington, Clinton,
Shelbyville, Jacksonville, Pekin, Mt. Pulaski,
Charleston, Sullivan and other places, and soon
had a good subscription list. The press
was set up in what was called "Sons Hall."
Mr. Shoaff had worked as a journeyman
printer in most of the towns in this section of
Illinois, and then had acquired a newspaper
outfit of his own.
Mr. Shoaff was born in Williamsport,
Md. When living in Charleston he had met
and married Nancy
Hanks, daughter of Dennis Hanks
and niece of the mother of Abraham Lincoln.
There was one man in town who wasn't pleased
when James Shoaff started his newspaper
here. He was William J. Usrey.
His reason for not liking the newcomer was that
he had intended to start a newspaper himself,
but Mr. Shoaff beat him to it.
Feeling that there was not room in Decatur for
two papers at that time, Usrey waited.
Finally in 1855 he and Charles H. Wingate
started the Illinois State Chronicle.
After Mr. Shoaff had published
his paper for three years under the name of
Shoaff's
Family Gazette he changed the name of it to
Decatur Weekly Gazette. Under that head it
was continued until 1856 and then Mr. Shoaff
sold the paper. It passed through several
different hands during the next nine years, and
finally the good will and subscription list were
sold to the Chronicle. That was in 1865.
The paper issued then was called the
Gazette-Chronicle.
Mr. Shoaff entered the drygoods
business, but later returned to the newspaper
business, issuing the Magnet. He
also published newspapers in other towns, and
was in the Civil war, returning to Decatur again
to run the Magnet. He remained here
several years and then moved to Paris where he
published the Gazette. He died there in
1874. A son, Thomas B. Shoaff, is
now publishing the Leader at Shelbyville.
MANY OTHERS STARTED
Since 1851 more than forty newspapers have
been started in Macon county, most of them in
Decatur. Some were in existence only a few
months, some a few years, some were started for
campaign seasons only. In those days a
newspaper outfit did not cost much, and it was
not a big undertaking to start a paper. It
was a bigger proposition to keep one going.
They didn't make much money. Some did not
make any, and went to the wall.
William Stanley and J. R. Mosser
started on Aug. 1, 1867, the Daily Republican
which had a long and honorable career.
Stanley sold his interest to B. K. Hamsher
and the paper was conducted a long time by
Mosser and Hamsher. When Mr.
Mosser died W. F.
Calhoun went into the firm.
Alfred F. Wuench leased a printing
office in 1871. On the first Thursday in
April, 1872, the first issue of the Weekly
Decatur Review appeared. It was the
beginning of the present day Review. The
paper was started by Alfred Wuench, who
conducted it for two years. Then it was
published for a year by John Lindsay and
D. J. Block. After Block left,
Alfred F. Wuench, son of the founder,
came into the business and the paper was headed
by Lindsay and Wuench until June
1, 1876, when it was sold to W. H. Bayne.
In November, 1876, he began to issue a daily
paper, but the daily continued only two months.
About two years later, on Oct. 1, 1878,
publication of a daily was resumed, and has
continued up to the present time.
The Review was sold to S. S. Jack,
July 23, 1880. He sold a half interest to
W. J. Mize
and company. They sold out to a stock
company, called The Review Publishing Company,
which was composed of W. J. Mize, G. W.
Mize, Robert Mize, A Sterns
and Charles Sterns. In 1887 they
sold to R. E. Pratt and W. F. Thompson,
who, in turn, sold it in August, 1888, to J. P.
Drennan
and Jerry Donahue. In 1891 H. C.
Schaub became a member of the company.
The paper has continued under that management
until the present time.
The Saturday Herald was started Oct.
11, 1879, by C. N. Walls, formerly of the
Tuscola Journal. The next publishers
were H. W. Rowell and W. H. Addis.
After them came E. S. Ela and Virgil N.
Hostetler. Mr. Ela was soon
succeeded by Frank H. Hall. Hall
and Hostetler published the paper for
several years. It was consolidated about
1890 with the Decatur Despatch, which had
been started the year previous by W. F.
Calhoun. The paper then was called the
Hearld-Dispatch. Mr. Calhoun
soon afterwards went to Republican with
B. K.
Hamsher.
A plan was worked out in 1899 by the
newspapers whereby the Republican
circulation
would go to The Review and that paper
would change from a morning to afternoon and
Sunday publication, and the Herald-Despatch
would occupy the morning newspaper field alone.
After a time the Herald-Despatch
brought out the News, which had succeeded the
Daily Bulletin, long owned by John Lindsay.
The paper then became known as The Herald
and has continued under that name, though the
personnel of the company has changed.
Frank M. Lindsay, son of John Lindsay,
mentioned above, is now president, and W. F.
Hardy is editor.
The last attempt to start a new daily
newspaper in Decatur was in 1909. It was
the Decatur World, which lasted for
twenty-nine days.
**********
1.
Mr. Shoaff, by the way, got stuck in the mud on
his way to Decatur with his newspaper "plant".
Fortunately
Berry H.
Cassell
and Henry Hummell
came driving along and helped him out of his
predicament, with the aid of their horse.
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