Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1895-06-14
THE LATE JOHN f. GR1ST.
tReproduced from q Pen Drawing


same. Then, in telling our story, how
could we be expected to refrain from
indulging in at least little partiality, and
if we do so indulge, why should we he
blamed? Nature is still nature, and in
dealing with such subject, we can hardly
hope to rise superior to it. Nevertheless,
however, in what we have to relate, we
shall not knowingly depart from the facts.
The present generation thinks that 1t
has seen some lively times politically,
and it has; but as compared with the
generation that has gone Immediately
before, it's experience has been mild
decidedly mild. There are not many
people alive today who remember 1t;
but the period of 1881 to 1884 was one OF
the most exciting, politically, that TINS
State and country has ever known.
South Carolina believed that she was
a sovereign State then. Congress had
passed q tariff act that seemed to operate
as discriminating hardship against
large number of the people. John {.
Calhoun had fought the act bitterly, ana
after its passage, hacked by Governor
Hamilton and other prominent leaders,
he taught the people that the proper
remedy was notification, which, to all
intents and purposes, meant war.
South Carolinians were hot tempered
and excitable in those days; much more
so than they are now. The proposition
for notification was vitality important
question, affecting the patriotism and the
personal interest Of all the people. The
more men thought about the matter, the
more they became aroused, excited ana
divided. This was especially the case III
York county. Feeling ran high. 1t was
father against son and brother against
brother. There was no lukewarmness
and but little conservatism. Every man
had his convictions, and if unable to
uphold them by argument, he was not
slow to resort to physical force. Polltlcal
lines were drawn like bow strings. In
more than one county election, successful
candidates could only brag Of plnralilies
of less than dozen votes, and II was
seldom the case that second elections,
when they had to be held, developed a
single Hopper. On muster and other
big days, Yorkvlle was the scene OF
general street riots, participated in by the
adherents of the respective factions, ana
many broken head served to keep alive
for years and years recollection OF the
animosties of the period.
There have always been, and perhaps
always will be, those who believe IN Inc
power of the press as moulder OF pubic
opinions. During the first half OF the
period lust mentioned, the Pinckney
Whig, of Iorkville, was the only paper
published in York county. This paper
was for Modification, and kept preaching
that doctrine so persistently, as to create
the impression that it would finally
proselyte the whole people to its way
of thinking. \ number of prominent
Union men became alarmed at the
outlook, and decided that their only
recourse in the emergency was to establish
a newspaper of their own to uphold their
side of the question.
The establishment of the new paper was
undertaken in March, lSS, under the
auspices of w. G. Beatty, George w.
Williams, DR.. f. Jennings, and perhaps
others, all deceased. The necessary
printing material was at hand but
there was dcarth Of printers. and the
projectors of the enterprise wrote TO
acuuaintances in Columbia for assistance
in finding the proper man. AS the result
of the inquiries, they secured the services
of John f. Grist, an old employe OF the
Pendleton Messenger, the first newspaper
published in South Carolina, outside OF
Charleston and Columbia. Mr.. Grist ca me
to Yorkville on the 10th Of April, 1893,
and was accompanied by his wife and
one son-Lewis NJ. Grist-aged about II
months.
Newspaper organs are shortlived. They
are usually supported by the private funds
of their projectors, and generally die
either with the removal of the object for
which they are established, or with an
exhaustion of funds. Both the Iorkrille
papers had been established as political
organs The Nullitication issue died
with the Clay compromise. There was
no longer any occasion for strife. NO
organ-grinding politician ever aspires to
the real mission of the true journalist
the advancement of the general welfare.
The projectors of the organs saw no
further opportunity for personal ad-