The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-13

| of the town of Albert Lea Concerning
! the early newspapers published in Albert
| County Eagle of Feb 49, 1860: Swine
! ford q Gray continued the Southern Min
nesota star thirty-nine weeks. then II. F.
S,id pupilsneo one number, making forty
Iuli mum Ders for the Star" 1t was indie
pendent in politics.
| The Freeborn County Standard in it's
fsa9e OF may. MAY f. 1855. says in an article
tudes the Minnesota Star was first is
sued July IL, 1857 and ran about eight
| months and ID, died from lack of Democratic
| support Inc press and material lay idle
| ABOUT SIX months. 1t was then sold under
mortgage foreclosure by Geo. S. Ruble,
ana went to All P. Swineford, one Of the
former proprietors Of the Star. With it
| ne started the Freeborn County Eagle.
isaac Botsford succeeded to this He is
tne man who announced in his prospectus
tnat ne would take for subscriptions any
thlng that grew that he could use, and
everything that could be made except
counterfeit money.
! =. .MantorviIIe Express.
| The fifty-third newspaper was the
| Mantoryille Express
| The Mantorville Express was begun in
HaIantorvllIe, Dodge county, July 16, 1857.
Inc FOUNDER of the paper was ]. e. Ban
croft; 1t was Independent in politics. c.
| W. Blaisdell bought a press and material
Tor paper at Wasioja, few miles from
Mantorylle, and there was considerable
rlvairy between him and Bancroft for a
a lumber wagon. behind a yoke of oxen
and, In crossing the, Zumbro river, near
orc COCO the the wagon capsized, mixing
tn ne 'G beforn INTO Rl and %ett1ng down the
| This gave Blaisdellt so much advantage
that he thought there. was no need OF
| spef tlaI hurry. Bancroft, however, was
! along when a man from Wasioja came
| along about half drunk. on the morning
OF July 10. and Dragged how Wasioja was
4 n1If 4F
| newspaper way. Bancroft pumped until
he found Blaisdell intended to start his
| paper on the 18th. Hardly was his in
formant out of sight on his way to Roch-
| hands for day and night hustle to get
| out the Express Meals were brought
| TO the office and everybody worked with
such small waste of, time that when the
| Waslo1a man came. along the next after
noon the Express was on the street, ana
| he was presented with copy to take
| and Mantorvflle. That is how Vol. 1, No.
! l. of the MantorviHef Express came to be
| dated July 16 and the first issue of the
| Wasioja Gazette July II. July 81, 1858,
croft as publisher Feb. S, 1859, LaDue
retired. July go. 1859, P. c. Compton
Joined Burbank and the paper was en-
larged to seven columns. March "a, 1860.
Campton withdrew and Bancroft ran the
paper alone until March, 1866, when he
died. His wife went on with the paper
l.
| hesitated to let her name appear at the
head of the editorial columns until her
management had proved success July
/ ~. 1856, little over four months after the
|. death of Bancroft the name of his wife,
L e: F. F. Bancroft, appeared at the head
| OF me paper, She continued to edit and
manage 1t until July %, 1869. Then be-
| have counted sixteen after Bancroft
i up to Novsj1, 1881. The Express survived
them all. however. and is still running.
John Earl Bancroft.
/ John E. Bancroft began the sMantoryille
Express July Is, 1857, as above stated.
He came from Pennsylvania to Wiscon-
! fore starting his paper. He was not a
/ man of strong physique, and the hard
/ selfrsacrificing work of building his news
paper on firm. foundations so told on his
| stock Of vitality that he died in the
Il spring of 1885, The editor of another
newspaper, Writing of Bancroft said: -
We do not know that hesleft,an enemy
In the world. yet he was outspoken against
Il vice. firm in his maintenance of principle
i and unsparing in his denunciation - of
| wrong. His character needs not the aid
He lived long enough to secure a perma-
| nent and honorable place in the history
of our. county. and. state. and a lasting
remembrance in the hearts of those who
! knew him best"
| The fifty fourth newspaper; established
in the territory was the sWasieja Ca
/ .ss
The Historical society does not have
any of the issues of the Wasioja Ga
zette, nor can I find any numbers Of it
elsewhere. The July 25. 1857, issue of the
ceipt of the first issue. and my account OF
the publication Of the Mantorville Ex-
press fixes the exact date at July II, 1857
tor. Like the EXPRESS, the Gazette was
! Independent in politics. The Express of
July "a; 1858. announced s. L. Pierce.
a We'll known attorney of St. Paul, but
now of Redwood Fails, Mimi, as associate
editor of the Gazette during Vol. 2. then
Just beginning. The, Gazette lived about
three years and its place of publication
Red Wing Sentinel Number Two.
Red Wing Sentinel number two is the
name have given to the fifty-fifth news
| paper begun in Minnesota Red Wing
Sentinel number one was the seventeenth
IN regular coursei Its history will be
of 1867 After Merritt & Hutchins sol sold i
| the press and materials of number one to
Alexis Bailly, it went to Hastings, as has
been stated. The Gazette was then start
! ed by N. V. and G. Bennett, and Merritt
1 went into the hotel business. Merritt. tir-
| ing of the hotel business bought the Ca
zette according to the st. Paul Adver-
tiser, about June l, 1857, and ran it under
I that name until about Aug. of that year.
as the Advertiser quotes the Gazette as
late as July %. The issue of April ] of
/ Tile <AQNOTlLS0r lnon makes It's 0rSt men,
! ton of the Sentinel so that must have
( been about the time the change was made
Bennett having, In the meantime. formed
another alliance with William ColyiIfe
afterwards well known as the colonel of
the First Minnesota, the latter became ed
! 1tor of Sentinel number two as he former
| ~ had been of number one Bennett also
| became publisher and then, without fur
| ther ceremony, the volume and numbers
| of Red Wing Sentinel number one were
/ picked up and carried on the same as
| though no sale of press and material of
the old Sentinel to Bailly, no valedictory
of the Sentinel, as noted by the Pioneer
and Democrat of May 15, 1855, and no
intervening publication of the Minnesota
Gazette to supply its place. had ever been
made. Some months ago 1 wrote Col
| Colville for his explanation of these mat
| ters but he has not replied. have been
! doubly careful therefore, to harmonic all
| my statements as far as possible with as
certained facts, and there / must leave
| them, hoping that If 1 have made any
mistakes, they will be corrected by Col
| Colville, or others who are Qualified for
| the work before final publication of this
| paper by the Historical society
March e. 1859, Merritt sold again. and
| April g. 1862 E. A. Eittlefield and Martin
| Maginnis, the latter afterwards delegate
| to congress from Montana, became pub
| Usher Colville remaining editor Feb f.
| 1860, Colville sold his interest to w. w.
Phelps, member Of congress from the Red
| Wing district. because, as he said in his