The Monroe journal., 1922-12-05

Men are largely creatures ot CIR
c,rnstances and environments. For
tunes and misfortunes frequently
come by accident l. was by accident
that a weekly publication made It's
appearance at Msrshville November
S0th, lS93-thirty years ago-when
the town consisted Of nne families,
seven Of them white and TWO colored.
The accident happened when was
elected 10 the position OF lecturer OF
Union County Farmers Alliance two
or three wears previous 70 mat date.
The membership of that strong and
potent Organizat on, in boIn mon
and Arson counties. wanted a publ
cation that would eSpOuSe their cause
more aggreSsively than any OF the
existing publications were dong. and
as an active crusader in that cause
| felt inclined to respond 10 their
wishes. Ny first inclination was to
carry the printing outfit, which con-
sisted of a Washington hand lever
press and two hundred pounds OF
type. out TO my fathers farm ito
keep down expenses" but later de-
cided to do the printing al the rail
road station. We were then IN the
r1;ds. of the most disastrous financial
pan:c ever experienced in this country
and starting a newspaper in good
town at that time was hazardous
financial venture. Starting one at a
wide place in the road called Beaver
Dam" caused some of my friends TO
pay me a compliment by saying that
il looked like putting down a saw mill
where there was no timber
| have already said enough TO re-
fute any suggestion that the estab-
ishment of The Home in 1892 was
a commercial or business enterprise,
either directly or remotely. ! knew
absolutely nothing about the news
paper or printing business. II was
my means OF rendering more effective
service in the cause for which | had
became an advocate.
Getting a place to set up the hand
press and type cases was problem.
On the site where Bill Benefits shoe
shop is located there stood an aband-
oned country store building eighteen
by twenty-four feet, with a leaky
roof. covered with boards, and Mr..
w. T. Marsh, the owner, came to the
rescue and rented the building to me
for the modest sum of Sl.75 per
month. There is a romantic marrl-
age story connected with that print
ing office" building, which was erect
ed by Alfred Hill, of Knoxville, Tenn
essee, soon after the completion of
the railroad to this point. Mr.. Hill
was succeeded as merchant by ). {.
Boyce, who occupied the rear apart
ment as bed room. Mr. Boyce fell
in love" with a daughter of the late
Mirk Hasty. He and John Eber
Jerome appeared at the home of the
young lady at the same time one
Sunday afternoon. John Eber was
conservative in all his mental and
physical activities, but on that occa-
sion he succeeded in being fast
enough to get the lady's permission
TO take a little stroll and left Mr.
Boyce alone. The latter felt like
something heroic needed to be done
He followed the couple az a distance
Of hundred yards. Just as he
crossed tie railroad he fired his pistol
end fell. The lady left Mr. Jerome
and ran back to the rescue. of the
man she thought was possibly mort
ally wounded But he was only
wounded at heart by the lifting and
not BY the bullet. Some boys or
mischief bent made a coffin, placed
il against Mr. Boyce's store door dur
ing the night and when he opened
his front door next morning the
coffin fell into the store His anger
was aroused and he wanted 70 fight
but didn't know who was responsible
for the offense. However. he finally
married the girl that went to his ait
at the railroad track.
In August, 1898, B, c. and Eugene
Ashcraft succeeded W. j. Boylin as
owners of the Monroe Enquirer. Mr.
Boylin went to Nashville, Tennessee
where he took a position with the
Southern Methodist Publishing House
The Monroe Journal was established
by George and Roland Beasley il
February, 1894. George was prac
tical printer and Roland became The
editor. 1t would require a fairly
good sized book to hold what ROLAND
doesn'y know about the mechanica
end of the business. However, aftel
he bought the Whteville paper a few
years ago, to revive it from a weak
ened condition, he learned to maxi
up forms after somebody else ha'
set the type. Eugene Ashcraft wa
the practical printer of the Enquire
and Clegg became the editor. If tn