HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



79 



to the county-seat, and associated with him as publisher 

 M. F. Whittemore. Under the firm-name of Hull & 

 Whittemore they issued the first number of the Steuben 

 Courier on the 20th of September, 1843. It was a six- 

 column paper, twenty-one by thirty-one inches, and was 

 the only Whig organ in the county. At the end of two 

 years Mr. Whittemore retired from the ofiice to his farm 

 in Jasper, and the publication of the Courier was continued 

 by Mr. Hull alone till 1856, when Charles Gr. Fairman, 

 now editor of the Elmira Daily Advertiser, was associated 

 with him for nine months. At the end of that time Mr. 

 Fairman returned to Elmira to resume an editorial position 

 there. In 1854, upon the formation of the Republican 

 party, the Courier became, as it is to this day, an exponent 

 of Republican principles. In 1864, Mr. Hull formed a 

 partnership with Enos W. Barnes, and the firm of Hull & 

 Barnes existed, with the exception of six months in 1868, 

 until July 1, 1875, when Mr. Barnes retired to become 

 editor of the Alleghany County Reporter. His place on the 

 Courier was taken by H. S. Hull, son of H. H. Hull, and 

 the publication of the Courier was continued under the 

 firm-name of H. H. Hull & Son for nearly a year, when 

 the partnership was terminated by the death of the senior 

 editor on the 8th of June, 1876. Since that time the 

 Courier has been conducted by the junior partner. It has 

 been enlarged from time to time, and is now an eight-column 

 paper, twenty-seven by forty-one inches. 



H. H. Hull was married, in 1850, to Miss Clara Willis- 

 ton, daughter of the late Judge Horace Williston, of Athens, 

 Pa. He was once or twice elected supervisor of Bath, and 

 held at different times, by appointment of the Governor, the 

 offices of canal appraiser and harbor-master of the port of 

 New York, the duties of which positions he discharged with 

 signal ability and fidelity. He was, with perhaps one or 

 two exceptions, the senior editor of the country press in 

 the State, having been in the editorial harness thirty-five 

 years. On the 19th of May, 1876, while in apparently 

 good health, he was stricken with paralysis, and lingered 

 with illusory hopes of recovery till June 8, when he died. 



For twenty years before his death he was the most prom- 

 nent figure in Steuben County politics, and his influence 

 extended through the Southern Tier, and was felt in the 

 circle of " great politics." He was thoroughly informed 

 concerning national, State, and local affairs, and, possessing 

 un acute intellect, a logical mind, and a clear and forcible 

 style as a writer, he had no superior on the country press as 

 an able and eff"ective political editor. He had an inexhausti- 

 ble fund of wit and humor, and was a master of sarcasm and 

 irony. His influence as an editor, combined with his per- 

 sonal characteristics, won for him the position he occupied. 

 He possessed a lofty independence and earnest and deep- 

 seated convictions, and was fearless in the defense of what he 

 considered right. He was a politician in the broadest and 

 best sense of the term, but was not a slavish party retainer, 

 and hesitated no more to expose knavery in the ranks of his 

 own party than he did in those of the opposition ; and even 

 his political enemies, whom he invariably treated with fair- 

 ness, never charged him with mean intrigue, with double- 

 dealing, with venality, or with any of the sins which are so 

 apt to beset those who are actively engaged in politics. 



CORNING. 

 The Corning Journal, the oldest newspaper in the village, 

 was established in May, 1847, by Thomas Messenger, who 

 remained editor and proprietor till July, 1851, at which 

 date the establishment was purchased by A. W. McDowell 

 and Dr. George W. Pratt. The latter became editor, and in 

 April, 1853, purchased Mr. McDowell's interest, and re- 

 mained sole editor and proprietor till July, 1869, when he 

 sold one-half interest to T. S. De W^olfe. The paper was 

 conducted under the firm-name of Pratt & De Wolfe till 

 Nov. 1, 1874, when Mr. De Wolfe retired, and established 

 the- Corning Independent. Dr. Pratt has been editor of 

 the Journal continuously since July, 1851, a period of 

 nearly twenty-eight years, and is at this time the oldest 

 editor in Steuben County. 



The Corning Democrat was first issued April 15, 1857, 

 from the printing-office which a few years previously had 

 published the Southern Tier Farmer, C. T. Huston, of the 

 Athens Gleaner, and Frank B. Brown, editors and propri- 

 etors. In November of the same year Mr. Huston retired. 

 Mr. Brown has continued the proprietor since that time. 

 During the political compaign of 1866, Rev. L. D. Fer- 

 guson was associate editor, and from Nov. 9, 1868, to Jan. 1, 

 1870, the paper was published under the proprietorship of 

 Mr. Brown, by D. E. De Voe & W. A. Rowland. It was 

 started as a six-column paper, and in July, 1866, was enlarged 

 to seven columns, and to eight columns, its present size, in 

 July, 1871. It is a weekly. Democratic in politics, ably 

 conducted, and has a good, remunerative circulation. 



The Corning Independent was established in the fall of 

 1874, by T. S. De Wolfe. Some time during 1875, Hubert 

 S. Edson became a partner with Mr. De Wolfe, and the 

 paper was conducted by the firm of De Wolfe & Edson till 

 May, 1877, when Dr. A. J. Ingersoll purchased it, and con- 

 ducted it about one year, changing it to a semi-weekly. 

 During this year it was edited by Uri Mulford. In May, 

 1878, it was purchased by George W. Cooper, who is the 

 present editor and proprietor, and has made it, during the 

 past campaign, an advocate of the National Greenback 



party. 



HORNELLSVILLB. 



The Hornellsville Tribune was established Nov. 3, 

 1851, by Edwin Hough. It continued under the manage- 

 ment of Mr. Hough till 1858, when it was published by 

 E. Hough & Son till Feb. 1, 1869. The office was then 

 transferred to D. R. Shafer, and in June following was sold 

 to J. Greenhow & Son, the present proprietors and pub- 

 lishers. 



In the outset the paper was neutral in politics. It be- 

 came Republican under the management of E. Hough & 

 Son, and under its present management has been Demo- 

 cratic. The publishers issue a daily and weekly, both of 

 which have a good circulation, and they have every facility 

 for first-class job-printing. 



The Hornellsville Herald was started March 8, 

 1872, under the name of '' The Economist," as an adver- 

 tising medium, by M. A. Tuttle, of the dry-goods firm of 

 Adsit & Tuttle. In 1873 it passed into the hands of an 

 association, was enlarged to a six-column paper, and its name 

 changed to the Hornellsville Herald. It was published as 



