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Celebrating 200 years of the Free Press in Fauquier An industry marked by accelerating change
By John Toler
Associate Editor
The methods and technology have changed drastically over the years – particularly in the past three decades – but the mission and purpose of a community newspaper has basically remained the same: to report on topics and issues that are important to its readers, and provide a means for businesses to reach potential customers. And as always, the revenue from advertisers provides the means for a free press. In examining the earliest newspapers in Fauquier County, starting with James Caldwell’s Palladium of Liberty (1817), one is struck by the passion and creativity shown by these pioneer publishers. In a day of rudimentary communication, ancient production equipment and methods, and an often less educated readership base, they managed to produce newspapers that were both interesting and well-written. In the years up to the Civil War, there was a lot of competition, especially in and around the county seat of Warrenton. Weekly publications came and went, while the truly dedicated –including members of the Caldwell, Finks and Chilton families, passed the torch through succeeding generations. Going into the 20th century, notable publishers included Thomas Frank, Truman Vance and Westmoreland Davis. While Frank’s The Fauquier Democrat dominated the newspaper business in Warrenton for many years, smaller newspapers served the communities of Marshall, Remington, Calverton and The Plains. Also notable was The Circuit, published in Catlett by and for the African-American community in the 1940s and 1950s. A turning point for all newspapers was the development of economical offset printing, which replaced heavy, hot lead-cast forms with thin aluminum sheets, upon which type and images had been 4 Fall 2017
Top of the front page of an early edition of the Palladium of Liberty, published in Warrenton by James Caldwell from 1817 to 1821. photo-engraved. In addition to eliminating the challenges and dangers of working with molten lead, the offset process made photo and art reproduction much easier. No longer tied to awkward engraving processes or casting leaden images from forms and mats, photographers and designers had much greater latitude in what they could get on the press.
presence are now publishing breaking news on the Internet, effectively creating 24-hour news cycle. A follow-up may appear in the print version, along with other news and of course, advertising. There have been other changes. Classified advertising in print has taken a hit from free, online sites like Craigslist, and retaining traditional legal advertising in the newspaper is a continuing battle. Losses in paid circulation have hurt as
younger readers gravitate toward the Web, and there has been no drop in printing and distribution costs. As the specter of the Internet became more apparent, the best minds in the Virginia Press Association came up with a vital truth: to survive and succeed, a community newspaper must find its niche in the community, and do everything possible to create the most interesting and compelling content. Fairness, credibility and accuracy are equally important. Much is included in this special issue about The Fauquier Democrat/ Fauquier Times Democrat/Fauquier Times. There are two reasons for this: 1) your Fauquier Times is a direct descendant of the Palladium of Liberty (by way of the Caldwells and Finks and the True Index), and 2) having been around for the past 112 years, we have more records, photos and actual copies of the newspaper than any others. The revolution in the newspaper industry is likely to continue, but an appreciation of where we have been will help us see where we are going.
Computers, the Internet The next great leap forward in technology was the computer generation of type and art, which reached most newspapers by the late 1970s. Originally based on terminals connected to a mainframe computer, these early systems were hot and often unreliable, but they worked. When desktop publishing came along – either using IBM PC or Macintosh computers – creativity was enhanced, and many of the mainframe problems eliminated. Another technological revolution – the development of the Internet and Worldwide Web – has brought on both challenges and opportunities for community newspapers. In order to stay competitive, The office of the Palladium of Liberty was just off Courthouse Square. It was in a weekly newspapers with a Web small building across present-day Ashby Street from the county jail.
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Contents
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The Early Newspapers in Warrenton, 1817-1905.......................................................................... 6 Federal Troops Published the News in Warrenton......................................................................10 The Virginia Sentinel was owned by colorful personalities........................................................13 The Fauquier Democrat, from 1905 into the future....................................................................14 Recalling a Long Career at the Democrat......................................................................................29 Irvin Garrett, newspaper photography pioneer...........................................................................34 Other Fauquier County newspapers remembered.......................................................................38
200 Years of Free Press in Fauquier. Published by Piedmont Media, LLC Address: 39 Culpeper Street Warrenton, Virginia 20186 Fauquier.com • Phone: 540-347-4222 • Fax: 540-349-8676
Publisher: Bailey Dabney bdabney@fauquier.com
Art director: Cindy Goff Cgoff@fauquier.com
Editor and writer: John Toler jtoler@fauquier.com
Advertising director: Kathy Godfrey, 540-351-1162 kgodfrey@fauquier.com
Visual design editor: Chris Six, 540-347-4222 csix@fauquier.com
Ad designers: Taylor Dabney tdabney@fauquier.com
Cindy Goff cgoff@fauquier.com Annamaria Ward award@fauquier.com For advertising inquiries contact Kathy Godfrey at 540-347-4222 Fall 2017 5
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The early newspapers in Warrenton, 1817-1905
The Caldwell family started it all; others would follow With the publication of James Caldwell’s Palladium of Liberty in 1817, Fauquier County got its first newspaper, a tradition that had continued, almost without interruption, for 200 years. The roots of the Caldwell family in Virginia go back even before that time. James’ father, Joseph Caldwell, served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and was present at Yorktown to witness the surrender of British Gen. Cornwallis. James was born in Winchester, and worked as an apprentice in a print shop in that city. In 1817, he came to Warrenton to start his own newspaper. He briefly had a partner in the business, John McKennie. His shop was located at the corner of the old “Jail and South Seventh streets,” later the site of the Farmers’ Hotel (destroyed in the Great Fire
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of 1909), and now the location of the Red Truck Bakery. There, he produced the weekly Palladium of Liberty, “…issued from an old screw hand press which was inked with two balls covered with buckskin,” according to M. Louise Evans in an article published in The Fauquier Democrat in June 1951. “The Palladium of Liberty will be published once a week, on a superroyal sheet, at Three Dollars per annum,” according to the Conditions noted on the front page. “Advertisements not exceeding one square (a column inch) will be inserted Three times for One Dollar, and 25 cents per square for subsequent insertion. Chancery orders are charged to the attorney whose name is endorsed by the Clerk on the order.” Advertisers in 1818 included John Marr (father of Capt. John
Truman Vance published the Warrenton Virginian from 1909 until 1911. He is shown in the left foreground in this photo of his shop taken about 1910. Marr), who had “Lard, Whiskey and Rum for sale on accommodating terms,” and added, “I wish to purchase one hundred pounds of good feathers.” James married Miss Frances Pattie of Warrenton in 1818, and they had three children, including Lycurgus Washington, (1823-1910) and Lucy Anne (1822-1911), both of whom would later be in the newspaper business in Warrenton. Publication of the Palladium ceased in 1821, and Warrenton was without a newspaper until 1826, when T. B. Bradford started the Virginia Gazette, which he published until 1829. In 1831, James Caldwell and his family moved into a new house built on property across Jail Street (present-day Waterloo Street) on present-day Smith Street purchased in November 1826 from John A. Cash. The handsome three-story stone home, later known as the Walraven house, would be occupied by generations of his family well into the 20th century. In early 1832, James established the Fauquier Gazette and the Culpeper Gazette. Sadly, he died in Culpeper later that same year. His widow and young children continued to live in the house in Warrenton. Other smaller, short-lived publications served Warrenton before the
Civil War, including The Political Spectator (1831), the Independent Register (1834-35), published by Edward E. Cooke; the Jeffersonian (1836-1841), published by Robert Ricketts; the Virginia Times (1837-1841), published by Alexander J. Marshall; the original Warrenton Times (1844-1845), and the Warrenton Republican (1849-1851). As a child, James’ son Lycurgus attended school in the brick building across from the home on present-day Smith Street, and as an adult worked with Samuel F. B. Morse on the emerging telegraph technology. He was involved with setting up the first telegraph line between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, and while working at a telegraph office in Charleston, S.C.,
Virginia Governor Westmoreland Davis published the Warrenton Times from 1915-1926.
he met and married Miss Susan Jeffords. In the years leading up to the Civil War, other Warrenton newspapers included the Piedmont Whig (1849), published by J. S. Bell and William F. Phillips Jr., and later by W.F. Carlin; (1854). This was followed by the Warrenton Whig, which was published by J.E. Scruggs from 1857-1861. Surviving tough times in Warrenton With the outbreak of the Civil War, son Lycurgus Caldwell joined the Southern cause, and returned to Warrenton, taking residence in the old house with his wife and children and other family members. Times were difficult at the Caldwell house, while he was away fighting, especially during periods of Union occupation. Newspaper publishing in Warrenton was suspended, except for a brief period in 1862, when two members of the 9th Regiment, New York State Militia, published two issues of The New York Ninth on
the press of the Warrenton Whig during their occupation of Warrenton (See accompanying story). Newspapers would return to Warrenton soon after the war ended, led again by the Caldwell family. Lucy Anne Caldwell had married John W. Finks (1818-1879), a prosperous Warrenton merchant who had published The Flag of ’98 from 1842 until 1861. In late 1865, he and Lycurgus Caldwell became partners in a new newspaper in Warrenton, which they called The True Index. During Reconstruction, Warrenton had other newspapers. The Virginia Sentinel was published from 1865 to 1872, and the semi-monthly Star was published in 1866 by Baldwin Day. These enterprises were followed by the Solid South, published in 1869 by James Vass Chilton, and after 1881 by W.C. Marshall, who changed the name to the Warrenton Virginian (1879). Chilton published The File Leader briefly in Warrenton, starting in 1882. The Banner was a Friday newspa-
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per first published in Warrenton in July 1896 by Marshall and Michie, identified as the “Editors and Proprietors.” In 1890, William Thompson became a partner in the publication of the Warrenton Virginian, and after his death in 1909, Marshall retired from the business, and sold it to Truman S. Vance. The Warrenton Virginian was sold again in 1911 to Mrs. W. C. Hayes, who changed the name to the Warrenton Times. The Times was purchased in 1915 by Westmoreland Davis (18591942), who served as the governor of Virginia from 1918 to 1922. Another newspaper in existence in 1909 was the Warrenton Review, published by W. H. Moran. The True Index continued to be published by Finks and Caldwell, and in 1879, Caldwell’s son Frank became part owner. He later became the sole owner, continuing the publication until 1905, when he sold the business to Thomas E. Frank, a Washington, D.C. printer and newspaper man. Frank changed the name of the
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Thomas E. Frank purchase the True Index in 1905, and changed the name to The Fauquier Democrat. newspaper to The Fauquier Democrat (See accompanying story). Consolidation of Warrenton’s newspapers happened in 1926, when Gov. Davis sold the Warrenton Times to Thomas Frank, who merged it into the Democrat. Also absorbed by the Democrat was Moran’s Warrenton Review. For many years to come, the Democrat was the only newspaper published in Warrenton.
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The Fauquier Gazette was published briefly in 1832 by James Caldwell.
The Independent Register was published by Edward E. Cooke from 1834-1835.
Robert Ricketts published the Jeffersonian in Warrenton from 1836-1841.
Alexander J. Marshall published the Virginia Times from 1837 to 1841.
The Piedmont Whig was published by Thomas Monroe and George F. Tavenner, beginning in 1849.
Politically-oriented, the Warrenton Whig was published by J. E. Scruggs in the years leading up to the Civil War.
The Flag of ’98 was published by John W. Finks from 1842 until 1861. 8 Fall 2017
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James Vass Chilton started the Solid South in Warrenton in 1869. W. C. Marshall became the publisher in 1881.
The Banner was published in Warrenton in the 1890s by Marshall and Michie.
In 1865, John W. Finks and Lycurgus Caldwell started the True Index. Frank Caldwell would publish the newspaper from 1879 to 1905.
The Warrenton Virginian, successor to the Solid South, was first published in 1879 with this flag.
W. H. Moran published the Warrenton Review for several years in the early 1900s.
After the Warrenton Virginian was sold to Mrs. W. C. Hayes in 1911, the name was changed to the Warrenton Times.
Thomas Frank purchased the True Index in 1905, renaming it The Fauquier Democrat. Fall 2017 9
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Federal troops published the news in Warrenton
One of Fauquier County’s more unusual newspapers also had its shortest publication lifespan – just two weekly issues. During the summer of 1862, Warrenton was occupied by elements of Union Major Gen. John C. Pope’s newly-formed “Department of the Army of Virginia.” By mid-July, the main body of troops had left the area, leaving behind an infantry regiment, the Ninth New York State Militia, and a small body of cavalry. Their main duties were performing provost duties, loading rail cars and tending to the hospitals set up in Warrenton. One day, Private John W. Jaques of Company D of the New York Ninth, was wandering down Main Street when he came upon the abandoned office of the Warrenton Whig, a county newspaper that had been published there since 1857. The newspaper had ceased publication with the onset of hostilities, and had been abandoned by its owners. Although he found the office in shambles, Jaques discovered a Washington hand-operated printing press in working condition, and set about to scrounge whatever else he would need to launch a publication for his unit. Most of the
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supplies he needed were missing. Jaques enlisted the help of a friend, fellow Private Frederick B. Dailey of Company L, and
Part of the front page of the second (and last) edition of The New York Ninth, published in Warrenton Aug. 7, 1862. the pair scoured the town in search of paper, movable type and other printing materials they would need. While little else is known about Jaques and Dailey, it is apparent that they were well-educated and had some knowledge of the printing business.
After recovering the type, ink, rollers and other items, they began work on their newspaper, which they called The New York Ninth, in honor of their regiment. There was not enough printing paper, so they sent to Washington, D.C. for a supply. By the end of July, they were ready, and published Vol. I, Number 1of their single-sheet newspaper on July 31, 1862, with a pressrun of 1,500 copies. Their mission statement noted that they would be publishing weekly as long as the unit was in Warrenton, and that the single-copy price was three cents. Below the flag, The New York Ninth, was the slogan in Latin, Ratione Aut Vi, or “By Reason or by Force,” adopted years later by the New York Army National Guard. Advertising was priced at 25 cents for each eight lines for the first insertion, and 15 cents for subsequent insertions, and “Marriage notices, Deaths and Obituaries inserted gratis.” On the front page of the first issue were two ads for sutlers’ stores, which catered to the troops’ needs, and an advertisement for “fruits, pickles, confectionary, tobacco and segars” for sale by D.S. Continued on Page 12
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Continued from Page 10 Brooks at the old Whig office. Also posted was an advertisement placed by Commissary Sergeant Franklin Smith offering a $15 reward for the return of an Army horse, saddle and bridle, “missing or stolen from Main Street in front of the Warrenton House on Tuesday, July 22.” News content for Vol. 1, No. 1 was very limited. Most of the front page was dominated by a patriotic poem entitled “Bunker Hill,” had been picked up from an earlier issue of the Warrenton Whig. Inside, Private Dailey sought to win the hearts of Warrenton’s civilians who might pick up the newspaper, stating that “In our opinion, Warrenton is one of the prettiest towns we have seen in the Old Dominion, and we consider ourselves fortunate in our present quarters.” Obituaries included six Union soldiers, recently departed: Col. Thomas A. Ziegle of the 107th Pennsylvania Volunteers who died on July 15 and was buried in the Warrenton Cemetery; privates Austin Shelden and George Smith, also of Pennsylvania; Private Walter Barber of Massachusetts, and privates David Broacham and Charles Streeter of New York. Oddly, an obituary also ran for a local man, Jim Bangs, who “…left a wife, eight children, a
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cow, four horses, a grocery store, and other quadrupeds to mourn his loss.” The tone changed in Vol. I, No. 2, published on Aug. 7, 1862, perhaps at the suggestion of the unit’s commanding officer. Sgt. Fitzhugh’s horse was still missing, and page 1 contained several news briefs – snippets of opinion – on what they felt was the South’s conduct of the war. “There is said to be very little bread in the
Main Street Warrenton during the Civil War. rebel Confederacy: few loaves, but a great many loafers,” read one account. “Florida, at the time she seceded, had in the treasury $4.55. We understand that the whole of this sum has been expended in defending the rights of the South,” read another. “Memphis was neither burnt down nor battered down. She was rammed down.”
Perhaps more interesting was the account that the men of the New York Ninth dug earthworks in plain sight of enemy sharpshooters. A poem entitled “The Physician” was contributed by a Dr. J.E.S. of the Military Hospital. Hostilities were heating up – the Battle of Cedar Mountain near Culpeper and the Second Battle of Manassas would be fought by the end of the month – and the men of the New York Ninth were called to duty elsewhere. Jaques survived the war, and published a unit history entitled Three Years Campaign in the Ninth N.Y.S.M. During the Southern Rebellion, in 1865. What happened to Dailey is not known. Only two copies of The New York Ninth are known to exist. One copy of the July 31 issue is held by the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester, Massachusetts, and a copy of the Aug. 7 issue is in the Library of Congress. It is likely that the rest were consumed by the troops for starting fires, lining the soles of boots, or put to other uses. The New York Ninth does have a legacy. It is believed that Stars and Stripes, the U.S. military’s independent news source, traces its roots back to the publishing efforts of those two Union soldiers stationed in Warrenton during the Civil War.
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The Virginia Sentinel was owned by colorful personalities One of the first newspapers to be published in Warrenton after the Civil War was the Virginia Sentinel, which served the community from 1866 to 1872. The original owner and publisher of the Sentinel was John William (“J.W.”) Dear (1845-1883), a Loudoun County native who had joined Co. D of Col. John S. Mosby’s Rangers at age 18. Near the end of the Civil War, he was captured and confined at Fort McHenry from Feb. 18 to May 23, 1865. The first notice of Dear’s plan to publish a newspaper came on Oct. 10, 1865, in an advertisement placed in the Alexandria Gazette announcing that “Cannon, Beall and Dear propose to publish at Warrenton, Fauquier County, Va., a newspaper to be called the Virginia Sentinel.” Little is known about the partnership that started the Virginia Sentinel, or where the money came from, although it is likely that funding was provided by James G.
Cannon. By the publication of the first issue on Oct. 28, 1865, Beall’s name had been dropped from the masthead. The Alexandria Gazette later published a critique of the Virginia Sentinel, describing it as “…a neatly printed paper, and deserving of liberal encouragement.” “The first edition of the Sentinel was decidedly anti-Reconstruction in its politics,” according to Dear’s great-granddaughter, Marilyn Dear Nelson, who is writing a book about Dear’s life. “It had contiguous advertisements for the law practices of Col. John S. Mosby and Gen. Eppa Hunton, and reported their courtroom battles in Fauquier and Prince William counties – usually with Mosby representing the Commonwealth, and Hunton the defense. The last time the names Cannon and Dear appeared together in the masthead was April 22, 1866. About this time that Dear left Warrenton to seek his fortune in
Omaha, Nebraska. It was announced shortly afterward that Henry J. Mead of Leesburg had become one of the proprietors of the Virginia Sentinel, and business would be conducted under the name Cannon & Mead. “Mead did not last long, and by the following June (1866), Cannon was ploughing a lone field,” according to Nelson. “His proprietorship – and publication of the Virginia Sentinel – came to an end in 1872.” It was discovered in the 1870 U.S. Census that Cannon was living in Essex County, and his profession listed as a “Newspaper Publisher.” The business had a printing press, three employees over the age of
16, and a supply of paper valued at $1,500. Two years later, the Virginia Sentinel was gone. On the American frontier, J. W. Dear worked as a fur trader, and for 11 years was an Indian Trader with the Red Cloud Agency (the original tern for the reservation), and became close friends with Indian Chief Red Cloud (1822-1909) of the Oglala Lakota Tribe. “J.W. Dear was instrumental in preventing a tragedy when the Sioux moved from Missouri to Pine Ridge in November 1878, by supplying transportation and rations at his own expense,” noted Nelson. “He died tragically at the age of 38 in 1883.”
The flag of the postwar Virginia Sentinel, published in Warrenton from 1865 to 1872.
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The Fauquier Democrat, from 1905 into the future
When Thomas E. Frank purchased the True Index from Frank Caldwell in 1905, he was virtually getting “an empty basket.” There was no subscription list, or even one contract for a line of advertising. When he was ready to start his new paper, which he called The Fauquier Democrat, he found that he didn’t have enough type from the old True Index to set up a full-page advertisement. Finally underway, early issues of the Democrat were usually eight pages of hand-set type, printed on an old, hand-cranked printing press. The Democrat’s competition at the time was a strong weekly, the Warrenton Virginian (renamed the Warrenton Times in 1911). But Frank would be a tough challenger, eventually absorbing the Times into the Democrat in 1926. The Democrat’s first office was on Main Street, near the presentday U.S. Post Office. Frank’s first employee was Ernest B. Ash, and as the newspaper grew, apprentices Samuel Graham and W. French Graham joined the staff. Remarkably, Frank hired Irvin Garrett in 1916, commencing a career in newspaper printing, production and news photography that would continue over the next 54 years (See accompanying story). Demand for local news increased to the point where Frank, who had been doing all of the reporting, had to hire an additional writer. Miss M. Louise Evans (1887-1966), who had worked as a part-time correspondent for the Washington, D.C. newspapers, was hired as the Democrat’s first reporter in 1910, with additional duties as the company’s bookkeeper. “One person did most of the writing, all the book work, and even helped set the type, read proof, mail the papers out and do jobs like folding catalogues and such,” Miss Evans recalled in an article published in the Democrat in 1955. “Type was so short that one side of a page had to be thrown in before the second side could be printed.” In 1915, Frank was busy with 14 Fall 2017
The Democrat’s print shop, when it was located in the basement of the building at 21 Culpeper Street. Shown working in the back shop in May 1932 are printers (from left) Chuck Ash, Frank ‘Goody’ Ash, ‘Bones’ Ash and Irvin Garrett. political affairs in Washington, D.C., and Miss Evans was made local editor and business manager, in addition to her role as a writer. This lasted until 1917, when she briefly left to work for the rival Warrenton Virginian, but she was soon back at the Democrat. In 1922, the Democrat office was moved to 21 Culpeper Street. Frank acquired the Warrenton Times from Westmoreland Davis in 1926, and from then through 1942, the Democrat was published twice-aweek, on Thursdays and Saturdays. Later that year, Frank sold the Democrat to Harrison Nesbitt, a Pittsburgh banker and fellow Democrat with roots in Fauquier County. Frank stayed on as editor and manager of the newspaper and
printing operation, which was called the Fauquier Publishing Company. This arrangement freed Frank to pursue the political agenda for which he had originally named his newspaper the “Democrat.” While still a local newspaper – and by no means a mouthpiece for the state or national Democratic Party organizations – Frank’s editorial positions on the political situation before the Great Depression were clear. And apparently persuasive. In the 1928 elections, Fauquier County was one of only to counties in Virginia that did not go Republican. Harrison Nesbitt was killed in an automobile accident in 1931, and his family did not wish to continue their involvement in the newspaper
business. In December 1935, Fauquier Publishing Company sold the Democrat back to Thomas Frank. Noting that the Democrat was then 30 years in business, Frank told readers that the traditions he first started in 1905 would continue. “In the past, the Democrat has stood for the things that meant the best for the Town of Warrenton and County of Fauquier,” he wrote. “And it goes without saying that we shall continue this policy in every respect.” The year 1936 marked several big changes at the Democrat. Finally done with the old, sheet-fed Cox-OType press purchased years before. Frank bought a Duplex AB web press, which was capable of printing and folding eight broadsheet pages (on a sheet 33” wide) at a time.
America was still in the depths of the Great Depression, and Frank was aware that if the newspaper were to survive, he would have to build circulation. Given the times, a contest with prizes seemed to be the way to go. A one-year subscription in 1936 cost $1.50, and contestants were assigned points for every category of subscription, from 5,000 points for a one-year subscription to 125,000 points for a 10-year subscription. The grand prize was a 1937 Lincoln Zephyr automobile, and cash prizes ranging from $400 to $50. Although the final tally has been lost over time, several hundred new subscribers were added to the Democrat’s subscription lists. The logic for building up the numbers at that time soon became apparent: two weeks after the contest closed, Frank sold the Democrat to Hubert B. Phipps of Rectortown, a wealthy landowner with political aspirations of his own. Phipps buys the Democrat In his introductory editorial, Phipps vowed that the newspaper would remain a “staunch and loyal supporter of the Democratic Party,” and would “…continue to champion progressive legislation which leads to a more abundant life and better living standard for the average citizen.” He closed with the promise that the Democrat would “…continue to be devoted to the people of the county – truly the paper for the people.” Thomas Frank stayed on long enough to oversee the installation of the newspaper’s first Intertype machine – similar to the one in front of the Fauquier times office today. He then left to start his own print shop in Warrenton. One of Phipps’s first smart moves was to hire Gertrude deButts Trumbo (1917-1992) in March 1937, as an office clerk, at $10 per week. Miss Trumbo, as she would be known by Democrat staffers until her retirement in 1988 – 51 years later – would serve in a variety of roles during her long career. By then, there were nine people on the staff, six of whom were involved in production. The writing staff consisted of William Gaines,
an attorney with an office above the newspaper who was the chief writer, and Miss Evans, who handled weddings, obituaries, personals and feature articles. Business functions were the responsibility of Miss Trumbo. It was obvious that the space at 21 Culpeper Street was too small, so Phipps began planning a new office to be built down the hill at 39 Culpeper Street. In June 1940, Phipps hired Richmond architect Courtney Welton to design a modern office, print shop and warehouse on the site, and construction was completed by March 1941. Irvin Garrett disassembled the Duplex press and re-assembled it in the basement of the new shop – no small task, indeed. Also moved were the Intertype machines, job presses, type, stones and other production equipment. Phipps’s Eastern Breeder livestock magazine also moved to the new facility. War and change In 1940, Phipps hired Gerry Webb – later publisher of the Chronicle of the Horse – as the managing editor of the Democrat. He was succeeded by Alfred Austin, who was commissioned in the U.S. Navy and went on active duty after America entered World War II. Veteran newsman Fitzhugh Turner was later hired, and edited the newspaper during the war. Throughout the war years, the Democrat covered the various local defense organizations, urging those still at home to volunteer, as well as reporting on the thousands of men and women serving overseas. No war bond or scrap drive on the homefront went unnoticed, and virtually every line sent by the War Department and the Hometown News service was published. However, the Democrat was not spared from wartime scarcities. The newspaper went from two issues a week to one, and to further conserve paper, body type size was reduced from 10 to 8 points. The war over, Turner was succeeded by Channing Yarborough, who stayed until April 1946. For nearly a year, Miss Trumbo filled in as editor in addition to her other duties. Carl Bradbury was hired as
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editor in April 1947. The economic growth during post-war years was reflected in the size of the Democrat, and soon multiple runs on the eightpage Duplex press became routine. It is recalled that when the press was running, “the whole building shook.” In 1948, Alan Poe was hired to work in the print shop. Alan – like Irvin Garrett and Trudy Trumbo – would also spend his long career at the newspaper and printing plant (See additional story). The first major expansion of the Democrat building began in 1950, with the construction of a warehouse structure at the corner of Lee and Culpeper streets. Demolished to make way was an old house and the First Chance-Last Chance
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Saloon at the corner of present-day Second and Lee streets. An addition to the west side of the pressroom on Second Street was also built at that time. The warehouse was used for storage briefly, before it was rented out to the Virginia ABC Board, which operated the county’s only liquor store there for several years. Carl Bradbury left the Democrat in 1950, and Fitzhugh Turner, who had gone to work at the New York Herald Tribune, returned to Warrenton to edit the newspaper. He stayed until 1954, when he was succeeded by Richard Ritter. A major expansion of the plant took place in 1951, with a south wing added to the building. DeContinued on Page 16
Ralph Swain started at the Democrat as a printer in 1953 while still in high school. He returned after his military service, and later opened his own shop on N. Fifth Street in Warrenton. Fall 2017 15
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signed by Washington Reed, this new structure was used as a warehouse on the ground floor, and the upstairs fronting Culpeper Street was later rented out as an ABC store. During those years, the size of the staff continued to grow. Among the new production staff employees were Albert Thiery and Caspa Harris, father of the late Harrington “Skippy” Harris. Much beloved by the staff, Caspa Harris was kidded about how slowly he drove his car. “One time, Caspa got to work, and a chicken that had perched on the roof of his car at home was still there,” recalled Alan Poe. “We even got a picture of it. And we never let Continued on Page 19 From 1936 to 1964, the Democrat was printed on this Duplex AB newspaper press. Built in 1889, the press had several owners before it was acquired by the Democrat in 1935 for $7,500.
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Generations of school children visited the Democrat shop to witness the newspaper production. Photographed in 1961, Linotype operator Bill Lechler demonstrates the typesetting process. Children usually left with a sample lead ‘slug’ as a souvenir of their visit. 18 Fall 2017
One of the older commercial printing units at the Democrat was this Babcock press with a cross feeder and Dexter folder, photographed in 1942. Seen from left are Irvin Garrett, C.C. ‘Chuck’ Ash and Hugh Smith.
him live it down!” Another new hire was Ralph Swain, who came to work in the Democrat pressroom in November 1953, when he was still in high school. Like Alan Poe, Swain was a quick learner, and could soon run all of the presses, as well as do composition and take photographs. Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1955, Swain returned to his old job at the Democrat when his enlistment was up in 1960. He stayed until 1963, when he left to start Swain Printing in Warrenton, which he successfully operated until retiring in 2000. New technology, other changes
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A giant leap in technology took place in March 1964, when the old letterpress Duplex was replaced by a new four-unit Goss offset press. It fit perfectly in the new downstairs warehouse area. Instead of heavy lead galleys, printing was done by thin aluminum plates, on which type and images had been chemically “burned.” The new press could print 16 pages at a time, at 10,000 copies per hour. Of course, other equipment was needed, including a production darkroom, large camera and system for developing the full-page negatives and screening the photos. Due to the requirements of the various presses, converting the job shop to offset took much longer.
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Shifts in personnel also happened in the late 1950s. Paige C. Holder, formerly the assistant advertising manager at the Daily Progress in Charlottesville, was hired as the Democrat’s first advertising manager in February 1959. Also that year, John H. Eisenhard, previously on the editorial staff of the Loudoun Times-Mirror in Leesburg (also owned by Phipps) replaced Richard Ritter, who was appointed editor of the TimesMirror. As a Quaker and sometimes-liberal, Eisenhard brought a deep sense of social responsibility to his job. Not long after arriving in Warren-
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In November 1960, Thomas Frank (right), founder of The Fauquier Democrat, visited Publisher Hubert Phipps at the newspaper office at 39 Culpeper Street. Fall 2017 19
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Until the advent of offset printing, text content for the Democrat and commercial jobs was produced in hot lead by Linotype machines. Headlined were hand-set on a Ludlow casting machine. Photographed at work in 1953 were Robert Reed, Douglas Debnam and Alwyn Ash. A surviving Linotype is on display in front of the Fauquier Times Building.
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In the early 1950s, the “First Chance, Last Chance” saloon at the corner of present-day Second and Lee streets, was torn down to make way for the Democrat’s new warehouse. It was the “Last Chance” to get a drink before getting on the train at the Warrenton Depot, and the “First Chance” once a passenger arrived in town.
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ton, he was contacted by several community leaders to address the issue of desegregation – first at the county’s restaurants and other businesses, and later at the county school system. Working with those who wanted a peaceful transition, Eisenhard was given credit for his fair coverage of the news and the open lines of communication he maintained for the community. As a result, cooler heads on both sides of the issue of desegregation managed to avoid sit-ins and confrontations, so typical elsewhere in the South. A memorable situation occurred in the summer of 1968, when Phipps – a life-long Democrat – turned one of the front offices to the American Independent Party as campaign headquarters for the George C. Wallace for president campaign. Phipps also pushed the campaign in editorials and editorial page cartoons. Hubert B. Phipps died in August 1969, and while he wanted the
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In early 1974, a four-unit Goss Community offset press, capable of printing 16page sections, was installed at the Democrat. Shown from left are Irvin Garrett, Hugh Smith and Caspa Harris.
newspaper to pass to his young son “Bertie,” it was put up for sale in 1972. Interested parties at the time included U.S. Sen. John Warner and Leesburg publisher Arthur W. Arundel, but the Phipps estate sold the newspaper to Leesburg businesswoman Helmi Carr. It soon became apparent that Carr was only interested in acquiring the plant to print a second Leesburg newspaper, in competition with Arundel’s Loudoun Times-Mirror. Called the Metro Virginia News and published on Sundays, the new newspaper suffered from unreasonable deadlines, delivery problems and advertiser resistance. After the Democrat’s cash reserves were used up, both papers were put up for sale. The purchaser was Arundel, who acquired both papers and the real estate in Warrenton, on Nov. 28, 1974. First order of business was shutting down the Metro Virginia News.
The ‘Old Printers’ Night’ in 1975 marked the end of the use of hot lead printing. Production Manager Alton Carnes (right) explains the operation of a linotype to Bill Parkinson and James F. Austin at the party. 24 Fall 2017
Another notable change occurred in 1971, when the Democrat faced competition for the first time in years, with the publication of the Piedmont Virginian, based in The Plains. The newspaper was started by the Fauquier Publishing Company, a group that believed that county growth issues covered by the Democrat were being reported with a pro-growth bias, especially after the drawn-out North Wales development controversy. The Piedmont Virginian would stay that course throughout its six-year run. In December 1971, the Fauquier Publishing Company expanded their operation by purchasing the Rappahannock News from Green Publishers Inc., of Orange, Va. ‘Hang on to your hats’ Almost immediately after purchasing the Democrat, Arundel instituted sweeping changes at the Democrat, first firing the staff and having them re-apply for their jobs. Most were re-hired. As veteran Times-Mirror/Potomac Press production manager Alton C. Carnes told the staff, “Hang on to your hats.” Eisenhard was appointed editor and manager, and Miss Trumbo continued as business manager. Alan Poe, who had moved up as production manager after C. Irvin Garrett’s retirement, continued his duties, as did Advertising Manager Paige C. Holder and Associate Advertising Manager John Toler, who had joined the Democrat in 1967 while a college student. A policy book addressing virtually every phase of the operation, based on the one at the Times-Mirror, was soon required reading. In April 1975, Arundel announced the “End of the Hot-type Era,” and held an “Old Printers’ Night,” signaling the final phasingout of the letterpress newspaper and job printing equipment. In July 1975, Toler was appointed the company’s first general manager, and worked with the architect, engineers and riggers to complete the company’s renovation and reorganization. Surplus presses and accessories Continued on Page 26
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John H. Eisenhard served as the editor of the Democrat from 1959 to 1979.
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Seen taking a rare break from production duties in September 1962, Alan Poe worked at the Democrat from 1947 to 1988.
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The Fauquier Democrat building on Culpeper Street, as it appeared in the early 1960s.
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were sold at auction or junked, and within months the physical plant had been radically changed, walls knocked down, offices relocated, and all of the job presses moved downstairs. Where presses once hummed on the main floor were the new business office, executive offices, a conference room and staff “common room.� In the back of the building were the newsroom and advertising department. In 1977, the Democrat made its first acquisition of another newspaper since the 1920s, when the corporation purchased the Rappahannock News from The Fauquier Publishing Company, which was publishing Piedmont Virginian as a monthly. The transaction included the Rappahannock News and its office building in Washington, Va. By 1981, it was apparent that the advertising department and the newsroom at the Democrat had outgrown their spaces. The circulation department, long a part of the business office, had grown as well, and needed its own space.
The solution was to build a roof over the space in between the second story of the Democrat and over the one–story newspaper pressroom and light court. This project was built in tandem with the installation of a new, six-unit Goss newspaper press, capable of printing a 24-page section at a speed of 20,000 copies per hour. The new press was operational on Jan. 13, 1982. Computer age arrives The reporting staff’s old typewriters and yellow copy paper was replaced by computers and video display terminals in January 1983, and was the first step in a number technological advances that would be felt throughout the newspaper. Miss Gertrude Trumbo reluctantly let go of her Royal typewriter, and made her first stab at computergenerated copy. In no time, she had mastered the process. Old-line brands like Compugraphic and later Hastech – which used “dumb” terminals feeding into large, hot and breakdown-prone mainframes – were eventually
replaced by desktop PCs where writers could easily create, store and retrieve stories. Networks for copy and photos followed, first on IBM-based personal computers, and much later on MacIntosh machines. In 1987, Tony Tedeschi was hired to manage Warrenton Printing, the Democrat’s commercial printing department, as well as newspaper production. Soon afterward, the name was changed to Piedmont Press. Tedeschi left the company later that year and started TR Press in Warrenton. By the end of the year, he added to the business, buying the Hunt Country Copy Center from the Culpeper News and Graphic Impressions. It is remembered that Tedeschi, whose family had a printing company in California, brought many new ideas to the printing/publishing operation in Warrenton. Indeed, it was he who secured the Web address Fauquier.com for the newspaper before anyone else could get it. Reacting to the sale of the WarContinued on Page 28
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Frank ‘Goody’ Ash was a veteran printer at the Democrat, and also served the community as a volunteer firefighter.
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Fauquier 2009. The entire Fairfax Division – which had been consolidated from several different flags into a single publication, the Fairfax Times, in 2008 – was also sold to Gazette Newspapers in 2009. This was followed by the sale of the Culpeper Times to Rappahannock Media in July 2011.
Always involved in politics, Publisher Thomas E. Frank (center), then 88 years old, was honored in April 1963 for his work with the Fauquier Democratic Committee. At left is John W. Stone, chairman of the county committee, and at right, Mrs. Frank. ren Sentinel newspaper in Front Royal, in 1987 Arundel Communications started the Front Royal News, headquartered in a shopping center in the city, and administered by the Democrat. Never profitable, it was closed down in1991. Production, name changes In January 1990, the name of the newspaper was changed from the 1905-vintage The Fauquier Democrat to the Fauquier TimesDemocrat, in order to “…avoid any political misperception among our fast-growing Fauquier population,” according to the publisher’s statement. Another big change at the Democrat came in September 1990, when printing of the Democrat and Rappahannock News was transferred to the Loudoun Times-Mirror plant in Leesburg. The reasons for the change were to increase efficiency and eliminate staffing problems, and to take advantage of the fact that the Leesburg press could print full color on the front and inside pages. The six-unit press in Warrenton, still “new” at just eight years old, was dismantled and sold to a buyer in Indonesia. In June 1994, Arundel purchased the assets of TR Press and merged the operations at 30 S. Second Street in the lower level of the Democrat building. On Jan. 2, 1999, Tedeschi and his wife Holly bought Piedmont Press from Arundel Communications, and five years later, moved into their current building in the Lineweaver Technology Park. 28 Fall 2017
Major changes follow While the Piedmont Virginian newspaper (not to be confused with the present-day magazine of the same name) ceased publication in 1978, a new competitor arrived in 1989. Lawrence K. “Lou” Emerson, who had been the editor of the Democrat from 1983 to 1986, left the company and started the monthly Fauquier Magazine the following year. Emerson, with his wife Ellen, commenced publication of the weekly Fauquier Citizen (originally to be called the Fauquier Journal) in 1989, and would continue publishing until selling the business to Times Community Newspapers (TCN), owners of the Fauquier Times-Democrat, effective Jan. 1, 2006. With the acquisition of the Fauquier Citizen and the Culpeper Citizen, the number of flags under the TCM banner reached its peak, publishing newspapers in Fauquier, Rappahannock, Culpeper, Clarke, Loudoun, Prince William and Fairfax counties. Due to the number of papers to be printed each week, printing at the Leesburg plant was discontinued, and the work sent to a commercial web printing company in Springfield, Va. The Great Recession of 20072009 had a devastating effect on many American businesses, and newspapers were no exception. In an effort to reduce costs and protect basic assets, The Clarke Courier was sold in 2008, followed by the Rappahannock News in December
On to today In order to be consistent with other newspapers in the company, in 2015 the name Democrat was dropped from the Fauquier TimesDemocrat flag – after 110 years. About that time, the corporate name was changed as well, from Times Community Newspapers to the Virginia News Group. By then, the company consisted of four publications: the Loudoun Times-Mirror, and the Fauquier Times, which also published the Prince William Times and the Gainesville Times. By 2015, it was known that the newspapers were up for sale, and a group of investors formed Piedmont Media LLC, and began months of negotiations with Peter Arundel, CEO of the Virginia News Group regarding the purchase. The sale was finalized in August 2016. While having a newspaper Internet presence had been an issue for several years, advances in technology and the sheer number of devices world-wide able to access the Internet has changed the news business forever. Many newspapers now have both a print and electronic presence, providing 24-hour-a-day coverage, something that has been enhanced at the Fauquier Times under the new ownership. While there are still many issues to be resolved related to how print and electronic news work together, it is clear that after 200 years, people still need to know what is happening in their communities; businesses must get their goods and services out in front of the public, and governments still need a watchdog. In Fauquier County, the lessons and traditions of the past 200 years provide a prelude to the many changes just ahead of us.
During the extensive remodeling project in 1976, John Toler, who served as the Democrat’s general manager from 1975-2007, worked with the contractors to keep things moving along.
One of the three Linotype machines once in use at the Democrat has been painted as a static display in front of the building.
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Recalling a long career at the Democrat Looking back over the years, community newspapers have relied on dedicated women – working in many roles – to provide knowledge, stability and inspiration. That is particularly true in our region. Examples include Frances Reid, who worked at the Loudoun TimesMirror for many years, rising to associate publisher; Mary Catherine Bowie, publisher of the Rappahannock News in its early years; and Sarah Latham, who followed her as the manager. In Fauquier County, we were fortunate to have had Gertrude deButts “Trudy” Trumbo (1917-1992) as the Democrat’s mainstay for over 50 years. Hiring Miss Trumbo back in March 1937 was one of Publisher Hubert B. Phipps’ first smart moves. A native daughter of Fauquier who attended the old Hume High School, Miss Trumbo had only held one other job in her life – a clerical position with the federal government in Washington, D.C.
“When I got out of high school in 1934, jobs were scarce,” said Miss Trumbo in a 1988 interview in the Democrat. “I had a WPA job that was terrible – a group of us girls were recording on 5x8 cards the metes and bounds of every piece of property in Fauquier County.” She came to work at the Democrat as an office clerk, earning $10 a week. “After Social Security was taken out, I took home $9.90, she recalled. “But $5.50 went for room and board, which left about $4 for the rest of the week.”. At the time, the Democrat was still in the cramped quarters at 21 Culpeper Street. “Hubert and Carla Phipps had owned the newspaper since the preceding November, and Gerry Webb had been managing editor for the same period, so they had a five-month advantage,” recalled miss Trumbo in an interview published in the Democrat in 1980, written in connection with the newspaper’s 75th anniversary. “Otherwise, we were all neo-
phytes in the newspaper business, and nobody knew the first thing about the process,” she said. “I wonder at the forbearance the shop force showed these amateurs.” The majority of employees on the eight-person staff were involved in printing and production, including Ernest B. Ash, Carlin Ash, Alwyn Ash, Sam Graham, Frank “Goody” Ash and supervisor Irvin Garrett. “Trudy wanted to know how things in the shop worked,” recalled Irvin Garrett in a 1988 interview. “We trained her to operate a small folding machine, and she was very pleased when we called on her to help us.” William Gaines, an attorney with an office above the Democrat, was the chief writer; M. Louise Evans was the Warrenton reporter, handling weddings, obituaries, personals and feature articles. Both the office and the shop were “strictly utilitarian,” according to Miss Trumbo. “It was a country weekly and print shop, and it made
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no pretense of being anything else.” She described a Culpeper Street that has changed greatly over the years – and continues to this day. “Next door to our shop was Mrs. Brittle’s antique shop and lending library; next to that was the little A&P, then the ABC Store and Raymond Pearson’s grocery, source of cold drinks, rat cheese and crackers for light refreshment,” she recalled. At different times – but often simultaneously during the ownership of the Phipps family – Miss Trumbo ran the front office, sold advertising, wrote social news and handled subscriptions. Move to new quarters, wartime In March 1941, the Democrat opened for business in a new building at 40 Culpeper Street designed by Richmond architect Courtney Welton. Continued on Page 30
The staff of the Democrat and its printing company posed for this photograph on the roof of the plant in 1958. Front row, from left: Hugh Smith, Howard Smith, Alan Poe, Douglas Debnam, Ralph Swain, Al Cox, Ethel Kennedy and Peggy Spaugh. Back row: Caspa Harris, Willie Smith, Albert Thierry, Alwyn Ash, Irvin Garrett, Louis Jones, Gertrude Trumbo, Richard Ritter, Barbara Morrisey and Alberta Hitt. Fall 2017 29
“We were still a twice-weekly paper, but we missed just one issue,” recalled miss Trumbo. Irvin Garrett took the Duplex newspaper press apart and reassembled it in the basement of the new building, with just one jackleg assistant to help with the heavy work. “The Linotype machines, presses, type cabinets and other equipment were jacked up on dollies and rolled down the street, where confusion reigned supreme for several weeks, until we had things in order again,” she added. In recognition of her dedication and work ethic, Phipps later gave Miss Trumbo yet another job and title after the move: assistant publisher. Over the next few years there would be many changes – and challenges – in which Miss Trumbo played an important part. During World War II, she handled much of the news about the local defense organizations, as well as processing the “good news” press releases sent by the Hometown News Service, and the official reports by the War Department, which included local casualties taken overseas. Other news included the numerous scrap drives and war bond promotions. The Democrat did not escape wartime scarcities, and went from twicea-week to just once. Body type was reduced from 10 to 8 points, something that concerned Phipps, who felt that many country folks were reading the paper by lamplight and wouldn’t be able to read. But according to Miss Trumbo, the change was made, and there were no complaints. Years of growth and change After the war, the newspaper grew, taxing the old Duplex press that could only print eight pages at a time. “To run over to 10 pages because of too many ads could be a near catastrophe, involving not only a second press run, but more time stuffing (putting the sections together) and rush to get to the post office,” recalled Miss Trumbo. With the increase in county population and business activity, considerations were made to add staff. “By this time, we had another girl in the office and a reporter to cover high school sports, which was usually the coach” she remembered. “Soon a full-time reporter was added to the managing editor and me, and more personnel in the shop as business increased.” One of the biggest challenges the Democrat staff undertook was the 50th anniversary special issue published in June 1955. It was a landmark publication, weighing-in at 11 sections and 86 pages – all printed eight pages at a time on the old Duplex press. Also during the 1950s, more production staff was added, including Albert Thierry and Caspa Harris. Alan Poe, who had joined the company in 1947 as an apprentice pressman, assumed the role of sports editor, an additional job he did from 1951-1966. Production improved greatly when the newspaper and printing company moved from letterpress (“hot lead”) to offset. Another big change came in 1959, when a full-time advertising manager was hired, taking that responsibility off of Miss Trumbo. Paige Holder, formerly with the Charlottesville Daily Progress came on board that year, as well as the new managing editor, John H. Eisenhard, formerly with the Loudoun Times-Mirror. The 1960s and 1970s also brought new challenges, including desegregation, politics and growth issues. Both Eisenhard and Miss Trumbo worked for positive change with like-minded white and African American community leaders, largely without Phipps’ the backing. Indeed, the 1968 presidential election was uncomfortable for both of them, as one of the front offices at the Democrat was used as the campaign headquarters for Gov. George C. Wallace’s American Independent Party, which Phipps supported editorially. Following Phipps death in August 1969, the Democrat entered a period of turmoil. After two years, the Phipps estate sold the business to Leesburg businesswoman Helmi Carr, who was only was interested in using the Democrat’s production equipment to start her own newspaper in Leesburg to compete with the Loudoun Times-Mirror. Even using the Democrat staff and equipment, the Metro Virginia News was never profitable. “Before the newspaper was sold, we were ‘coining money,’” said Miss Trumbo. Finally sold to Arthur W. Arundel in 1974, Miss Trumbo’s career took 30 Fall 2017
Miss Gertrude Trumbo, who worked for The Fauquier Democrat for over 50 years, in the front office of the newspaper with her trusty Royal manual typewriter. another major turn. Familiar with the Arundel family since they first came to Fauquier, she was wary of “Nicky” Arundel, who represented rapid change and a new management style. However, she would stay on for the next 14 years. Their relationship was never close. Arundel was aware of her feelings, but valued her work ethic and institutional memory. Indeed, he had hoped she would write a history of the Democrat after retiring – as Miss Reid had done at the Loudoun Times-Mirror – but this was not to be. At this point, her focus became the newsroom. Along with the managing editors, she helped train young reporters in the basics of “Who, What, When and Where,” as well as some of the finer points, like courtesy titles, now mainly forgotten. “An unmarried woman is a ‘Miss,” she would counsel. “A widow retains her husband’s name as ‘Mrs. John Smith,’ for example. A divorced woman is called by her first name and married name, for example, ‘Mrs. Mary Jones.’” There was no “Ms.” back then. Long-time colleague and editor John Eisenhard described Miss Trumbo as “…a superb grammarian and speller, and a stickler when it came to facts.” As a writer, Miss Trumbo preferred her old Royal typewriter, but the transition to a computer word processing system proved easier than she thought it would be. This time, it was the young staffers’ turn to help her. Miss Trumbo retired in July 1988. “It is important to me to recognize that your spirit and leadership have helped keep this newspaper together through more tough times than perhaps anyone how here fully understands,” said Arundel. In her final interview for the newspaper, she summed up her motivation. “I’ll miss the feeling of satisfaction that comes with my job. It is totally people-oriented, and gives me wonderful satisfaction for somebody to call up and say thanks,” she said. I appreciate that. It makes you feel good to know you’ve helped somebody.” In retirement, Miss Trumbo planned to relax at her home on Green Street, and to enjoy reading and do some gardening. While she was working, she would take a trip to California about once a year, and every two or three years, she would visit life-long friends in Ireland and Scotland. Taking more – and longer – trips was something she had been looking forward to for years. It was on one of those overseas trips that she fell and suffered serious injuries, and had to be flown home. She never recovered from her injuries, and died at Fauquier Hospital on Feb. 23, 1992. Fall 2017 31
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Irvin Garrett, newspaper photography pioneer
Most of the people of Fauquier County who had the privilege of knowing C. Irvin Garrett (1905-1999) remember him as a master printer, Presbyterian churchman, member of the Warrenton Town Council and community leader. In connection with his 54-year printing and newspaper career, he was also a skilled photographer and innovator. Born near Bethel, his parents Henry and Lelia Garrett, moved to Warrenton, where they lived in a house on Courthouse Square (where the John Barton Payne Building stands today) that was lost in the Great Fire of 1909. The family moved to a home on Green Street, and at age 11, Irvin was ready to go to work. His first job was milking Thomas Frank’s cows and cutting wood. He also worked in the print shop of Mr. Frank’s newspaper, The Fauquier Democrat, then located on Main Street. His jobs there were
to clean up around the shop and run a small press. By the time Irvin was in high school, he had progressed to “printer’s devil” in Frank’s shop, and was offered full-time employment. From there, he learned all aspects of the operation, from printing and binding to maintenance and repair of all types of equipment – from the smallest labeling machines to the heavy “hot lead” newspaper presses. The newspaper was sold to Hubert Phipps in 1936, and in 1945, Irvin was made printing superintendent. Although his focus was still on printing and newspaper production, he was interested in photography and became involved in the early efforts to bring current local news photos to Virginia newspapers. In the “hot lead” days, getting a picture published was a challenge, involving taking the photo, sending it to an out-of-town engraving company,
The detail and clarity of photos taken on 4”x5” film is seen in this picture of the congregation of the Warrenton Methodist Church on Winchester Street, taken on Easter Sunday, March 28, 1948. 34 Fall 2017
and waiting for it to come back as a leaden image. Then there was setting it up in the chase with the headlines and type, placed so that the image would print correctly when run on the press. The offset printing process was still years away, but soon the Democrat had its own “stereotype room,” where photos could be scanned and engraved on thick plastic sheets in the shop – a process that saved money and offered quick turnaround. By then, Irvin was established as an excellent news photographer, recognized by the Virginia Press Association and other trade groups for his knowledge and innovations. The newspaper industry was moving quickly from hot lead to offset
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printing, and by 1964, the Democrat had its own offset production darkroom, computer-generated typesetting, and a 4-unit Goss Community offset press. By the time Irvin retired in 1970, he had witnessed – and taken part in – the evolution of the industry. A search in the photo archives of the Fauquier Times uncovered many of the memorable images Irvin Garrett captured on film from the mid-1940s through the 1960s, mostly on the large 4” x 5” negative film he used in his classic Speed Graphic camera. We are pleased to share a few of these images, which demonstrate not only the breadth of Irvin’s skill as a photographer, but his love for – and connection with – his community.
Photo of Warrenton High School majorette Peggy Whitmore, taken in the 1950s, shows Irvin’s skill in composition and high style. Fall 2017 35
Irvin also covered hard news for the Democrat, including wrecks and fires. This photo was taken on June 30, 1950, in Remington, at the scene of a crash where a Southern Railway locomotive ran into a stopped C&O train.
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C. Irvin Garrett, photographed in 1990 holding his vintage Speed Graphic press camera.
Irvin Garrett photographed 4-year-old Keith Fletcher II in 1950, with the miniature GMC pickup truck his father had built for him in the body shop of Keith N. Fletcher Motors in Warrenton.
An unusual photo opportunity occurred in March 1962, when Warrenton veterinarian Nancy Poehlmann treated Kimball, a one-year-old chimpanzee for a cold shortly after arriving from Nigeria. The animal was owned by V. R. Rider of Warrenton.
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Other Fauquier County newspapers remembered
Going back many years, Fauquier County communities have had their own newspapers. New Baltimore From April 1882 to February 1883, Andrew Reinhardt Bartenstein published The New Baltimore Journal, a monthly newspaper distributed in that part of Fauquier. Used in the production process was “…a certain apparatus called the Hectograph,” according to Mr. Gott. Mr. Bartenstein’s original handwritten copy was transferred to paper using special inks, a pan of gelatin, or a gelatin pad pulled tight on a metal frame. Calverton In 1934, presumably after selling the Tri-County Herald, W. H. Martin published the Calverton Press briefly in Calverton.
Marshall The Piedmont News was a weekly newspaper established in Marshall in 1922. Edited for one year by J. G. Lumpkin, it was taken over in 1923 by Thomas E. Frank, publisher of The Fauquier Democrat. Until it ceased publication in 1926, The Piedmont News reflected Mr. Frank’s backing of the Democratic Party. The Chief Justice, edited by E. E. Keister, was established in 1928. A weekly newspaper, publication continued until 1932, when it was consolidated with three other regional newspapers to form the Northern Virginia Daily, published by the Keister family in Front Royal. The Chief Justice “…was a good newspaper, full of history, etc., wrote the late Fauquier County historian John K. Gott in a letter to The Fauquier Democrat Editor John Eisenhard in 1971.
From 1928 until it was sold in 1932, the Chief Justice was published in Marshall. The Plains The first issue of the Piedmont Virginian, published weekly on Wednesdays by the Fauquier Publishing Company, came out on April 21, 1971, offering “…a change of pace, a paper that won’t hesitate to dig deeper and hit harder if that’s what is called for.” Editor and general manager was Ray E. Dilley, who had previously served as the editor of the Manassas Journal Messenger. The focus of the newspaper was on agriculture and preservation of open space in the Piedmont, an issue that the backers of the newspaper – which included S. P. “Pete” Porter, Bill Backer, George Ohrstrom and originally Sen. John Warner – felt had been lacking. Over the years, Mrs. Hope Porter was actively involved in many aspects of the newspaper operation. In June 1977, the Piedmont Virginian went monthly, and the last issue was published in March 1978. In the final editorial it was stated, “It is fair to say that this paper has helped stimulate public awareness of the ‘growth’ issues which continue to pressure this area of Virginia, but whether that awareness will be translated into meaningful action remains to be seen.”
The Piedmont Virginian newspaper was published in The Plains from 1971-1978. A regional magazine now has the name. 38 Fall 2017
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Catlett The Circuit, advertised as “Virginia’s Only Colored Paper North of Richmond,” founded by Thomas Chapman Tyler and William H. Lewis Sr., began monthly publication in 1940. Staff members included Oscar White, Dr. J. H. Anderson and Rev. J. C. Hackett. The Circuit ceased publication in 1954.
Fauquier County educator William H. Lewis Sr. was one of the founders of The Circuit.
The Circuit was a monthly newspaper published in Catlett from 1940 tom 1954.
Remington The Remington Booster, established in 1913, was the town’s first newspaper. It was edited and published by Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Martin. It was followed in 1932 by The Remington Press, which was owned by R. A. Fifield and published by a Mr. Turner. Remington’s third newspaper, The TriCounty Herald, was published in 1934 by Fred Thurston.
Established in 1913, the Remington Booster was the town’s first newspaper. ‘A Paper Devoted to the Interests of Piedmont Virginia,’ The Remington Press was published on Thursdays by (R.A.) Fifield and Hord.
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‌and others in Warrenton During the early1980s, the daily Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star was marketed for a while in communities in Southern Fauquier, and for a time. The Culpeper Star-Exponent, also a daily, reached into the Warrenton market, and brief ly had an office on Culpeper Street. The Fauquier Citizen was published from 1989 to 2007 by former Democrat editor Lawrence K. Emerson and his wife Ellen Fox Emerson. Their first office was in the Thomas Frank house on Culpeper Street,
where they embarked on their first venture, Fauquier Magazine, in 1987. The magazine was published monthly from 1987 to 1993, and then quarterly until ceasing publication in 1997. The Emersons started their weekly newspaper, the Fauquier Citizen, in 1989, and later moved to larger quarters on Fifth Street. The Citizen was sold to Times Community Newspapers at the end of 2006, and publication of the Citizen by TCM continued into 2007.
The Fauquier Citizen was published from 1989 to 2006 by Lawrence K. and Ellen Emerson.
A monthly business and community news publication, Discovery Publications, publisher of Discover Fauquier, was started in 1991 by William Harper.
Bill Harper, who had been affiliated with Times Community Newspapers, founded Discovery Publications in 1991, first publishing in Culpeper, and soon afterward in Fauquier County. Discover Fauquier is a monthly publication focused on local businesses and community events. Following Mr. Harper’s death in 1996, the business was taken over by his wife and partner, Cathy Harper.
Cathy and Bill Harper, publishers of Discover Fauquier, founded in 1991.
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Cartoon that appeared on the editorial page of the Fauquier Times on August 24, 2016, celebrating the sale of the newspaper by the Virginia News Group ot the current owners, Piedmont Media LLC. VNG CEO Peter Arundel, at left, is depicted handing the ‘keys’ of the buisness to Piedmont Media LLC Chairman Emeritos George Thompson. The spirits of the former publishers Arthur Arundel and Hubert B. Phipps are seen above the transfer of ownership.
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