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Humboldt State University an ANALYSIS of the HUMBOLDT Humboldt State University AN ANALYSIS OF THE HUMBOLDT TIMES EDITORIAL POLICIES TOWARD SECTIONAL POLITICS FROM 1854 TO 1861 by Carleen Wing May 1984 INTRODUCTION The Compromise of 1850 was an attempt to solve sectional disputes regarding the expansion of slavery into the territories of the United States. An important provision of this Compromise was the admission of California to the Union as a free state. While much has been written about the period preceding the Civil War from the perspective of northern or southern states, far less has been said about the view of Californians and almost nothing about Humboldt County attitudes toward the events which culminated in the Civil War in 1861. Part of the reason for this may be that California was geographically removed from the events in the eastern part of the nation. The primary source of news and communication in the County during this period was the newspaper, The Humboldt Times, which began publishing on a weekly basis on September 2, 1854. Almost every issue of The Times from 1854 to 1861 contained information on the sectional conflict, slavery and its expansion into the territories, and local, state, and national politics as they related to these issues. On the first page of every issue until July 14, 1860, The Times bragged of being, "An Independent Newspaper." This essay will focus first on the 1 2 editors' stated policies toward sectional politics; second, on whether or not the newspaper actually reflected their stated policies; and third, how "independent" the newspaper actually was. It will also be necessary to decide whether the newspaper accurately reflected the views of Humboldt County citizens during this period and if these views were similar to the rest of California. Allan Nevins comments that when James Ford Rhodes started to compile his first volume of the History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850, "he at once set to work upon the newspaper files; and at once found that they were invaluable. No one could understand the history of the period without them." Nevins also states "that the press forms an unrivaled source on the study of opinion and for gaining some insight into the spirit of an age."1. The Humboldt Times was an invaluable source of information for the citizens of Humboldt County. The arrival of a steamer in Humboldt Bay was a big event as evidenced by the large headlines in the newspaper. A local historian notes that 1 Allan Nevins, Allan Nevins on History (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1975), p. 266. 3 back in the 1850's and 1860's the old Goliath. plodded back and forth between here and San Francisco carrying passengers, freight, and mail. And of great importance to journalism, the ships pursers always brought a big roll of San Francisco newspapers, to be clipped and reprinted in The Humboldt Times. In no other way was Humboldt able to keep abreast of world affair later.until2 the telegraph line opened some years The newspaper referred constantly to communications problems. Steamers often bypassed Humboldt Bay and went on to Crescent City; and even though post offices were established in June 1853 at Union (Arcata), Eureka, Bucksport, and Trinidad, "mails were very irregular, often received only once in four weeks."3 2 Wallace E. Martin, "Waterfront Yarns," Humboldt Historian, May-June 1976, p. 34. 3 Wallace W. Elliott, History of Humboldt County With Illustrations (San Francisco: Wallace W. Elliott & Co., Publishers, 1881), p. 209. BACKGROUND OF THE HUMBOLDT TIMES AND ITS EDITORS AND PROPRIETORS During its first seven years of publication, The Times changed locations as well as editors and proprietors several times. The first issue was published in Eureka on September 2, 1854, and in December of the same year the paper was moved to Union (Arcata). It returned to Eureka in August 1858. In July 1860, The Northern Californian, the only other local newspaper, which had started publication in Union in December 1858, discontinued its publication and merged with The Humboldt Times.4 The first editor and proprietor of The Times was Edwin D. Coleman, who came to Humboldt County in 1853 or 1854.5 California census records for 1852 indicate that he lived in Mariposa County, was 40 years old, and was born in Georgia, but had resided in Alabama prior to coming to California. His occupation at that time was listed as a miner.6 Coleman and 4 Elliott, p. 215; Susie Baker Fountain Papers, Humboldt State University Library, 38:326. 5Elliott, p. 215; David E. Gordon, "Early California Journalism--Humboldt Times Its Semi-Centennial Anniversary," Overland Monthly, October 1904, p. 424. 6California Census Records 1852, 3:165, provided in a letter from the California Historical Society dated May 13, 1983. 4 5 his printing press left San Francisco for Humboldt Bay in May 1854; however, the steamer was shipwrecked en route. Coleman survived, but his press went down with the ship. He returned to San Francisco and was able to secure another press which arrived here in late August.7 Wallace W. Elliott in his work, History of Humboldt County California, states, "He was a man of nerve and ability, possessed of a good education and a literary turn of mind."8 In the August 25, 1855 issue of The Times, when Coleman announced his candidacy for the State Assembly from Humboldt County, he stated "I am .a Democrat, a UNION DEMOCRAT." But Coleman did not win the election and shortly thereafter announced his intention to leave the County. Before he departed for Washington, D.C., he sold his interest in the paper on December 29, 1855 to Walter Van Dyke and Austin Wiley.9 From January 5, 1856, to January 23, 1858, during Van Dyke's and Wiley's proprietorship, Van Dyke served as editor. Van Dyke was born in New York in 1823 and received his law degree in Ohio. He came to Trinidad. in 1851 and was elected the first District Attorney of Klamath County.10 In the fall of 1852 he was the successful Whig candidate for the State Assembly from Klamath County; however, he lost his seat due to a boundary 7 Gordon, pp. 424-425. 8Elliott, p. 215. 9The Humboldt Times, 5 Jan. 1856. 10 From 1851 to 1875 Trinidad was a part of Klamath County. Andrew Genzoli, "Humboldt County Born of Political Bits and Pieces," The Humboldt Historian, July-August 1982, pp. 3-5. 6 dispute and came to Union in 1853 to establish a law practice. In 1854 he was elected the District Attorney of Humboldt County. In the fall of 1861 he was elected to the State Senate as an Independent Union candidate. He left Humboldt County in 1863, continuing his career in law, and ultimately was elected as a Justice of the State Supreme Court in 1898.11 Austin Wiley was born in Illinois in 1828 and prior to coming to California worked as a newspaperman for The St. Louis Republic and The Cincinnati Times. He came to Humboldt County in 1853 and worked for Edwin Coleman as a printer.12 The September 2, 1854 issue of The Times mentions that Wiley was the Secretary of a local Whig Party committee. In 1863 he was elected to the legislature on the Union ticket.13 On January 23, 1858, Van Dyke sold his interest in The Times and Wiley continued as sole proprietor and editor until June 1860. At that time, Walter Van Dyke repurchased The Times along with L. M. Burson.14 Burson, however, remained with the 11Howard B. Melendy, "Pioneers of the Past--Walter Van Dyke," Blue Lake Advocate, 1 Feb. 1962 reprinted in Fountain Papers, 27:379-384; Oscar T. Shuck, ed. History of the Bench and Bar in California (Los Angeles: The Commercial Printing House, 1901), p. 496. 12Blue Lake Advocate, 1 Feb. 1962; Elliott, p. 180. 13From 1863 to 1867 the Republican Party was called the Union Party. Walton Bean, California an Interpretive History (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1968), p. 178. 14 The sources available did not list a first name for Mr. Burson. He was always referred to by the initials "L. M." 7 newspaper for only one month, at which time Stephen G. Whipple joined Van Dyke as editor and proprietor. Whipple was born in Vermont in 1825 and moved with his family to Ohio while still a child. He had some early training and worked in a newspaper office prior to coming to Trinidad in 1851. He was elected to the State Assembly from Klamath County in 1853 and re-elected as the Democratic candidate to the Assembly in 1856.15 In 1858 he moved to Union and started The Northern Californian in December of that year. He published The Northern Californian until merging it with The Humboldt Times in July 1860. On March 30, 1861, Van Dyke again sold his interest in The Times and Whipple remained the sole editor and proprietor. 15 Blue Lake Advocate, 4 Jan. 1962 and 11 Jan. 1962; The Humboldt Times, 8 Nov. 1856 and 15 Nov. 1856. BACKGROUND ON POLITICAL PARTIES DURING THE 1850S In order to understand the editorials during the 1850s and 1860s, an understanding of the existing political parties is necessary. The following will provide a very brief explanation of the major political parties during this period. In the early to mid 1850s, the main national political parties were the Whigs, Democrats, and Americans. The American or Know Nothing Party was organized nationally in 1852 from various secret, nativist societies. It was organized in California in 1854.16 The nickname "know nothing" originates from the party's early secret society status--members of the organization claimed to "know nothing" when asked questions about the organization.
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