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. The party was opposed to foreigners, Catholics, and immigration.17 It also felt that slavery was a continued source of sectional agitation and that Congress had no power to regulate or interfere with slavery in either the States or the territories.
16 Bean, p. 174. 17 Avery Craven, The Coming of the Civil War (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969), p.346; W. Darrell Overdyke, The Know Nothing Party in the South, (Binghamton, New York: Vail-Ballou Press, Inc., 1950), pp. 34-38; George H. Mayer, The Republican Party 1854-1966 (New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1967) p. 27.
8 9
Stephen A. Douglas, a Democrat and author of the
Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, supported the idea of "popular sovereignty" whereby the decision to enter the Union as a free or slave State would be voted upon by the people in the territories.
This act appealed to Southerners because it opened up the possibility of slavery in territories where it had previously been prohibited. The Democrats were considered to be a Southern, pro-slavery party and the Whigs, a Northern anti-slavery party.
These distinctions were not clear-cut however; there were
Northern Democrats and Southern Whigs. These crossovers caused a severe split in the Democratic Party in the late 1850s.
After the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Northern
Whigs, Free-Soilers and several smaller political factions joined together to form the Republican Party.18 It was formed nationally in 1854 as a party opposed to the expansion of slavery, but was not organized in California until 1856.
Therefore, in elections in 1855, Know Nothing, Democratic, and
Independent candidates ran for office.19
18 Mayer, p. 26. 19 Royce D. Delmatier, Clarence F. McIntosh, and Earl G. Waters, eds., The Rumble of California Politics 1848-1970 (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1970), pp. 40-41. ANALYSIS OF THE EDITORIALS AND ARTICLES ON SECTIONAL POLITICS PRINTED IN THE HUMBOLDT TIMES
Edwin Coleman stated in his introductory column in the first issue:
We shall endeavor to maintain a strict neutrality in regard to politics--meaning thereby--that we will not become the tool of any party, clique, or faction, but hold ourselves free to attack corruption, peculation, &c., in officials irrespective of party. We shall from time to time give the opinions of our national men on questions of state and national policy, with our views of the subject. Our interests are identical with that of the people of this county and State, and the Times, while strictly conservative in its character and entirely free from sectional bias, will be found advocating those objects that will most conduce towards their advancement. We are opposed to all isms of the day and shall, to the best of our ability hold up agitators and disorganizers to the execration they deserve.
On reading the issues of The Times during the period that
Coleman was editor, one finds that he did adhere to his stated editorial policy of "attacking corruption, peculation, &c., in officials irrespective of party." In the first issue of the paper, he criticized some California politicians for selling out
"to the party clique or faction who bid the most for (them)" and further concluded that the politicians then became "a mere
10 11 automaton of the party who purchased (them]." In February 1855 he accused David C. Broderick and William M. Gwin, both
Democratic candidates for United States Senator, of corruption and stated that it would be better for the seat to be left vacant.20 He further commented that he would support Henry A.
Crabb, a Whig, if he were a candidate.21 In July he again attacked the Democrats for corruption:
As it is, the best men of the party (Democratic] have repudiated it; hundreds who are democrats, though not uniting with the Know Nothings, will oppose the Bigler ticket. Every honest man unless blinded by prejudice or ignorance will do the same. No one can dispute the democracy of Donelson, Foote, Terry, Murray, Bell, McMeans, and a host of others who are battling against, not democracy, but corruption.
His criticism of President Franklin Pierce was also stinging in numerous editorials. "By his imbecility and vascillations he has forfeited the confidence and cost the respect of the people 23 of every portion of the Union." Coleman's criticism of Whigs and Democrats was so biting that his newspaper was accused by a
San Francisco newspaper, The Times and Transcript, of being a
Know Nothing paper, a charge which he adamantly denied.24 In
20Times, 24 Feb. 1855.
21Though Coleman refers to Crabb as a Whig, Hittel identifies him as a Know Nothing. Theodore Hittel, History of California (San Francisco: N.J. Stone & Co., 1898) p.185.
22Times, 28 July 1855. 23Ibid., 21 Apr. 1855.
24Ibid., 4 Aug. 1855. 12
fact, in several articles, it did appear that he was leaning
toward the Know Nothing Party. On March 31, 1855, he stated: "A
most excellent paper, published in Georgia - The Citizen -
advocates the Know Nothings on the ground of their repudiation of
all questions calculated to agitate the question of slavery," and
in another editorial, Coleman stated:
The so-called American (Know Nothing) party have an arduous duty before them; unless wise counsels prevail it will fail to secure in this State a permanent foothold. They are fortunate in hang so unpopular a man as the competitor for Governor.
However, in the following month, Coleman's attitude toward
the Know Nothings changed; he felt it had become a sectional
party because it no longer prohibited the agitation of the
slavery question.26 In announcing his candidacy for State
Assembly as a Democrat on August 25, 1855, he denounced the Know
Nothings, and two weeks later he denounced "the corruption and
villainy practiced and attempted to be practiced in this county
[by the Know Nothings]. . . ." 27
Coleman's editorial policy stated that The Times would be
"entirely free from sectional bias" and "opposed to all isms of the day and shall, to the best of our ability, hold up agitators and disorganizers to the execration they deserve." However,
25Ibid., 28 July 1855. 26Ibid., 11 Aug. 1855.
27Ibid., 8 Sept. 1855. 13 there was a pro-Southern, anti-abolitionist leaning to The
Times. It appears that Coleman saw only abolitionists as agitators or disorganizers. There are many anti-abolitionist articles and editorials, but not a single reference to pro-slavery advocates as being agitators. In the second issue of the paper, on September 9, 1854, in reference to the
Kansas-Nebraska Act, Coleman stated that "such is the language of the section (referring to the Act] that has been seized upon by the abolitionists to humbug the people." In his condemnation of
President Pierce, he stated that "if abolitionism prevails and the Constitution is trampled under foot, it will be chargeable to the indecision and incapacity of President Pierce."28 In an article on January 6, 1855, Coleman stated in regard to abolitionists: "The truth is, the wretched hypocracy (sic] of these people is in no degree behind their blasphemy against God and their treason to their Country."29
As noted previously, he also changed his attitude toward the
Know Nothing Party when he felt that the abolitionists had taken over the party by nullifying "the provision forbidding the agitation of the slavery question."" On December 22, 1855, he stated, "The insidious encroachments of the abolitionists, under
28Ibid., 21 Apr. 1855. 29Ibid., 6 Jan. 1855.
30Ibid., 11 Aug. 1855. 14 the assumed name of Republicans, have awakened the patriots of the country to a sense of danger that now-threatens it."
Coleman's attitude toward blacks was also derogatory. One
Times article stated:
Southern darkies are all built after the same model; hand like a shoulder of mutton, teeth white as milk, foot of suitable dimensions for a railroad bridge, and a mouth big enough for a depot; have all got 6 toes on each foot, skull like an oak plank, yellow eyes, and nose like a split pear. . . 31
In an article on June 16, 1855 in a reference to black laws in
Massachusetts, it is stated:
a law placing negro children on the same footing in the public schools as white, has been enacted. The wooliest head and the thickest lips had an equal chance for education previous to this time with the whitest skin and the strongest Saxon peculiarities; but now the niggers are really just as good as white folks. The North is to be Africanized. Amalgamation has commenced. New England heads the column. God save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
When Van Dyke and Whipple took over as proprietors in
January 1856, they stated:
31 Ibid., 6 Jan. 1855. 15
We intend The Humboldt Times to be what it purports, An Independent Newspaper . . . we intend to give our readers . . . the most important political intelligence of the day . . . But we shall refrain from advocating any partizan, [sic] and shall avoid entering into discussions of a partizan [sic] nature.32
While Van Dyke served as editor from January 1856 to January
1858, he followed his editorial policy more consistently than
Coleman. Van Dyke published many unbiased reports on political events of the times--the situation in Kansas; reprints of the speeches of President Pierce and James Buchanan's inaugural address; reports on the Dred Scott decision; reprints of the state and national platforms of the Democratic, American, and
Republican parties; and reports on local elections and their results. Most editorial comments were made after the elections, not prior to them in an effort to influence the voters. There was one notable exception to this general policy prior to the
1856 Presidential election when Van Dyke stated that the
Democratic Party nomination of James Buchanan and the American
Party nomination of Millard Fillmore were both good choices. He noted, however, that the Republicans erred in nominating John C.
Fremont because he lacked "long experience in the affairs of the government, sound practical statesmanship, and above all a reputation as a conservative national man, which will inspire confidence throughout the country."33
32 Ibid., 5 Jan. 1856. 33Ibid., 26 July 1856. 16
Van Dykes's editorial comment on President Pierce's final
message typified his non-partisan policy: "It is generally conceded to be an able message. We commend it to our readers as a whole, and let each for himself pass his own judgment upon its
merits."34
Van Dyke favored "good men" regardless of party affiliation as evidenced in several articles. In the November 11, 1856 issue
he stated: "The electors of this county, in the selection of local officers, show a judgment in the choice of good men,
without regard to party." He made a similar editorial statement in the August 8, 1857 issue.
The other type of editorializing done by Van Dyke was of a pro-Union nature. Sectional strife disturbed him greatly. In a
July 19, 1856 editorial entitled "The Crisis," which referred to the current political crisis between the North and the South, he wrote:
Unless a reform is brought about, and the various posts of honor and influence in the government filled with men imbued with principles of religion and morality, and men who act according to the dictates of justice, this Republic will soon follow in the gloomy train of fallen empires, kingdoms, and republics.
Van Dyke saw the election of Buchanan as the solution to the nation's sectional problems. After Buchanan's election in 1856, Van Dyke stated:
34Ibid., 16 Feb. 1856. 17
He is a statesman of moderate conservative views and of long experience. . . . As far as the man is concerned, therefore, the country has much cause to hope that his administration will tend to heal the disordered state of affairs.
He further commented regarding Buchanan's proposed policies:
"Such a course can hardly fail to restore and perpetuate order and good feeling throughout the country."35
On January 23, 1858, Walter Van Dyke sold his interest in the paper to his partner Austin Wiley, who took over as editor, stating:
We calculate to deal justly, but on all subjects which may demand our attention as a journalist, we shall say just what we think is right. We shall endeavor to trace the difference between "impudence" and "independence" and adhere as strictly as possible to the later.
When Wiley took over as editor, there was a marked change in the tone of the editorials and articles in The Times. He certainly did "say just what (he thought was] right", but there is little evidence of his having adhered as strictly to
"independence." Wiley's editorials show that he was a Democrat,
35 Ibid., 11 Apr. 1857. 36Ibid., 23 Jan. 1858. 18 very pro-Douglas, and therefore very opposed to the Lecompton
Constitution and Buchanan. Buchanan, a Democrat, favored the
Lecompton, or pro-slavery, Constitution for Kansas. Senator
Douglas, also a Democrat, believed the Lecompton Constitution violated his principle of "popular sovereignty" as defined in the
Kansas-Nebraska Act, and he and the President were at loggerheads over the issue. Wiley sided with Douglas's supporters, and at the Humboldt County Democratic Party convention held on June 8,
1859, he introduced a resolution to:
reaffirm our adherence to the Kansas-Nebraska Act . . . and that we are inalterably opposed to the intervention by Congress in the domestic affairs of the territories . . . and resolved further that this subject of strife and discord [slavery) should be forever banished from the halls of Legislation, both Congress and State, as was intended by said act. .
In one of his first editorials, Wiley commented in reference to the possible admission of Kansas under the Lecompton
Constitution that President Buchanan "seems disposed to sacrifice the most vital principle of a republican government. . • • " He further stated "that if the heart of the American people remain true to the principles of our republican institutions--which cannot be doubted--this issue must be decided in favor of Douglas and popular sovereignty."38 In another reference to the