Ashland's newspaper history recounted
March 27, 2008 (Bill Doran, Herald Progress)
Many readers of the Herald-Progress fondly remember the Pace family years, some even remember the Watkins years. Although the history books claim an 1881 birth date for the H-P, the first Ashland newspaper can be traced back to 1872.
Greg Glassner, the editor of the Herald-Progress, gave a talk March 20 at the Richard S. Gillis, Jr./Ashland Branch of the Pamunkey Regional Library on the history of newspapers in Ashland. "Although the Herald-Progress claims its ancestry goes back through 127 years of Ashland's 150-year history as a town, the newspaper was not always called the Herald-Progress, nor was 1881 the first year that an attempt was made to establish a newspaper in Ashland," said Glassner.
The first paper of record was the Ashland Sentinel that was launched in 1872. It was billed as an independent weekly and did not even last through the first year.
The second paper was the Ashland News, which was started in 1876 and also lasted about one year. It was The American Guest, established in 1881 that started the tradition of a regularly published newspaper in Ashland. "Two preachers, the Reverends D.M. James and W. Frost Bishop, and a printer salesman named J.B. Savage, came to Ashland... and brought out their first issue on June 6," explained Glassner. The American Guest called itself a "Journal for every household," and bore the slogan, "In essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Clarity."
It is believed the American Guest was printed in the shop of "Fox, Stebbins and Company Printers," and was located in the back of Stebbin's store. The introductory subscription rate was $2 a year, which was reduced within two months to a more reasonable $1 a year. "Even at that price, the Guest had trouble making it and disappeared within its first year," said Glassner.
In 1882 Frank Noland, a student at Randolph-Macon College, launched the Hanover News. Its slogan was, "Prosperity to Virginia in General and to Hanover County in Particular." "In the August 25, 1882 issue, however he admitted the same financial difficulties encountered by his predecessors were too much for him," stated Glassner.
"The News did not stay dead for long. J.B. Savage, the fat man who had been one of the three partners in the ill-fated American Guest, revived it. Savage would be associated with this newspaper for the next several years." In 1884 the name of the paper was changed to the Hanover-Caroline News, in an attempt to serve a larger market.
In 1885 Savage sold the paper to W.B. Bean. In 1887 the H-C News was replaced by the Ashland Weekly Enterprise. Two master printers, A.R. Holderby and A.W. Robbins, ran this paper.
At its first anniversary, the Enterprise printed a full-page picture of a rooster crowing from the top of the world. "We started amidst the most unfavorable circumstances imaginable and had discouraging remarks poked at us from every corner," the editors noted. "A number of our friends gave us just three months to live, some few going as far as six months but the ruling opinion was that we would blaze up for a short time and as quickly die out. We are sorry that we were compelled to disappoint these grumblers by building up a paper in spite of their forebodings, but we are here now, we have been here a year and we propose to stay here, let them grumble all they will."
Although it lasted longer then its predecessors, the Enterprise eventually closed its doors. "We did our best but the merchants were every unenterprising," said Robbins. "We had our ups and downs but finally our expenses exceeded our income."
In September 1894, W.B Walton and C.C. Anderson took over the subscription list of the Enterprise and brought out the first issue of the Hanover Herald, of which the H-P is a direct descendent. Walton took over sole ownership in 1898.
The newspaper was first located over what was then Lancaster's Store and later moved to a building at the rear of what was called the Octagon House, across from the post office. Walton would remain editor for 26 years.
In 1913 the Ashland Progress was established and Ashland became a two-newspaper town for several years. "In 1919 it became apparent that the two rival papers were struggling," said Glassner. "A group of Hanover County residents formed a stock company called the Hanover Printing and Publishing Company. They purchased both [papers] and consolidated them under one management and the nameplate, Herald-Progress."
March of 1925 the paper was sold to C.L. Weymouth who ran the paper until his death in 1931. His wife and son-in-law ran the paper until 1933 when the Weymouth estate sold the H-P to Paul F. Watkins of Chicago. "Watkins was a veteran newspaper executive who had edited the Evanston News -Index and served as promotions manager of the Chicago Daily News," said Glassner. "Watkins had a hankering to own a newspaper. He and his wife Lois traveled through the East Coast and several southern states, looking at newspapers that were for sale before deciding that Ashland was the most attractive cultural community with the greatest opportunity. "The Watkins moved their household and two children to Ashland in the summer of 1933 and began a 48-year family dynasty which saw the newspaper prosper and reach its greatest circulation."
Paul Watkins died in 1951, after 18 years at the helm. Lois Watkins assumed the role of publisher and editor, work she had done for several years while her husband battled Hodgkin's disease. The daughter, Marion Watkins Herget, returned to Ashland in 1954 to help her mother run the family paper. She became the news editor, and in 1963, the editor. "
In the early 1970s Watkins and Herget decided they needed someone to take over the chores as editor while they concentrated on the rapidly growing printing side of the business. Herget mentioned this desire to a former Yellow Jacket editor who recommended another former editor of the college paper, J. Malcolm Pace, III.
"When Jay and I met together to talk about it," Herget wrote, "he had only one stipulation, that he be given the opportunity to buy into the business at some future date. I had never thought about what was going to happen to the Herald-Progress after it ran out of Watkins's...The family business would some day probably have to be sold, either to strangers, to a syndicate of newspapers, or just possibly with some careful planning, to a young man who reminded mother and me of our favorite editor, Paul Watkins."
"It was on that promise, and hope, that Jay Pace came to the H-P in 1973 as associate editor. In 1979, Pace became editor," stated Glassner. "In 1981, on the newspaper's 100th anniversary, the Pace family replaced the Watkins as owners. Pace became both editor and publisher, and his wife Pat took over the business side of things.
"Pace became a legendary, larger-than-life figure to the residents of Ashland through his participation in the variety show, the July 4 celebration where he played Uncle Sam, and many other venues," continued Glassner. "Readers chuckled over his 'Fighting Tomatoes' campaign and eagerly awaited his 'Clouded Crystal Ball' commentaries and empire building editorials. Readers often caught him pontificating over coffee at the old FasMart, and called it 'holding church.'" The newspaper remained in the Pace family until 2004. "Jay had decided early in the new millennium to seek a buyer for the H-P and retire to the Outer Banks of North Carolina," said Glassner.
"After a search of several years Pace agreed to sell the company to one of his printing clients, the CV Corporation of Virginia. It was expected that Mr. Pace would oversee the transition, in much the same way that Marion Herget and her mother Lois Watkins had smoothed the way for the Paces. "With Jay's untimely death in April 2004, that gradual transition did not take place. The sale went through and the CV Corp. took control of the H-P in August.
They advertised for an experienced editor to keep the news staff running and I answered that ad. After 17 years in bucolic Madison County, I was ready for a new challenge." "The financial picture for the H-P improved considerably under the CV Corp.
In 2007, however, the CV board members decided to sell out... On Jan. 1, 2008 Lakeway Publishers Inc. of Morristown, Tennessee bought the CV papers, including the H-P. As small newspaper specialists, and a multi-generational family business, Lakeway should insure the H-P's future for some time to come.
"Years after my chapter at the Herald-Progress ends, I wonder if I will be fondly remembered like J.B. Savage as a 'great big fat man, jolly and enterprising,' or vaguely referred to like Ellis Taylor as a man 'about whom nothing is known.'" Glassner quipped. "Only time will tell," he added.