The German Heritage of Carroll County, Iowa
by David Reineke
 

Chapter Fourteen
PAGE ONE


The German Press in Carroll County
 

                   The German press has a long history in the United States, and German periodicals andnewspapers were published as early as the Colonial period.  The Philadelphische Zeitiung (PhiladelphiaNewspaper), published by Benjamin Franklin in 1732, was probably the firstGerman newspaper published in America.  Although itquickly went out of business, many other German publications followed.  During the 1800s and early 1900s, thousandsof German newspapers were published throughout the country, eventuallyappearing in all fifty states and the District of Columbia.  Most, but not all,German papers went out of business around the time of World War I or shortlythereafter.

                    The first German newspaperpublished in Iowa was probably the Nordwestliche Demokrat, published in Dubuque in 1849.  Insubsequent years, at least 175 German papers were published in the state.  A few towns, like Davenport andDubuque, saw over 20 German newspapers published over theyears.  In all, there were approximately60 Iowa towns with one or more German papers. 

                   The German settlers in Carroll County continued in the long tradition of establishing newspapers in theirnative language.  At least four Germanpapers were published in CarrollCounty through the years.   Along withthe various German churches and their associated schools, these publicationsplayed a leading role in helping to preserve and foster the German language andculture in the county. 

 

Der Carroll Demokrat

                    This paper (not to beconfused with the English-language CarrollDemocrat) was first published in Carroll in 1874 and continued into the1920s.  During its day, it was theleading German publication in Carroll County. 

                    Asits name implies, one of the paper’s main goals was to support the politicalactivities of the Democratic Party and to promote German interest in theparty.  During the 1800s, it was verycommon for local newspapers across the country to be engaged in partisanpolitics.  Many papers, locally andnationally, were controlled by political interests and engaged in editorialwarfare with their rival publications. Given the large number of German immigrants in America,German newspapers were an important means for politicians to reach potentialvoters. 

                    The founders of Der Carroll Demokrat, John G. Burkhardt and T. L. Bowman, were both experiencedjournalists.  Bowman had previouslyworked for English-language papers supporting the Democratic Party.  He founded the Cedar Falls Democrat, and had also worked at the Dubuque Herald and the St. Louis Times.  Along with Lambert Kniest and Heinrich Baumhover, Bowman had also been instrumental in encouragingthe early German settlement in Carroll County.  Bowman and another businesspartner, Patrick M. Guthrie, had operated a successful land office in Carrollsince 1871, and over the years they were agents for the sale of thousands ofacres of railroad land around the state. Bowman was also personally active in Democratic politics, and in 1876 hewould be chosen as an Iowadelegate to the Democratic National Convention. 

                    Twenty-three-year-old John G.Burkhardt had recently arrived in Carroll from Omaha, where he had been the editor of theGerman-language Beobachter am Missouri (Observer on the Missouri), the first German paperin Omaha.  In lateryears, Burkhardt recalled his first arrival in “Carroll City”in early 1874.   He had come on the trainfrom Omaha on a Saturday in order to look over the town andconsider a job offer as editor of the new German paper.  The following day, a committee of localDemocrats escorted him to Mt. Carmel for church services.  Burkhardt notedthat the town consisted of only a few buildings: a post office which was also astore, two or three other buildings, and a church that was too small for thecrowd of German Catholics who arrived for services.  After church, he met with many of the localGermans and quickly obtained a list of potential subscribers.  Upon returning to Carroll, pleasantlysurprised at his experience and in obtaining the subscribers, he agreed toassume the editorship of the Demokrat.  He confessed that upon his return to Omaha, a much larger city with a flourishing Germanculture, he momentarily questioned the wisdom of his decision to relocate to Carroll County.  However, he quickly returnedto Carroll the following week and went to work on the new paper.

                      The paper’s German-languageprospectus appeared in Carroll on May 9, 1874.  Itannounced the formation of a private company for the purpose of publishing aGerman newspaper, under the title DerCarroll Demokrat, and having the motto “Furchtlos und treu” (Fearless and true).  The prospectus further stated that the paperwould promote the interests of the German population of the county, and that itwould not advocate the interests of any “ring or clique.”  It further promised that the paper would takea stand against “rising nativism” and the “fanaticaltemperance movement.”  The annualsubscription price was two dollars.

                    The first edition of Der Carroll Demokrat appeared on Friday, May 22, 1874.  It was four pages in length, with sevencolumns per page.  As the prospectus hadpromised, the paper immediately went on the attack against what it consideredthe “corruption” of the local county government, and also encouraged its Germanreaders toward the Democratic Party.

                    Its publication alsocommenced what would become a long “newspaper war” with the English-language Carroll Herald, the leading voice of theRepublican Party in the county.  Originallycalled the Western Herald, it hadfirst appeared in the fall of 1868 and was the first paper printed in Carroll County.  (Theshort-lived Enterprise had appearedin Carroll in the spring of 1868, but it was actually published at Jefferson.)

                     When Der Carroll Demokrat appeared in 1874, the Carroll Herald was owned by Eugene R. Hastings, who was alsopostmaster for several years, and O. R. Gray was a junior partner.  Hastings later became sole owner, and he later sold thepaper to Paul Maclean in 1883.  Over the years, the Demokrat and the Heraldfought many fierce battles, mainly on topics related to politics.  The editors of the Demokrat did not shy away from personal attacks and even outrightinsults against their opponents.  Mr.Hastings at the Herald, however, wasa worthy opponent and could give as good as hegot.  In 1880, a writer for the Burlington Hawk-Eye admiringly referredto him as “one of the most caustic and pungent writers in the state.”  Paul Maclean, inhis 1912 county history, refers to Hastings as a “man of great force and the highest type ofintegrity and honor,” and notes that he and his paper also fought for politicalreform.

                     One article in the firstedition of the Demokrat addressed therecent alleged embezzlement of over $4000 by the former county treasurer, W. H.Price, one of the few Democrats to hold county office in the early days in Carroll County.  This was the latest chapter ina series of scandals that had been brewing in local government for severalyears.  During the 1860s and early 1870s,large sums of money had disappeared from the public accounts due to recklessspending, mismanagement, and outright fraud by some county officials.  Money was paid for numerous goods and servicesthat were never received, and for construction projects that were nevercompleted.  This story is described ingreater detail in Paul Maclean’s 1912 county historyand in the 1887 Biographical andHistorical Record of Carroll County. One article in the CarrollDemokrat was critical of the Heraldfor not speaking out more forcefully on these issues, and asserted that the Herald was too mild because its friendswere involved.  Another article in thefirst edition urged German voters to attend the upcoming county convention tonominate delegates to the state Democratic convention.  The paper also urged attendance at a meetingof the state Anti-Monopoly Party (a short-lived anti-corporate movement during1873-1874 to create a new political party) in Des Moines.

                    But the Demokrat was not all politics. The first edition also contained news items from around the county: newchurches were being built; plowing was underway on the prairie; two horsesnamed Fuchs and Braune (Fox and Brownie) had run awayfrom Mr. Kruse over in West Side; there was talk of a new brewery in Arcadia orCarroll; and Henry Baumhover was attempting tomanufacture bricks in Kniest Township. There was also state and national news, as well as news from Germany.

                    The prices of farmcommodities were noted in the market report. A bushel of wheat was at 95 cents, corn at 85 cents, hogs at $4 perhundredweight, flour at $4 per hundred pounds, eggs at 10 cents a dozen, andpotatoes at $1.25 a bushel.

                    Numerous German and Americanbusinesses, mainly from Carroll and Arcadia, had also placed advertisements.  Carpenter and Locke advertised many itemssuch as dry goods, groceries, clothes, and glassware for sale in their storesin Carroll and Arcadia.  J. D.Peters in Arcadia advertised a large selection of farm implements,including the McCormick Reaper, plows, cultivators, and threshingmachines.  Cook and Jones advertisedStudebaker wagons and buggies, as well as all sorts of farm machinery, for salein Glidden and Carroll.  Brooks LumberYard, at the corner of Main and Fourth in Carroll, advertised all kinds ofconstruction material.  A few of theother ads in this and other early editions included: Lampman & Hense,hardware and implement dealers in Arcadia; Henry Benke’sgrocery stores in Carroll and Arcadia; J. W. Gilger’s“country store” in Arcadia; Ignatz Smuting’s furniture store in Arcadia; Niemannand Boyson’s wagon and blacksmith shop in Arcadia;the German drug store of L. S. Stoll in Arcadia; August König,the “best bricklayer and plasterer in the county”; the blacksmith shop of RobHamilton and Brothers on Main Street in Carroll; the Glidden Mill of T. H.Heaton & Co., an “exchange mill” located five miles north of Glidden; andArcadia Haus, a German boarding house and restaurantin Arcadia, which also promised to have “always fresh beer.”

                   The Demokrat also announced the appointment of several authorizedagents: Franz Florencourt would be travelingthroughout the county to gather additional subscriptions; W. H. Bohnenkamp wasagent for Kniest Township; Henry Halbur for Eden and Washington Townships;Joseph Friedmann for Roselle Township; Charles F. Florencourtfor Wheatland Township; L. S. Stoll for Arcadia Township; and Claus Jahn for West Side and Crawford County.  Readers were also invited to drop by thenewspaper office in Carroll to meet the editor.

                    The Demokrat faced many hardships and financial challenges in its earlydays, and in the beginning its subscriber list probably never exceeded about400.  For the first two years, the paperoperated out of an 8- by 12-foot room in the back of Guthrie and Bowman’s landoffice near the train depot.  At first,the paper did not even have its own press, and Burkhardthad to prepare the forms and take them to another office to print on a borrowedhand press. 

                    Mr. Bowman withdrew from thebusiness in June 1874, selling his interest to Burkhardtand Franz Florencourt.  Florencourt thenresigned in September 1874, leaving Burkhardt as soleeditor and publisher.  During its firstseveral months, the Demokrat alsofaced unexpected competition from the newly-founded Carroll Democrat, an English-language paper that attempted to lureaway its business.

                    But the Demokrat persevered through these early hard times and soonenlarged to an eight-column publication. In December 1874, Henry Schirk took over thepaper’s publication, keeping Burkhardt as editor, andhe also purchased the English Democratto eliminate the competition.  Shortlythereafter, however, Schirk had to cease publicationdue to financial difficulties. 

                    In February 1875, H. L. McMann purchased the paper, and he and Burkhardtresumed publication.  But McMann soon withdrew, and then Schirkand Burkhardt again went into business together.  In November 1875, the paper enlarged into anine-column publication.  Mr. Schirk, however, decided to withdraw in February 1876, andhe sold his share to H. W. Hagemann.  Things began to improve after this, and in afew weeks the business moved to a new location, an 18- by 32-foot framebuilding on Fourth Street,near the Carroll Roller Mills.  Due tomissing editions, the ownership of the paper is uncertain for a time, but itappears that Hagemann eventually purchased Burkhardt’s share and became sole owner around 1878.  During this time, the paper also changed fromnine columns to seven, but enlarged from four pages to eight.

                     John G. Burkhardt,who had worked on the paper since its establishment, resigned as editor in July1878 and went to work for a new German paper established by Dr. L. Rick in Kinsley, Kansas.  (Rick wouldalso later start the newspaper Die Germania in Carroll.) Burkhardt subsequently worked for other Germanpapers in the “West” including papers in Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma.  Around1900, he worked for the Gainesville Anzeiger in Cook County, Texas, where there was a large German community,including a number of transplants from Carroll County. 

                   In March 1879, a joint stockcompany called the Demokrat Printing Association purchased the Carroll Demokrat from Hagemann and continued publication.  The stockholders of the new company werePatrick M. Guthrie, Peter Berger, William Lynch, Louis Keckevoet,J. Rettenmaier, J. P. Hess, Franz Florencourt, andJoseph Buchheit.  Clemens Bruening waspresident, and Patrick M. Guthrie was vice president.  The following month, the directors hired JohnGuenther and Charles Tass to assume the editorial andtechnical management, and in October these positions were given to Franz Florencourt and Joseph Kniest.  In the preceding June of that same year, thebusiness had moved to the new Keckevoet building on Fifth Street. Joseph Drees was named secretary in 1880.

                   The stockholders in the newDemokrat Printing Association were all Democrats, but not all were Germans, asituation that would eventually come to irritate some German residents in thecounty.  Following the reorganization of1879, the paper prospered again and its subscriber list grew.  It is estimated that by 1880, the circulationof the paper had grown to about 750. 

                    The political influence ofthe paper also gradually increased with the increasing German population.  Following 1880, the political majority in thecounty gradually shifted toward the Democratic Party.

                     In November 1881, theprinting office was moved to Main Street, across from the courthouse.  A cylinder press was purchased and set up inthe new space.

                    In January 1882, theshareholders elected the following officers: Patrick M. Guthrie, president;Joseph Buchheit, vice president; J. B. Kniest, business manager and secretary;Clemens Bruening, C. Meis, M. Wurzer,Franz Florencourt, and Joseph Driest weredirectors.  In the fall of 1882, thepaper took on a new look and was printed in a new type face.  In 1886, a new machine room was constructed,and a paper-cutting machine and new Accidenz presswere acquired.

                    Mr. Kniest, who had worked atthe paper for several years, resigned in June 1887 to take a position with a St. Louis paper.  Hewas replaced as secretary by J. W. Guthrie. In October 1887, the paper changed to a seven-column format.

                    As noted above, not all theowners and officers of the printing association were Germans, and, in fact, themajority interest in the paper was controlled by non-Germans.  Many Germans considered this rather “unbecoming,”and some even feared that anti-German interests might eventually gain controlof the paper.  In 1887,a group of several prominent Germans, including William Arts (who would laterorganize the German Bank of Carroll County), attempted to purchase the paperso that it would remain under German ownership.  Due to thehigh asking price of the paper’s owners, however, the venture was initiallyunsuccessful.  This led Arts and othersto form the German Demokrat Printing Company, which announced the intention tostart a new German-owned paper called the GermanNational Demokrat.  The Germanpopulation in the county supported the new venture, and its stock shares werequickly purchased throughout the county. At the last minute, however, Guthrie and the other owners of theDemokrat Printing Association reconsidered and decided to sell to the newall-German company.

                  In the first meeting of thenew German-owned company, William Arts was elected president, Joseph M. Dreesbusiness manager, and Franz Florencourt editor andsecretary.  In September 1888, theprinting works was moved from Main Street to Fifth Street, where it was situated above NicBeiter’s meat market, and where it remained until theearly 1900s.

                    In 1890, the paper hadapproximately 1200 subscribers.  In March1891, Franz Florencourt resigned as editor due tohealth reasons.  Alois Becker was thennamed editor and business manager, and he also served as secretary of thecompany.   A short time later, the paperagain switched to a new typeface (it was always printed in some version ofGerman Gothic typeface), and the business acquired a new steam-powered cylinderpress.  Various changes were made in thepaper’s appearance over the years, and more modern equipment was graduallyacquired when needed.  The paper expandedto twelve pages in 1897.

                    In 1899, Der Carroll Demokrat celebrated its twenty-fifth year in businessand published a special Anniversary Edition on September 20.  This publication, approximately fifty pageslong, contained histories of the county, as well as most of the towns andtownships, and many business.  It also contained several hundred biographiesof prominent German-American residents of Carroll County.  In an essay outlining thehistory of the paper (which is one of the sources for the information set forthabove), the editor looked back on the trials and challenges of the past years(translated from German):

 

So did DerCarroll Demokrat endure a period of 25 years of historical change, andtoday, wearing its silver crown, it can look back on 25 years of service andcelebrate its anniversary.  The Demokratbegan . . . without money or other assistance. The battles which it had to endure were difficult, the grudges and theplots which were spun against it were great, so that from time to time, the editor threw down the pen in despair anddiscouragement.  Indeed, there were evensome weeks when the Demokrat did notappear.   But it always pulled itselftogether, fought its way through, and in the end remained the victor and heldthe field . . .  But the Demokrat does not have itself to thankfor this gratifying progress, it did not succeed on its own power, no, there isa higher power without which nothing can succeed, and there is the friendshipand goodwill of its many patrons and readers whom we yet today, on our day ofhonor, ask to remain with us in their goodwill and patronage.

 

                   Alois Becker resigned aseditor in 1900 and was replaced by William Langenfeld, who served until1904.  He was in turn replaced by JosephM. Dunck, who served until 1918.  In1919, Franz Florencourt returned to the paper aseditor, and he served until his death in July 1922.  Between 1900 and 1910 the Demokrat had approximately 1250 subscribers.  By 1920, circulation had fallen to about1100—less than it had been in 1890.

                    Der Carroll Demokrat went out of business shortly after Franz Florencourt’s death in 1922.  For almost 50 years, the weekly Fridaypublication had been a welcome guest in the homes of hundreds ofGerman-American residents of Carroll County.  During that time, it was oneof the main pillars of German culture and society in Carroll County.  In its pages, theGerman-American community read about the major religious, social, political,and economic events of the times. They also read about the lives of theirfellow German residents in the news items, including thousands of birthnotices, marriage announcements, and obituaries published in the Demokrat over the years. 

 

Der Manning Herold

                    Der Manning Herold was established by BertholdKrause in 1894.  Krause had been born in Prague, educated in his homeland, and immigrated to America in 1879.  Inthe early 1890s, he was the director of a traveling German theatre troupe in Davenport, Iowa. 

                    During a stop in Manning in1893, Krause quit the troupe in order to settle in the town.  He decided to start a German-languagenewspaper, and the first edition of the ManningHerold appeared on February 2, 1894.  At first,the paper was published in the Ruhde building, andthen moved to the second floor of the Carpenter building in 1897.

                    The first years ofpublication were challenging.  It is saidthat Krause made his first type sets out of cigar boxes, and a fire in thefirst months of publication virtually destroyed the business.  But Krause persevered, and gradually thebusiness grew and prospered.  The paperdeveloped into a twelve-page, six-column weekly publication.  In  1900 the paper had approximately to650 subscribers.  By 1910 the number hadgrown to 800, and by 1915 to around 950.  Its editorial policy was said to beDemocratic.

                    Krause published the Herold until his death in 1907.  The paper was then taken over by Peter Rix, a German-immigrant farmer who had been one of Krause’sclose friends.  He was also said to bemotivated by his love for his native German culture and language.  Rix published thepaper until 1910, and he then sold the business to Paul Werner and Carl Hasselman.

                    During World War I, theGerman paper was not popular with all area residents.  It is said that one night during the war, thebuilding where the Herold was locatedwas doused by yellow paint by anti-German “patriots.” 

                    Around 1919, shortly afterWorld War I, Rix purchased an English-language papercalled the Manning Monitor, which hadbeen printed in Manning since 1881.  The Herold was then merged into the Monitor, and the new business wassubsequently run by Rix and Werner.  The new paper was published in English, andthe loss of Manning’s only German paper was a sad blow to many old-time Germanresidents.  Rixand Werner published the Monitor until 1929, when Rixtook over as sole owner and brought two of his sons into the business.

 

DieOstfriesische Nachrichten

                    Die Ostfriesische Nachrichten(The East Frisian Reports) was started in 1882 by Rev. LubkeHuendling.   At that time, Rev. Huendlingwas pastor at the Wheatland Presbyterian Church near Breda, and he was also serving a term as a professor at acollege in Dubuque.   He hadbeen born in Ostfriesland(East Friesland), a region along the North Sea in northwestern Germany, and he decided that a newspaper would be a goodway to maintain a connection and exchange news between his native land and themany immigrants from there who had established settlements around the United States.

                    At first, Rev. Huendlingpublished the paper in Dubuque,and then he transferred it to Carroll County in 1884. The printing was done by the Carroll Herald until 1898, and the operation was eventually movedto an office near Breda.  At first,the paper was printed three times a month, and publication was a familyenterprise, with the children assisting in folding, labeling, and deliveringthe paper. 

                    Die Ostfriesische Nachrichtencalled itself the “home paper of the East Frieslandersin America,” and it was popular among immigrants and theirfamilies back home due to its printing of letters, local news items, and familynews such as obituaries.  By 1890, thepaper had approximately 2500 subscribers, and by 1910 there were over 7000,with several hundred in Germany.   

                    Around 1907, Rev. Huendlingdecided to hire an editor and printer, and so he brought D. B. Aden and hisfamily from Ostfrieslandto help in putting out the paper.  DuringWorld War I, the paper supported the American war effort and urged subscribersto buy bonds.  However, there was sometalk by “patriots” regarding painting the building yellow.  This did not happen, probably because thepaper’s loyalties were known to be with America. 

                    Thepaper continued to prosper even following World War I, and during the 1920s itstill had a circulation of approximately 7000. Circulation began to decline around the time of World War II, however,and during the 1950s circulation fell below 2000. 

                    Rev. Huendling passed away in1937.  D. B. Aden continued to edit the paperand later also took over as publisher.   Die Ostfriesische Nachrichten was published until approximately 1971.

                  

 Die Germania

                   Another German newspaper, Die Germania,was published in Carroll between 1892 and 1900. No known copies are known to survive, and so relatively littleinformation is available.  In 1900 it hada circulation of around 950.  The firstowner and editor was L. Rick, and William Kurz andFranz Florencourt were also editors for a time. 

                    Politically, the paper wasnominally independent.  However, itapparently took an active interest in politics, as did most local papers atthat time.  Over the years, there were anumber of sharply worded articles printed in Der Carroll Demokrat critical of Die Germania and its recommended candidatesfor office.  One such article in May 1895referred to an ongoing newspaper war between the two publications.

          

OtherArea Papers

                   The Breda Watchman was an English-Language paper published in Breda from 1890 to 1909. Although the paper was in English, the area around Breda was heavily settled by Germans.   The Watchmanwas founded by J. J. McMahon, who sold it to ClemenceA. Bohnenkamp in 1894.  Bohnenkamp wasborn in Breda to German-American parents. The paper went out ofbusiness in 1909, when Bohnenkamp moved his business to Duncomb, Iowa.

                    A number of German paperswere also published over the years in neighboring Crawford County, which also had a sizeable German population.  The DenisonReview was a Republican weekly paper printed from 1867 to 1889.  In the mid-1880s, it had a circulation ofabout 600.  The first editor was J.Frederick Meyers, and the paper was also operated for a time by Frank Faul, and later by J. Frederick and Charles Meyers.  The DenisonZeitiung, published from 1879 to approximately1913, was also a Republican weekly paper, and then later an independentpaper.  It was published for a time byMeyers & Meyers, then by J. F. Harthun.    In 1910 it had approximately 1865subscribers.  The Crawford County Demokrat was published from 1887 to approximately1913.  It was a Democratic weekly, editedby Frank Faul, and later by H. C. Finnernand Otto Vosgerau. In 1910, it had a circulation of approximately 1000.  A paper called Der Herold, another Democratic weekly, was published from about1914 to 1919 by Finnern and Vosgerau.  And a paper called Der Erzähler was published briefly as asupplement to the Denison Zeitung. 

                    And in the small town of Schleswig, just north of Denison, the German Schleswig Heroldwas started around 1899, about the time the town was established.  It waspublished by Max R. Hueschen until about 1903 when itwas then sold to F. J. Branaka, who changed the nameto the Schleswig Leader and published the paper inEnglish, with some German portions, until about 1909.  The paper eventually became completely English, and was subsequently bought and sold several times before going out of business in the 1940's.