1824 1842 1896 press of Cacomct. I to I €ot»aro H, fuller. ^896 dacoma Daily Views Print, dacoma, lPasr|ington. This book is printed on Washington wood fiber paper, made at Everett, Wn. H. N. Richmond Paper Co., Selling Agent, Tacoma and Seattle. / FRENCH, PHOTO. THE SPIKE BROS. CO., ENGRAVERS, TACOMA, WN. TJo-u i .' -j i ictu, NEIL & ANDERSON, Binders, Tacorria, Wrv Tacoma Press Congratulations. Tacoma Morning Union, December 6, 1895. Mr. Edward N. Fuller today enters upon the 72d year of his life in excellent health and spirits. Born in Boston December 6, 1824, apprenticed as a printer in the Dover (N. H.) Gazette office in February, 1842; published his first paper, the Dover Tele- graph, in 1847, which became the first New Hampshire daily, with press dispatches, for which there was no sufficient demand to war- rant its long continuance at the cost of the health of its ambitious printer, publisher and editor, who has always endeavored to do the work of three men. In 1848, '49 and '50 he worked as a printer and occasional writer in Boston, Plymouth, Fitchburg, and Andover, Mass , and in Woonsocket, R. I., in Fitchburg printing and publishing a vol- ume of juvenile stories. December 16, 1850, he accepted the editorship of the Manchester Daily Mirror, remaining with that paper un- til February 20, 1852. In 1852, at the solicitation of prominent 4 SOUVENIR MEMENTO. New Hampshire democrats' who were "boom- ing'' Franklin Pierce for the presidency, Mr. Fuller left the Mirror, and purchased the New Hampshire Gazette at Portsmouth^ which was the first newspaper in the United States to reach the age of a century of con- tinuous existence in October, 1856, when the city government of Portsmouth celebra- ted the event, calling home its absent sons and daughters to assist in commemorating the day. Mr. Fuller reproduced the first number of the Gazette on the occasion. Pie published a daily Gazette during a portion of the time of his residence in Portsmouth. In April, 1858, he married Miss Augusta E. Mor- rison, the daughter of Hon. Robert Morri- son, mayor of Portsmouth. In November, 1857, the day after the elec- tion of James Buchanan as president, Mr. Fuller started the Newark (N. J.) Daily Journal, a democratic paper, which he edited and published for nearly fourteen years. In an interval of leisure he published for one year the New Jersey Review, a monthly magazine and also brought out "Every Day," a one-cent paper, for a special advertising pur- pose. On the first day of October, 1871, he left Newark for Chicago, where he was engaged for several years in miscellaneous newspaper work, being in 1872 one of the editors of the SOUVENIR MEMENTO. 5 Chicago Daily News, which was backed by Cyrus H. McCormick, the reaper man, as a campaign sheet in the interest of Harace Greeley's presidential nomination. Soon af- ter he went to Salt Lake, Utah, under an engigementto do the political and general editorial work of the Daily Herald. While in Utah he represented the New York Her- ald at the execution of John D. Lee at the spot where the massacre of Mountain Meadows oc- curred. Aftei a few years of this service he returned to Chicago and became interested in trade journalism. On July 5, 1882, he left Chicago for Tacoma direct, under engage- ment to edit the Tacoma News, a weekly pa- per then just purchased by Mr. H. C. Pat- rick. The News became a daily in Septem- ber, 1883, under Mr. Fuller's editorial charge, which he resigned in 1885, being elected the first secretary of the Tacoma chamber of commerce, in which position he remained two years. He then started the first paper ever printed in the vast fertile re- gion between Tacoma, Steilacoom, Seattle and Ellensburgh, the "Commerce," at Puy- allup. This paper was a remarkable success. In August, 1888, Mr. Fuller sold it to Col. J. W. Redington, who still publishes it. He at once took up the service of an editorial writer on the Tacoma Daily Ledger, and in February, 1889, began the publication of 6 SOUVENIR MEMENTO. "Every Sundny," which was discontinued in May, 1894, in deference to the exigences of the times. During the last year of its exis- tence it bore the name of "The Tacomian.' r Since that time Mr. Fuller has not been ac- tively engaged in newspaper work, though he has contributed much valuable historical mat- ter and interesting reminiscences to the local press. He was the first "voluntary observer'' lor the United States signal service in Taco- ma, establishing a climatic station here in January, 1883, and maintaining it at his own expense for about six years, forwarding his monthly reports regularly to the signal ser- vice office of the army at Washington. He is regarded as the father of Tacoma statistics, having compiled and published the first an- nual new year's review of the city's growth and progress in 1883. During his newspaper career Mr. Fuller has accumulated and preserved files of the papers he has edited and published in various cities, which he proposes to donate for pre- ervation to the public libraries of Dover, Manchester and Portsmouth, N. H., and Newark, N. J., and has projected an eastern trip for the spring of 1 896, to attend to the presentation of these volumes, and also to- visit old friends at various points on the con- SOUYENIR MEMENTO. 7 tinent. He will let the audiences he f d- dresses en route know something of the won- ders, the vast resources and the weatherly comforts of the state of Washington and city of Tacoma, learned by a residence of nearly 14 years. Mr. Fuller has spent over half a century in newspaper work. He is the Nestor of western journalism. He does not wear spec- tacles ; his eyes are bright with the light that bespeaks frankness, candor and honor, and he is working toward the end with a peaceful contentment and happiness that sig- nifies a spirtual balance that a Croesus can- not buy, and which is the precious fruit of uprightness, integrity, fairness, sobriety, truthfulness and justice — and the wise tem- pering of justice with mercy. Interview— Tacoma Daily News, January 4,1896 Editor Edward N. Fuller recently reached his 71st birthday, receiving congratulations from friends throughout the Union. As Mr. Fuller was the first editor of the News, and has many warm friends in Tacoma, a reporter was assigned to look him up. He was found in the room of the city hall tendered him by the council for the preservation of his newspa- per files and other historical collections, and was asked whether the rumor that he intend- 5 SOUVENIR MEMENTO. ed to leave Tacoma permanently had any foundation. "Not the least. I have lived here nearly 14 years, am thoroughly satisfied with Tacoma, its people, and its climate, and as confident as ever in its great future. I know of no rea- son why I should leave the town to stay away. The rumor probably grew out of my reported intention to visit the eastern states in the spring. "Have you any special object in making this trip ?" "Yes, I desire to visit relatives and friends, some of whom have grown old with me, and to renew my recollections of the localities and scenes of my boyhood. I have also arranged with the public libraries of Dover, Ports- mouth, and Manchester, N. H., and of New- ark, N. J., and wi'l present to them the files of newspapers edited and published by me in those cities." Mr. Fuller here exhibited volumes of the Dover Daily and Weekly Telegraph, 1847-8, Manchester Daily mid WeeklyMirror, 1851-2 New Hampshire Gazette, published at Ports- mouth, 1852-7, and the Newark Daily Jour- nal, 1857-71. The centennial year issue and the first number of the New Hampshire Ga- zette printed in 1756, were shown. The Ga- zette was the first paper in the United States SOUVENIR MEMENTO. 9 to reach a century of continuous publication, and the event was grandly celebrated by the city of Portsmouth, its absent sons and daughters returning home in large numbers to grace the occasion. "Do you intend to make public addresses in presenting these volumes?" "I have been invited to do so, and shall take occasion not only to compare the present appearance of those cities with their distin- guishing features as I can recall them, some thirty, forty and fifty years ago, but will also review and illustrate some of the many things I have seen and learned of the character, value and importance of the state of Washington and city of Tacoma locally as well as in their commercial and strategetic positions." " You have not only witnessed great changes during your active life, but have-no doubt observed many remarkable events and met many prominent persons?" "My first boyish remembrance of a great man dates back I think to 1833, when I was about 9 years of age. President Andrew Jackson made a triumphal tour through the country. I distinctly remember his appear- ance as he passed along Washington street Boston, which was densely crowded. Though Boston was a strongly federal-whig city, Gen. Jackson had many enthusiastic friends there IO SOUVENIR MEMENTO. and he received a great ovation. He was an impressive figure as he stood in an open ba- rouche, hat off, and bowing right and left to the street throng. "Railroading was then in its infancy, and I remember when a part of Washington street was torn up to allow the first railroad enter- ing Boston to lay its tracks under the street. "At the burning of Franklin schoolhouse I was one of several hundred scholars who barely saved their lives by a frightened exit from the building, the roof of which fell in a few moments after we reached the street." "Do you remember the great money panic of 1837 and its effects upon Boston?'' "No; my father removed from Boston in 1835 to a New Hampshire farm. The posi- tion of the average farmer at that time very much resembled that of the same class today. Money was scuce and farm produce brought ruinously low prices. I recall the hard cider- log cabin campaign of 1840, and the enthu- siasm with which General Harrison was car- ried into the white house, which he held but a short time before he died, leaving the presi- dency to John Tyler. In February, 1842, I began an apprenticeship in the Dover Gazette office, graduating in 1846, and in 1847 pub- lished my first paper. In 1848-50 I was in Boston, working at my trade and writing for SOUVENIR MEMENTa. II various papers. Ben Shillabar edited the "All-Sorts" column of the Boston Post, and about the same time published the "Carpet Bag," in which many of "Mrs. Partington's'* famous sketches, a la the English "Mrs. Mal- aprop," first saw the light. Shillabar's genial humor was only excelled by his kind- liness and his happy disposition. Ben: Perley Poore edited the Boston Bee, and during his absence, I sometimes took a turn or two at the editorial grindstone of that pa- per, and have in an old scrap book several editorials written by me for the Daily Bee in 1850. Colonel Schouler was editor of the Boston Atlas, one of the great commercial papers of that day ; a very brilliant but er- ratic writer named Snell, or Snelling, edited the Herald ; Jos. T. Buckingham conducted the Courier, the Rogers, who started the Evening Journal, were still on deck, with Sleeper, the old sailor and author of many sea stories under the nom de plume of "Hawser Martingale," was an editor, if not the editor of the paper. . The Evening Transcript was then looked upon as the draw- ing room organ, with a Beacon street flavor. "After leaving Boston in 1850 I edited the Manchester Daily Mirror, New Hampshire Gazette, Newark Journal, Newark Every Day, New Jersey Review, Chicago Daily 12 SOUVENIR MEMENTO. News and Heiald and a number of trade journals in that city. For about two years I edited the Salt Lake Daily Herald. Came west to Tacoma in Tuly, 1882, to edit the Daily News, and have worked more or less on all the Tacoma dailies, and published and edited for about seven years Puyallup Com- merce and Every Sunday, weeklies, doing work in any department of these papers. I still do a fair day's work at type-setting, but the machines have made me a back number at my old trade." "What is the next work you contemplate doing, Mr. Fuller, on your return from your eastern trip?" "I intend to prepare and publish a small volume descriptive of the incidents and scenes and people encountered in my travels, and dedicate it to the Tacoma Press club, to whose members I am indebted for many cour- tesies. Then I will straighten out my scrap books and newspaper files, and prepare for a local history. Daily News Editorial, January 7, 1896. After a long and honorable career Mr. Edward N. Fuller, the veteran journalist of this city, is about to perform the crowning duty of his life. Having entered upon his life's work as a journalist while yet that profession was meas- SOUVENIR MEMENTO. 1 3 urably untainted by the glint of gold, and be- fore it became a commercial enterprise, as it unfortunately today too generally is, he has retained throughout a long and honorable career that rigid uprightness and intellectual honesty that is too often ill rewarded. Nev- ertheless he has rounded out his full career as a citizen, a man and an editor, and in his de- clining days seeks to perform a last meritori- ous service to the people among whom his labors have been prosecuted. He has reared a family and sent each out equipped for life's battles with the armor of good natural endowments, and of his life work little else is left him but to perform this contemplated service for posterity. It is his intent now to bestow upon the public library of each city in which he has published and edited news- papers his files of those papers embracing the years of his connection therewith respectively. Than the bound files of fts newspapers there is no more perfect recorded history of any city, and in undertaking this work Mr. Fuller rounds out a useful career as a public man. Tacoma Herald, December 7, 1895. Many happy returns of the day to Mr. Edward N. Fuller, the veteran newspaper man of Tacoma, who yesterday entered up- on his 72d year. The Herald joins Mr. Fuller's many friends in congratulating him 14 SOUVENIR MEMENTO. on his hearty and vigorous condition, both physically and mentally, and hopes it may long continue. Tacoma Herald, February 1, 1896. Mr. E. N. Fuller, printer, editor and pub- lish ?r since February, 1842, nearly 14 years of which time has been spent in Tacoma, is going east this season, from the Pacific to the Atlantic waters, taking back with him bound files of the papers which he has edited and published at Newark, N. J., Portsmouth, Manchester and Dover, N. H., and will pre- sent them to the public libraries in those cities. He will have the cordial endorse- ment of every newspaper in Tacoma in car- rying out his laudable intention, his mission having become one of public interest, and the Herald joins its brethren of the press in commending Mr. Fuller to the good graces of all who can assist his progress. Ta< oma Weekly Sun, January 10, 1896. A royal journalist ! Three score and ten, plus one ! Hale and hearty and vigorous at that, too ! Such is one of the grandest he oes of newspaper warfare on the Pacific coast, Mr. Edward N. Fuller, of this city. And from boyhood to his present ripe old age he has been engaged in newspaper work, seldom being idle during the entire period. SOUVENIR MEMENTO. I 5 We should feel that we had committed an unpardonable sin if we should fail to congrat- ulate this veteran upon this occasion. What we wish to speak about more particu- larly is an excursion which Mr. Fuller in- tends to take in the early spring. He pro- poses to round out his marvelous career by returning to his former places of residence and scenes of his labors, and presenting files of his publications to the public libraries of the cities wherein they were published. Need we say anything of the benefit which Tacoma anr" the entire east will receive from such a trip, and the bestowing of such gifts to the public libraries of the cities in which Mr. Fuller has labored ? No, for all must see that it will be of an incalculable nature. The Sun wishes Mr. Fuller a pleasant journey, a grand reception at every place he visits and a safe return to the city which is justly proud of him. Long life to you, Mr. Fuller ! West Coast Trade, January 2% 1896. Mr. Edward N. Fuller, who since 1S42 has worked as a pi inter and edited and pub- lished newspapers in various cities from Bos- ton on the Atlantic coast to Tacoma on Puget Sound, proposes to go east next spring, and will then donate to the public l6 SOUVENIR MEMENTO. libraries of Dover, Portsmouth and Manches- ter, N. H., and Newark, N. J., the volumes of newspaper files which he edited or pub- lished in those cities. These press dona- tions have been accepted, and Mr. Fuller will present them in person, taking occasion to review the leading events that have come under his observation during his business life. From his boyhood days in New Eng- land to his nearly 14 years residence in Tacoma he has observed much and has pre- served very much of it in the form of news- papers and scrap books. His historical col- lections are so extensive and valuable that the city council tendered him a room in the city hall for their preservation. The West Coast Trade has known Mr. Fuller many years, finding him here when this paper was Started, receiving a warm welcome from his pen. If any journalist is entitled to credit and attention for consistent, independent and public spirited work for over half a century Mr. Fuller certainly deserves this recogni- tion. Tacoma Lancet, February, 1896. The city papers have been "booming" Mr. E. N. Fuller in view of his proposed trip to the Atlantic states this spring, and the Lancet deaires to add its endorsement of the kind and true words they have said in honor of SOUVENIR MEMENTO. 1 7 the veteran journalist, especially as his pro_ spective trip will be for the purpose of carry- ing out a public object — that of presenting to the public libraries of several cities in New Hampshire and New Jersey the files of news- papers he has published or edited there. This: visit will be a novel journalistic one, which the press of the entire country will watch and report. During the 14 years Mr. Fuller has lived and worked in Tacoma he has been known as a public spirited citizen, and his wri- tings and publications have borne the impress of unselfishness, integrity and a hopeful dis- position, even to an optimistic view that must be founded on a firm belief in the pro- gressive quality and character of human nature. One cannot talk with him without being convinced that he is a real believer in the imminence of a vast change in the struc- ture of society, government, theology, morals and manners that will lead to a better and more rational condition of social life than is possible under present basic theories and phi- losophies of living, which are thought by many people to be immutable and unchang- able. Few living men present a better illus- tration in their persons of the advantages of a life of strict sobriety than Mr. Fuller. May he have an enjoyable visit in the east, return early to Tacoma, and live long and usefully in the city of destiny, witnessing the coming 1 8 SOUVENIR MEMENTO. in of the grand millenium of mankind which he regards as the next great event in Amer- ican history. West Coast Lumberman, Tacoma, Feb'y, 1895. It is something out of the ordinary in this age of restlessness and change to find a man adhering to one line of endeavor for a lifetime; but E. N. Fuller of Tacoma has done this. For over half of a century he has been an active newspaper man, and to- day, at the age of 71, he is still a member of the craft. He has written his way across the continent, stopping here and there to work in his chosen calling. He is of that rare species, an honest man, who has written, not for office or pelf, but for principle. Younger but not better men will come after him. Age gives way to youth, but honest endeavor stands, all the world over, like monuments of gold inlaid with pearl. Washington Educational Review, Tacoma. Mr. E. N. Fuller, one of the active vete- ran press men of the Pacific coast, who has lived and worked nearly 14 years in Tacoma, intends to visit the Chicago territory and the Atlantic states this spring to see old friends and deposit in public libraries the files of newspapers he has published in New Eng- SOUVENIR MEMENTO. 19 land and other cities for preservation as local history. This trip will be the realization of an ideal historical purpose, and few have cul- tivated this spirit more faithfully than Mr. Fuller. The press of the country is writing up the affair as a novelty, and a grand trans- continental ovation is likely to result. As Mr. Fuller's papers have not been marred with the details of sensational scandalism, and have been noted for their political reform teachings, he may be ranked with the public educators, and as such the Review cordially endorses his mission, and wishes him success in fulfilling it. Puget Sound Lumberman. Tacoma. Feb'y. 1896. There are few journalists who reach the age of 71 years, and retain an active gr sp on the work of the profession. Washington has a few pioneer newspaper men who nave been longer in this state than Mr. E. N. Fuller, and one wr two who are perhaps his seniors in years — notably Messrs. Schnebly, editor of Ellensburg Localizer and Proschand Brown, of Seattle. Messrs. Murphy of the Olympia Standard, and Parker, of the Walla Walla Statesman, are the oldest newspaper publish- ers in the state whose papers have appeared continuously; but for a long and diversified newspaper career, beginning in 1842, and not yet ended, we think Mr. Fuller holds the 20 SOUVENIR MEMENTO. record. He came to Tacoma in 1882, with years of experience in the profession, and has since been actively employed in his life work, until he has now completed 54 years as a printer, editor and publisher. To celebrate his plus jubilee he will make an extended trip to the eastern states this spring, having donated files of the papers he has published to public libraries in various cities of New Hampshire and New Jersey. As an editor with a statistical hobby Mr. Fuller has ob- served and recorded many valuable facts and figures in regard to this state and city, that will tend to enlighten eastern people who may listen to him as to the present condition and prospects of this great northwestern- most state of the Union. SOUVENIR MEMENTO. 21 CSBad)* am Sunbe". 16. jganuat 1896.) 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