Main entrance of the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio. Photo by author.
I recently visited the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio and was able to work with some of the wonderful materials in their History Center Research Library. The WRHS collects genealogy resources, unpublished manuscripts and printed items such as early newspapers. In addition to seeing hand-written documents related to the Wellington [Ladies] Literary Society, created in the 1840s and 1850s, I was also able to handle something very rare indeed: a mid-century newspaper called The Wellington Journal.
Fifteen years before the launch of The Wellington Enterprise–and nearly a decade before The Lorain County News was initially co-published in Oberlin and Wellington–the Journal was likely the village’s first printed news sheet. It seems to have started in March, 1852. The WRHS has only two issues in its possession; the earlier of the two is dated April 1, 1852, and enumerated as volume one, number four. The only other identified copy in existence (in an archival collection, at any rate) is held by the American Antiquarian Society in Massachusetts, which is renowned worldwide for its early American newspaper collection. That issue is also from 1852, though the newspaper is believed to have been in business until 1854.
Masthead of “The Wellington Journal,” 8-12-1852. Original object held in the collections of the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio. Photo by author.
The Journal was a folio, meaning a large, single sheet of paper printed with four pages of text and folded in the center. The later issue in the WRHS holding is dated August 12, 1852 and was at some point torn completely down the fold, leaving behind only the first and second page of the paper for researchers. This is especially unfortunate given that page three of folio newspapers usually contained local news, and page four generally featured local advertisements.
The paper was edited by a man called George Brewster, and an associate, later promoted to “general agent,” by the name of L. S. Griswold. But ownership of the periodical appears to have changed hands fairly soon after its launch. The earlier issue proclaims the Journal to be “Published every Thursday morning by Brewster and Baker,” but just four months later the masthead instead lists “J. S. Reed & E. Boice–Proprietors.” John Reed was a local merchant who drowned in the Black River in 1855. Eli Boies was a doctor who practiced with Dr. Daniel Johns in the village; he was also deeply opposed to slavery and in 1858 participated in the Oberlin-Wellington Slave Rescue. (I am working on a post right now about their wives, Jerusha Benedict Reed and Lydia Kellogg Boies, which will go up during Women’s History Month.)
“The Wellington Journal,” 4-1-1852, pgs. 2-3. Original object held in the collections of the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio. Photo by author.
I was left with an interesting question after reviewing the contents of the papers. The April issue was printed and sold from an “Office over Barker’s Store, Corner of Broadway.” By August, the printing office was located on the “corner of Main and Norwalk Streets.” Are these the same location? The name Broadway, referring to a wide thoroughfare, was often used for the main street through a community. But clearly by August of 1852, Main Street was so-called. There is also a reference in an advertisement for E. S. Tripp’s business to his “Shop on Mechanic Street.” So the names of the two most prominent routes through Wellington seem to have been established by 1852. Certainly by the time of the earliest village map I have seen, dated 1857, those names were used. Where, then, were Broadway and Norwalk Streets in 1852?
Every question, even one that is answered, leads to another. It is, at once, the joy and misery of historical research.
19th-Century Wellington 
Could Norwalk Street be in reference to present day SR 18, as it leads to or comes from Norwalk? And Broadway could be North and South Main Street today?
Hi Francis,
As I mentioned, the same issue that referenced “Broadway” also mentioned “Mechanic Street.” Mechanic Street is what we would today call East Herrick Avenue, i.e. St. Route 18. I have always seen West Herrick called Liberty Street in the nineteenth century. It is certainly not impossible that a single street went by more than one name. People still call East and West Herrick Avenues “East Main” and “West Main” today. But I have never seen a mention before of either Broadway or Norwalk Streets in Wellington, nor have I ever seen either on a village map. So it got my attention.
One further thought just occurred to me: if the office was located on the “corner of Main and Norwalk,” and just assuming for a moment that Norwalk Street WAS later known as Liberty Street, i.e. West Herrick Avenue, that is potentially problematic for another reason. In 1852, John Reed’s dry goods store and his residence were located on that corner. He owned the entire lot where Benedict’s Block now stands (Benedict was his brother-in-law, who purchased the property after Reed drowned in 1855). Reed was a prominent man in Wellington and well-known in Oberlin due to his work in the Congregational Church. It seems like if that was the location of the printing office, the advertising reference ought to be to Reed’s store. But perhaps I am overthinking it!
Thanks for commenting!