Historical Society of Cecil County

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A Newspaper for Chesapeake City

by Jack L. Shagena, P.E.

Sometime late Friday afternoon in the autumn of 1876 publisher Harry Moss and his office staff completed the production of Volume 1, Number 1, of the Chesapeake Chesapike and delivered the wrapped and addressed papers to the Chesapeake City post office on George Street. This four-page tabloid-sized weekly was dated for the following day, Saturday, September 9, 1876, and was introduced as the "only Paper in Chesapeake City, or on the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal". Unfortunately the publication was to be short lived as nearby Elkton already had two newspapers, and the meager population of the town and environs was not able to properly support the "Pike," as Moss often called his paper.

"The Chesapeake Chesapike is the title of the new newspaper published by Harry Moss... the first number appearing last week. It is a lively, spicy little sheet, and we wish it success."

The Cecil Whig

The following Saturday the Cecil Whig reported: "The Chesapeake Chesapike is the title of the new newspaper published by Harry Moss... the first number appearing last week. It is a lively, spicy little sheet, and we wish it success." Also that same day the Cecil Democrat recognized the paper's introduction. It wished Moss well, but wondered if he was embarking on a prudent business venture. It also questioned the appropriateness of the paper's name.

Below the newspaper's 45-point (5/8-inch) front page name is a line which reads: "Devoted To The Interest Of Chesapeake - And The Chesapeake Chesapike." In his History of Cecil County, George Johnston, no doubt influenced by this line, wrote: "The Chesapeake Chesapike, or the fighting fish of the Chesapeake Bay, was founded by Harry Moss in Chesapeake City, in 1876"(page 471), indirectly suggesting that the Chesapike referred to a kind of fish. No reference can be found for such a species, or for a subspecies of the pike by this name, though it might have existed.

The Democrat (September, 1876) faciously punned that perhaps Moss had previously visited Pike's Peak and, wanting to relive that experience, had chosen to name his "sheet" a variation of Peak's Pike. When the paper became The Cecil Democrat questioned the appropriateness of the paper's name defunct, however, the once friendly Cecil Whig was less than kind reporting: "It was badly named. When Mr. Moss started the 'Pike,' he wanted some ferocious name to call it so he named it the 'Chesapeake Chesapike' because the pike eats up all small fish. The proper name would have been the Chesapeake 'Sucker.'"

This change of attitude may stem from the fact that Moss, believing that the Democrats had swept out the Republicans in the presidential election of November 7, 1876, celebrated by hoisting a big broom over his office door! (Actually, the Republican Rutherford B.Hayes finally emerged the winner.) It is doubtful, however, that the practical, yet sometimes eccentric, Moss would have devoted his newspaper to a fish and some evidence exists to support another theory. On the page heads of the inside and end pages the newspaper's name and location is given as "Chesapeake Chesapike, Chesapeake, Maryland." The deliberate omission of the word "City" in his page head, along with the fact that the name "pike" indicated a first class road, might suggest that Moss' real devotion and interest was to Chesapeake (the city) and the Chesapike - his clever name for the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. The town of Chesapeake City was the ideal location for his publication which he hoped would survive primarily on local advertisements and would grow as the town grew.

Should Volume 1, Number 1, of the paper be found some day, perhaps Moss' real intentions will be known. When new publications are introduced it is often the custom to state their purpose, and one would surmise he did so. Meanwhile writers some 125 or more years later may continue to speculate.

Harry Moss, of Yazoo County, Mississippi, came to Philadelphia in 1876 as a correspondent for the Vicksburg Herald to cover the Centennial International Exposition, which ran from April 19 to October 19. During this period he became acquainted with the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal and Chesapeake City, with its bustling activity. Moss must have been taken in by this hubbub of activity, which to some degree belied the town's future.

After the War Between the States the management of the C & D Canal Company had anticipated that canal traffic would drop off. It did not. The passages and total tonnage did dip slightly for a couple of years after the war, then began a steady rise, with passages peaking to 16,394 in 1871, and tonnage peaking a year later to 1.32 million tons. (Ralph D. Gray, The National Waterway: A History of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, 1769-1985, pp. 156-159).]

Over the horizon, however, were ominous signs that the locks had become too small to accommodate the larger ships, and there was talk of a lock-less sea level waterway across the Delmarva peninsula. This did not, though, seem to dampen the enthusiasm in Chesapeake City. The population continued to rise well into the first half of the decade, and by 1877 the town was bustling with two blacksmiths, two druggist, nine dry goods/grocery stores, one attorney, two hotels, two lumber dealers and a number of other establishments. This was the prospering and growing environment into which Harry Moss was introduced in 1876.

With his newspaper background and finding no local paper, he must have sensed opportunity. He advertised: "The Chesapeake Chesapike is the only Paper in Chesapeake City, or on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, and has an excellent circulation in one of the richest sections of Maryland". (Chesapeake Chesapike, Dec. 2, 1876). The rate of one dollar a year in advance, including postage, was one half the rate of the competing Cecil Whig.

Moss must have been a handsome and charming bachelor. He was described as slender, medium height, sharp featured and having a smooth face and dark hair.(Whig, Feb. 22, 1896). When he took ill for a week during October 1876, the Whig's Chesapeake City correspondent wrote, "It is whispered in our ear that many maidens of our city stand ready to act as nurse - after With his newspaper background and finding no local newspaper he [Moss} must have sensed opportunity.proper ceremony [marriage] has been enacted." (Oct. 14, 1876). In the December 2, 1876, issue of the Pike, Moss, specifically addressing the ladies, announced an evening open house to see how his paper is "Chesapiked off." It was to be a dress-up affair, with a double row of sperm candles for lighting, and "the editor shall have his side whiskers done up in Quecks [local baker] best style, and his back hair arranged in the latest Paris fashion." It would appear that Moss would use any excuse to meet the ladies in town, including the suggestion, in the same issue, that 1876 being a leap year there were only a few weeks left for them to have a nice break-the-ice Leap Year Party.

In June 1877 Moss wrote the Cecil Democrat suggesting they hire a Local Editor to cover the news in Chesapeake City. They responded tongue-in-cheek: "Very well, Harry. We shall 'consider your claim. Be assured, however, that when our readers get educated up to the point of demanding whole columns devoted to "the handsomest man," or "the biggest bay," or "the largest moustache," or the "cane twirler," or "the girl killer," or "the heart smasher," we will be at no loss where to apply for an Editor." (Democrat, June 16, 1877).

It appears that business prospered, at least initially. Moss hired an office foreman, a Mr. Plummer, who was probably an able bodied man capable of printing several hundred copies of the four page paper each week. Although Mr Plummer left the paper a short while later, it is presumed he was replaced, for by December the paper had a lead printer and an assistant printer. While the number and size of the advertisements appeared satisfactory, Moss was strongly encouraging additional subscriptions, and even chastising people for reading their neighbor's paper and not buying their own. On February 24, 1877, the Whig reported: "Mr Moss, the Editor of the Chesapike, has mechanics busy at work building his new office, from whence that neat paper will soon be issued." By all accounts he looked to be doing well.

As a publisher Moss was aware of the role a newspaper plays in the community. He was sensitive to the fine line between spending too much time at his craft and being characterized as "too proud to mingle with our fellows", and seeming to spend too little, so that when "we get out, they say we never attend to business". He struck a balance between local news and already published material so as to provide interesting and entertaining reading while satisfying the reader ship's appetite for regional news and gossip. His fillers were clever, as, for instance, this one with a 'Confucius-like' quality: "Young men who trifle with straight whiskey have crooked notions." (Feb. 24, 1877)

The "excellent circulation" Moss boasted of is not known but can be roughly estimated. The 1870 census reported the town's population as 1008 and the Chesapeake City District, which included Port Herman, St. Augustine, Cayot's Corner, Back Creek, Pivot Bridge and Bohemia Mills, as having 2683 people. During this period the town was growing; one report stated that Chesapeake City's population peaked in the centennial year at 1400. (Ernest A. Howard, Chesapeake City, Appendix 14b. [in the Historical Society of Cecil County]).

By 1876, the population in the general area was probably around 3000 individuals. A reference is made in the February 24, 1877, issue to problems in getting Saturday delivery out of the St. Augustine post office, so it is known that circulation extended outside of Chesapeake City proper. When the newspaper became the Chesapeake Record in March 1878, the new editor reported that "Chesapeake City contains about two thousand inhabitants . . . in the heart of a rich and populous country on the line of steamboat navigation." Using this 2000 figure and estimating that ten percent of the area's population paid the $1.00 per year subscription, the gross income from subscriptions comes to $200 a year. Obviously most of the income must have come from advertisements.

The newspaper had four pages, each with five columns for a total of 20 full page columns. About one half of these contained advertisements. In the February issue there were just over 20 ads, giving ads an average length of one-half column.

The published rate varied, with a single insertion being the most expensive and 52 (one year) being the least costly. Examining the dates on the ads, the average run time can be estimated at six months. Using the published rate of $30 for one half column, a yearly income from ads would have been around $1200. The ads, then, accounted for about 86 percent of the total income, a figure that still applies today.

Of course not all of the ad space was income producing, as slightly over one column promoted Chesapike printing work which, no doubt, provided Moss an additional source of income. Also, whenever there was a small space left in a column he filled in with a promotional such as: "Subscribe for the Chesapeake Chesapike, It will do you good all over." Such ads suggest that Moss had a sense of humor

Today when we need an item it is not uncommon to compare advertised prices from several competing stores. It should not surprise anyone, therefore, that our great great great grandparents did price shopping 125 years ago. Some of the phrases used at that time are still with us today, while others have been forgotten over the years. From the February issue, in the approximate order of descending cost, one finds "moderate prices," "reasonable charges," "the most reasonable prices," "at low figures," "lowest market prices," "city prices," "bottom prices," "at rock bottom prices," "hard time prices," "at 'hard pan' prices" (coal), "the place to buy cheap," "still cheaper," "the cheapest," and "at below cost."

One difference from today's ads, however, is that with few exceptions there were no quoted prices. Since it would have been impossible to compare apples-to-apples prices without actually making a visit to the establishments, for our ancestors the subjective adjective used probably had an impact.

One of the apparent "good deals" advertised on the front page was from W. Scott Way, offering $11 worth of goods for $10. On a subsequent page in much smaller print Mr. Way advertised, in what would be today's equivalent of the classified ads, "The Store-House now occupied by me in Chesapeake City is for sale or rent, with or without stock. This desirable business can be had at a bargain." Today the approach would be to proclaim a "Going out of Business Sale."

Many of the establishments dealt only in cash and thereby claimed lower prices, but J. H. Young obviously offered credit. This optimistic individual took out a Local Notice which read: "All parties having open accounts with me will please come forward and settle". Getting paid may have been a problem - two individuals advertised collection services in the February 24, 1877, edition of the paper. There is another possible explanation, however. In a different section of the paper Mr. Young was offering to sell his business, "[o]n account of feeble health."

Products and services no longer on the market were advertised. The Hyde Park Drug Store offered homeopathic medicines and pomades (perfumed ointments now usually for the hair). The Chesapike offered festival tickets and restaurant tickets (probably blank meal checks). J. H. Steele sold egg, stove and nut coal from the best mines, and J. M. Broadway advertised himself as a house and sign painter and glazer. Some of the dry goods stores sold Queens ware, a glazed earthenware of a creamery color. The H. Burgett lumber yard offered hemlock joists and scantling (corner upright timbers), common paling (fence pickets) and plastering lath(now replaced by dry wall).

Chesapeake City news included the meetings of social organizations, only one of which still meets there today. The oldest, Bohemia Lodge, No.68 of the Independent Order of the Odd Fellows, chartered on February 15, 1850, was disbanded in the 1970s, according to former member and Chesapeake City resident, Walter Cooling.

The Hand-in-Hand Lodge No. 45 of the Knights of Pythias met every Thursday evening at 8 pm in a hall, above the Chesapike office. This fraternal organization was founded in Maryland, on November 27, 1867. It no longer meets in Chesapeake City. Chesapeake Council No. 20 of O. U. A. M. met in their hall over Reed's Store every Wednesday evening at 7:30 pm. This is apparently the Order of United

American Mechanics, a fraternal organization with a military-type organization. It no longer meets.

Cecil Lodge, No. 124 of the Ancient Free & Accepted Masons (A. F. & A. M.), the oldest continuously operating fraternal organization in Chesapeake City, still convenes in its lodge building on Biddle Street. They meet the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month, just as they did over 100 years ago.

Moss continued to publish the newspaper until the end of 1877, but the town and surrounding area were just insufficiently populated to keep a newspaper viable. The Cecil Democrat (Jan. 5, 1878) reported; "After a fitful existence of fourteen months, [the Chesapeake Chesapike] has yielded up the ghost." In their judgment Moss erred when he established the paper in Chesapeake City. "[N]o amount of culture or journalistic qualification can evolve a successful newspaper out of a spot that cannot adequately support it."

"After a fitful existence of fourteen months, [The Chesapeake Chesapike] has yielded up the ghost."

This advice from the Democrat apparently did not deter Dr. Daniel H. B. Brower and son Wilber, of Danville, Penn., who on March 16, 1878, produced the first edition of the full-sized seven column Chesapeake Record. It was not long, however, before Dr. Brower, lamenting the dullness of business, prayed for someone to "build a railroad or start a dogfight." By November he was exploring North East and on December 21, 1878, he moved the paper there as the North-East Record. On January 11, 1879, it quoted the Woodberry News of New Jersey: "Chesapeake City loses what North-East gains - a live newspaper, which is so essential to the growth of an energetic and prospering community."

Harry Moss left Cecil County when he was about 45 years old, presumably returning to Mississippi. He died there sometime in the early part of 1890. In his will he bequeathed to his sister Fannie Moss a double house on George Street in Chesapeake City and a single house on Elkton Road. He also requested that upon his death he be left in a sapling pen for forty day and nights, and thereafter be buried if "anyone chooses" to do so. The Cecil Whig reported he: "carried out his eccentric whims to the end, and died just as he had lived and written - peculiar." (Feb. 22, 1896)

Acknowledgment: The author thanks Morrison Watson who introduced him to Mrs. Anna Brown of Chesapeake City who owns the negatives of the February 24, 1877 Chesapeake Chesapike. She graciously allowed the author to make three copies, one of which is at the Historical Society of Cecil County; one is in the author's possession; and Mrs. Brown has one. Also thanks to Mike Dixon, of the Historical Society of Cecil County, who pointed me in the right direction for my research, and provided several valuable references.

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