SILAS JONES STARTS A NEW NEWSPAPER--THE TAMPA TIMES

EARLY TAMPA NEWSPAPER HISTORY

Newspapering in Tampa began in the days preceding the Civil War when M. Whit Smith and the Rev. Cooley Sumner Reynolds began planning the establishment of a newspaper here in 1853. On Jan. 10, 1854, the first issue of the TAMPA HERALD appeared. 


Feb. 17, 1855

Smith sold his interest in the Herald in November, 1854, to Dr. J. S. Jones. Throughout his life, Cooley Reynolds, a member of the well-known Brandon family, was torn between two callings, his clerical duties first and foremost, and as a writer and publisher, second. After the Civil War, Reynolds turned up in Clearwater and there in 1873 he established the city’s first newspaper, the Clear Water Times. Also involved in the publishing of Tampa’s first newspaper, the Herald, was Henry A. Crane. The newsman left Tampa and joined the Union forces in Key West during the Civil War, while his son, Judge H. L. Crane, served as a Confederate soldier through the conflict.

When Dr. J. S. Jones took over the Tampa Herald he changed its name to the Florida Peninsular and in August, 1855, sold it to Simon Turman, Jr., saying in the editorial column that he was forced to sell because "it did not pay sufficient to support my family.”  Three years later William J. Spencer bought an interest in the paper.


April 7, 1855

             

Alphonso DeLaunay was also Tampa's first postmaster and served from 1852 through 1860. On December 6, 1856, DeLaunay was appointed mayor by the council to complete the remainder of Lancaster's term of office. He replaced Acting Mayor, Darwin Austin Branch who had served eleven days before resigning as mayor. DeLaunay served as mayor for slightly over two months during which he attempted to manage the influx of local settlers coming into Tampa to escape attacks by the Seminoles during the Third Seminole War (1855-1858) and the State Legislature's demand that Tampa supply more recruits for the war.

Concurrently, DeLaunay guided the transition of the city's administration to conform to the procedures established by the Legislative Act of December 15, 1855. After losing to Darwin Branch in the next election, DeLaunay returned to his position as Postmaster of Tampa.

In 1858, he also became editor for the local newspaper, Florida Peninsular but resigned in early 1860 to found the Sunny South newspaper with his brother. The first issue of this newspaper appeared on January 29, 1861. A strong supporter of secession, DeLaunay served as a Hillsborough County delegate to the Florida Convention which voted overwhelmingly for secession. In early 1861, the Confederate government appointed DeLaunay, Postmaster and Deputy Inspector of Customs for the Port of Tampa, and he served in both capacities throughout the Civil War. The publication of his newspaper, Sunny South stopped shortly after the outbreak of war and the printing presses and other related equipment moved to the interior to prevent their confiscation by Union troops. 

City of Tampa Former Mayors
 

One editor of the Peninsular under publisher Spencer was Alfonso DeLaunay, who served as Tampa's first Postmaster.  He left the paper in early 1860 and was succeeded by Simon Turman, Jr.  DeLaunay immediately started to seek backing for a new paper which he got from his brother, St. John DeLaunay, and O. C. Drew, who became the publishers of THE SUNNY SOUTH which hit the streets on Jan. 29, 1861. 

 

 

Because of the Civil War, the Florida Peninsular was forced to suspend publication on May 25, 1861. 

During the war the Peninsular's press and type were taken into the country so the Yankees could not find them When the war ended, the equipment was brought back to Tampa and publication was resumed on April 28, 1866 by William Spencer’s two brothers, John Edward and Thomas K. Spencer.  A couple of months later, John Spencer became ill. He had contracted dysentery while serving in the Florida Volunteers. He died June 30, 1866. Thomas Spencer carried on the paper, which was Democratic.

 

  
May 5, 1866                                                                                

Tempora mutantur is a Latin adage that refers to the changes that the passage of time brings.
It also appears most commonly Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis, meaning "Times are changed, we also are changed with them".

In 1868, the Peninsular got a Republican competitor, THE TRUE SOUTHERNER, claiming to be the "official" paper of the Sixth Judicial Circuit. This was in the Carpetbagger days. The newspaper was short-lived, however. It had little support from the populace and no advertising and after the November elections, died a sudden death.

 


H. L. Mitchell, Editor
T. K. Spencer, Proprietor


Oct. 14, 1871

Meanwhile, Republicans still wanted a newspaper voice in Tampa for the next national election, in 1872, and so they purchased a controlling interest in the Peninsular. The Democratic editor retired and the new editor, C. R. Mobley, announced that the paper would become Republican. This change of complexion of the newspaper proved fatal, and the newspaper soon collapsed.  (No masthead images found after 1871.)

Enter now the infamous Judge James T. Magbee, scalawag, a Southern turncoat who joined the northern oppressors.** Governor Harrison Reed, a Republican, appointed Magbee to be Judge of the Sixth Circuit which covered the West Coast from Brooksville to Key West. Under threat of impeachment, Magbee resigned his post in 1874, after serving six years. He then launched into the newspaper publishing business. He called his the Tampa Guardian.  Magbee continued publishing it until his death on Dec. 12, 1885.   H. J. Cooper and C. H. Baxter carried on the paper until Dec. 8, 1886, when Cooper announced the publication would soon cease. The masthead proclaimed it would be "Independent in Everything, Neutral in Nothing."

**Contrary to what you may read about Judge Magbee in some articles, he did NOT serve in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.  He was a Florida Senator and lawyer, he was representing clients in cases in Tampa during the start of the Civil War, and when he was unseated in the Senate in 1862, he came to Tampa to sell his belongings and moved to Newport, Wakulla County for the rest of the war, where he lived the life of a planter.  See James T. Magbee & the Civil War in Tampa, P.2. 

 

    

 

 

The Democrats of the county were without a journalistic voice for a couple of years and in 1876 a significant election was coming up. Support was forthcoming to finance C. N Hawkins  in a new paper. Thus, on March 2, 1876, appeared a new weekly called the Sunland Tribune. A Tampa physician with a flair for journalism, Dr. John P. Wall, assistant editor until Thomas Spencer took over publishing. Dr. Wall was then made the editor.  Wall was member of a pioneer Florida family and was a versatile man of many talents, including Tampa mayor. Wall was highly critical of Magbee and used his sharp tongue to infuriate Magbee, along with many other newspaper editors.  Magbee and Wall fought vicious political battles in their respective papers.


First issue with Spencer as proprietor.

THOSE HELL-RAISIN TAMPA NEWSPAPERS, by Hampton Dunn

This excellent article by Dunn is used in this mini-feature as a major resource, and a few particular paragraphs made me curious to find the article he referred to in it.

"It was the Sunland Tribune that first suggested that Tampa form a Historical Society. In its issue of Jan. 19, 1882, under a major headline, "TAMPA SHOULD HAVE A HISTORICAL SOCIETY WITHOUT DELAY" displayed a story quoting Judge J. G. Knapp of Hillsborough County as follows: “Ponce de Leon landed at Tampa Bay and started his march through the wilderness in search for the Fountain of Youth. This is one reason why Tampa should have a Historical Society. We reflect - how long will it be before not a vestige of the history (of our past) will remain, unless snatched from irretrievable loss by the men and women of the present day. And we ask and receive no answer. Who shall do it?" It was 89 years later, in 1971, before a Tampa Historical Society actually was organized. The Society began a Journal of its own in July, 1974, and named it the Sunland Tribune."

See at right a portion of Hampton Dunn's "THOSE HELL-RAISIN' TAMPA NEWSPAPERS" which appeared in THE SUNLAND TRIBUNE, Journal of the TAMPA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Volume VI Number 1 November, 1980.

While discussing the early history of Tampa's newspapers, on the subject of the predecessor to the Tampa Tribune--The Sunland Tribune, Dunn credits the paper with suggesting a historical society be organized in Tampa.  He says it appeared in the Jan. 19, 1882 issue of the Sunland Tribune newspaper, under a major headline "TAMPA SHOULD HAVE A HISTORICAL SOCIETY WITHOUT DELAY."  He goes on to say the article displayed a story quoting Judge Knapp as saying as follows..."  Dunn goes on to quote Judge Knapp's last paragraph.

 

Now, see here at this link the entire front page of that issue of the Sunland Tribune.  The article of mention is outlined in red.  The first lines of it appear in the image at the left.

See this same article rearranged so that it better fits a letter size sheet of paper and may be easier to read.  Your browser might shrink it to fit it on your screen, but if you click it again it should enlarge to full size.

This is what I gather:

The article is a letter to the Tribune from Judge J. G. Knapp.  He starts by saying there is a writer for the ECONOMIST (which I assume was another area newspaper) whom Knapp calls "Crispin (the shoemaker)" who at some unspecified point in time wrote a letter or article.  Knapp goes on to quote the letter or article by Crispin, "Tampa having been the starting point of Ponce de Leon, when he set out upon his famous march through Florida, in search of the fabled fountain of youth, is historically a place of great interest."

Knapp then goes on to say there is no question that the county is a place of historical interest.  Then he proceeds to put the brakes on about Crispin's article. Knapp says no time should be wasted in "snatching the historical facts from the waste and death of oblivion, while they can be."  Expressing the urgency in rescuing history before it's twisted, distorted, and the truth is lost forever.

 

As evidence, Knapp says that even the Tribune has copied the article, without dissent, which I take to mean the Trib has published Crispin's article in their newspaper at some point in the past and not questioned it's factualness. Meaning, accepting it as historical fact.  Knapp says "...and it's not the first time I have noticed writers locating the place of Ponce de Leon's landing in Tampa Bay."  Knapp goes on to question that de Leon ever even entered Tampa Bay, or even sailed on the Gulf side of Florida.

"Let us see." he says.

He says "History should not only preserve facts, but it shall also correct errors."  Facts should be committed to print and not left to the frail memory of forgetful men and women, etc.

"Here is the reason why Tampa should have a historical society, without delay..."  The rest of the letter goes on to give Judge Knapp's version of the history of Florida and Ponce de Leon.

Now, back to Hampton Dunn.  I write this not to argue the history of Florida.  Dunn's article about the history of Tampa newspapers is an interesting one, which I am currently using as part of a feature, along with other sources on the subject.  Dunn is indeed a Tampa icon when it comes to journalism and Florida history, and many other aspects of community services.  Dunn would tell you he's not a historian, he's a journalist.

I wanted to see the Sunland Tribune article he cited as carrying Judge Knapp's letter.  So I pulled up that issue of the Sunland Tribune, and right there, front and center, is the article "HISTORICAL TAMPA".  But not quite a "major headline" as Dunn wrote.  In fact, it's Judge Knapp who says Tampa should have a historical society, not the Sunland Tribune.  Unless Dunn meant it as the Tribune published Knapp's letter, in doing so it suggested the same. 

But I don't see it that way.  Being Dunn was the editor of the modern-day  Sunland Tribune, Journal of the Tampa Historical Society, I got the impression he was giving that publication more credit for the suggestion than what actually appeared in the article.  If anything, it certainly wasn't under a "major headline." No question they made it happen, but to me it looks like it was Judge Knapp who suggested it.

I hoped to find the CORRECT article Dunn was referring to, maybe he just had the date wrong.  But searching every page about a month in either direction, I found no such article.

 

 

The original Sunland Tribune changed its name to THE TAMPA TRIBUNE on March 1, 1883. It editorially continued to fight for city improvement. Tampa was swept by another epidemic of yellow fever in 1887. The city was panic stricken. Hundreds fled to the country. Among those who fled was then Editor of the Tampa Tribune, G. M. Mathes. A young printer-reporter, Donald Brenham McKay, was left in charge of the paper with only two employees to assist.

The first paper to be published on a daily basis in Tampa was the Tampa Daily News which started in 1887 with O. H. Jackson as the editor and proprietor. Many people called it the Daily Kicker because Jackson was a chronic faultfinder. Mr. McKay recalled that Jackson "’had the ability as a writer and plenty of courage."

When Jackson died, D. B. McKay bought the little paper, the News, and published it for several months. But he had an opportunity for a business out of town, so he sold the paper to G. M. Mathes. Before Mathes had made his first payment, McKay wrote, "without my knowledge or consent, he moved the plant to Ybor City and it was destroyed in the great conflagration which reduced two-thirds of the cigar town to ashes."

Tampa got its first "real" daily a short time after the demise of the News. Harvey Judson Cooper, who had been hired by Judge Magbee to refurbish the unsavory Tampa Guardian, changed its name to the Tampa Journal in 1886.


SlLAS ARMISTEAD JONES
Photo from Tampa Bay Magazine, History: "From Cracker to Flapper, Fifty Boomtown Years: 1875-1925" By Frank Wells.

  
Silas Armistead Jones, generally known as Col. S. A. Jones, was born in Shelby County, Kentucky on  January 31, 1853.  He was an ex-Confederate officer and grandfather of Sen. George A. Smathers, who served Florida for several terms, and thus the great-grandfather of Florida Sec. of State Bruce A. Smathers, who served in the Florida Legislature.

S. A. Jones became an attorney but when he came to Tampa in 1876 he first entered the cabinet-making and contracting business.  Three years later he started a builder's supply firm. Later he became one of Tampa's most active developers and strongest boosters. He was one of the principal organizers of the Board of Trade in 1885.

When the troops departed Fort Brooke for the last time in 1882, attempts were made by spirited public citizens, led by Silas A. Jones, to acquire the garrison land, with its graceful palms and towering, moss-hung oaks, for a town park. Jones fought long and hard for the passage of the "Plumb bill" as did most all of Tampa, but the people of Tampa were double-crossed by Sen. Wilkinson Call.  After years of legal battles, the town lost forever its opportunity to get a fine park at its front door. And the once beautiful garrison finally became a commercial and industrial eyesore.

  

Both the Journal and the Weekly Tribune were underfinanced and understaffed and were limping along in a half-hearted fashion.  Silas Jones led a movement to buy the two small newspapers and start a new newspaper that would be a credit to the city and a powerful factor in the development of the South Florida metropolis and surrounding territory, so the Tampa Publishing Company was founded February 1, 1893, with the financial backing of many leading citizens.  S. A. Jones became president; W. B. Henderson, vice-president; A. J. Knight, secretary, and T. C. Taliaferro, treasurer. The company was capitalized for $25,000. Immediately after the incorporation, the new company purchased the TAMPA Journal for $3,500 and the TAMPA TRIBUNE for $3,450. H. J. Cooper was appointed general manager at $75 a month. The mechanical plants of the two papers were consolidated in the Journal's plant on the southeast corner of Franklin and Washington. The first issue of the TIMES appeared Tuesday, February 7, 1893.

Shortly after the two old papers were purchased by the TIMES, word of the merger reached a young, aggressive editor of a small weekly published at Bartow, the Polk County News. He was Wallace Fisher Stovall, then 24 years old. Reasoning that the consolidation of the two old papers into one might provide an opening for an "opposition" paper, Stovall came to Tampa to learn if his hunch was correct. He found one man who had the same idea, Dr. John P. Wall.

With Dr. Wall's endorsement on a note, Stovall borrowed $450 to move his plant to Tampa and start publishing. The first issue of his paper appeared March 23, 1893. He called it the TAMPA TRIBUNE, appropriating the name of one of the papers which had perished. · The Tribune then began waging war against the Times with sharp criticism for everyone involved, especially for Jones, who was lobbying the Federal Government to pass the Plumb Bill concerning the public use of the former Fort Brooke land.  The two papers took opposing views, with the Tribune pushing for Senator Call's bill and Walls' sharp tongue criticizing the "Organ on the corner" as the paper for the elite and controlled by the rich.  He had words for all the key players.

In 1893 Col. Jones became ill with Malaria while with a party of engineers who where seeking a railroad route through the Everglades and went to Waynesville, NC to recuperate.  Later he discovered a deposit of rhodolite, organized the Carolina Abrasive Manufacturing Co., and founded a town called Ruby City. 

He died in Waynesville on Nov. 9, 1933.  He was survived by his widow, five daughters: Mrs. Harry Eldrige, Sr., Mrs. Frank Smathers, Mrs. Elos Crary, Miss Nanette Jones, Miss S. A. Jones, and a son S. A. Jones Jr.


By 1895 Stovall turned the Tribune into a daily. In the beginning, Stovall found the going hard. But he turned out a splendid, progressive paper and soon the Tribune was carrying as many ads and had as many readers as the strongly-backed TIMES. Stovall continued publishing the TRIBUNE for thirty-two years and made it one of the leading papers of the entire South.

In the latter part of 1898, The Times was in financial trouble. H. J. Cooper called D. B. McKay into his office. The Times was broke; there wasn’t enough money in the till to pay for an incoming shipment of newsprint. Cooper had been offered a job in Cuba and McKay could have the management contract for the amount of Cooper’s moving expenses to Havana. McKay walked over to the Court House where he borrowed the needed $500 from former Gov. Henry L. Mitchell, who was then serving as Clerk of Circuit Court. Within a year, The Times was on a sound basis and was speedily buying out the local businessmen who had stock in it.

It took McKay until 1922 to buy up the last stock and become the sole owner.

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