Lander County
NVGenWeb
The following was
derived from the Reese River Reveille itself as well as a number of
other sources, including the book The Town That Died Laughing. My
notes within quoted articles are indicated by square brackets [ ] .
This newspaper is the reason I landed in Lander County. My Great Great
Great Grandfather, Corydon Fairchild, was the owner and editor of the
Ovid Bee in Ovid, Seneca County, New York. It had been sold to him by
his father, David Fairchild, a wonderer who had ink for blood. Several
of his son's inherited this penchant, Corydon, Mahlon, Tracy, Oscar, J.
Depuy and Rasselas all working on various papers. He started numerous
newspapers in central New York only to move six to nine months later,
selling his interests, often to a son or relation.
In 1848, at
Sutter's Mill, California, the news flashed across the country, GOLD! At
this, the Wayne County Democrat in New York was sold or shut down as
David, along with his son, Mahlon, and son-in-law, William K. Creque,
left for California. In 1853, David returned from the gold fields to
pack up his wife, youngest son and eldest daughter (William Creque's
wife) and her two children. After mining and farming in California for a
number of years, three of his sons, Oscar, J. Depuy and Mahlon, moved
over the mountains into Nevada, settling in Belmont and later Austin.
When David moved the family to California, Corydon stayed in New York.
He chronicles many of his families adventures in California and Nevada
in his editorial columns. Oscar and J. Depuy, who where involved in the
paper from the beginning, were Corydon's brothers.
Silver Bend Reporter -- Our three brothers, [Mahlon, Oscar and J. Depuy] all practical printers, are “branching out” up in Nevada – the State of their adoption. They have long been “running” a sprightly little Daily at Austin City [The Reese River Reveille], under the name of J.D. Fairchild & Co., and have recently started a small neatly printed Weekly at Belmont, in Nye Co., under the firm name of Oscar L. C. Fairchild & Co., the title of w’ch heading this article, it being ‘an Independent Journal’ devoted to the Mining, Manufacturing and Agricultural interests of “Eastern Nevada.” – They have all become married men since settling there – seemingly willing to do their part in increasing the population. We wish the trio abundant prosperity in both undertakings – for having been proved, they three have all been ‘found worthy.’ We are in the receipt of the 3d No. only.
The paper was printed in Belmont, Nye County, Nevada. One reference, "History of Masonry in Nevada", Br. C.W. Torrence, 1944, published by the Grand Lodge Free and Accepted Masons, indicates that the first issue of the Silver Bend Reporter was March 30, 1867, and a copy of that number, and one dated October 26, 1867, were included in the cornerstone of the new Masonic Hall in Austin, Nevada. Torrence took the information from the "Reese River Reveille" of Monday, November 4, 1867.
We received June 17, our brother’s paper, the “Silver Bend Reporter” of May 18, printed at Belmont, Nye Co., Nevada, thro’ the Dead Letter Office, at Washington, in a sealed letter envelope, duly franked. The following letter accompanied it:
Post Office Department,
Washington, June 13, 1867
Sir: The enclosed was received at this
Department in its present condition, supposed to have been the result of
an Indian depredation on the Overland Route, and is forwarded by the
earliest Mail, by order of the Postmaster General.
E.S. Childs,
Acting Second Ass’t P.M. Gen’l.
The paper was folded in wrapper and addressed in the usual way, the only peculiarity being its soiled condition, with blood stains upon it in various placed, the blank edge of white being quite well saturated with the “Life-giving current” doubtless of some “Lot the poor Indian” or some unfortunate white man in its passage hitherward. It evidently passed thro’ some sharply contested battle, about which there is a mystery yet unsolved. Could it reveal the unwritten history of its travels, it wou’d no doubt prove highly interesting as well as horrible.
Note - The Reporter closed down on July 29, 1868, and was moved to Austin. Mahlon had a rather scathing editorial condemning the town for its inability to sustain a newspaper. It is reasonable to believe that the press and type became part of the Reveille, given that that paper was already established.
Reese River
Reveille – We read with much interest the contents of the above named
paper, published at Austin, Nevada, which has lately been added to our
exchange list. It is a daily, about one-quarter the size of the GAZETTE,
and though small is spicy. The terms are only $24 per annum! To pay the
difference in exchange, we propose that brother Fairchild appropriated
in our name a small mining tract on Lander Hill, and sell it out at the
first favorable opportunity’ after taking from the proceeds sufficient
to pay his demand, he may remit balance by draft – not one of Lincoln’s
kind, however. – Geneva Gazette [Geneva, New York]
We are also in
receipt of the Daily Reveille, spoken of above, printed by our Brothers.
No wonder our friend PARKER [editor of the Geneva Gazette] likes the
paper for it is edited, and ably too, by an Angel! [Corydon was
referring to Myron W. Angel, assistant editor, a cousin to the
Fairchilds.]
| Date | Event | Owner | Editor |
| 1863 May 16 | Volume One, Number One | William C. Phillips | William C. Phillips |
| 1863 Sep 30 | Transfer of control | Oscar Llewellan Chandler Fairchild
Joseph Depuy Fairchild | Adair Wilson Myron Angel, Assist. |
| 1871 Summer | Paper Sold | Andrew Casamayou
John H. Dennis | |
| 1873 Sep 09 | Change of Interest | Andrew Casamayou
John Booth | Andrew Casamayou |
| 1875 Dec 12 | Sold | John Booth & Company | Fred H. Hart |
The Last Frontier Village was an early 1950's theme park that included a mix of museum pieces with working "authentic" western attractions and retail establishments. Included within were three "complete railroad outfits with engine, tracks and the usual accessories." The village featured a drug store, general store, post office, schoolhouse and jail, as well as the "original printing plant of the venerable Reese River Reveille, Nevada's oldest newspaper." -Referencing Ralli, P. Viva Vegas. Hollywood, CA: House-Warven Publishers, 1953
On Wednesday last W. [William] R. Warnock was shot and killed while walking in the vicinity of Pioche.
Arrival and Departures | |||
| By Railroad Stage | By Wilson's Stage | ||
Departed W. F. BeldingJoseph Richards Mrs. Ellen McGlew W. H. Spaulding Aug Jungher S. M. Healey R. M. King & daughter |
Arrived James HarringtonMich'l O'Brien Jos. Evans John Ross Thomas Hogan S. Lewis |
Departed A. E. ShannonJohn Gillespie |
Arrived H. MullerW. C. Smith W. H. Stowell S. Jewell E. P. Rains |
Advertisments
Departed by Railroad Stage - A. Walls
Arrived by Railroad Stage - C.
Weiner, John Mulcahey, E. G. Bruen, Mrs. O'Brien
BORN.
At Battle
Mountain, Nev, April 4th, to the wife of A. P. Haws, a daughter.
In Lower
Gold Hill, April 4, to the Wife of Sol. Noel, a son.
In Virginia City,
April 2, to the wife og George Allen, a daughter.
In Virginia City, April 3,
to the wife of J.J. Baird, a son.
MARRIED.
In Salt Lake City U.T.,
April 2, 1873, T.A. Jones to Miss Gilberth.
In Virginia City, April 3, George
Henning to Mrs. Harrie Jones.
In Gold Hill, April 4, James B. Oram to
Margaret G. McIntosh.
At Brown's Station, Nev., James Burke, to Miss Nettie
Downs.
In Snionville, Nev., April 2, 1873, Geo. W. Price, to Miss Mary
McCormick.
Contributed by Mark W. Swarthout
Found at Last.
The
remains of D. W. Chapman, who was drowned in a slough of the Humboldt near here
last April, was discovered on the 10th inst. by a Spaniard named Joseph Salazar.
There was found upon his body a gold watch and chain and sixty odd dollars in
coin; also a book containing the business card of H. C. Judd & Root, commission
wool merchants at Hartford, Conn., in whose employ he was at the time of his
death. His remains were shipped this week to his friends in the East. A reward
of $250 will be paid to the finder of the body, and all expenses will be
promptly settled.
Board of Pardons.
The Board of Pardons met Monday,
full Board present.
Man Town, Lander county, murder in second degree;
refused.
E. M. Gillis, Humboldt county, murder in second degree; pardoned.
J. W. Marr, Eureka county, robbery, restored to citizenship.
G. Rodoni,
Lander county, manslaughter; refused.
J. W. Hill, Lander county, killing
cattle; pardoned.
Death of an Old Nevadan.
S. E. Witherill, well known
to the theatrical profession for 20 years past, died in San Francisco last
Thursday, aged 51 years. In 1864 he was elected a member of the first State
Legislature of Nevada, and 1876 he was elected a member of the California
Legislature. He leaves a wife. – Silver State.
L. M. Pugh has opened a
blacksmith shop at Lewis, and is prepared to do all kinds of work in his line.
I take pleasure in announcing to my old friends and customers, that I am
still prepared to do all kinds of repairing, of clocks, watches and jewelry,
also sewing machines repaired. Charges moderate and satisfaction guaranteed.
Walter Davis, Watchmaker and Jeweler, Battle Mountain, Nev.
Fatal Accident.
Last Friday, J.
C. Hopper was killed at Bullion by a heavy stick of wood falling upon him. He
was unloading a load of wood at the Lady of the Lake mine, and while trying to
get out a heavy stick it toppled over and both fell to the ground. Several men
saw him fall and ran to his assistance. Blood was flowing from his mouth and
ears when they picked him up. He was taken to a house and died soon after. An
inquest was held by Johu I. Thompson, and the jury returned a verdict in
accordance with the facts as stated above. He had $21 in coin, but no other
effects. Mr. Hopper was an old pioneer and has worked in nearly all the mining
camps of Nevada. He was a native of Missouri, aged about 40 years, and was well
known by most all the old timers.
Galena School Report.
For the month ending Jan. 30, 1885.
Whole number of boys enrolled, 8; whole number of girls enrolled, 13; total, 21.
Whole number of days attendance, 401; whole number of days absence, 9; per cent.
of attendance, .97; visitiors, 14.
Roll of Honor.
Kate Moore, 99.5;
Martha McBeth, 99.5; Minnie Hider, 97; Della Mellander, 97; Belle O'Leary, 94;
Annie Uren, 90.
Eli McIntyre, an engineer at the Paxton mine in Austin, died on the 9th inst.,
of heart disease.
Born. Perry – At Battle Mountain, Thursday, Feb. 12th,
to the wife of Manuel J. Perry, a daughter.
Murders Multiplying.
An
Unfortunate Woman's Miserable End – The Story of Her Life – Her Former Husband's
Connection with the Crime.
The Reno Gazette of last Tuesday contains the
following account of the murder at that place of Mrs. Rhoda A. Strong, formerly
of Battle Mountain:
On the 17th of October, a woman with two children came to
the Lake House and registered as Mrs. A. Cole, but giving no residence. Two or
three days after, a coarse looking man, with iron-gray hair, no whiskers, a
heavy voice and rather rough manner, was found beating her door between five and
six o'clock in the morning, calling out for her to let him in or he would break
it down. He said he wold do her no harm, but she must let him in. Mr. Dealey
said he should not arouse the house in that way and threatened his arrest. The
man and woman had a long talk. He begged the woman to go home with him; she
refused, but said he could take the children. He took them with him and she
manifested no emotion at all at the time, but afterwards she told her story to
some Reno ladies, and they seemed much affected with her sorrows. Soon after,
Mr. Dealy gave her notice that she must seek other quarters, and she went to the
fortune teller's on Virginia street. Afterwards she took up her residence on the
alley. Yesterday morning, as Constable Nash and Mr. Brunnick were passing her
door they heard groans, and went into se what the trouble was. They found the
gray-headed man lying on the bed in the rear room, and the woman dead on the
floor in the front room, lying in a pool of blood. She was curled up with her
head partly beneath the body and the face concealed. An ugly wound was found
made by a bullet that went through the left ear and out at the top of the head.
The Woman's Body was taken to the dead house and the man was taken to jail.
A Gazette reporter called soon after and found Drs. Waggoner and Hogan examining
four wounds on him, two on the head and two on the left breast. They prove to be
the track of two small bullets that had made short tracks beneath the skin and
then emerged, leaving only flesh wounds. The man said his name was Simeon
Strong, and that the woman was his lawful wedded wife. They were married at
Council Bluffs eight years ago, and had two children. He has lived at Battle
Mountain twelve years, having worked at the depot handling freight, and last
Summer worked for Joseph Marzen at Lovelocks. When he took his children last
Fall he went with them to Sioux City, leaving his six-year-old boy with his
eldest daughter, and the little girl with a friend there. He says he received a
letter from the woman asking for money or a ticket to come home and tell him
what she wanted and to hear his proposition, if he had any. He says friends
there advised him to come here and see her, instead of her going to Battle
Mountain. He came Friday night, and spent the night at her rooms on the alley.
Saturday night he went to her rooms, and they never went to sleep at all, but
talked all night. About 11 o'clock they went to bed, and at 3 o'clock she looked
at his watch to see what time it was, because he was to go to Lovelock's on the
5 o'clock train. It being only 3 he did not get up, but at 4 he did, and while
putting on his clothes someone stepped up on the walk outside. He said: "What's
that?" She andswered: "It's someone on the porch." She got up, and he says was
in the act of kissing him when a shot was fired, striking him on the head and
killing her.
She Sank to the Floor, exclaiming, "Oh, my God!" He partly
turned just as another shot struck him in the left side. He fell insensible and
does not know how long he lay. When he woke up he screamed for help, but on one
came for a long time, until Constable Nash found him. He claims he was not
armed. Mr. Mershon found a small calibered bull dog in the outhouse vault some
hours afet Strong left the house, but couldn't tell whether it was the one used
or not. Strong says he did not go out of the house till after he was arrested.
An examination of the wounds on Strong's person show that neither one was made
from behind, as he claims. His shirt bosom was very much powder burnt, and so
was his hair in front of the wound, but not to the rear of it. The time of the
shooting is quite indefinite. Mr. Hall, the shoemaker, says he heard three shots
and thinks it was about 3 o'clock.
Strong was born in Canada, when his
parents were there on a visit. He is 64 years old, though his papers say he is
60. He was in the First Iowa Cavalry, and served two years. He has been twice
married, and was divorced from his first wife whom he supposes to be still
living.
The dead woman's name was Rhoda Ann Strong. She was 25 years old last
October.
Strong was exceedingly nervous, and said he would give a thousand
dollars, if he had it, to have been killed right there. He made a good deal of
fuss while Drs. Waggoner and Hogan were examining his wounds.
The Coroner's
Jury gave the following verdict: That the deceased's name was Rhoda A. Strong,
aged 25 years; that she came to her death on the morning of the 8th of February,
from a gunshot wound inflicted by a party or parties unknown.
Notice to
Creditors.
Estate of Abraham George, Deceased.
Notice is hereby given by
the undersigned Administrator of the above named estate, to the creditors of,
and all persons having claims against said deceased, to exhibit the same with
the necessary vouchers, within two months from the first publication, to the
undersigned at his residence in Frisbie, Bullion township, Lander county,
Nevada. J. C. Latta, Administrator of the estate of Abraham George, deceased.
Frank Stewart and Fredericka Borghero were arrested here yesterday on complaint of E. A. Scott, and charged with grand larceny. Upon a hearing before Justice Park, the case was dismissed and the defendants released from custody.
A birthday party was given to Miss Ella
Carrol to-day by her mother, Mrs. Dusang.
We are informed by F. R. Webber
that Mrs. Bishop, the daughter of "Pap" Hughes, will leave St. Louis on March
2nd, to visit her aged father, who lives on a ranch near Mill Creek.
To
the Public.
Having concluded to embark in the grocery business, I have rented
a store room in front of Blossom's Hall, on the corner of Main and Reese
streets, and will have the same fitted up and filled with a choice lot of
groceries, fruits, vegetables, etc., by next Wednesday, March 4th, and will
offer them for sale at the lowest possible rates. A share of the public
patronage is respectfully solicited. George Hinman.
Contributed 2022 Jan 21 by Norma Hass
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