New London Newspapers - Part 2

When we left our story last week, it was 1902. The New London paper had had many different names and owners. One explanation for so many small start-up papers in the 19th century seems to be readers liked variety and independent thinking. As the United States population spread out to new areas and as the population grew, more newspapers filled a need. As they grew, so did merchant advertising. This was a win-win for both the paper and the merchants.

In the end though, the government made choices that made it easier to start a newspaper. The federal government did not tax newspapers or advertising. The papers received favorable postage rates in the mail, and publishers could trade papers with other publishers without any postage at all. This system gave small newspapers free news from many different sources (www.amerucanantiquarian.com)

C. W. Von Coelln had arrived in New London in 1904 at age 79, but he had had quite a life before he settled here. He was born in Westphalia, Germany in 1830. He arrived in the U.S. by ship and traveled to Ohio, where found work on a dairy farm. He eventually became a citizen and married Celia Goodrich. They had five children together. He worked in Ohio for a year, before he took various teaching jobs (ancestry.com).

An educator at heart, he taught mathematics. In 1861, he went to Des Moines and became a teacher in the public schools for six months, then opened an academy in Cascade. Later he was chosen professor of mathematics in Iowa College at Grinnell, remaining there for seven years; he was also a member of the faculty of Buena Vista College at Storm Lake and was at different times president of both colleges; and he was also an instructor and principal at Waterloo, Iowa public schools.

Von Coelln was nominated and served as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1876 until 1882. In his obituary he was called the “Father of the Iowa School Laws” (Hastings Daily Republican, 21 April 1913, Hastings, Nebraska).

How he ended up in New London to run a newspaper remains somewhat of a mystery. He bought the Moon in 1904 from A. D. Hayes who was in partnership with A. O. Noble, who had died in 1903. Judge Walters said of Von Coelln that he was a scholar and a business man. He put the paper on a sound footing and made it the official newspaper for Henry County legal publications.

The name of the paper was changed to the Farmer Times. It boasted the largest weekly circulation in Henry County. It was said of the paper, “It has a circulation of about one thousand copies and is a bright and newsy paper, always watched for expectantly by its subscribers; the only paper in New London” (ancestry.com).

For this undertaking, Von Coelln partnered with his daughter, Anna Von Coelln Stokes. She was the local editor and compositor. As the paper reported in 1911, Mr. Von Coelln, now 80, was in charge of the business and editorial work.

Von Coelln lived in New London for nine years. He had been ill for seven months before he died of complications from diabetes on April 21, 1913. His funeral was held on April 24, 1913 at his home. According to his obituary, the interment “will be in this city.” (At this writing, we have had no luck finding where he is buried).

According to a short biography, it was said of Mr. Von Coelln that he had lived a life of devotion to his chosen profession and had ever been an active worker in the field of education. His life had indeed been well spent, for by his career as a teacher and his business life as an editor, he had been instrumental in a wide-spread dissemination of knowledge. Mr. Von Coelln was loved and respected by all who knew him and well deserved the position he held as one of the foremost citizens of New London (ancestry.com).

Von Coelln had just recently retired from his paper shortly before his death. Anna and her husband, Rollo Stokes, continued with the paper until 1915.

The next owner was Wilfred Smith with Howard N. Smith as publisher. He came from Wellman. The July 11, 1915 issue, as was published by the new owners, was the New London Journal as it had been renamed. Smith also bought the subscription lists that were a little over a thousand paid subscriptions. In December of 1915, the Journal bought the Danville Enterprise and moved the equipment to New London.

The 1915 Journal was considered a good paper with lots of local news, although a little thin on getting names correct and facts always straight. It provided recipes and local advertising plus it ran serialized stories. In 1917, Smith bought a linotype machine that gave the Journal a more professional look.

In August 1920, E. R. Doty became the editor. By November 1921, the paper had another new owner, W. N. Miller.

The next owner and editor would give the Journal a more professional look and feel as he took over in 1922.. He would also give the paper almost 40 years under his direction. Although not a native New Londoner, he became an active participant in the life of the community along with his wife and daughter.

To hear his story, stayed tuned for part 3 next week.