J. H. Dungan

Editor of the Livermore Herald, 1891 to 1895

Jesse H. Dungan was born in Genoa (pronounced "juh-NO-ah", not like the Italian city), Douglas County, Nevada on September 17, 1863.[1] He was a student at the Genoa Public School and consistently made the honor roll,[2] but we don't what grade level he completed or whether he graduated.[3] He went into the newspaper business at an early age and became the editor and manager of the Genoa Weekly Courier when he was just a few months shy of his 19th birthday.[4] He married Viola F. Jones in 1883.[5] In August 1884, he left the Courier and moved to Woodland, California, where he worked in the job department for the Woodland Democrat.[6] From there he moved to San Francisco, where he worked for one or more newspapers,[7] then to St. Helena, where he worked in the mechanical department of the St. Helena Star. In 1887 he and a partner purchased the Star and he became that paper's senior partner and editor.[8]

In October 1891, Dungan sold his interest in the Star to his partner and purchased the Livermore Herald.[9] The Herald and been bought from its long-time proprietor and editor, W. P. Bartlett, four months earlier by Edward J. Livernash. He was said to be an experienced newspaper man and was expected to improve the paper.[10] He bought new type and presses and was planning to move the newspapers's plant into the newly built Schaffer building on First Street. But on September 6 the office and plant of the Herald was destroyed in a fire.[11] Then on Sept 27 he was arrested in San Francisco for wearing women's apparel in public. According the detailed account of his arrest given in the Chronicle, which was the first to report the incident, he had also blackened his face and hands with grease-paint and was carrying a satchel containing a bottle of poison. The story was sensational enough to make the papers across California.[12] To the business men and civic leaders of Livermore, the conduct of the Herald's new editor must have presented quite a contrast with the conduct of the previous editor, who had done so much to boost the reputation of Livermore across the state.[13] According to an item in the Star, which appeared in the same issue that announced Dungan's purchase of the Herald, "Mr. Dungan takes hold of the paper upon the earnest request of every business man in Livermore".[14]

The first issue of the Herald under the editorship of J. H. Dungan came out on Octber 31, in a new format, with new type, from a newly installed printing plant in the Schaffer building.[15] Unfortunately, neither this initial issue nor any other issue published under his editorship is available on microfilm or in any digital archive that I know about. It is possible that they are lost forever.

The Herald was one of two newspapers published in Livermore at the time, as described in an 1895 article about Livermore in the San Francisco Call:

Two weekly papers look out for the interests of Livermore. The Herald, under the editorship of J. H. Dungan, is a most excellent paper, snappy and intelligent. ... W. E. Still is the independent industrious editor of the Livermore Echo, a paper that is doing its work in the world.[16]

Jesse Dungan's wife had a niece, Nellie Boston, whose mother died when she was two or three, and who was raised in the household of her maternal grandparents. Child care responsibilities probably fell mostly on her aunt Viola, the future Mrs. Dungan, until she married and left the household when Nellie was around ten. Nellie's father was committed to the Nevada Insane Asylum when she was twelve and died there a few years later. After she graduated from high school, in Carson City, Nevada, Nellie came to Livermore for an extended visit with the Dungans, passed the examination for a Teachers' Certificate from Alameda County, and became a teacher in the Livermore Grammar School starting in the 1894-1895 school year.[17]

In 1895, Jesse Dungan sold the Herald and purchased the Woodland Mail.[18], [19] So the Dungan's moved to Woodland. There were four of them at this point: the original two, plus daughters Holly and Myrl, the latter born in Livermore. Nellie Boston remained in Livermore and traveled to Woodland to spend holidays and vacations with the Dungans: they had become her closest family.[20] In 1898, Dungan's brother-in-law, W. F. Mixon (married to Dungan's sister Venie), became a partner in the Mail[21] and the Mixons moved to Woodland.

In 1901 Jesse Dungan was appointed postmaster of Woodland.[22] This was a political appointment at the time, requiring nomination by the President and confirmation by the Senate. In 1902, Dungan sold his interest in the Mail to his partner and brother-in-law, W. F. Mixon.[23] Dungan was appointed to a second term as postmaster in 1905, and to a third term in 1909.[24]

In 1909, Jesse Dungan lost his wife, daughter, and two sisters when the automobile they were riding in fell into the Sacramento River at Knight's Landing. It was a devastating loss for the surviving family members and for the town of Woodland.[25]

In Feb 1910, Jesse Dungan married Edythe Van Anda of Woodland. She was a pianist who performed regularly in Woodland. She had graduated from the University of the Pacifc in 1899 with a Bachelor of Music in Piano.[26]

Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, was elected president in 1912. Dungan was nominated for re-appointment as postmaster by President Taft at the beginning of 1913, but the Senate refused to confirm most of Taft's nominations.[27]

In April of 1913, Dungan acquired an interest in the Oroville Mercury and became its manager and editor. He introduced himself to his new readers by writing the customary "Salutatory", which was reprinted in the Woodland Daily Democrat. The Democrat pointed out that the Mercury had been a Democratic paper and that Dungan was a Republican. But in his "Salutatory", Dungan revealed that he had voted for Woodrow Wilson (a Democrat) in the last election, and he said that he would continue to support Wilson "as long as he advocates honest, progressive legislation". He promised to give his readers "a clean, up-to-date, progressive newspaper".[28]

He died in 1922.[29]

Notes

  1. ^ The only source we have for his full date of birth is his obituary in the Chico Record, 24 Jan 1922. The month and year of birth given in the 1900 census are consistent with this date. The pronunciation of Genoa, Nevada is from the town's website.
  2. ^ He is listed in the monthly honor rolls of the Genoa Public School published in the Carson Valley News in the school years 1874–1875 (Carson Valley News, 6 March 1875 to 24 July 1875), 1875–1876 (Carson Valley News, 9 Oct 1875 to 23 June 1876), 1876–1877 (Carson Valley News, 6 Oct 1876 to 3 July 1877), and 1877–1878 (Carson Valley News, 5 Oct 1877 to 5 April 1878). The Carson Valley News started in February 1875, so we don't have any newspaper sources for his schooling before that. Starting in the 1875-1876 school year, the honor rolls listed students in two groups, the "Grammar Classes" and the "Primary Classes". The category "Primary Classes" probably corresponds to first though third grade in the system with which we are familiar in California schools. "Grammar Classes" would be the equivalent of fourth and higher grades, but not including high school grades, whatever those were at the time. Jessie Dungan was listed under "Grammar Classes". The newspaper did not report graduations or promotions at the end of the school year, only closing exercises with the names of students participating in the program and/or receiving awards. So we don't know if Jesse graduated or finished any particular grade at the end of the 1877-1878 school year.
  3. ^ Jesse does not appear in newspaper school reports for the 1878–1879 and 1879–1880 school years because none were published. The Carson Valley News ceased publication briefly in June 1878, then started up again in September 1878 in a smaller format and with a different focus. It published its last issue on July 16, 1880. During this period it did not publish any school honor rolls, although it did cover the controversial attempt by a group of the distict's parents to oust the school's teacher in 1879. When the newspaper reported the opening of the school in September 1879, it also reported that a group of parents, representing fourteen students, would not be patronizing the school while the teacher remained in her position (Carson Valley News, 5 Sept 1879). One of those parents was G. W. Dungan. Since the newspaper was not publishing the school's honor rolls between June 1878 and July 1880, we don't know whether he actually did keep his children out of the school in Fall 1879, or whether they returned in January 1880 after the teacher resigned. The Carson Valley News was sold in July of 1880 and replaced with the Genoa Weekly Courier, the first issue of which came out on July 23, 1880. The Courier resumed the practice of publishing the school's monthly honor rolls for the 1880–1881 school year and Jesse's younger sisters, Annie and Lavinia/Venie, appear in them (Genoa Weekly Courier, 8 Oct 1880 to 3 June 1881). So we know that Annie and Venie were back at the school that year, but we don't know what any of the Dungan children were doing during the previous two years (the 1878–1879 and 1879–1880 school years). This is important because we would like to know whether Jesse Dungan went to high school and/or began working during this period. He was 15 years old in September of 1878 and there was no high school in Douglas County at that time. Some Douglas County students were able to attend high school in Carson City, but it was far enough away that they had to board there if they did. Jesse does not appear in any newspaper items that I have been able to find between April 1878 and October 1881. But we know, based on an October 1881 item in the Genoa Weekly Courier, that he started working as a printer for the Courier in July 1880. (Genoa Weekly Courier, 14 Oct 1881)
  4. ^ His obituary in the St. Helena Star said that "when a young boy he began learning the printer's trade and became an expert compositor and job printer" (St. Helena Star, 27 Jan 1922). We don't know exactly when or where he began to learn the printer's trade. An 1881 item in the Genoa Weekly Courier said that he had been working for the Courier "since its inception", which I interpret to mean "since shortly before it published its first issue on July 23, 1880", at which point in time Jesse was 16 years old (Genoa Weekly Courier, 14 Oct 1881). As I pointed out in the previous two notes, we do not know what Jesse was doing between the end of the 1877–1878 school year and the beginning of his employment with the Courier, so he might have started in the newspaper business even earlier than that. The previously cited item reported that he quit to take a position with a newspaper in Carson City. There is then almost nothing about him in the papers until an item in the July 21, 1882 issue of the Courier announces that he is the new manager of the newspaper, at which point he was just 18 (Genoa Weekly Courier, 21 July 1882). He was evidently also the editor. Nowhere was it reported who owned the paper.
  5. ^ Their marriage was announced in the Genoa Weekly Courier (4 May 1883). Viola F. Jones was the daughter of David I. Jones, who had settled in Carson Valley in 1857 near Mottsville (Genoa Weekly Courier, 18 Sept 1896).
  6. ^ His "Valedictory" appeared in the Aug 29, 1884 issue of the Genoa Weekly Courier. Subsequent items reported that the Dungans had moved to Woodland, CA (Courier, 5 Sept 1884; Courier 26 Sept 1884) and that he was working in the job department of the Woodland Democrat (Courier, 14 Nov 1884). The "job department" of a newspaper prints advertisements, business forms, etc. His obituary in the St. Helena Star said that he was the foreman of the job department (27 Jan 1922).
  7. ^ His obituary in the St. Helena Star said that after working for the Woodland Democrat he "held positions on" the Daily Alta California and the San Francisco Chronicle (St. Helena Star, 27 Jan 1922). The Star at that time was still edited by his former business partner Frank B. Mackinder, so I assume that the obituary was written from the first-hand knowledge of someone who worked with him directly after his San Francisco employment(s) and knew where he had been. Dungan's obituary in the Woodland Democrat, however, said that he worked for the Call and the Chronicle (Woodland Democrat, 24 Jan 1922). As far as I know, the Alta California and the Call were different newspapers. The Democrat at the time was still edited by Edward E. Leake, who would have had first hand knowledge as to where Dungan went after working for the Democrat. I have not been able to find any direct evidence that Dungan worked for any of these papers, or even that he lived in San Francisco. All that I have been able to find is an October 1886 item in the San Francisco Examiner which said that Mrs Dungan had left Woodland to take up her residence in San Francisco, and I am assuming that it was to join her husband who was already there and working (San Francisco Examiner, 14 Oct 1886).
  8. ^ His obituary in the St. Helena Star says that he worked in the mechanical department (which does the typesetting and printing) of the Star in early 1887 and that is where he met Frank B. Mackinder (St. Helena Star, 27 Jan 1922). The latter was the brother of the paper's owner, W. A. Mackinder, and had been working in the mechanical department for four years (Star, 7 Oct 1887). The sale of the Star to Jesse H. Dungan and Frank B. Mackinder was announced in the October 7, 1887 issue of the Star. Beginning with that Oct 7 issue, the masthead stated that the paper was published by "Dungan & Mackinder, Editors and Proprietors".
  9. ^ It was evidently a tradition, when a newspaper changed hands, for the former editor/proprietor to write a "farewell" that would appear in the first issue published under his successor. Dungan's "Farewell" begins:
    With this issue of the Star, I, the senior member, retire, and F. B. Mackinder, the junior member, assumes full control. It is with many regrets that I make this change, but my business interests elsewhere make it necessary; I will again don the journalistic harness in Livermore, having purchased the Herald.
    (St. Helena Star, 16 Oct 1891)
  10. ^ We don't know how the sale was announced in the Herald, whether W. P. Bartlett wrote the customary "Farewell", or how Livernash introduced himself to its readers, or even which issue was the first under the editorship of Livernash, because there are no issues of the Herald in the CDNC or anywhere else, as far as I know, between January 22 and the end of the year. Multiple other newspapers reported the sale, and all of them described Livernash as an experienced newspaper man who would improve the paper ("Sale of the Livermore Herald to Livernash", Multiple Newspapers, 11 June to 26 June 1891)). Their expressed confidence in him might have been more a colleagial nicety than an honest appraisal of his experience and ability. His longest stint as a newspaper editor was two years, for the Pacific Sentinel, a newspaper established for him by his father when he was just sixteen (as reported at the time in the Cloverdale Reveille, 13 May 1882). He had some prior experience in the newspaper business, having previosly worked as a correspondent for the Sonoma Democrat (Sonoma Democrat, 3 June 1882). The debut issue of the Sentinel got positive reviews from other newspapers, though at least one of them wondered how it could survive in a town that was too small to support two newspapers (Independent Calistogian, 7 June 1882). Possibly it was bankrolled by his father and/or Democratic interests that wanted to support a newspaper in opposition to the Cloverdale Reveille. The Sentinel passed its second anniversary in fine form (Independent Calistogian, 4 June 1884), but then Livernash sold it in July 1884 and bought the Sonoma Index, in what appears to have been an exchange of ownership, changing the name of his newly acquired paper from the Index to the Tribune ("Exchange of Ownership of Two Newspapers", St. Helena Star, 10 July 1884). The Tribune under Livernash lasted only four months ("Items on the Demise of the Sonoma Tribune", Multiple Newspapers, 15 Nov to 5 Dec 1884). Livernash then left for San Francisco to study law (Sonoma Democrat, 11 April 1885). In January 1887 he passed the exam given by the California Supreme Court and was admitted to the California Bar (St. Helena Star, 14 January 1887). In February the St. Helena Star reported that he had decided to open a law office in St. Helena (Star, 11 Feb 1887). That didn't last long. In October the Star reported that he had left for San Francisco, where he would resume his law practice with an established firm (Star, 19 Aug 1887). In 1888 he started a weekly publication in San Francisco, called the Saturday Gazette, about which nothing was reported after the usual encouraging reviews of its first number in other newspapers ("Reviews of his Saturday Gazette", Multiple Newspapers, 19 April to 28 April 1888). Beginning in 1890, occasional items in the Napa and Sonoma County newspapers connected him to the Examiner, the Chronicle, or some unspecified San Francisco newspaper, but it was not clear in any of them what the connection was. In April 1890, he and his brother bought the Healdsburg Enterprise (Healdsburg Enterprise, 9 April 1890). A year later, the newspapers reported that he had sold his interest in the Enterprise, moved to San Francisco, and taken a position with the Examiner (St. Helena Star, 10 April 1891). Two months later, the newspapers reported that he had bought the Livermore Herald ("Sale of the Livermore Herald to Livernash", Multiple Newspapers, 11 June to 26 June 1891). Most of them, the Livermore Echo included, cited his considerable newspaper experience and connection to the Chronicle, without saying anything specific about either, as support for their confidently expressed hopes for the success of the paper. But based on what I have seen in the newspapers, his only succesful experience running a newspaper was in the two years that he ran the Pacific Sentinel, as a teenager, and possibly with the financial help of his father. After that, his experience with the Sonoma Tribune was short and unsuccesful, his experience with the Healdsburg Enterprise lasted only a year, and his connections with the San Francisco papers, whatever the were, appear to have been intermittent and short. So he was possibly not the experienced and steady hand that the Herald needed to fulfill the hopes expressed for it.
  11. ^ The Oakland Tribune mentioned new presses in describing improvements that Livernash was making to the paper (Tribune, 27 June 1891). An item in the Oakland Enquirer mentioned the new type and machinery in the context of describing what had been destroyed in the fire (Enquirer, 28 Sept 1891). The fire destroyed the building which housed the offices of the Herald, and destroyed its printing plant, including the new type and machinery (Livermore Echo, 10 Sept 1891; St. Helena Star, 11 Sept 1891). The "printing plant" of a newspaper indcludes type, presses, and everything else necessary to print the newspaper.
  12. ^ His arrest was initially reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, Sept 27 1891 (a Sunday), followed by multiple other newspapers on Sept 28. It was not reported in the Livermore Echo or the Oakland Tribune. Livernash appeared in court on Sept 28 and claimed as a defense that he was under a hypnotic trance at the time and was therefore not morally responsible for his actions (San Francisco Chronicle, 29 Sept 1891). The judge didn't buy it, but the Oakland Tribune did, passing it along to its readers in a two-sentence item, which is all its readers got on the story (Tribune, 29 Sept 1891). We don't know whether his arrest was reported in the Herald because we don't have any issues of the Herald for this period. But the people of Livermore got the story from somewhere: On the Monday following his arrest, the Oakland Enquirer reported that "this matter created much excitement and was the talk of the town all Sunday" (Enquirer, 28 Sept 1891).
  13. ^ Some of the newspapers that reported on the sale of the Herald to Livernash, cited the positive impact of Bartlett's fourteen years as editor on the development of Livermore. The Oakland Enquirer said, "Mr. Bartlett has demonstrated what a country editor can do for his town if he has the brains and energy, and Livermore valley would not be what it is today but for Mr. Bartlett's intelligent efforts" (Enquirer, 12 June 1891). And the Morning Call said, "W. P. Bartlett has done more through his paper for the development of Livermore than almost any other one influence" (Call, 14 June 1891). The Herald under Bartlett had been politically independent (according it its motto, printed on the masthead, "Independent in Everything—Neutral in Nothing"). The papers that Livernash owned and edited were all Democratic. The September 28 Oakland Enquirer article suggests that he intended to keep the paper independent (the article uses the term "neutral"), but that he ran into trouble when he took the side of Charles A. Wetmore in a conflict with Rev. Dr. Dille and lost subscribers as a result (Enquirer, 28 September 1891). The conflict itself is not so hard to understand: it is probably described accurately enough in Wetmore's letter to the editor of the Oakland Tribune (22 June 1891). Unfortunately, we don't know how Livernash responded to the conflict, because we don't have any issues of the Herald for that time period, so we don't why it would have been offensive to some subscribers. Political independence probably made the paper more influencial in promoting the town and its economic opporunities under Bartlett.
  14. ^ There was plenty of contact and movement of people between St. Helena and Livermore at this time, and a great deal of interst in each about what was happening in the other, because they were both wine producing areas. You can see evidence of this by searching for "Livermore" in the St. Helena Star on Newspapers.com. W. P. Bartlett appears to have been well known in St. Helena, and Dungan met Bartlett in September, according to an article in the St. Helena Star (18 Sept 1891). The the focus of the meeting was probably on the magnesium mine in Chile Valley that Bartlett and a partner had leased, but it is not hard to imagine that the two editors might also have talked about the newspaper business in their respective towns. On Oct 13, the Oakland Tribune reported that Dungan had been in Livermore the previous week and was thinking of buying the Herald (Tribune, 13 Oct 1891). And it is not hard to imagine that, after the news of Livernash's arrest broke, the business and civic leaders in Livermore might have wanted to recruit a buyer for the Herald, and/or that Livernash was under some pressure to sell. The 16 October 1891 St. Helena Star item, which claimed that Dungan had bought the Herald at the "earnest request of every business man in Livermore", was written under the editorship of Mackinder, who, being Dungan's friend and former business partner, was probably in a position to know what infuences played a role in his decision to buy the paper.
  15. ^ Dungan's first number was issued on October 31 (Independent Calistogian, 4 Nov 1891). Multiple items in multiple newspapers described its new format and appearance approvingly ("Items on the First Number of the Herald under Dungan", Multiple Newspapers, 2–17 Nov 1891). The Oakland Tribune described the new format as a "quarto form", which would be eight pages (Tribune, 2 Nov 1891). The Oakland Enquirer described the format as "ten small pages" (Enquirer, 3 Nov 1891). The Alameda Semi-Weekly Argus noted approvingly that it used the editorial "I" instead of "we" (Argus, 4 Nov 1891). Subsequent items report the format expanding to 12 and 16 pages, which is taken as a sign of its prosperity, but it isn't clear whether the number described is for a special edition or a regular edition (St. Helena Star, 22 Jan 1892; St. Helena Star, 22 July 1892; Record-Union, 10 Nov 1892; Ferndale Enterprise, 31 March 1893). The Schaffer building was built in April 1891 ("Items on the Construction of the Schaffer Building", Multiple Newspapers, 2–12 April 1891). Livernash intended to move his printing plant into the Schaffer building, but hadn't yet when the fire struck the Bartlett building on September 6 (Oakland Enquirer, 28 Sept 1891). An October 30 item in the Oakland Enquirer reported that Dungan was placing his printing plant in the Schaffer building (Enquirer, 30 October 1891). It is a reasonable guess that the first issue was produced with the new printing plant, and that the printing plant had been installed in the Schaffer building by then, and that the space in the Schaffer building been available to Dungan since the date of the sale under a lease entered into by Livernash.
  16. ^ "Life in Livermore", San Francisco Call, 7 May 1895.
  17. ^ See the article on Nellie Boston.
  18. ^ He entered into a contract with W. R. Ellis, owner and editor of the Mail, under which they swapped ownership of the Herald and the Mail, and some amount of money was paid or owed as part of the deal. We know this because Dungan later sued Ellis for money that he claimed he should have been paid under the contract, and the terms of the deal were described in a newspaper article on the trial (Woodland Daily Democrat, 11 Feb 1896).
  19. ^ It was a tradition that the outgoing editor would write a farewell message to the newspaper's readers, which would appear in the first issue published under his successor, who would also write a message introducing himself and stating his hopes and ambitions for the paper. Since neither of the two papers is availabe for that time period, we have to depend on their rival publications for information on what either wrote to their readers. The Woodland Daily Democrat was the Democratic alternative to the Woodland Mail. In its Oct 7 issue, it printed what appears to be all or part of the "farewell" message under the title "Editor Ellis' Farewell". This was followed by an article titled "Editor Dungan", which reports that Dungan has purchased the Mail and expresses the hope that the two papers might cooperate in promoting the interests of the people of Yolo county. It then introduced Dungan mainly by quoting several paragraphs from the Mail's introduction, which I assume were written by Ellis ("Farewell of the Old Editor, Introduction to the New Editor", Two Items, Woodland Daily Democrat, 7 Oct 1895). If Dungan wrote a "Salutatory" as he did in his first issue of the Genoa Weekly Courier and his first issue of the St Helena Star, either the Democrat didn't print it or I missed it.
  20. ^ Multiple newspaper items in the Woodland Daily Democrat and the Livermore Herald (reprinted in the Oakland newspapers) report that Nellie regularly spent holidays and vacations with the Dungans in Woodland. See the article on Nellie Boston.
  21. ^ Woodland Daily Democrat, 7 Oct 1998
  22. ^ Woodland Daily Democrat, 5 Jan 1901, and related items.
  23. ^ Woodland Daily Mail, 20 Sept 1902.
  24. ^ Woodland Daiy Democrat, 24 Jan 1905; Woodland Daily Democrat, 17 Feb 1909.
  25. ^ Jesse Dungan's wife, his sister Venie (Mrs. M. F. Mixon), his sister Jewell/Julia, and his daughter Myrl, who had just celebrated her fourteenth birthday, were all killed (Woodland Daily Democrat, 8 June 1909). The headline was probably accurate as to the impact on the town, the population at the time being only about 3,000. The tragedy made the Herald even though the Dungan's had been gone over 10 years, and the paper remembered that Myrl had been born in Livermore and that Mrs. Dungan had been Nellie Boston's aunt. (Livermore Herald, 12 June 1909). It also made the paper in Douglas County, NV (Record-Courier, 18 June 1909).
  26. ^ University of the Pacific was in College Park, near San Jose, before it moved to Stockton. Edythe Van Anda graduated in 1899 (San Francisco Examiner, 9 June 1899.) They were married Feb 4, 1911 (Woodland Daily Mail, 4 Feb 1911).
  27. ^ Woodland Daily Democrat, 3 March 1913
  28. ^ Woodland Daily Democrat, 8 April 1913
  29. ^ St. Helena Star, 27 Jan 1922

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