Later known for illustrations, Saturday Globe began without: Mohawk Valley history

1881, 142 years ago

Extra! Extra!

The boys are eager to get started. After all, they will earn two cents for every nickel newspaper they hawk on the street corners in downtown Utica and in the neighborhoods. It is a new weekly newspaper called the Utica Saturday Globe and the boys are being given a pep talk by the newspaper's founders and owners, the brothers Thomas and William Baker.

It is May 21 (142 years ago today) and a late Saturday morning. The optimistic Bakers have had 2,000 copies of the eight-page newspaper printed. It contains a variety of national and local news and several ads. Stories on page one include a cave-in at a mine in Deadwood, Dakota, and a train wreck in Templeton, Indiana. It also contains an apology to the readers for the Bakers had promised that their first issue would contain an illustration of Horatio Seymour, former mayor of Utica and governor of New York in the 1860s during the Civil War. (Most newspapers at the time did not have illustrations because of their high cost.) The artist hired to produce a sketch of Seymour, however, missed his deadline, but the Bakers promised that Seymour would be there in the next issue. (He was.)

A curious public buys 700 copies of the Globe's first issue. Not exactly a rousing beginning.

(But the Globe went on from that disappointing first Saturday to evolve into one of the most popular American newspapers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Readers loved its innovative use of color and illustrations. Page one usually had a large colored sketch above the fold. It also reached readers across the country for it printed more that 30 editions each Saturday, each aimed at an individual city. If you bought a Globe in Cleveland, for example, you got a good helping of news about Cleveland. It became the nation's first national newspaper — and a forerunner of today's USA TODAY.

(On March 20, 1897, it reached its peak circulation of 294,000, primarily due to its coverage of the heavyweight boxing bout between James Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons. Readers included presidents of the United States, U.S. Supreme Court justices and even Queen Victoria.

(As the 20th century moved forward, though, the Globe found itself competing with many other newspapers using color and illustrations. The Globe — being produced in its headquarters on Whitesboro Street just west of Bagg's Square (later occupied by the Horrocks-Ibbotson fishing tackle company) decided to go from weekly to daily and by 1924 was gone. In the early 21st century at the Oneida County History Center, the late Robert Stephenson, a volunteer, photographed the first issue of the Globe and every page of most other issues to 1919. It took more than three years. Volunteer Carl Saporito then converted each page into a format that is easily viewed on a computer at the history center. For a detailed story about the Globe, see Ralph Frasca's "The Rise and Fall of the Saturday Globe.")

More: How Savings Bank of Utica was born: This week in Mohawk Valley history

More: WWI nurse returns home as Utica hospital head nurse: This week in Mohawk Valley history

More: Mourning a president, Uticans gather at train depot in 1865: Mohawk Valley history

1923, 100 years ago

Street names

The Utica Common Council names two streets in South Utica for prominent Uticans: Ferris Avenue for attorney T. Harvey Ferris and Geer Avenue for city Comptroller James B. Geer.

1948, 75 years ago

Songwriter

Roman Huskie, a well-known Utica musician, composes a new song called, "Temptation Blues." It will be introduced and broadcast nationwide from a radio station in Pittsburgh. Other songs he has written include, "Don't Say Goodnight" and "You're the Only One For Me." Huskie and his band play nightly at the Silver Rail, a Utica night spot on Lafayette Street.

1973, 50 years ago

Serling says

Rod Serling, creator of television's "The Twilight Zone," speaks at Utica College's (today Utica University) 27th commencement and says he is outraged at the U.S. government's policy in Vietnam and its involvement in the Watergate break-in by President Richard Nixon's men.

Sal Mazza, longtime volunteer at the Neighborhood Center of Utica, is elected chairman of its board of directors.

1998, 25 years ago

Officer honored

W. Frederick Snediker, a village of New Hartford police officer, is one of 17 police officers in the state given a Law and Order Award for "acts of heroism or for professionalism and dedication." Snediker opened the village's first juvenile division — as a one-man unit — in 1976. He helped launch in-school programs that included "Scared Straight," a program for first-time offenders. He also helped to open a teen center.

In high school baseball, Sauquoit Valley defeats Mt. Markham, 13 to 8, behind the hitting of Dave Parker (2 hits, 3 RBIs) and Billy Jones (drives in the game winning run). Meanwhile, Thomas R. Proctor High beats Whitesboro, 10 to 7. J. T. LaFountain has a two-run triple for the winners. Joe Argen and Kevin Sheridan each have two hits. Joe Guidera is the winning pitcher. Todd Birdsall has a home run for Whitesboro.

The Rome Board of Education has three new members: Kenneth Robinson, Len Cross and Denis Maynard.

2013, 10 years ago

Church celebration

Grace Episcopal Church, in downtown Utica, celebrates its 175th anniversary. Its parish was organized in 1838 (when Martin Van Buren was president of the United States). In 1853, its rector, Dr. John Brandegee, began a drive to build a church. A $10,000 donation from parishioner and industrialist Alfred Munson helped to purchase a lot on the southeast corner of Genesee and Elizabeth streets. Richard Upjohn, the country's leading church architect, was hired to design the church. The cornerstone was laid in 1856 and it the first service was held on May 20, 1860. The church still stands and the Rev. Leon Mozeliak is rector.

The St. Elizabeth Medical Center Foundation names Don and Al Carbone as "humanitarians of the year" for their commitment to the medical center and its patients by supporting the Mohawk Valley Heart Institute. Dr. Roger D. Moore receives the "Excelsior Award" for his commitment to his patients and the medical center. He has served as president of the medical staff and has contributed to the Family Medicine Residency programs.

Trivia quiz

During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln demanded detailed reports from the battlefields. One day, Union Army Gen. George McClellan sent the following sarcastic message to the president: "Have captured six cows. What should I do with them?" What was Lincoln's reply? (Answer will appear here next week.)

Answer to last week's question: Five of our presidents have only four letters in their last names: James Knox Polk, William Howard Taft, Gerald Ford, George Herbert Walker Bush and George W. Bush.

This Week in History is researched and written by Frank Tomaino. E-mail him at ftomaino221@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Inside Saturday Globe's humble launch in Utica: Mohawk Valley history