The Hunterdon County Democrat was once a partisan newspaper, as a story from 1876 demonstrates.
Old Ink takes a look back at how Hunterdon County politics was reported by the Hunterdon County Democrat during presidential election years. Once a partisan paper, the Democrat long ago shed its one-party view.
In 1876, speaking of its rivals, The Democrat wrote, "The Republican says that our (Samuel Jones) Tilden banner was put up in the dark of night amid silence. It was actually raised in the glare of a hundred torch lights and 150 persons joined in the general cheer."
Tilden, a Democrat, won the popular vote in November that year, but lost to Rutherford B. Hayes in the electoral college, ultimately being defeated in his bid to become president.
"As the political focus of the nation is drawn to what one county leader called the ''Republican Olympics'' in Kansas City next week, Hunterdon GOP notables remain as divided on the issues as the delegates and candidates appear to be," according to reporting in a 1976 edition of the Democrat. "Answers to the question of who will emerge as the Republican nominee for president differ from '(Gerald) Ford on the first ballot' to 'a deadlock right down to the wire.'"
Why did it take so long to nominate a woman for president?
Although not a presidential election year, in 1951, the Democrat reported that "Democrats of Hunterdon County trekked to Monmouth County today for the party's opening rally of the fall campaign, to be concluded with a $25-a-plate dinner at the Spring Lake Country Club. According to the Associated Press, verbal fireworks are expected, stimulated by the subject of big time gambling, which the party expects to make its top issue."
Here are other headlines from the past:
1876
The fish in the Delaware have been dying off at a rapid rate. Not a contagious disease, but it is thought the warm weather has heated the water to too high a temperature.
1901
We believe it is a good suggestion of our neighbor, The Advertiser, that people should have the privilege of turning the County lot on Court Street into a public park. Why should it remain in its present disreputable condition?
The Farmers Picnic at the Fairgrounds Aug. 15 will be better than ever this year. First-class speakers. Tightrope walking between 1 and 2 and 5 and 6 o'clock.
1926
An encouraging report was given the Flemington Baptist congregation, when Nedwill Sutphin stated that pledges for the new building totaled $49,900.
Vast armies of Japanese beetles have invaded yards and gardens in most of the state, and the Board of Agriculture is flooded with inquiries on how to combat them. None are reported in Hunterdon though our southern portion is in a quarantine area.
Christie breaks with Trump VP choice Pence
1951
Hunterdon County was picked as the state's show window to help demonstrate the farm market buying potential on a one-day tour conducted last week by The Country Gentleman magazine. According to Dwight M. Babbitt, county agent, the visitors - a good-sized bus load - were advertising managers and agency officials.
For the first time since the latter part of World War II, Lambertville's greatest living military figure came home last Friday to visit his mother at the Lambertville House. And altho he tried to avoid a hero's welcome, Lt. Col. Bradford Smith finally got one the following night which nearly make him speechless with emotion. As most of the world knows, it was Colonel Smith whose men of the 24th Division were the first to meet the Red onslaught in Korea when each American soldier was outnumbered about 50 to one.
Thieves visiting two homes in North Hunterdon's summer colony last week took a motto from one of them but didn't follow it. ''I go thru this life but once. Any good that I can do, let me do it now, '' read the motto they stole along with a radio, vacuum cleaner, shotgun, hunting shoes and jacket, carpenter tools, several gallons of paint, and a 30-gallon electric hot water heater.
Perhaps Hunterdon County is a bit backward in some things. One thing we do have in Hunterdon is well-marked highways. Our county Road Department recently has erected additional dictionary signs and the old ones have been repainted -- this time in white luminous paint with black letters. This makes them readable from a distance after dark.
The Hunterdon County Red Cross has been asked to double its Disaster Fund goal to help the flood-stricken citizens of mid-western states. The original goal for the local chapter was $1,800. It is now $3,600. Col. Frederic Herr, fund chairman, has allocated the responsibility to township and boro chairman.
After three beautiful, crisp summer days, the weather man changed the bill Tuesday and produced a cloudy, drizzly one for the county Farmers Excursion. In spite of murky skies, 1,433 adults and older children took the trip and the Wilson Steamship Company, including babes in arms, counted 1,501 aboard the S.S. Liberty Belle when she pulled away from the Jersey Central's wharf at Jersey City.
1976
Hurricane Belle dumped between 1.25 and 2 inches of rain on Hunterdon, giving field crops, fruits, vegetables and lawns a much-needed drink. Farmers are calling the storm ''a Godsend'' since this week is critical in corn development.
Some 150 students aged 16 to 21 are gaining work experience and making money through Hunterdon's summer youth program under the federal Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, according to Robert Cox, county manpower director. All are in public service jobs with schools, state and local government, hospitals and other institutions, and organizations such as the YMCA, Heart Fund, the Green Sergeant's Covered Bridge Association, and the South Branch Watershed Association. Their wages, at $2.30 an hour for 10-30 hour weeks, are paid by CETA.
Motorists harried by the state's drivers manual can expect relief next year. The N.J. Division of Motor Vehicles has drafted a revised manual and will pay a consulting firm $20,000 to help ensure it is written clearly enough so that an elementary school child could understand it.
Although most Hunterdon dealers report no trouble obtaining unleaded gasoline, a few are running into shortages and must close their pumps for a few days each month. The demand for unleaded gasoline has been rising steadily since late 1974 when automobile manufacturers began installing special anti-pollution devices to meet federal regulations.
Sponsors of the farm market in Flemington report that the market has more local produce for sale than customers to buy it. Open each weekend, it has a wide variety of fruits and vegetables grown on nearby farms.