The Watchman Printing House (Centre County)

 

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! Bellefonte was once the home of several news periodicals. Some of the names that once graced the headlines included, American Patriot, Daily News, True Democrat, Centre Farmer, Bellefonte National, Centre Democrat, and the Centre Magnet. What were once frontline newspapers are now relegated to the archives. Analyzing these periodicals and their content gives us a cross-section of what society was like at the time. Today's scoop focuses on one such paper and its editor who became a target of the United States government.     

The Watchman Printing House (Date unknown)

The Democratic Watchman newspaper was founded on November 28, 1855 by Henry Hays and Wien Forney. It was just one of several periodicals published within the borough. The office for the paper was on the Arcade Block, a building complex directly across West High Street from the Bush House (now sadly gone). 

Perhaps the most intriguing individual connected with the Democratic Watchman was Peter Gray Meek, whose tenure with the paper included the years during the Civil War. Meek had obtained full editorial control of the newspaper in October 1862, which by this time already garnered the reputation of being anti-Lincoln. Meek would soon make a name for himself by becoming, “one of the staunchest Copperheads in the Commonwealth” with the aid of his paper.

 

Peter Gray Meek

Also known as Peace Democrats, the Copperheads were a faction of the Democratic Party who actively opposed the Civil War and denounced the war’s principles as not worth the cost. Copperheads were eager to declare peace between the Union and the Confederate states and cease hostilities at whatever compromise, including letting the Confederate states leave the Union. They largely blamed the war on abolitionists and actively tried to hamper the Union war effort.


Initially, his paper had little following, even some Democratic Party leaders denounced it. However, ever so steadily, the paper gained support for its “consistency and plainness of speech.” This increasing popularity seems suggest a sizable population of Peace Democrats around the Bellefonte area.


Peter Meek was not timid about sharing his political beliefs through his paper. Abraham Lincoln, his generals, and the Union cause were the frequent recipients of his condemnation. Not surprisingly, this also made him a target.


In 1863, Meek was arrested for “high treason” due to his political writings, however the case was never pursued. The next year, he was arrested twice more. Not willing to censor his paper, Peter was again arrested in March 1865 by United States troops and imprisoned in Harrisburg for several days on an unspecified charge. He was sworn in under oath to appear at his trial when summoned to do so and released. The trial was never called.

 

A clipping of the Watchman from December 1682

A few months later in May, he was arrested by a United States marshal for publishing articles discouraging enlisting in the military. Taken to Pittsburgh, the marshal supposedly offered to drop the charges for $300. Peter refused the bribe and demanded a trial. Charges were soon dropped and Peter was set free. All previous charges were annulled following the end of the war. Meek continued to publish the Democratic Watchman until being elected to state government in 1867. After his time as a public servant, Peter returned to his newspaper for some time. Peter died in Bellefonte in 1919.


The Watchman Printing House also published numerous bulletins, journals, and manuals for various businesses, industries, and institutions, including Penn State University. The last publication of the Democratic Watchman was on January 19, 1940, its 85th volume.

The Democratic Watchman along with many other local newspapers are available to digitally view and search on Penn States' Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive (www. panewsarchive.psu.edu/)
 

A pamphlet of President William McKinley's last speech printed by the Watchman Printing House
Author's Photo 

Information Retrieved From:

Commemorative biographical encyclopedia of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. (1896).J.M Runk & Company. Retrieved from:https://books.google.com/books?id=qMswAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA344&lpg=PA344&dq=democratic+watchman+bellefonte+%2B+suspended&source=bl&ots=ZLlwaZDR7a&sig=ACfU3U06H518edJBh3v3DFvxbOMkjUL4mw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiC0_mTt8fnAhVNAp0JHSisDhAQ6AEwCXoECAYQAQ&authuser=1#v=onepage&q=democratic%20watchman%20bellefonte%20%2B%20suspended&f=false


Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. (n.d.).Peter gray meek. Pennsylvania State Senate. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/BiosHistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=5216&body=S


Linn, J. (1883). History of Centre and Clinton counties. Louis H. Everts Publisher. Retrieved from: https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUt-8IH2Y9wC&pg=PA140&dq=Brockerhoff+Row+%2B+bellefonte&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJvtTMtMfnAhVRZc0KHTcZDBMQ6AEwAHoECAUQAg#v=onepage&q=high%20treason&f=false


Penn State University. (n.d.) Democratic watchman. Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive. Retrieved from:https://panewsarchive.psu.edu/lccn/sn83031981/


White, J.(2020). Copperheads. Essential Civil War Curriculum. Retrieved from
https://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/copperheads.html