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"History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914, Past and Present"
Chapter 37 - The Newspapers of the County
The Augusta Times
(-as transcribed from pages 506 - 507)
The Augusta Times was founded in 1884 by the late James H. Williams, who came here and successfully managed the paper for a number of years. He was a veteran of the Civil War, going out with the Forty-eighth Wisconsin Regiment under Capt. Hobart M. Stocking. He was a man of ability and strong characteristics. No one who ever lived in Augusta had a wider circle of friends, and these remained steadfast to the last. He was a thoroughgoing newspaper man, believing that a local newspaper should give the local news, and at all times be independent. The paper took front rank from the first and was destined then to lead all of the northern Wisconsin papers of its class. After a few years Mr. Williams resigned the management and moved to Barron and founded the Barron County Republican. Later he moved to Hayward, and ran the Hayward Republican and later the Sawyer County Gazette. He died in Hayward August 3, 1908. Following the ownership and management of Mr. Williams the Times had a precarious existence for fifteen years, during which time it changed its politics frequently and was the organ of first one set of politicians and then another, until only a close observer could tell where it stood. By being as it was — a party organ instead of a local paper — it lost the prestige it had gained under the able management of its founder. In May, 1904, the paper and outfit was closed out and sold to E. G. Herrell, one of the home boys, and he has owned and managed it since that time. With the exception of the first year or two of his management, when the paper was an active supporter of Senator LaFollette, the paper has been strictly independent in politics, and in fact independent in everything that pertains to its management. The paper is strictly a home newspaper, giving all the local news and the news of the surrounding towns and county seats. Advertisers have been quick to take advantage of the paper's popularity, and the Times has a larger advertising patronage than most country papers in this part of the state. Progress is manifest along all lines. An entirely new equipment has been added, the old "ready prints" have been discarded and the Times, in its own building, is now in that class of papers which are profitable business propositions and solid institutions in the state.
"History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin, 1914, Past and Present"
Chapter 37 - The Newspapers of the County
The Augusta Times
(-as transcribed from pages 506 - 507)
The Augusta Times was founded in 1884 by the late James H. Williams, who came here and successfully managed the paper for a number of years. He was a veteran of the Civil War, going out with the Forty-eighth Wisconsin Regiment under Capt. Hobart M. Stocking. He was a man of ability and strong characteristics. No one who ever lived in Augusta had a wider circle of friends, and these remained steadfast to the last. He was a thoroughgoing newspaper man, believing that a local newspaper should give the local news, and at all times be independent. The paper took front rank from the first and was destined then to lead all of the northern Wisconsin papers of its class. After a few years Mr. Williams resigned the management and moved to Barron and founded the Barron County Republican. Later he moved to Hayward, and ran the Hayward Republican and later the Sawyer County Gazette. He died in Hayward August 3, 1908. Following the ownership and management of Mr. Williams the Times had a precarious existence for fifteen years, during which time it changed its politics frequently and was the organ of first one set of politicians and then another, until only a close observer could tell where it stood. By being as it was — a party organ instead of a local paper — it lost the prestige it had gained under the able management of its founder. In May, 1904, the paper and outfit was closed out and sold to E. G. Herrell, one of the home boys, and he has owned and managed it since that time. With the exception of the first year or two of his management, when the paper was an active supporter of Senator LaFollette, the paper has been strictly independent in politics, and in fact independent in everything that pertains to its management. The paper is strictly a home newspaper, giving all the local news and the news of the surrounding towns and county seats. Advertisers have been quick to take advantage of the paper's popularity, and the Times has a larger advertising patronage than most country papers in this part of the state. Progress is manifest along all lines. An entirely new equipment has been added, the old "ready prints" have been discarded and the Times, in its own building, is now in that class of papers which are profitable business propositions and solid institutions in the state.