Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

LANSING TOWNSHIP AND CITY, WITI HISTORY

467

COLLECTION OF OLD WEEKLY PAPERS SHOWS ODDITIES AND HUMOR OF PAST.
C. A. Gower is Owner of Publications Antedating Old Settlers.
Cornelius A. Gower is the possessor of several old newspapers
which antedate the memory of even the most aged of Lansing's
pioneers. The papers are interesting from a journalistic viewpoint as well as in point of age and peculiar subject matter.
All of the papers are yellow with age and some of them are so
worn and tattered that it is next to impossible to read them.
They are unlike the usual type of antique newspaper which is unearthed now and then in that they are simply plain everyday
papers giving the daily run of news. Usually old papers have
been preserved because of their account of some historic incident,
but the papers belonging to Mr. Gower deal with nothing more
startling than the arrival of a packet ship from Europe or a bear
hunt by some correspondent.
Most of the papers contain but four pages and have practically
no headlines. Usually the news items contain detailed information as to the source of the news and told where it could be substantiated.
One of the papers, "The Downfall of Babylon," which was published in New York in 1837, is strongly anti-Catholic. Its editor
was one Samuel B. Smith, self-styled defender of the Protestant
faith, and referred to in the paper as being "late a Polish priest."
A sub-title of the paper is "The Triumph of Truth Over Papery."
Another paper, equally as radical and antagonistic in regard to
Masonry, was published in Batavia, N. Y., at about the same
time. Mr. Gower has several copies of both papers.
The first anti-Masonic reference is contained in the "Republican Advocate" for Oct. 2, 1832. This paper was published every
Tuesday in Batavia and several columns were devoted to poetry
which was given a conspicuous position on page 1. Issues of
Sept. 7, 1827, and May 13, 1831, are unusually interesting.
One of the advertisements appearing in the columns of this
paper was inserted by the Batavia Academy. The terms for admission seem almost ridiculous at this day. For those who wished