History of Saginaw county, Michigan; together with ... portraits ... and biographies ... History of Michigan ...

470

HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY.

continued until December of same year, when it was sold to B. M.
Thompson, and the job office subsequently disposed of to the Sagmaw Enterprise Publishing Company.
Mr. Lewis was postmaster at Mt. Clemens from 1856 to 1859;
Mayor of Saginaw City from 1877 to 1879; started in company
with his son, Arthur T. Lewis, the Mt. Pleasant Journal, in August, 1880, and is now proprietor of the Daily Morning Call at
ay City. Mr. Gleeson is the local editor of his Saginaw Journal.
Throughout a period bordering on half a century this veteran
journalist has been connected with the press of this State. Public
opinion points him out as a man who has fulfilled not only every
duty of citizenship, but also discharged in a conscientious manner
all the sacred duties which can be performed only by the honest
journalist. Throughout the political contests of the past 40 years,
and more particularly of the last quarter century, the influence of
his journal has been felt and approved. He is still in the summer
of his life, fill of journalistic energy, and one of the most favorably
known men in the Valley of the Saginaw.
THE SAGINAW ZEITUNG
was established in 1868 by the then existing "Enterprise Company," that published a paper by this name at the time. The
numerous Germans in the Valley felt the need of a German paper
very much, and induced the said company to start the paper by
guarantying a large advertising patronage.
The Saginaw Zeitung was the first German paper in the State
outside of Detroit. The paper not long afterward passed into the
hands of Anthony Schmitz, a prominent German citizen, and was
managed by him until his death, which occurred in the fall of 1869.
Then the trustees of the so-called " Schmitz endowment fund "
managed the paper until February, 1870, when Mr. Constantin
Beierle, for many years connected with the German press in Detroit, bought the paper from the trustees. In 1872 he organized
a joint-stock company called "The Saginawer Zeitung Company,"
and the paper is still published under the firm name, although it
is generally understood that Mr. Beierle bought nearly all the 200
shares back again.
Another German paper was started in 1871, but the field not
being large enough it was obliged to suspend, after being published six months. One year later a German paper was started at
Bay City, called the Bay City Pioneer, and appeared for about
a year. It was then bought up by the Zeitung company and published by it for six months. It was then consolidated with the
Zeitung, and its own name suppressed.
ITe Saginawer Zeitung has been in a prosperous condition for
years, and is circulated extensively not only in Saginaw, but also
throughout most of the State. It is published on Thursday of
each week. Since March 1 a Sunday paper has been published