It started with two brothers and before it was done six Peelle men were in the newspaper publishing business.
The Brothers
The venture by the Peelle family into the newspaper business began with two brothers: James Thompson Peelle and Christopher Columbus Peelle. They were the sons of John Cox Peelle and Ruth Smith. My family line is doubly related to the brothers and their descendants. John was a brother to my great-great grandfather Passco Peelle. Passco married Martha Johnson, my great-great grandmother. Martha was the daughter of Rachel Smith, Ruth Smith’s older sister. Thus, the two brothers mentioned here are biological nephews of Passco and are biological first cousins to Martha.
James Thompson Peelle
According to various accounts, James Thompson Peelle was known as Thomas, Tom, Tromp, and Tompy. By the time he was 13 years of age, he was a typesetter. He became a compositor (typesetter) and proof-reader for a newspaper in Cincinnati, Ohio. For a time, he was a printer in Indianapolis, Indiana. He also held a position at the Chicago Herald and possibly the Chicago Evening Post.
In Competition
Thompson competed for several years in typesetting contests. According to another printer that knew him, J. Thompson had won thousands of dollars in these competitions because he was so fast to set type. According to his nephew, he was referred to as “Four in the Air,” because he could remember four lines of material at a time and had four pieces of type in progress at all times when things were flowing right.
Troubles
Thompson also spent some time around Fort Wayne, Indiana. It is there that in the early 1880s, he ran into a bit of trouble. On one occasion, he was accused of stealing a watch and selling it to buy whiskey. However, he said that the owner of the watch, another printer, sold it and that he used the money to buy them drinks. The results of the investigation are unknown.
It was also here that he was stabbed by a man one night for reasons that are unknown. Fortunately, he wasn’t significantly injured, but the perpetrator would go on to murder other people.
He seemed to live life to the fullest and apparently traveled extensively. Unfortunately, his life was cut short as he died of dropsy (edema) when he was only 36 years of age.
Christopher Columbus Peelle
For a newspaperman, Christopher Columbus Peelle, also known as “Lum,” is difficult to find in newspaper articles. This may simply be a matter of the newspapers that are readily available. Yet, we can learn some about his many years in the newspaper business.
In Business
As a teenager, Christopher was already working as a typesetter. He learned the trade at the Winchester Journal. In his early days as a printer, compositor, and publisher, he was the foreman at the Richmond Palladium and at The Telegram in Richmond. He may also have worked at other publications before partnering with Seward Watson publishing news at the Journal’s competitor, The Winchester Herald. They apparently worked together in the publishing and printing business for multiple decades.
In 1902, it was reported that Christopher had sold his part of the Winchester Herald to his partner Mr. Watson. And, he had supposedly purchased The Record in Paris, Illinois. However, I have found no evidence of him moving to Illinois. This may have been due to some health concerns. He did, however, become a mail carrier in his later years.
Killed, But Still Alive
His most interesting scrape that I uncovered was that he was reported killed by a train. Only to be reported later as recovering from his injuries. He lived for many years after this accident, dying at age 63.
Christopher Columbus’ Sons
Christopher had three sons: Robert Smith Peelle, Omar Stanton Peelle, and John Cox Peelle. All of them followed in their father’s footsteps, joining the printing and publishing trade.
John Cox Peelle
In Business
By the time John was 18, he was a lover of all things baseball – both playing and talking about the sport. He was also already working in the newspaper industry. He joined with his brothers in their publishing business, becoming an associate editor of the National Road Traveler. By 1913, he had ventured out on his own. In 1913, he was with the New Castle Daily Star. Then, in 1914, he became the business manager for a new semi-weekly paper the Progressive Herald in New Castle.
His Injury
One day near the Central Hotel in Cambridge City, John was walking with his son. Seeing a car coming toward them, John pushed his son to safety. However, he ended up with broken ribs and an injured lung. Later, when trying to relieve congestion in the lung, poison was accidentally released from the damage portion of the lung into his system.
By 1920, John and his family headed west to California for his health, selling his nice home in East Cambridge City. The home was later known as Cambridge Manor and used as a hotel.
In California, John worked in advertising at the Santa Ana Register. He died in 1927 in Burbank, California at age 35.
Robert Smith Peelle
Robert Smith Peelle was known to friends as “Bob.” He was the oldest of Christopher’s three sons and also got started in the publishing and printing business at an early age.
Success
Robert, along with Omar and John bought their first newspaper around 1908 or 1909. They changed the name to the National Road Traveler. However, by 1915, Robert ventured out on his own starting a new newspaper Old Trails Echo.
In 1920, he bought a plant in Butler, Ohio. It was the location where the Butler County Citizen had previously been published. He planned to continue to manage the Old Trails Echo and to use the new location to publish weekly or semi-weekly news of the Ford Tractor Plant at Hamilton, Ohio as well as the Miami College paper. By 1923, he was also publishing the Fountain City Times, The New Paris Leader, and the Boston Traveler.
Robert was quite successful. It appears that he may have eventually published 5 or 6 newspapers. He was able to purchase a new car and even donated a water fountain to the city.
Trouble
TroubleRobert, however, couldn’t quite keep himself out of trouble. Much of his trouble began when he testified against the local bully. That led to several altercations between them and subsequent arrests of the two. However, the town bully wasn’t the only person that he fought. When a printer that worked for Robert had a patchy print, Robert knocked him to the floor. The fights with the bully at least were fueled by alcohol, which brought many issues on its own.
Numerous times, Robert was picked up for public drunkenness or driving while intoxicated. One time he was accused of stealing $20 from a guy when they were both drunk. It also led him into gambling, having motor car accidents, accidentally discharging a gun in a store, and other trouble. When his wife filed for divorce, she also claimed that he treated her badly and that he caroused with women who had bad reputations. Robert was even arrested once on suspicion of being someone else that was wanted by law enforcement.
Some of his biggest trouble, however, came during Prohibition when the local clergy, Law Enforcement League, and federal officers started a war with him. Officers raided his shed behind his duplex and found 192 pints of home-brewed beer. He claimed it belonged to the other tenant in the duplex and visa versa. With his previous record, which even included being charged with taking whiskey out of state, it was speculated that if charged with violating the National Prohibition Act, he would go to prison for two years. However, sentencing was deferred for a year so that he could “take the cure.”
Well, after a year, he was no more sober than he was when he was arrested. So, the judge sentenced him, but only to 30 days in jail and $100 fine. Well, that is until Robert said that he needed time to get things in order since he published several newspapers and his wife spoke up out of turn admonishing him for requesting time to get his affairs in order since it was only 30 days. At that point, the judge changed his sentence to 60 days in jail.
Luck Ran Out
He just kept bouncing back and likely got a few breaks from law enforcement since he was a successful businessman. His luck ended in 1948 at age 60.
One day he said that “if he died the following day he would have lived 100 years – and seen everything.” [National Road Traveler] Two weeks later, he checked himself into the hospital in Richmond, Indiana for a checkup because he said that when he couldn’t drink a beer, there must be something wrong with him. [National Road Traveler] That night, he had a heart attack and died.
Omar Stanton Peelle
When he was 7 years old, Omar began doing typeset. As a teen, he worked for his father’s newspaper as a junior printer, reporter, and errand boy. By the time he was 17, as editor of the Ridgeville News, he was the youngest editor in Indiana.
The National Road Traveler
In 1908-1909, Omar, Robert, and John purchased the Lewisville Freeman. They changed the name to the National Road Traveler as Lewisville was on the National Road. In 1911, they added the Knightstown Star to their newspaper business. By 1912, the National Road Traveler was claimed to have circulation five to six times the population of the town of Lewisville. Additionally, articles from their publication were often carried in other area publications.
By 1915, all wasn’t well in the working relationship between the brothers. Lawsuits primarily between Omar (Associate Editor) and Robert (Editor), were filed in each direction. It seems each claimed the other was getting too much of the profits. Additionally, Omar stated that Robert was using business funds for personal use while not reporting business income. In the end, Omar bought out his brothers and they moved on to other ventures while he continued to build the National Road Traveler.
In 1916, he upgraded the printing machinery, purchasing a linograph typesetting machine. Then in 1920, Omar took a huge step when he raised the price of the paper from $1 per year to $2 per year. However, he had bigger things in mind. In 1924, Omar moved the National Road Traveler to Cambridge City, Indiana, where he also purchased the Cambridge City News. The following year he merge the two newspapers under the name of the National Road Traveler.
Colonel, as Omar was often called, was a man of integrity and hard work. He was self-educated and self-made. Yet, he remained humble. Unlike some publishers, he knew when to write a story and when not to write a story. He didn’t write a sensational story if it was going to negatively impact a family, particularly if it could affect young children.
Omar had a good relationship with his employees and trusted them. When someone would get upset about something said in the newspaper, he would calmly ask the employee if what they wrote was true. It was and he eventually gave up on even asking his employees about the integrity of what they wrote. Bob Gray, Sr., an employee of the National Road Traveler stated that Colonel “published about the truest freedom of the press newspaper in America.”
Personal Life
Unlike his good relationship with his employees, Omar seemed to have issues with his first two wives. Each of them filed for divorce. His second wife, Myrtle, filed for divorce at least three times. At one point, she had a restraining order against him, claiming that he was a drunk, threatened her, and even choked her when they separated. She started by requesting (demanding) very significant compensation including $12,000, $25 per week, and a stake in his newspaper business. They ended up attempting to reconcile and he bought the Tumble Inn for her to run. Each time, reconciliation did not work out. Eventually, they divorced and he married a third time. His third wife joined him working at the National Road Traveler.
Gene Lincoln “Bud” Peelle
Omar brought his son Gene Lincoln Peelle, who was better known as “Bud,” into the newspaper business while he was still going to school. Bud began writing a column in the newspaper when he was going to Lincoln High School.
Bud’s writing and publishing career was interrupted by World War II. Bud spent a lot of time state-side learning many technical aspects of B-24 bomber before going overseas. Before he was discharged, Bud had spent over three years in the Army Air Force and reached the rank of Technical Sergeant.
Bud’s overseas service included time in Italy when my Uncle Howard was there. Christmas of 1944, Bud and Howard would have been in very close proximity to each other, although their paths likely never crossed.
During his time in the service, Bud wrote a column here or there for the newspaper. Later, a few of his letters home were printed in the newspaper. His letters contrasted greatly to the ones Howard sent home. You could tell Bud was a talented writer and not a farm boy writing home to his folks.
After Bud returned home, he continued to write for the National Road Traveler and worked his way up to associate editor. He was married and starting to build a house for him and his wife when his life was cut short in a horrific automobile accident.
Life After Bud
Omar carried on without his son, the planned heir to the newspaper. For years to come, he continued to mentioned Bud in the pages of his newspaper. And, it was said that Omar wasn’t quite the same after losing Bud. It seems he wasn’t the only one affected by Bud’s death. Although Omar was thought of as a talented writer, people reported missing Bud’s writing. He just seemed to have a flair with words.
Omar died in 1961 at age 71. His obituary ran in his newspaper the same day he died, but it was not front-page news simply because page 1 had already been printed at the time of his death. Instead, a corner of page 2 was wiped clean and his obituary was inserted.
When he died, Omar was still the owner and publisher of the National Road Traveler, although he hadn’t been in the office for about a month. However, his wife was listed with him as publisher the last five years of his life. His wife continued on with the paper for some time after his death. Still, reading issues after his death, his absence could be seen.
He was the last newspaperman in the family.
Afterward
I have to wonder what publishing legacy these men might have left if they had lived longer than an average of 48 years. Perhaps there would have been more generations of publishers. Or, perhaps a much larger publishing empire.
Must say that I am not 100% sure of some of the “facts” contained in this story as many of them were taken from various newspapers and I found numerous errors that were confirmed by official records.
Bonus Story 1
Always Neighbors
In an odd coincidence, Bud lived at one time across the street from the mayor of Straughn. They ended up being buried in the same cemetery – across the aisle from each other.
Bonus Story 2
The Story of the Torn Dollar Bill
A young waitress died in an auto accident. When she was sent to the mortuary, they looked in her purse and found half of a dollar bill. This caused the staff to wonder how she came to have it and where the other half of the dollar might be.
When Bud died less than two weeks later, he was taken to the same mortuary. And, they found the other half of the dollar. It seems that when he was picking up the tab one day at the restaurant where the young lady worked, he was down to his last dollar when it was time to give the waitress a tip. And, a dollar was quite a tip. Thus, he gave her half with the plan to give her the other half the next time he owed her a tip.
Adapted from stories in The Tri-County Banner and the National Road Traveler.]