Valley Girl Views: When Montgomery Had A Newspaper

The Montgomery Mirror
Devoted to the interest of Montgomery Borough and Black Hole and White Deer Valleys
Published from 1899 to 1944

"A weekly paper named the Montgomery Mirror made its appearance May 18, 1889. It was started by Fosnot & Burr., of the Watsontown Record and Star, and a local editor employed. The type was set at Montgomery, when the forms were taken to Watsontown to be printed. At the end of three months the local editor suddenly departed, when Mr. Fosnot took charge of the paper. On the 28th of March, 1890, Edward B. Waite was employed as associate editor. A short time afterwards Fosnot purchased Burr's interest in the papers and managed both for several months. Finally he sold the Mirror, June 30, 1890, to H. P. Smith and Thomas E. Grady, of Montgomery, and they retained Waite as local editor. The new firm purchased a press and moved into more eligible rooms. On the 26th of March, 1892, Smith sold his interest to James McCutcheon and a new firm was formed When first started the Mirror was a small sheet, but it steadily grew until it became a handsome folio of seven columns to the page. It is "independent in everything; neutral in nothing." - Meginness, 1892

"When only a few weeks old, the Mirror won fame thruout the West Branch valley by appearing daily temporarily. This was during the June flood of 1889, when Montgomery was shut off from the world by high waters and the destruction they brought, and the only news it had of the outside was what Editor Clark could glean over railroad telegraph wires and from visitors, and publish in a single-sheet newspaper, which he continued to serve the people of the town until other communication was opened. " - Watsontown Record & Star, 1925

The Mirror Staff in 1900

Pauline Myers, Thomas E. Grady, Reuben Bartlett, Glen Stover, John M. Grady, Thomas Grady

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PHOTOS

Below are various clippings and photos from the Montgomery Mirror, in order by date, as I found in online auction sites. Although in many cases the photos do not show the entire articles, they clearly show that the newspapers front pages mix national and world news with wedding and death notices and give a general feel of what the newspaper was like.

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The Anniversary Edition, 1939

[66 pages - I have photos of most of them and will get them organized and added soon]

March 6 1941

Paul Miller fell from a truck on Broad Street

White Deer I.O.O.F Lodge honored 4 50 year members

January 25 1940

Truck went over the 50 foot embankment at the Montgomery River Bridge

September 26 1940

Katherine Brown, wife of Claude Brown of Allenwood died, Alvin C Kilmer and son returned from fishing trip in CanadaSon of Mr & Mrs J Ray Miller of Montgomery married in South Carolina, Ned Saxton Bly of Watsontown to marry Marguerite Grace Duvall

Death of Alma Yena Miller

April 24 1941

Mirror received honors in the Better Newspaper Contest

Miss Virginia Weller engaged to Fred E. Pfeiffer

Miss Grace Sullivan married Wayne Dewald

McCall Snyder, age 83, died

Dr O Neil heads baseball club

Thursday October 16 1941

Warrior Run Church Annual Meeting, Booster Night for Eagle Grange, Youngs Hardware in Cooper building, etc.

October 30 1941

March 9 1944

Lieut Delmark A Decker Missing In Action

Pastor of the Clinton Baptist Church met with Vice President Henry Wallace

Mr & Mrs Thomas Hall of Broad Street celebrated their 50th Anniversary

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When Other Papers Mentioned The Mirror

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October 1889, Editor of the Montgomery Mirror Found To Be A Thief

The Lewisbug Chronicle, October 1892

The Mirror issued a special souvenir edition

August 1899

November 27th 1892, the printing office was lost in a fire

January 1893, The Mirror Resumed after the fire, being printed at the office of the Miltonian

July 1918, paper sold by Thomas Grady to R.M. Swisher

The newspaper office was lost in another fire in 1925, and it was announced that the paper would no longer be published. The Watsontown Record & Star published a brief history of the Mirror in January 1925.