Atwood Bee
Description
- Creators
- Pelton, R.S., Publisher
- Pelton, Ralph Seger, Publisher
- Anderson, Daniel Grant, Publisher
- Swing, Ernie Herbert, Publisher
- Media Type
- Publication
- Text
- Newspaper
- Item Type
- Newspapers
- Description
- The Atwood Bee was established by Ralph S. Pelton in 1890. It is said that the paper received its name from Miss Lilly Dingman of Belleville. The first issue was published on January 17th 1890, and it was noted by the Editor in that first issues that “We don’t want our patrons to imagine that the name of our paper is suggesting a ‘sting’, we rather desire that it may cause a hum in this district and be the means of fetching honey to more than one hive…With this issue we make our bow to the people of Atwood and surrounding locality and place them in possession of the initial copy of The Bee...Our object in coming here is to present the local and district happenings in a concise, correct and readable form; to boom Atwood and the interests of the section in general; and last but not least to secure enough of the ‘needful’ to pay our way and put a dollar or so away for a rainy day.” This sentiment rang true until the last issue of the Bee was published.
Pelton was publisher and editor of the Atwood Bee from 1890 until 1902 when Pelton’s brother-in-law, Daniel Grant Anderson, purchased the business. On September 1st 1907, Ernie H. Swing took possession of the paper and became editor and proprietor. On October 1st 1923 the Atwood Bee amalgamated with the Listowel Banner. Swing sold his subscriber list to the Banner, but Atwood was not left without a paper for one page of each issue of the Listowel Banner was devoted to Atwood and Elma News.
From its inception, the Atwood Bee was a weekly paper and the subscription cost was $1. By 1923, the subscription price was still $1 and the paper had around 500 subscribers.
More about the publishers:
Ralph Seger Pelton (1867-1920) was a very accomplished journalist. He began to learn the printing trade in Brussels when he was just 15. He began his writing career at The Woodstock Sentinel followed by stints at The Brussels Post, Blyth Standard, Deseronto Tribune, The Paris Review, and the St. Lawrence News. After he sold The Atwood Bee, he purchased The Paris Review and took ownership on September 1st 1902.
Daniel Grant Anderson (1869-1955) was a school principal in Donegal, ON before coming to Atwood. He hurt his throat and he was forced to give up teaching for the time being. In the interim, he purchased the Atwood Bee from his wife’s brother, R. S. Pelton. Ernie Swing was quoted as saying “Grant was a heck of a nice guy and honest but he didn’t know much about running a paper so he advertised for a printer and I answered.” After few years Grant’s throat cleared up and he went back to teaching so he sold the business to Swing who had already been running the plant for the past year.
Ernie Herbert Swing (1882-1973) was born and raised in Jarvis, ON, Haldimand County. He apprenticed at The Jarvis Record for four years and then worked on Glencoe, Tillsonburg, and Lucknow newspapers before coming to Atwood in 1905. Once settled, he opened a print shop on Main Street where he printed The Atwood Bee for D. Grant Anderson, then himself. After the sale of the paper, Swing still remained in business after operating his own print shop in the same location. - Place of Publication
- Atwood
- Language of Item
- English
- Geographic Coverage
-
-
Ontario, Canada
Latitude: 43.6668 Longitude: -81.01643
-
- Location of Original
- Originals and microfilm of the Atwood Bee are held at the Stratford-Perth Archives.
- Terms of Use
- Possibly protected by copyright: Uses other than research or private study may require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Contact
- Stratford-Perth ArchivesEmail:archives@perthcounty.ca
URL
Mail4273 Line 34
Stratford, ON N5A 6S6
519-271-0531 ext. 259
