Did you know that the first newspaper in Oxford was established by a woman? Or that in 1879, this small town of 1,000 people had four newspapers?
Those were just some of the interesting tidbits James A. Sherman, Sr., president of Sherman Publications, Inc. and owner of the Oxford Leader since May 1955, shared with the Northeast Oakland Historical Society at the group’s Spring Potluck Dinner April 25 at Holy Cross Lutheran Church.
Using a combination of anecdotes, newspaper clippings, photo slides and a bit of humor, Sherman outlined the 137-year history of the local newspaper business in Oxford.
Incidentally, it was Mary A. Crawford who in April 1869 established the town’s first newspaper, a monthly four-column folio called the Oxford Enterprise and General Advertiser.
Other early Oxford newspapers include the Oxford Weekly Journal started in 1876; the Bee and the Oakland County Standard both founded in 1879; and the Oxford Beacon established in 1887.
Sherman pointed out the news printed in those papers of yesteryear was ‘not exactly what you would find in the Oxford Leader today.?
For example, he read a news item from the April 1879 Oakland County Standard which stated, ‘A Clarkston man pays about $200 a year in support of a Pontiac woman, not a lady. He has a nice wife at home.?
Many newspapers came and went in Oxford until E. Henry Congdon arrived from North Branch.
Together with E.R. Henderson, Congdon founded the Leader’s predecessor the Intruder in April 1898. The paper’s name was later changed to the Oxford Leader in December 1898.
The Leader’s competition at the time was the Oxford Globe, a paper founded in 1881 by J.W. Cannon.
According to Sherman, four years after the Leader’s founding, ‘the man that owned the Globe went home for lunch, fell down the stairs and died.?
‘Now that’s one way to get rid of your competition,? he quipped.
From handset type to the old linotype machine with its ?4,000 moving parts? to offset printing and computers, Sherman showed photos and explained how technology has changed the printing process and newspaper business over the years.
‘We were the second weekly in the State of Michigan to get offset printing,? which Sherman said ‘revolutionized weekly printing.?
Offset printing is a widely used printing technique where the inked image is transferred (or ‘offset?) from a metal plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface.
New technology not only meant higher quality printing, it meant faster printing.
‘My printing (time) dropped from 20 hours to 20 minutes,? Sherman said.
Printing advancements also reduced the number of presses in the area.
‘When I came here there were 19 weekly newspapers in Oakland County. Every one had a press,? Sherman said. ‘Today, there are 23 weekly newspapers in Oakland County and we have the only press.?
Other newspapers now do their printing at a ‘central plant instead of going to all the expense of putting in all those presses.?
It was the Oxford Leader’s purchase of the offset press and changing technology which helped convince the owners of the Clarkston News and Lake Orion Review to sell their papers to Sherman in 1966 and 1972 respectively.
Sherman concluded his chat with the historical society by saying ‘There are three major inventions in our business. First one was the linotype. Then came the rollprint fed presses and now the computers. I don’t know what’s next, as long as people continue to read.?