The Barrere boys in the newspaper business, Part 5
Lead Summary
By
Steve Roush-
Ladies and gentlemen, to me at least, there’s something nostalgic, almost romantic, about a family running a business for seven decades – but that’s exactly what the Barrere family in Hillsboro did beginning more than a century ago.
From the 1880s until the 1950s, the family owned and operated The News-Herald. Civil War veteran Col. George Washington Barrere, who was born in 1831, bought a pair of local newspapers in the mid-1880s and merged them into one. The News-Herald was a staple of the community until 1973, the year I was born.
Four of Barrere’s sons worked alongside him over the years, but as we previously discussed, two of his sons, Bebee and John Mills Barrere, passed away in their 20s.
Over the years, George Washington Barrere also worked as a dentist, grocer and deputy postmaster, but as a newspaperman, he was known as a prolific editorial writer whose articles were often published in papers throughout Ohio.
The News-Herald focused primarily on local and statewide news. The front page was typically filled with news, advertisements, and images, with varied material scattered throughout the remaining seven pages of the paper.
According to the Ohio Historical Society, the Nov. 8, 1906 edition, for example, carried the musical score to the song “Last Night” with accompanying English and German lyrics. With its excellent range and quality of content, the Hillsboro News-Herald was long considered one of Ohio’s top ranking weekly newspapers.
George Washington Barrere was proprietor of the newspaper for 30 years. In 1908, as Col. Barrere neared his 80s, his youngest son, Granville, took over operations of The News-Herald. Col. Barrere, however, continued to hold his ownership stake in the weekly publication and often aided with his advice and counsel.
As he entered his 80s, Col. Barrere was described as “unusually well for a man of his years,” and he frequently stated that he had never felt better at 82 years young.
But as Christmas neared in 1913, that abruptly changed.
At the top of the front page of the Thursday, Dec. 25, 1913 edition of The News-Herald, a headline in all capital letters proclaimed the sad news: “Sudden death of Col. Barrere.”
On Sunday, Dec. 21, 1913 at the age of 82, Col. Barrere passed away at 6 a.m., having only been ill for less than 24 hours.
The front page article reads, “On Friday (Col. Barrere) had walked up town as usual and on Saturday morning arose at the usual hour. He ate a hearty breakfast and performed some chores about the place. Shortly before 10 o’clock he came into the house and laid down on the couch in the living room. He had been lying down only a few minutes when he became very ill and complained of violent pains in his arms and chest. A physician was summoned at once, and the medicine taken seemed to relieved him. He was up and around the house all day and ate supper with the family in the evening, although suffering considerable pain.”
The family put him to bed on that Saturday evening, and when the next day arrived, “Just before six o’clock Sunday morning (his wife) Mrs. (Arminda) Barrere prepared his medicine for him. She asked him how he was feeling and he said easier. He raised up in bed, took his medicine and a drink of water. Mrs. Barrere went to set down the medicine and the glass, and before she could reach him, he had passed away.”
Col. Barrere was gone. The newspaper said his cause of death was a result of “hardening of the arteries about the heart.”
The article noted, “He was in his 83rd year and is survived by his wife and four (surviving) children, Elgar, of Circleville, George W. and Granville, of this place, and one daughter, Miss Mary, of this place. The funeral services were held at the home Tuesday morning at 11 o’clock, conducted by Dr. V. F. Brown, of Wayne Avenue M E. church, Cincinnati, assisted by the Masonic Order. Dr. Brown paid a beautiful tribute to the deceased, telling of his pure, upright, honest life and of the value of such a life to a community. Interment was made in the Hillsboro Cemetery.”
Let’s pause for now, and we’ll continue next week with a tribute to Col. Barrere, most likely written by his son, Granville, along with more on the Barrere boys in the newspaper business in Hillsboro.
Steve Roush is a vice president of an international media company, is vice chairman of the Highland County Historical Society Board of Trustees and is a columnist and contributing writer for The Highland County Press. He can be reached by email at roush_steve@msn.com.
From the 1880s until the 1950s, the family owned and operated The News-Herald. Civil War veteran Col. George Washington Barrere, who was born in 1831, bought a pair of local newspapers in the mid-1880s and merged them into one. The News-Herald was a staple of the community until 1973, the year I was born.
Four of Barrere’s sons worked alongside him over the years, but as we previously discussed, two of his sons, Bebee and John Mills Barrere, passed away in their 20s.
Over the years, George Washington Barrere also worked as a dentist, grocer and deputy postmaster, but as a newspaperman, he was known as a prolific editorial writer whose articles were often published in papers throughout Ohio.
The News-Herald focused primarily on local and statewide news. The front page was typically filled with news, advertisements, and images, with varied material scattered throughout the remaining seven pages of the paper.
According to the Ohio Historical Society, the Nov. 8, 1906 edition, for example, carried the musical score to the song “Last Night” with accompanying English and German lyrics. With its excellent range and quality of content, the Hillsboro News-Herald was long considered one of Ohio’s top ranking weekly newspapers.
George Washington Barrere was proprietor of the newspaper for 30 years. In 1908, as Col. Barrere neared his 80s, his youngest son, Granville, took over operations of The News-Herald. Col. Barrere, however, continued to hold his ownership stake in the weekly publication and often aided with his advice and counsel.
As he entered his 80s, Col. Barrere was described as “unusually well for a man of his years,” and he frequently stated that he had never felt better at 82 years young.
But as Christmas neared in 1913, that abruptly changed.
At the top of the front page of the Thursday, Dec. 25, 1913 edition of The News-Herald, a headline in all capital letters proclaimed the sad news: “Sudden death of Col. Barrere.”
On Sunday, Dec. 21, 1913 at the age of 82, Col. Barrere passed away at 6 a.m., having only been ill for less than 24 hours.
The front page article reads, “On Friday (Col. Barrere) had walked up town as usual and on Saturday morning arose at the usual hour. He ate a hearty breakfast and performed some chores about the place. Shortly before 10 o’clock he came into the house and laid down on the couch in the living room. He had been lying down only a few minutes when he became very ill and complained of violent pains in his arms and chest. A physician was summoned at once, and the medicine taken seemed to relieved him. He was up and around the house all day and ate supper with the family in the evening, although suffering considerable pain.”
The family put him to bed on that Saturday evening, and when the next day arrived, “Just before six o’clock Sunday morning (his wife) Mrs. (Arminda) Barrere prepared his medicine for him. She asked him how he was feeling and he said easier. He raised up in bed, took his medicine and a drink of water. Mrs. Barrere went to set down the medicine and the glass, and before she could reach him, he had passed away.”
Col. Barrere was gone. The newspaper said his cause of death was a result of “hardening of the arteries about the heart.”
The article noted, “He was in his 83rd year and is survived by his wife and four (surviving) children, Elgar, of Circleville, George W. and Granville, of this place, and one daughter, Miss Mary, of this place. The funeral services were held at the home Tuesday morning at 11 o’clock, conducted by Dr. V. F. Brown, of Wayne Avenue M E. church, Cincinnati, assisted by the Masonic Order. Dr. Brown paid a beautiful tribute to the deceased, telling of his pure, upright, honest life and of the value of such a life to a community. Interment was made in the Hillsboro Cemetery.”
Let’s pause for now, and we’ll continue next week with a tribute to Col. Barrere, most likely written by his son, Granville, along with more on the Barrere boys in the newspaper business in Hillsboro.
Steve Roush is a vice president of an international media company, is vice chairman of the Highland County Historical Society Board of Trustees and is a columnist and contributing writer for The Highland County Press. He can be reached by email at roush_steve@msn.com.