|
In the early spring of 1869 a young man who had but recently attained his twenty-first birthday, walked from Northport to Charlevoix for the purpose of establishing a weekly newspaper in the little village. His name was Willard A. Smith. On April 24th 1869, the first copy of the Sentinel was issued, and until the day of his death in December, 1917, Mr. Smith remained its editor and publisher. At the time that the Sentinel first saw the light in this town it was but then a small settlement of perhaps less than a dozen houses, with some outlying farms. Mr. Smith became a potent influence in the life of the people of that little community. Their joys, their sorrows, their hopes, and their hardships and struggles with pioneer life, all of which started Charlevoix on the road to become the prosperous little city it is today, these were all chronicled in the pages of his beloved Sentinel, for he lived their lives with them, and saw all as a friend and neighbor. As the population grew and its interests expanded, and new improvements were needed, Mr. Smith was ever ready in the columns of his paper, to urge, to encourage, and to work for the good of the town until death claimed him. After the demise of Willard A. Smith his son-in-law, Ira A. Adams became Editor and continued so until ill-health made it necessary for him to resign. Soon after his death on July 19, 1936, the paper was discontinued, having been published by Shirley A. Henry, until October 30, 1936. Mr. Smith had written in one of his articles in the Sentinel, that when he would be no more with us, the Sentinel would live on, and it is rather sad to think this could not be so. It was in the latter part of 1928 that Florence Smith Adams commenced editing the items from the Sentinel from its earliest date, and her selections were much enjoyed and appreciated by the residents of this city. After Mr. Adams' death and the failing health of his widow, these items were discontinued, the last issued being on July 31, 1936. These items of interest written sixty, fifty, forty, and thirty years ago, from the date of the paper in which the rewrite was made were looked forward to with interest and missed when they were discontinued. The old pioneers who lived and made Charlevoix history in those early days have all passed to the Great Beyond, and only through the files of the old Sentinel copies can we know the intimate life of these hardy old settlers who lived in the first period in the history of our town so well called "Charlevoix the Beautiful." Miss Minnie Payton, our efficient Librarian, has, for some time, been desirous that the items of interest in the old Sentinels should be typed and made into book form so that the reading public could have better access to them, and also as a matter of preservation, as the old Sentinel copies kept in the library, are, with time and use, becoming disintegrated. The writer of this, having the time and the incentive to assume this rather stupendous undertaking, volunteered to do the work, with the privilege of making selections from the immense volume of material, such as would show the growth and upbuilding of Charlevoix. With the encouragement of Miss Payton, whose idea it was, this work she has done as well as her limited equipment and ability would permit and now turns it over to Miss Payton for binding before she leaves for other interests and life. The writer of the introduction to this book is perhaps now, after 52 years of residence in Charlevoix, almost in the class of an old settler. She has been personally acquainted with many of the early pioneers mentioned in this book, and is perhaps especially adapted for the work as being intimately connected with an early pioneer of Charlevoix, her husband, David C. Nettleton who had often spoken to her of these old friends. In conclusion, happy in the thought that some pleasure might be derived from this work by others, and, also, in a way keep alive the spirit of the Sentinel and the memory of the old pioneers who lived in its pages, the book is dedicated to them and to Miss Payton who inspired the work. Rosa Nettleton |