Samuel Davis

A Forgotten Figure

Lindy Peterson
Washington School, Peoria

Newspaper editor Samuel H. Davis was a prominent figure in the history of Peoria. He has been referred to as "one of Peoria's forgotten strong men." Davis set up as a printer and editor in Peoria, where he eventually gained local recognition. Certainly his most famous venture was his newspaper, the Peoria Register and Northwestern Gazette. Samuel Davis contributed to the development of Peoria and Illinois through his newspaper and printing shop.

Davis began his career as a printer and editor in the East. In Utica, Albany, New York City, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, and Washington, Davis worked as a printer. He then moved to Alexandria, Virginia, and worked as an editor. After editing in Alexandria, Davis moved to Winchester, where he both published and farmed. Soon afterward, Davis visited Wisconsin and decided to move West. Originally planning to start a paper in Wisconsin, Davis's steamboat had to stop in Oquawka because of ice, and he heard of an opening in Peoria. When he reached Peoria, Davis had no competition because he was the only publisher; hence, it was easy for him to start his newspaper on April 1, 1837. These series of events led to Davis's success with his paper and other printing endeavors.

Because it was formatted very differently from other Western newspapers, the Peoria Register and Northwestern Gazette stands in contrast with other early papers. Most small-town papers in that fame filled their first few pages with miscellaneous materials taken from Eastern newspapers. Davis, on the other hand, had at least one page of statistical information. In his paper, Davis visited settlements and wrote about their history, commerce, industry, and agriculture. The Register carried detailed weather reports and had lists of such things as the number of houses, the selling price of agricultural products, and other statistics. Unlike most other Western newspapers, Davis actually traveled as far as Wisconsin and the Mississippi River to write about the settlers there. The first issue of Davis's paper carried factual articles about the settlements of the Military Tract.

After five years of publication, the Peoria Register and Northwestern Gazette earned a place as a model small-town paper. Davis's paper started out as a neutral paper, but turned Whig in 1840. Once this was declared, the paper supported both William Henry Harrison and Henry Clay in the 1840 and 1844 presidential elections. Samuel Davis was for free speech and a free press and took a high moral ground on all public questions. In his paper, Davis stated that he owned slaves and intended to keep them. However, he also denounced an anti-abolitionist group when someone was killed in a mob. He also printed the proceedings of the "Friends of Emancipation" at Hennepin in 1838.

Five years after serving as publisher of his paper, Davis sold the paper in 1842 to twin brothers, Samuel and William Butler, who shortened the name of the paper to just the Peoria Register. Although he sold his paper, Davis stayed on as editor without being paid. However, on February 13, 1843, because Davis was not allowed to criticize the break-up of a meeting of the Peoria Anti-Slavery society, he quit and instead published (at his own expense) the pamphlet "Free Discussion Expressed in Peoria," to truthfully inform the public about the event. After selling his paper, Davis worked as a printer for seven years. He was the first book binder in Peoria, and the first book printed in Peoria, the Peoria directory of 1844 by Simeon DeWitt Drown, rolled off his press.

Today Samuel Davis's newspaper is a very important historical reference. The Peoria Register and Northwestern Gazette is the only source of statistical information for the period 1835-1840 and is often useful to historians today. For instance, the first issue of the paper includes a list of the first seventy-four subscribers, which provides a list of some of the early Peoria inhabitants. This statistical information also provides a list of the businesses operating at the time of the newspaper.

Throughout his life, Samuel Davis contributed in many ways to the development of Peoria. Both he and his paper have been commended as being of high quality. In the words of Thomas J. Pickett, "While we lift a pen, we hope we never cease to revere the memory of Samuel H. Davis."-[From: B. Adams, "Extra! Extra! Read all about it!" Peoria Journal Star, Sept. 23, 1991; N. Bateman, P. Selby and D. McCulloch, Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Peoria County, Vol. 2; "Early Peoria Publisher Shunned Local Stories," Peoria Jounal-Transit, Apr. 3, 1938; E. E. East, "74 Subscribed to Early Journal," Peoria Journal, July 18, 1936; E. E. East, "The First Decade of Journalism in Peoria," unpublished manuscript, Peoria Public Library; E. E. East, 'The Parade of History," Peoria Star, Mar. 29, 1942.]

48 ILLINOIS HISTORY / APRIL 1997