The judge lived to tell the tale, but after the fun was all over and the battle had been won he decided that railroad law practice was more profitable than editing a newspaper. The Register passed back into the editorship of J. H. Jennison. The next year Robert Holmes became its editor and subsequently its proprietor. He held this position for five years and it was five years of the most important period in the history of the county. Mr. Holmes successfully conducted the paper through the great struggle of the Civil war, and up till 1863 when he sold it to A. G. Lucas. Its name was then changed to the Linn County Patriot.
In September, 1864, there came from Cedar county, a young soldier-lawyer, S. W. Rathbun. He purchased the plant and changed the name of the paper to the Marion Register. He has been editor of the Register ever since that time. He has a few more gray hairs, a few more wrinkles, and a bit more avoirdupois than he had then, but he still wields a trenchant pen, still makes the Register a readable and interesting paper. It has been one of the most influential papers among the weekly press of Linn county, and has always been firmly republican.
THE MARION SENTINEL
The Marion Sentinel was originally called the Springville Independent, being established at Springville in the year 1879 by Fred Chamberlain, who afterwards served as county superintendent of the schools of Linn county. It was a seven-column folio, independent in politics, the forerunner of the independent papers of the county. It grew rapidly, and by 1884 had increased to a twelve-page paper. An edition was also published for Prairieburg, and one for Central City. In 1885 it had a circulation of 1600. It met with some reverses in 1886 and on July 1 of that year it was moved to Marion and its name changed to the Linn County Independent. Mr. Chamberlain made a big success of it in Marion. The name of the paper was then changed to the Marion Sentinel. Later O. M. Smith was taken into partnership. The paper then changed from an independent to a democratic paper, and has remained democratic until the present time, the only simon pure democratic paper in Linn county at the present time.
In July, 1891, Mr. Smith sold the paper to Mr. J. J. Galliven, at that time employed as train dispatcher for the Milwaukee railroad. He conducted it for less than three months, selling it on September 19, 1891, to its present owner, T. T. Williams. During the greater part of the time since then C. S. Shanklin, one of the ablest political writers of the state, has been in charge of the Sentinel's editorial page. The paper is one of the brightest and newsiest in the county.
THE MT. VERNON HAWKEYE
That splendid Linn county paper, the Mt. Vernon Hawkeye, was established January 1, 1869, by J. T. Rice, as the Linn County Hawk-Eye. Mr. Rice was well known in the early history of the county, and in late years was a resident of Denver, Colorado, where he died within the past year.
The Hawk-Eye was bought by S. H. Bauman on June 1, 1869, within five months after the paper was established, and its name was changed to the Mount Vernon Hawk-Eye. Mr. S. H. Bauman continued the business and was joined in partnership by his son, A. A. Bauman, January 1, 1892. On July 1, 1899, S. H. Bauman retired entirely, and the paper was then conducted by his sons, A. A. and Fred A. Bauman. This partnership was dissolved November 17, 1909, since which time the paper has been published by A. A. Bauman.
The paper has always been republican in politics and has never been shaken by the winds of temporary popular prejudice or passion. It has had an abiding conviction of political honesty and integrity and it has been conducted on a high plane. It has rendered good service in the building up of Mt. Vernon and the county generally.