June 6, 1875. The premier edition of the Ocean Grove Record
By Kathy Arlt, contributing writer at Blogfinger
“To all Summer residents, and transient visitors, as well as their friends at a distance, this RECORD will convey a somewhat vivid panorama of the services of the season, and prove a compendium of items and incidents, which pleasantly diversify the daily life and experience of all sojourners, at our increasingly popular sea-side resort.”
This is an excerpt from the Publisher’s Preface for “Ocean Grove, A Record of Faith and Progress,” a newspaper first published on June 5, 1875. The first issue was four pages long and cost three cents. Its publisher was Rev. A. Wallace and its editor was Rev. Elwood H. Stokes. During the July and August Camp Meetings, the Record was often published several times a week and grew to eight pages.
Naturally, its primary focus was religion. Inspirational poetry and selections from contemporary religious works were featured on the front page. But inside was a column titled “Local Department,” a combination of news briefs and social announcements. Here are two examples:
A short news item
A quirky social item. We'd love to know what happened to the parrot!
Editor’s note: Kathy Arlt is a volunteer archivist at the Historical Society of Ocean Grove. We are delighted that she has offered to contribute periodic blogposts regarding the history of Ocean Grove. This first article is special because the Ocean Grove Record was the first news source in town, dating back to June 5, 1875. Blogfinger is the direct descendant of that newspaper as well as the later Ocean Grove Times (1893) and then Steven Froias’ online Ocean Grove Record (2004-2009). Ocean Grove is a unique town with an unusual past history. Many of today’s issues have roots that go all the way back to the 19th century, so, with Kathy’s help, we will regularly post items from Ocean Grove’s past. PG