Orange
County
Biographies
HENRY KUCHEL
Among the veteran newspapermen of
Southern California is numbered Henry Kuchel, who for forty-six years has been
editor and publisher of the Anaheim Gazette, a pioneer weekly with a record of
nearly sixty-four years of usefulness.
Mr. Kuchel was born in San Francisco June 11, 1859, and has always
resided in California, devoting his energies to journalistic work, which he has
found both congenial and profitable.
Conrad Kuchel, the father of Henry
Kuchel, was a native of Frankfurt-on-the-Main, Germany, which country he left
prior to the revolution of 1848, and came to the United States with the hope of
bettering his fortunes. He was a
mechanical engineer and located in Lawrence County, Indiana, where he remained
for about eight years. In 1856 he
started for the Pacific coast, proceeding down the Mississippi River to the
Gulf of Mexico, and after crossing the Isthmus of Panama, journeyed up the
Pacific coast to San Francisco where he established his home. The colony of Anaheim was formed in 1857 and
three years later Mr. Kuchel came with his family and others to the present
site of the village of Anaheim. By purchase
he acquired a tract of twenty acres, comprising a part of the old Anaheim colony,
where the Gazette building stands today.
On this land he planted vineyards, and was also engaged in
merchandising, conducting the first meat market in the settlement. Here he lived until his death in 1870,
prospering in his undertakings and taking an important part in the work of
development and progress. Fraternally he was a Mason and became a charter
member of Anaheim Lodge, F. & A. M.
In 1855 at Bedford, Indiana, Conrad
Kuchel was married to Miss Samantha Quackenbush, who was a native of that state
and whose life was guided by the teachings of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
in which she had membership. For
thirty-two years Mrs. Kuchel survived her husband, passing away July 29, 1902. They were the parents of two sons and three
daughters: Mary Melrose, now deceased;
Henry; Nellie Meiggs; Elizabeth, deceased; and
Charles. By a previous marriage Conrad
Kuchel had three children: George,
Robert and Augusta, all deceased.
When but a year old Henry Kuchel was
brought by his parents to Anaheim and his educational advantages were those
afforded by the village schools. His first money was earned by working in a
humble capacity for the Anaheim Gazette and his early experiences in that
connection are best told in his own words, as follows: “The writer occupied the responsible position
of roller boy and we carried around the paper, going by foot about town and on horseback
in the outlying sections. Manuel Garfias was foreman of the office. He was a cousin of Fred Rimpau
and Miss Sophie Rimpau of this city. On a Friday evening, as the first forms were
about to go to press, we hid under our bed in the old household across the way,
for we had tired of the job and told Mr. Barter (the proprietor) so, because
the last forms were never on the press until about midnight. It was our duty to fetch several pails of
water from a well in the back yard with which to wash the forms. We were afraid of the dark and whistled like
sixty while going to and coming back from the well. We told the publisher that our career as a
great newspaperman would terminate right there.
Manuel came over to our house and was told by the good mother where we
were hiding. He picked us up and carried
us back to the office upstairs in the building across the street. Mr. Barter expostulated, declaring the
Gazette could not be issued without us, and believing this to be true, we
continued on the job. We have continued
on the job all these years, since purchasing the paper with our brother, Judge
Charles Kuchel, in October, 1887. Ten
years later we became sole proprietor.
After
leaving school (at the age of sixteen), much against the wishes of our beloved
teacher, we learned to set type, wash rollers and sweep out the office. In 1879 we left for our native town, San
Francisco, where we found employment on the city newspapers.”
Mr. Kuchel remained in San Francisco
until 1887, when he returned to Anaheim, and has since given his best efforts
to the conduct of the Gazette, which is issued every Thursday. He has made his paper an able and effective
exponent of local interests and gained for it a large and ever increasing
circulation.
The Gazette enjoys the distinction
of being the oldest newspaper but one in Southern California. It was established October 29, 1870, by
George W. Barter, who bought the plant of the defunct Wilmington Journal, and
the press which he acquired had been brought around the Horn in 1851 and had
been in use on the Los Angeles Star. In
1871 Mr. Barter sold out to Charles A. Gardiner, who is now living in South
Pasadena. He issued the paper until
1872, when it was taken over by Richard Melrose and George C. Knox. The latter retired in 1876 and at that time
Frederick W. Athearn joined Mr. Melrose in the conduct of the Gazette, an
association that was terminated at the end of a year. Mr. Melrose became sole owner in 1877 and
published the paper until 1887 when it was acquired by Henry Kuchel and his
brother, Judge Charles Kuchel. Together
they published the Gazette until 1897 and its destiny has since been controlled
by Henry Kuchel, a newspaperman of marked ability and ripe experience.
On October 29, 1932, the Anaheim
Gazette celebrated its sixty-third birthday, and in the editorial columns of
the paper appeared the following announcement:
“We are issuing a special edition today covering the entire community
and the rural delivery routes in honor of the Diamond Jubilee of the
colony. The historical spirit has seized
all of us and our citizens will soon be engaged in commemorating one of the
most important events in our history.
The colony is seventy-five years old.
Its beginning goes back almost half the way to the time of the
Revolution, when the beleaguered farmers, standing by the bridge which spanned
the flood, fired the shot which rang round the world. This historical memory has taken hold of us
and we live again in those stirring times when the pioneers first came here to
establish the colony three-quarters of a century ago.”
In the same editorial Mr. Kuchel
continued as follows: “To be frank with our
readers, it is nothing more than the truth to say that the Gazette engaged in
many a bitter newspaper fight. One of
the first was against a cooperative undertaking which endeavored to place six
hundred thousand dollars in bonds as a blanket mortgage upon farms surrounding
the city. These bonds were to be sold in
the New York market at eighty-five and a good commission was to be paid for
their disposal. It did not look good to
the publisher, who lost no time in saying so.
These occurrences are well within the recollection of many of our
people. Opposition arose to the disposal
of the bonds and the whole blooming thing collapsed.
A fight against the Twilight Patent
Syndicate was next in order. This patent
was secured from the government and placed a royalty upon fumigating orange
trees. Growers were notified that before
fumigating they must obtain permission from the Syndicate at so much per. Growers throughout this district were up in
arms against it and this newspaper fought it tooth and nail. We were offered money to desist from our
warfare and when this was refused, were threatened with a criminal prosecution
for libel. We called in a number of
growers and placed the case plainly before them. They were indignant at the outrageous
proposition and promised to stand by the paper through thick and thin. One of them, William M. McFadden, father of
Thomas L. McFadden and Ralph McFadden, who owned a fine orchard at Placentia,
said the grove was valueless to him if this patent was upheld in the courts,
and said that every dollar that he could raise would go to defend this
paper. Other gentlemen expressed similar
sentiments. They were assured the paper
would continue in the fight. A case was
carried to the United States Supreme Court attacking the validity of the patent
and it was set aside as null and void. A
jollification meeting came on; the church bells rang in joyous announcement of
the glorious news. We walked down the
street arm in arm with one of these gentlemen.
It was about the happiest day of our life. He took his straight and we had a bit of
lemon in ours.
Other fights occurred over disputes
about water, over the boundaries of county division and about unfit men seeking
public office. But all came happily to
an end, and for years we have been proceeding quietly on our way, minding our
business and meeting all issues as they have presented themselves. We have tried to print a newspaper which
would be interesting to our readers, to protect the citizens in every way in
our power and shall continue to do so until we lay down the editorial pen. That we have made mistakes, we do not deny,
but in the words of a certain colored gentleman who used to live here, we hope
they have been pretty dog-gone few and at that forgiven. Others papers have come to Orange County
during the past forty-five years, while we have been here, and have passed into
oblivion for guessing wrong. Two papers
at the county seat which supported the so-called twilight patent, passed out
quickly, while one which fought it survived.
We have found plenty of hard work to do, have always striven to hold the
goodwill of the public, and we trust we have succeeded. We shall strive to continue in this endeavor,
and with capable gentlemen associated with us shall meet all issues adequately
as they appear. We thank our many
friends and supporters for their patronage.
This has been sufficient compensation for our labors. We have tried to do the right, have shunned
the wrong and shall continue to do so to the end.”
On the 29th of January,
1896, Mr. Kuchel was married to Miss Lutitia C. Bailey, a native of Texas, and
they became the parents of two sons.
Theodore B., the elder, who was born in Anaheim August 30, 1900,
graduated from the Fullerton high school in 1918 and from the University of
Southern California in 1924, on the completion of a pre-legal course. He is now associated with his father in the
newspaper business as the enterprising and capable manager of the Gazette. He belongs to the California Newspaper
Publishers Association, the Kiwanis Club of Anaheim, the Los Angeles Athletic
Club, the Elks, Phi Kappa Psi and the Inter-Fraternity Association of Orange
County. At Oak Park, Illinois, June 30,
1931, he was married to Miss Genevieve Ulvestad, a
daughter of Dr. and Mrs. O. M. Ulvestad. Thomas Henry Kuchel, the second son, is also
a graduate of the University of Southern California and is now finishing a law
course at that institution. While
pursuing his studies there he was made president of the Liberal Arts College and
admitted to membership in the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 357-362, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S ORANGE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES