Long Lost First Ever Edition of the Tavistock Gazette Has Been Rediscovered
A fire ran through the centre of Tavistock one Hallowe’en night around the turn of the last century and in the ashes were all the early copies of the Tavistock Gazette.
Because of the fire, there has always been a large gap in the history of Tavistock. The Gazette began publishing in 1895 but the earliest issue of the newspaper that has survived was from September of 1896 and there had already been 51 issues of the newspaper by then. And in the period between 1896 and 1910, only sporadic issues of the Gazette have been found.
Walter Scholz who once lived near Harmony but now resides in Stratford was going through some files recently that had been handed down to him from his grandfather Conrad Schaefer. The Schaefer farm was on the road to Harmony just out of Tavistock. Among the items Walter came across were some old newspapers. One of these happened to be the first ever issue of the Tavistock Gazette that was published on 26 September 1895. Another was the first issue of a rival newspaper, the Tavistock Mail, that had been published 3 weeks earlier. What a treasure this find has been!
The Tavistock and District Historical Society has digital copies of most of the back issues of the Tavistock Gazette on its premises at 37 Maria Street in Tavistock but was missing these important early issues. Mr. Scholz was aware that Gazettes from the past are an integral part of the Society’s collections and he felt that these early editions would find a welcome home there. He kindly donated the papers to the Historical Society where he was assured they would take pride of place.
Walter’s grandfather was a “collector”. Conrad Schaefer was born on a farm just east of Sebastopol and Trinity Lutheran Church and the community of Tavistock were the centre of the family’s life. When he passed away, the driving shed on his farm was filled with material he had amassed during his lifetime, much of it related to Tavistock. Walter and his mother sorted through the material and discarded much they did not think was of value. Included in that were a lot of old newspapers but they were from the 30’s and 40’s—Walter does not believe that they threw away any older than the two original issues they found.
Walter Scholz himself has a passion for collecting. His specialty was die-cast toys. Among his large collection are at least one large box and two scrapbooks of material related to Tavistock. He finds that young people today have little interest in the past and so he wants to find a home for his items where they will be appreciated. As he slowly works his way through his collection, he says he will continue to give to the Historical Society any items of interest to them when he come across them.
It has long been known that there was a bit of controversy about the beginnings of the Gazette and these new issues of the Tavistock Gazette and the Tavistock Mail have clarified the situation.
Tavistock was a thriving community back in the 1890’s with many established businesses but it had long been without a newspaper. Residents might find the occasional brief note about Tavistock in the Stratford Beacon, the Stratford Herald or the Woodstock Sentinel Review. If they were German readers they might get information in Der Kanadische Kolonist published in Stratford. The Tavistock coverage however was always scant.
N. H. Boden, publisher of a weekly newspaper in Drumbo, believed that a “first-class lively weekly newspaper would be in the interest of the reading community (in Tavistock).” On 6 September 1895, he presented to the “intelligent reading public of Tavistock” the first issue of his Tavistock Mail https://tavistockresearch.wordpress.com/2024/11/27/tavistock-mail/. The paper was filled with news mostly from Drumbo and Plattsville, however. Boden apologized, asking the public to “overlook our failings as the time at our disposal was so limited for the work required for the first issue of a newspaper.” He said that, should the enterprise be a success, he promised to “bring a plant (to Tavistock) in the course of a few months.”
Meanwhile, there was another editor who thought that Tavistock deserved a weekly newspaper. James W. Green began a newspaper apprenticeship in Galt at the age of 16 and later joined the staff of a Chicago newspaper, being employed there at the time of the disastrous Chicago fire. He had founded the Mildmay Gazette and the Wellesley Maple Leaf and also published weekly papers in Gorrie and in Parkhill. In September of 1895, Green proceeded to set up an office in the Loth Block at the main intersection in Tavistock and welcomed editors from Stratford, Woodstock and Hamburg to support him.
On the 26th of September 1895, J. W. Green presented to Tavistock the first edition of his Tavistock Gazette, https://tavistockresearch.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/tavis... just three weeks after the appearance of Boden’s Tavistock Mail. He promised that his newspaper would be “devoted to the interests of the section to which it serves.” “In order that it may be fairly tested,” he added, “the paper will be sent for the first four issues free.” The entire first page of the Gazette was devoted to the Tavistock Fall Show of the South Easthope and East Zorra Agricultural Society. The columns were filled with the names of all of the prize winners in all of the many prize categories, and who doesn’t like to see their name in print.
With these incentives, J. H. Green won the “Battle of Inkerman” as Carl Seltzer would call it in his history of Tavistock book “Fact and Fantasy.” Green told Boden it was his “Divine mission” to run Boden out of town. With the competition from the Gazette, the Tavistock Mail may have folded after just two issues as no others have been found. Since 1895, the Tavistock Gazette and now the Wilmot-Tavistock Gazette have been where the people of Tavistock get their local news.
The Tavistock and District Historical Society is very grateful to Walter Scholz for his generous gift to the Society of these first editions of the Tavistock Mail and the Tavistock Gazette. They have added greatly to our knowledge of the events and businesses in town at the time. And who knows how many more early editions of the Gazette remain out there, hidden away in closets and attics and driving sheds waiting to be discovered!

To read the digitized copies of the Tavistock Gazette you can click the link below!
https://tavistockresearch.wordpress.com/2024/11/27/tavistock-gazette/