STORY #43
MR. A. C. MITCHELL
The invention of the printing press began the mass production and distribution of news sheets and their political platforms. Telegraphy revolutionized news gathering and distribution, allowing access to information from around the world. The world got smarter and with increased literacy there came a desire for specialized news reporting and focused stories. When you wanted the story, you had to read the right newspaper or magazine. But all along, the local media, which later included the radio and TV, was everyone's source for what was happening to neighbors and the activities in the community. Now there are new formats; some more concise and some more expanded, as the user desires. There are new ways of delivering all sorts of information with the development of the world wide web. There's even the idea that we're being affected by so called “fake news.” No matter... it's still the small town newspaper that delivers the best on “local.”
For the Village of Peebles, information came from several newspaper sources over the years. There was the Peebles News which was later renamed The Peebles Leader. The Adams County News was established in Peebles in 1891 and then re-established in West Union in 1928. Then over the years, there was the Peebles Press, Peebles Post, The Peebles Enterprise and The Community Mirror. Fortunately, there is still one that calls Peebles home today: The Messenger, which was founded by A.C. Mitchell in 1965.
Among his peers, Mr. Mitchell, was considered the dean of the Southern Ohio editors and publishers. He had begun his professional career as a school teacher in Brown County, Ohio, around the age of twenty. In a short time he left the education field and became an associate with the Mill Creek Valley Publishing Company of Cincinnati. That move led to later relationships with several other publications. In 1927, he was listed as editor of the New Vienna Reporter. He then took over ownership, editing and publishing of the Georgetown Gazette and went on to establish the Adams County News newspaper in 1928.
Mr. Mitchell had first been hired at The Manchester Signal in 1912, as “printer's devil,” an apprentice charged with a variety of tasks in the print shop. He next was chosen to go to West Union to become manager and later, editor of The Republican Company's newspaper; The Adams County Record. He was with the Record for two years and became the paper's editor and manager.
He then was offered a move to Blanchester to take over operations of the Blanchester Star newspaper and its facilities. He and Ohio Lieutenant Governor Clarence J. Brown, originally from West Union and former editor of the Record, joined together to incorporate the company as the Brown-Mitchell Publishing Company
They continued to publish the paper and quickly upgraded the site's equipment to handle a wider variety of printing jobs. Brown also moved to Blanchester, his original home town, and became the Editor-in-Chief. Mitchell took on the jobs of managing editor and business editor for a time.
The next stop was back to Brown County where A.C. was hired as editor of the Milford Recorder and Georgetown Gazette. He then returned to West Union in 1928 and printed the first edition of The Adams County News, the “official organ of the Republican Party in Adams County.” Eighteen months later, the stock market crashed and Mitchell had financial difficulties. New ownership came to the rescue with Dr. L. E. Wilhide and Charles Riffle agreeing to keep the enterprise afloat. The paper changed ownership again in 1932, with the sale to Clara D. Kimble. She kept ownership for twenty-two years, during which time Mr. Mitchell stayed on and worked at whatever he was needed to do: editing, reporting, typesetting, or being Mr. Fix-It. The Adams County News continued publishing under other editors and printed it's final issue December 29, 1987
Mitchell finally retired in 1954, and moved to Peebles. Close to a year later, in 1955, he started his own company, the Mitch-O-Lith Printing Company, where he focused on “job printing.” He also reproduced an edition of Caldwell's Illustrated Historical Atlas of Adams County and became known for a series of postcards with photos from the Peebles area.
Politics came calling and in January, 1964, A.C. Mitchell became an official candidate for Commissioner of Adams County in the Primary election.
His greatest newspaper accomplishment came in 1965-66, with the establishment of the Peebles Messenger.
Mr. Alvin Campbell Mitchell died of a heart attack on November 29, 1966, at his home in Peebles. He was known to be in poor health and was a patient at the Adams County Hospital. He was released from the hospital less than a week before his death to spend Thanksgiving with his family. He was born in Sprigg Township in Adams County, at his parent's farm. The Social Security Death Index lists his date of birth as February 25, 1890. An Adams County Probate Court Correction of Birth record gives his date of birth as March 25, 1890. He and his wife Minnie Bowman Mitchell, who died in 1951, after an extended illness, are buried in the Hickory Ridge Cemetery near Aberdeen. They married May 10, 1911. The couple had two daughters: Kathryn and Jane.
