September 15, 1869:
the day my great-great-grandfather, Abraham Chenoweth Van Meter,
founded The St. Croix Republican in New Richmond, Wisconsin.
It is now known as The New Richmond News.
Abe's son and grandson--my great-grandfather and grandfather--
ran The New Richmond News until 1969.
From the end of the Civil War to the depths of the Viet Nam.
I've been working on a book about my family and their contributions to their
small, northwestern Wisconsin community--and I argue, to our nation--through their newspaper and unwavering civic duties. Essays from this project were excerpted in The New Richmond News,
in Mary Sather's Sharing Memories column.
One hundred and forty three years later,
my words appeared in the paper started by my great-great-grandfather.
These are the essays. More to come.
---Tom Eubanks, New York City, September 17, 2012
