On the evening of Feb. 25, 1879, 23-year-old Ira W. Hays released the first issue of his freshly-printed newspaper, The Evening Globe. “In presenting to the public The Evening Globe, we believe that we are supplying a demand for a live evening paper that will give the latest local and foreign news at the least possible cost,” Ira announced. The Evening Globe would become Ira’s greatest legacy, published in Washington County for more than 50 years.
Ira W. Hays was born on September 17, 1855, in Wolfsville, Md., to Wilson and Susanna (Recher) Hays. The Hays family moved to Hagerstown in 1866; by 1870, Ira had three brothers – Rufus, Chester, and Leroy. Ira’s father, Wilson, soon opened the W. L. Hays paper goods store at 28 W. Washington St.
At age 11, Ira began working as a “printer’s devil” (printer’s apprentice) for Norris & Gruber, printers and publishers of a bi-weekly paper, the Twice-a-Week. After completing his education, Ira moved to Washington, D.C., in 1874, accepting a Government Printing Office position. After two years in D.C, Ira returned home and opened his own printing business at 18 W. Washington St.
A carte-de-visite photograph of Ira W. Hays (1855-1938) when he was around 11 or 12 years old and working in Hagerstown as a printer’s devil.
From his new business, Ira began printing a daily, single-page paper, Le Globe Printaire, a quirky publication filled with witticisms, advice, poetry and local advertisements – mostly for his father’s store. He also printed local journals, including the Hagerstown Seminary Monthly, written by students at Hagerstown Female Seminary (Kee Mar College).
But Ira dreamed of expanding his business, and in 1879, age 24, Ira began his greatest endeavor – a daily newspaper, The Evening Globe. Ira printed the first issue of The Evening Globe on Feb. 25, from a press in the rear of his father’s store at 28 W. Washington St. A single paper cost one cent and could be delivered by carrier.
Washington County residents who opened the first issue of The Evening Globe found a variety of features, including “Globelets” (short national news snippets); “Home News” (local county news); “Personals” (19th century Facebook statuses for local residents); the “Telegraphic” column (news freshly delivered via telegraph); and column-length articles, short stories, poetry and local advertisements. The final column reported the current train schedules for the Cumberland Valley Railroad, the Western Maryland Railroad, and the Washington County branch of the B&O Railroad.
Washington County newspaper publisher Ira W. Hays, circa the 1890s, in a photo taken by Hagerstown photographer Rogers. Note The Globe newspaper was used as a light backdrop for the portrait.
Ira also clarified his paper’s political leanings in his first issue: “In regard to politics, we will steer a perfectly independent course … This paper cannot be made the organ of any one man or party.”
News of The Evening Globe’s publication made headlines in the Hagerstown Mail, Boonsboro Odd Fellow, Sharpsburg Enterprise, Williamsport Pilot and Hagerstown Daily News. Local businesses quickly advertised in The Evening Globe, including W. E. Mobley’s carriage shop; John Fechtig’s jewelry and spectacles shop; and E. M. Recher’s Photography and Fine Art Gallery – in addition to other tailors, seamstresses and grocers.
1879 was an exciting year for Ira. After publishing his newspaper, he married Flora Viola Householder that May. By 1885, Flora and Ira had four children: daughters Lola and Vernie, and sons J. Clyde and Clifford.
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The Hays Family, circa 1890, with The Globe publisher Ira W. Hays and son, Clyde, in the back row. In the front row, left to right, are children Clifford, Lola, and Vernie, and Hays’ wife, Flora.
Ira was uniquely positioned in a society whose newspaper readership was steadily increasing. By 1882, he expanded his business by offering an additional weekly newspaper, The Weekly Globe. Locally, Ira’s competitors were Adams & Witmer’s Hagerstown Daily News and Weekly News; Bell’s The Hagerstown Mail; Negley’s The Herald and Torch Light; and John Mentzer’s The Hagerstown Odd Fellow.
By the 1890s, both of Ira’s newspapers, The Evening Globe and The Weekly Globe, fell under the banner of The Globe. Ira advertised The Globe as “The Largest, Cheapest, and Best Paper Published in Washington County,” with “New Types, Fast Presses, Skilled Workmen.” Even his sons, Clyde and Clifford, worked in the printing shop.
But in 1899, Ira and Flora Hays suffered a tragedy. Their oldest daughter, Lola, died from health complications at age 20.
Lola, born in 1880, had fallen from a swing at age 1 while in a nurse’s care. Her injuries left her paralyzed from the waist down; despite this, “she taught herself to read, and also skillfully executed fancy and difficult needlework,” her obituary reported.
When Ira turned 56 in 1911, he decided it was time for a change. He sold The Globe to local men who formed the Globe Publishing Company, and then Ira retired from the printing business.
Retirement wasn’t actually retirement for Ira. He worked part-time in his father’s store, now run by his brother Rufus and officially incorporated as R.M. Hays & Bros. He attended Trinity Lutheran Church.
He was a member of the Hagerstown Bicycle Club, Royal Arcanum, Junior Order of United American Mechanics and Knights of Pythias.
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Ira W. Hays at his 80th birthday party on Sept. 17, 1935. Hays sold The Globe, a Washington County newspaper, in 1911.
In 1928, age 73, The Morning Herald noted that “Mr. Ira W. Hays … has purchased a handsome two seated automobile. His son, J. Clyde Hays, went to Washington to bring the machine here. He has an experienced driver here to instruct in running it.”
Ira had risen from lowly printer’s devil to printer, editor, publisher and proprietor of The Globe for over 30 years. Well-respected in his community and among a wide readership, news of Ira’s death on April 13, 1938, at age 83, made local headlines. Ira and his wife (who had died in 1933), along with their four children, are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery.
Ira Hays’ work will soon be available for a 21st century audience. The Western Maryland Room of the Washington County Free Library recently received a grant award that will fund the preservation of about 110,000 pages of The Evening Globe and The Weekly Globe on 99 reels of microfilm, making these newspapers available for researchers.
This project is a treasure trove for researchers. Hays’ Evening Globe was considered the most nonpartisan newspaper produced locally at the time, read daily by Washington County residents seeking information on global events, national news, voting, immigrant groups, segregation, local crime, tourism, businesses, personals and the price of eggs. Hays’ work reminds us that so much, and so little, has changed.
Abigail Koontz is the curator for the Washington County Historical Society.
This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: The saga of Ira W. Hays and The Evening Globe