Bullitt County's First Newspaper

This is one of the recollections written by Wallace A. McKay and published in The Pioneer-News. Follow the "Recollections" link above to find others of his writings.

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The Pioneer-News, January 6, 1933, pages 1-2

The County's First Newspaper
A Sketch of Prof. H. J. Greenwell & W. B. Gwynn

The writer recalls quite vividly the establishment of the first newspaper in Bullitt County by the Gwynn brothers, "The Bullitt Pioneer." Prof. W. B. Gwynn and Mr. J. K. Gwynn, his brother, were conducting most successfully the Pitts Point Academy at Pitts Point, where they had made considerable reputation as educators This school was formerly run by Professor Hilary J. Greenwell, the cousin of Hilary J. Greenwell Jr., who now resides at Salt River Station. Hilary Jr. attended the school several years.

Prof. Greenwell was not only a teacher of ability and skill but was also a fine business man and a high class cultured Christian gentleman. After teaching several years at Pitts Point, following his graduation at Georgetown College, Prof. Greenwell located at Bardstown where he was chosen President of the Bardstown Male and Female Institute, a Baptist Academy which under the splendid management and rare business ability of Prof. Greenwell, attained quite a reputation as an educational institution. There were scores of students in the boarding department from a dozen or more central Kentucky counties as well as from the city of Louisville. The faculty consisted of a half dozen trained teachers from the north.

Prof. Greenwell remained at Bardstown a number of years and in addition to his success as an educator acquired a considerable fortune before he resigned as president of the institution and located at Ashville, N. C.

The Professors Gwynn's, W. B and J. K. followed the high ideals set by their predecessor and the Pitts Point Academy under their management continued to retain the confidence of the friends of higher education in Bullitt and adjoining counties. The late Hon. W. Jeff Lee also conducted this school for several years.

Professor W. B. Gwynn was the leading factor in the establishment of the "Pioneer." He canvassed the county thoroughly and secured an advance subscription list of nearly 1000 before he issued his first number. He spoke at a number of gatherings and greatly impressed the people as a man of enterprise, culture and public spirit. He was a born salesman and promoter. The paper at that time used an old fashion Washington hand-press, which printed only one side of the paper at a time by means of physical labor and took several hours of hard work by two strong men to print one side of an issue.

After several months patiently waiting, the first issue finally came from the press, creating quite a sensation at the county seat as well as elsewhere in the county. Hundreds of citizens visited the office on this day.

Prof. W. B. Gwynn wrote in an entertaining style and the first issue was a very creditable one, containing a number of interesting articles. Judge Wilhite Carpenter, then County Judge, was one of the most zealous supporters of the newspaper and sent a number of copies to friends in Jefferson and adjoining counties. All the leading citizens welcomed Bullitt County's first newspaper.

The man in charge of the mechanical department was Mr. Thomas H. Morris, who had learned his trade as a printer at Elizabethtown and was an expert typesetter.

After several years of successful publication the Gwynn Brothers sold their interest in the paper to Thomas H. Morris, who continued to improve the paper and proved to be equally as good an editor as he was a printer.

While Mr. Morris was proprietor, the writer worked around the office doing odd jobs and being the "Printer's Devil," thus acquiring a love for newspaper work, which abided through the passing years and is still "in his blood." After the writer came to Louisville, Mr. Morris offered him a position on the "Bullitt Pioneer" as advertising agent and correspondent, to which he devoted himself after working hours, on Sundays and holidays and at odd times for four years. During that period he wrote a weekly letter from Louisville, giving news items of special interest to Bullitt Co. and built up quite a large advertising patronage for the paper among the merchants and business men of Louisville.

Mr. Morris, after running the paper for several years, sold out to Mr. Charles Ellsworth McCormick, who conducted the "Bullitt Pioneer" most successfully for a number of years. The writer continued to work for the paper at different times after McCormick took charge.

Ellsworth McCormick was a very talented man and was very prompt and assiduous in all his business transactions. He was industrious and painstaking as an editor and had a very fine mind and an unusual memory. When in school he always led his classes having graduated in law at the University of Louisville and being one of the honor men of his class, but for some reason he never engaged in the practice of this profession.

One of the members of his class at the law school, Mr. Benjamin F. Gardner, in speaking to the writer recently about Ellsworth McCormick said, "McCormick" was one of the brightest men I ever knew. In the quizzes in the law classes be answered practically every question with clarity and correctness. He had a faculty for extracting the kernel out of a complicated question, with rare quickness and precision. He certainly had a fine legal mind and had he devoted himself to the profession of law, would have acquired distinction."

Elsworth McCormick was the elder brother of Ehrman McCormick, your late County Clerk, and the son of Edward MeCormick, a splendid merchant and business man of Shepherdsville, and of Mary Ann McCormick, one of the most charming, intelligent and lovable women Bullitt County ever produced.

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