Charles Kienast, Cigar Manufacturer

Charles Kienast, who was our local cigar manufacturer, was a native of Illinois, having first seen the light in La Salle county, that state, October 25, 1862. In 1869 his parents removed to Marshall County, Kansas, and he grew up on the farm to the age of seventeen, doing the usual work of the farmers’ boy. Shortly after his seventeenth birthday the cigar business fired the fancy of young Kienast and he soon secured a job in a factory and learned the trade of cigar making, and he worked at that calling continuously for twenty-seven years. He was an expert cigar-maker and a fine judge of cigar leaf tobacco. Mr. Kienast held firmly to the principle that it takes good tobacco to make good cigars and that it is far better to have a good sound business only realizing a small profit than to do a “wildcat” business with large profits and soon no business at all. We learned that he did a business of about $6,000 a year. Three thousand dollars of this amount went for cost of raw material. Who got the other $3,000? Why, the employees, the butcher, the barber, the stone mason, the plasterer, the carpenter, the storekeeper, the lumberman, the laundryman, the hotel keeper, the railroad and railroad employees, the miner, the liveryman, the real estate man, the doctor, the druggist; and in fact we were all interested and benefitted by our cigar factory. Mr. Kienast manufactured a number of brands of cigars and they were all very popular with smokers. His home trade was very satisfactory, and, although he did not cater particularly to outside business, he was sending a good many goods out of town. Mr. Kienast came to Marceline in 1902 from Quincy, Illinois and lived In and near Marceline until 1960 at the time of his death. Four generations are still residing in Marceline. He has three sons living: Charles W., Sam, and Harold.

Myers Clothing Company

The Myers Clothing Company which was established in 1896 came into being through the business insight and integrity of Sam Myers. He came to Marceline from his native France and in 1906 was joined by his brother Carl and family from Alsace Lorraine and the firm of Myers Brothers, was established. Upon the death of Sam Myers in 1916 and of Carl Myers in 1932 the firm became known as the Myers Clothing Company and is presently owned and operated by Edgar Myers and Mario Myers Fletcher. Edgar and Mary, as they are familiarly known, have been consistent boosters of Marceline. Edgar served as president of the Marceline Development Association during its beginningHe has been a member of the Masonic bodies since 1921. He was a charter member and past president of the Marceline Rotary Club and served as councilman during the first year of the city manager form of government. He is a lay member newly appointed advisory board of the St. Francis Hospital. The Myers Store has been located on Kansas Avenue since its beginning. It formerly was located In the Cater building at southwest corner of Kansas and Howell Streets, which was destroyed by fire on January 26, 1957. The firm has been in its present location In the renovated National Bank building at the southeast corner of Kansas Avenue and Howell Streets since that time.

The Marceline News

FIFTH PAPER OF CITY ONCE SERVED BY 4 WEEKLIES, ONE DAILY During the lawless days of 1888, Marceline had three newspapers. There was The Marceline Mirror, The Marceline New Deal, and The Marceline Journal. The Journal is believed to have been the first paper, started early in 1888 by the efforts of Dr. J. A. Smith and William C. Walker. The press equipment was purchased from the old Brookfield Chronicle. Walker subsequently sold his Interest to John W. Northcott, of Linneus, who stayed with Smith 18 months, long enough to mold the paper as an organ of the Republican party. Other transactions involving the Journal were: 1891, James Smith is editor and a year later yields controlling interest to Hiram Long and A. E. Nell. 1899, S. W. Dodge buys the Journal. 1900, Charles Henry buys the Journal. The same year, however, the former editors of the New Deal, S. W. Birch and Charles B. McDowell, take over the Journal. 1903, William H. Hamby buys the Journal and starts running it as a semi-weekly. 1905, L. P. Wakeman, of Scranton, Kansas, becomes a partner of Hamby and they put out a weekly again. 1906, Alden Lyle arrives on the scene as editor of the Journal and operates it until 1929. During this time, in 1912, Lyle bought out the Mirror and began publishing the Marceline Journal-Mirror. The Mirror had its beginning August 9, 1888, by Ruede and Dodge, who printed it as a Democratic paper. Dodge then sold his interest to Harry Brodrick, of Osborne, Kansas. The Mirror had a circulation of 625 in 1888 and in eight years the circulation rose to 1,000. A Macon man, Walter Cash, meanwhile, bought out Ruede’s interest in 1894. The editor who sold the paper to Alden Lyle in 1905 was E. J. Conger. Marceline’s press “welcomed” the Marceline Daily News in June 1896, started by Dr. J. H. Perrin, editor and publisher. That year the paper supported the Populist Party and it flopped. There are no records of the paper. Harry Webster established The Marceline Herald in May 1913. Emphasizing local news, which has continued to be the key to success for weekly papers, the Herald prospered. In 1929, Webster sold to George Butts. The Marceline News is the successor to the Journal-Mirror and Marceline Herald, which two were purchased by Clarence E. Watkins, publisher of the Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune and by Mr. and Mrs. George C. Butts, formerly of Kansas City. Butts had been a Kansas City Star staffer and formerly edited the Maryville Democrat Forum and Tribune. Editor Butts continued to improve the News and it soon gained Blue Ribbon recognition in the State. In 1955, the News became the property of Jan V. Rockwell, who was a journalism and graphic arts instructor at Houston, Texas. In 1957, the News again achieved the status of a Missouri Blue Ribbon weekly. At this time, Rockwell was recalled to active duty by the U.S. Navy in Washington, D.C. His wife, Thelma Rockwell edited the paper until 1961, when Joe Belie was retained as managing editor. Subsequently, the Rockwells, after his honorable discharge, purchased the Clay County Courier in Corning, Arkansas. The Rockwells took over active publication of the Courier, but retained their interest in the News.