LIFE OF CHARLES CLEMENT HEACOCK

Page 164-172

On their wedding day, October 6, 1874, Charles and Caroline Heacock left with horse and buggy for Iowa. During the preceding years, Charles had travelled widely in the interest of his father's inventions, visiting most of the States then in the Union. He commenced his journeys in the year 1868, travelling in the winter and attending Mt. Union College at Alliance Ohio, in the summer.

From Atwater, Ohio, the bride and groom drove to West Branch, Iowa, where his grandfather, Nathan, had died a decade earlier, and where many members of the Heacock and Gruwell families then resided. After a few days they continued towards the Quaker settlement of Pleasant Plain, home of some of the bride's relatives. The journey ended, however, at Brighton, Iowa, two and a half miles from Pleasant Plain. It was there that Charles Clement Heacock established his permanent home and resided until his death forty years later.

Aside from the courage and self-reliance with which the early settlers faced westward, and a general education a little above the average of the times, Charles Clement Heacock arrived in Brighton with only his young wife, his horse and buggy, and his father's patents. He probably had little idea of the career which he would follow, and perhaps for that reason liked to tell in future years that he had obtained his print shop through a trade, and had established a newspaper in the vain hope of converting the defunct plant into a marketable asset. During his first five years in Brighton, he acquired a home and several acres of land, which he worked himself, thus supplementing his income from the sale of patent rights and from the painting of road signs. He continued to travel throughout the country selling rights to his father's fence, and it was doubtless during these trips that he became interested in the Greenback Party. He became a member of its State Central Committee. This was his one serious venture into politics, and probably determined his future career, for in 1879 he acquired the equipment of the Brighton Sun and established the weekly Greenback World. He stumped the county for the party, but neither the party nor the newspaper survived the 1880 elections. After 20 months of publishing the Greenback World, he found himself back where he started, painting road signs, but he had found his life career, and had learned a lesson--the fate of a newspaper should not be linked to any political party or creed. A little over a year later, in February 1882, he established the Brighton Enterprise as an independent local weekly.

From "Country Editor" based on an interview with Joel Gale Heacock in 1941:

The first issue of the Brighton Enterprise was printed in the cellar of the Heacock home on the press which had been resurrected from the financial shambles of the Greenback World. Gale's sister (Mary), then an infant, slept in a clothes basket beside the press while Mrs. Heacock helped her husband get out the first issue. The new paper was a success. The cellar was soon abandoned for offices above the town bank. These were discarded later and the Enterprise moved into its own home, a one story frame building on Main street . . . . . . . Soon another paper, the Brighton News, started in competition with the Enterprise. This opened a prolonged warfare between the two papers, punctuated by scathing editorials, bitter words and numerous small-town intrigues. The Enterprise management, however, outlasted a series of News editors, and in 1914, after his father's death, Gale paid $1200 for the News and consolidated the two papers. Many humorous incidents marked the rivalry between the two papers. Once, when the postmaster of Brighton owned the News. Gale's father indulged in an editorial blast critical of some of the policies of the postmaster-publisher. The Enterprise was printed on schedule that week and was left at the postoffice for mailing. But no one got his paper. The postmaster apologized profusely to indignant subscribers and explained that the papers had not been properly mailed. The missing papers were found, but only after the rival News had been distributed a couple of days. Gale also recalls with a laugh the days when a strong church element in Brighton controlled the News. In order to fight the Enterprise more effectively, they imported a high-pressure editor from the city to control the destiny of their paper. The new editor proved to be a capable man, but to the dismay of his employers he was inclined to partake of the grape on occasions . . . Not wishing to dispense with so capable a man and not wanting his "unhappy affliction" to become common gossip, the owners watched over their editor like a mother hen guarding her brood. Each time the prodigal son strayed from the paths of sobriety he was promptly stored in an empty boxcar to "sleep it off." Occasionally he would awaken to find himself on a railroad siding halfway across the state, but he always

returned to carry on the battle for the News. This plan worked like a charm for many months. Then Gale's father learned of the opposing scribe's Bacchuslike tendencies and the next issue of the Enterprise printed a startling expose of the "frequent absences from town" of the editor of the News. . . .

The first press Gale can remember is the Prouty, known by old-timers as the "grasshopper" because of its convulsive jackknife motion while in operation. Printing a paper on the Prouty was a two-man job. One man inserted the sheets of paper in the press while another turned a large flywheel which animated the "grasshopper." The task of supplying hand power to the press was so arduous that it presented the chief labor problem of the day. Gale's father solved the problem by hiring the town half-wit who made up in brawn what he lacked in mental astuteness. "That fellow was the closest approach to perpetual motion I've ever seen," Gale recalls. "He flipped that flywheel around for hours at a time with all the nonchalance of a housewife operating a food chopper. He supplied the Enterprise's power for years, and his 35-cents-a-week salary was a mighty cheap rate . . . . My father never had a bank account in those early days. In fact, about the only time he had much money was the first of each year when everyone paid his bills. The farmers paid their subscriptions with wood and produce. The doctor gave us free medical attention in return for his business directory card. Our food and clothing was bought on credit and paid for each January."

The Enterprise was non-political in that it was tied to the fortune of no group or party and espoused no cause except prohibition, but it did not hesitate to take a strong stand on local issues, which were turbulently fought in those youthful and vigorous communities which had been the outermost frontier of the nation only a short generation before. In these battles Editor Heacock never hesitated to defend the Truth as he saw it, and his outspoken editorials gained him a state-wide reputation as a "General With a Pen." When his principles and convictions once required, he suffered a six month jail sentence and a heavy fine for criminal libel, rather than make peace with those he had offended by retracting what he believed true. The causes for which he fought may today seem inconsequental and some of his writing immature, but his uncompromising sincerity and strength of character require the same respect and admiration which they earned him during his lifetime. At the conclusion of his jail sentence, he found himself a candidate for Governor of Iowa (1900) on the United Christian ticket, and while that party could not bestow even a chance of winning the governorship, it could and did testify to the recognition which he had won as an exponent of Christian Truth.

"THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND"

For Charles Clement Heacock, Christianity was a mode of life, and the bible a code of ethics, rather than a theological or metaphysical system.

 

The spark of divinity or the bit of heaven which is within us all was most pronounced in Jesus, and his words, inspired by this larger contact with God, are the supreme guide for humanity. Joel Heacock founded his religion on his direct intuition of God's will, which may have been closer to original Quaker principles, but his son placed his faith in the Written Word of Christ.

In his bible studies, which were more intensive than those of the average preacher, Charles Clement Heacock reached the conclusion that Jesus was telling mankind how to live a happy life on earth, and this happy life is all there is to the Kingdom of Heaven. The idea of a life beyond the grave is a heathen heaven, which Jesus did not teach. The resurrection is a reawakening to a joyous life in the heaven on Earth after a life of sin equivalent to death.

Acceptance of the ethics of the New Testament is purely and simply a practical matter. Its precepts are to be followed because they bring the desired result--a joyous life--and they bring it the moment they are accepted and put into practice. There is no waiting and no promise of future reward for present suffering. God's Truth is invincible and those who succeed in recognizing it and have the courage to follow are rendered invulnerable. In his own words^(*):

Jesus said let the dead bury the dead. He had no time to devote to them. His time and work were for the living--to teach them how to live and come into that higher life of joy, and peace and good will on earth . . . . Jesus made this feature of his doctrine so prominent that some contemporary writers insist that he was materialistic and did not believe in a future existence at all, after a dissolution of this body. But we find that he taught an ideal life here on earth as the best possible preparation for anything that might come afterwards, as well as for the great advantage of living that life now. The first great Truth he taught then, as the foundation of his doctrine, was that the Kingdom of Heaven is within you, and that men should turn their eyes from visions beyond the grave and search for heaven nearer at hand. . . .

By teaching that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, he made it clear that all the good things attainable now, here on this earth are blessings reserved for those who obey God; while all misfortune, bad luck, calamity and crushed hopes are the sure penalty of disobedience. This means that every misfortune that overtakes you, every disappointment in life, is the result of your refusal or neglect to obey some injunction of the Almighty . . . . No man who obeys God will ever be without plenty of money at all times for all his needs; no man or devil, nor even the elements, can deprive him of any of these things; his home comforts cannot be assailed or disturbed in any way, nor can his business or means of livelihood be diverted by friend or foe . . . . The all-important point is to understand what are God's commands, and not to be mislead by the commandments of men that are often taught as the commandments of God. The bible, especially the New Testament, is the reliable source, and each must read for himself. The assurance that God will not let a true believer suffer is an insurance policy worth more to a Christian than banks full of fleeting money for these may fail you while God's promise is absolutely certain. . . .

The man who says, "I know that is the right thing to do, or say, but I will not do it because if I do I will lose business, lose friends and gain vicious enemies who may even send me to prison"; that man cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven . . . . All Christians must pass through these persecutions. They are the salt of the earth and if they flinch, halt or deviate a hair's breadth from the truth on account of persecutions they are like salt that has lost its savour . . . . Instead of fleeing from these persecutions we must invite them . . . These persecutions are invited to prove to the world that a Christian, unlike other people, cannot be injured by the most powerful combination of vicious men with the machinery of human courts all in their own hands. After that is proven, people will not be so timid about following Jesus wherever he leads . . . .

If you "seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and His righteousness all these things will be added unto you." This is no theological gush said for effect, but a great Truth spoken by Jesus himself. If you believe him, never fear to do right, or to do as Jesus did no matter who forbids. Pay no attention to the dictum of any man, judge or jury, who dares to bar your way on the straight and narrow path. If Jesus leads let no man turn you aside, and God will see you safely through uninjured by either powerful or vicious enemies . . . .

Their (the Apostles') work was to teach men how to live and enjoy life to its utmost and thus to accomplish the purpose God had in view in creating the human race. Christianity is the science of human happiness on earth and this is what Jesus sent the twelve forth to teach . . . .

His next instruction to the twelve was "And as ye go, preach saying the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." The burden of their addresses must be to tell the people that the Kingdom of Heaven is not an imaginary place far away to be reached only after death of the body at some future time; but it is now actually here and accessible for them instantly, if they would but accept the teachings of Jesus and practice them. His was a spiritual Kingdom which he was to set up here on earth. Every believer who obeyed Jesus and followed him would instantly enter that Kingdom, or condition of peace and joy which is unknown to the average citizen who follows his natural bent of mind through life. It was the Way of Life Jesus taught--how to live, not how to die. The Apostles were empowered and instructed to "heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils." This was the mental process of purification which sinners must go through before they can enter the Kingdom of Heaven even though it is at hand. It is some defect or disease of the spiritual body--(there is a natural body and there is a spiritual body, Paul says) which causes all mental suffering; and such suffering is hell, while joy is heaven. It was the mission of the Apostles to point out these mental or spiritual defects in individuals and cure them, by imparting a faith in the better way.

Charles Clement Heacock accepted no organized religion. He regarded public charity as hypocrisy and the reformer as a pervert. The judge who harangues the prisoner is unconsciously telling what he himself would have done under the same circumstances. Presumably he would have said that the hell-fire preaching evangelist, of which there then were many, was himself in mortal fear of damnation for sins he knew he had committed in his heart. From the same series of articles already quoted:

We fail to find where Jesus ever required a formal worship or profession of religion, while his sayings are full of reproofs for all kinds of mouth worship . . . . God does not listen to words but hears the throbbing of a pure heart and the unuttered desire of an obedient, honest child. The true Christian prayer can be nothing more than a true desire for good to come, and a looking towards God with an unselfish purpose . . . . it is hard to see how anyone can participate in a public prayer and still claim to be a follower of Jesus . . . . If one man owns more than he can use of houses and lands some other man must do with less than he needs, for God has only provided enough for all. Those who have an excess are burdened with the care of it and suffer even more than those who have too little . . . . If any so-called work of charity is to be done a society is organized or committees appointed which sounds a trumpet before it and solicits money in as public a manner as possible, working that special feature for all it is worth. If Jesus is authority on this subject men who contribute under such circumstances get no more credit from the Almighty than if the money had been spent at the poker table . . . . Judges on the bench or elsewhere who expatiate upon the guilt of a prisoner before them, are unconsciously telling what they themselves would have done had they been in the prisoner's place. A mob which hangs or burns its victims at the stake is composed of men who under the same circumstances and surrounded by the same temptations would have committed the same crime. They may be mistaken in their man or even in the crime being committed at all, but if the crime lies dormant in their own hearts waiting for the temptation to bring it out, it will be real to them and the mob must proceed to wreak its vengeance . . . . It is a popular idea that everybody should try to do something for humanity. Belong to some church or society to help others to be good, but never bother about ourselves. Jesus taught a different doctrine. Never mind others but see that your own heart is pure . . . .

No wonder a "strong church element" supported the opposition Brighton News. A drunken editor was much less obnoxious to such people than the prohibitionist Editor Heacock, who used his bible studies to picture them as rogues, hypocrites and misguided fools.

On November 8, 1914, Charles Clement Heacock died of a heart ailment, and was buried in Hillcrest Cemetery in Brighton, Iowa. The generation of fighting editors, which he exemplified, died with him. The opposition newspaper died too, and his enemies, and the crooked judge who sent him to jail, followed him, one by one, on the journey from which no one returns. His triumphs and his defeats alike are forgotten, and soon not even his name will be remembered in the little town where he was once known intimately to everyone--either as friend or antagonist.

The generation which followed, was less turbulent. His son, Gale, carried on in the profession into which Charles Clement had entered, as he said, by chance. Tired out by the burden of conducting two newspaper plants during the Second World War, when labor was unobtainable, Gale too has passed on, leaving friends only, where his father left also enemies. As individuals they adapted themselves to the conditions of their times, and were successful in their fields. Together they have established the newspaper profession as a tradition in the Heacock family, where, may we hope, it will flourish for many years to come.