- BURTON F. NOWLAN, managing editor of the Janesville Daily
Gazette, and secretary of the
- Gazette printing Co., is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar F.
NOWLAN, and was born in Janesville, June 1, 1870. He attended
the city schools until 1884, when he injured one of his knees
while at play, and for the next five years was an invalid, being
confined to the house nearly all the time. As a source of amusement
he was given an amateur printing press, the outfit costing three
dollars. He took a liking to the toy at once, and, by soliciting
work, and adding to his outfit from time to time, soon had more
business than he could attend to. He then sold his amateur office,
inventorying more than $250, and made arrangement with the late
Garrett VEEDER, the veteran publisher and printer, for the use
of his material on shares. Under Mr. VEEDER's guidance Mr. NOWLAN
mastered the printer's art in all its branches, learning the
trade from its foundation. He remained with Mr. VEEDER until
October, 1880, when he left him to enter the employment of the
Gazette Printing Co., as a reporter. By following the teachings
of John C. SPENCER, then city editor of the Gazette, Mr.
NOWLAN made rapid progress, and a few years later became news
editor of the paper. He held this position until January, 1898,
when he became managing editor.
- It was as a reporter that Mr. NOWLAN first showed the stuff
of which he was made. Hearing
- that an accident had happened at the gas works, he hastened
thither. It was late on the afternoon of April 18, 1891, and
on the way he met Cornelius RYAN, of the fire department, and
accompanied him to the scene of the accident. Arriving at the
gas works, they found that three men - H. E. MERRILL, superintendent
of the company; William FARMER, his assistant, and Fred HENRICH,
the engineer - had been overcome by gas and were lying senseless
in the cellar at the foot of a narrow winding stairway. NOWLAN
and RYAN hastened into the basement and rescued HENRICH, but
were nearly overcome themselves. They stuck to the task, however,
and succeeded in rescuing FARMER also. By this time both were
exceedingly weak, and while Mr. NOWLAN fought for breath in the
street, Mr. RYAN staggered to the telephone, in another part
of the plant, to summon help. Mr. NOWLAN arrested the attention
of a passer-by, William IRWIN, by motioning, and with his assistance
undertook to remove Mr. MERRILL, who was still in the basement.
Together they descended the stairs, and while Mr. IRWIN was lifting
Mr. MERRILL up the stairs, Mr. NOWLAN undertook to life his feet
clear of the stairs and the railing, but he fell back on the
floor unconscious. He was soon missed by the others, and as an
immense crowd had gathered by that time, was quickly brought
forth into the open air. All recovered, but if Mr. NOWLAN's newspaper
instinct had not impelled him to make haste the three would undoubtedly
have died before the arrival of help.
- As an editorial writer, Mr. NOWLAN has been as successful
as he was in his news work. He is
- not afraid to speak his mind at all times. He lays no claim
to a command of flowery language, but aims to make his meaning
clear, in which he has apparently succeeded, as some of his political
articles have been widely copied and endorsed by the press of
the State. Mr. NOWLAN realized from the first that he would be
greatly handicapped in life by his lack of education, as he left
school when he was only fourteen years old, and accordingly set
about a systematic course of reading. The first money that he
ever earned went to buy Dickens' works, a set of books he now
values more than any other on his library shelves.
- On June 24, 1894, Mr. NOWLAN was married to Miss Jessie E.
MERRILL, the youngest
- daughter of Hon. and Mrs. Hiram MERRILL. They have two children,
Louise Marlette and Hiram Merrill. They reside in their own pretty,
modern house at the corner of South Bluff and South Second streets.
Mr. NOWLAN is a lover of the rod and gun, and is secretary and
treasurer of the Carcajou Shooting Club, a corporation owning
a duck shooting preserve at Lake Koshkonong. He is also president
of the Janesville Trap Shooting Club.
- There is an object lesson for young men in Mr. NOWLAN's career.
Although he began life
- without education, and in very poor health, he has made the
trip, in ten short years, from the amateur printing press to
the desk of the managing editor of one of the oldest and most
influential newspapers in the State. At the time he assumed his
present duties he was probably the youngest man in Wisconsin
to occupy so important and responsible a position.
-
- Taken from "Commemorative Biographical Record of
the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin"
(c)1901, pp. 278-279.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
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