Townsend, W. B. (1855-1933)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1933 Jun 21 p. 1

Birth date: 1855

text of obituary:

Edits Paper For 40 Years But Never Writes Copy.

Dahlonega, Ga. — W. B. Townsend, who never wrote a line of copy but edited and published a newspaper single handed for more than 40 years, died in the printshop of his “Dahlonega Nugget.”

The 78-year-old survivor of a past era of personal journalism sat down to rest on a chair between his ancient printer’s stone, where he had set millions of lines of type, composing as he picked out the letters, and a little hand press where he turned out papers. He didn’t get up.

“The editor is sick.” was the last news story he ever “wrote”.

The single line was the last item in a column of local news in this week’s Nugget.

A printer’s helper here in the days when Dahlonega was a booming gold mine town with a government mint, Townsend wanted to be a publisher. He had not much education, and little money, but he set himself up and for nearly half a century the “Nugget” appeared weekly. The pungent comments by “W. B. Townsend, editor and prop.” came to be widely quoted in other publications.