Bill Johnston, the Farmingdale Village Historian, asked me if I would give a brief history of the founding of the Farmingdale Post for a "Minute of History" at the Village Pops Concert Series. I believe he asked me to do this for two reasons: first, I was informed that it is about the 25th anniversary of the last publication of the Farmingdale Post. Secondly, this community newspaper was founded by my grandparents, Jesse and Mabel Merritt.

It would be best, therefore, if I started with them. Mabel Merritt was the editor and Jesse was the publisher. On the surface it would appear that they were of contrasting backgrounds, but in reality they perfectly complemented each other. Mabel (Witte) Merritt was from Brooklyn, the daughter of a lawyer. She graduated from Vassar College in 1908 and went on to obtain her law degree from New York University in 1911. Her first job was assistant to the president of Columbia University. She conducted law lectures at Columbia University and worked part time with the secretary of the Columbia University Press. She also conducted law lectures for women at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. She came to Farmingdale to make her home when her husband, Jesse, returned from service in Europe during WWI.

Jesse was the local boy whose family dates back over 300 years to a Quaker ancestor, Thomas Powell, who settled in the Farmingdale area in 1687. Jesse was a self-educated man. He had a passion for books and local history and he collected friends like a magnet collects iron filings. Throughout his life, Jesse was recognized as a leading authority on local and New York State history. He was a man of letters and corresponded with Presidents, including Coolidge and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and many notable artists, writers, poets, academics and people of all walks of life and, of course, his favorite, schoolchildren.

I am not sure what led to their pursuit of starting a newspaper, but it fits their interests and personalities like a glove. Both Jesse and Mabel were deeply involved in community activities, civic organizations, interfaith groups and promoting many ideas that would improve the lives of its citizens, while, of course, preserving the community's unique historical heritage. But one day Jesse and Mabel decided the Village of Farmingdale needed and would greatly benefit from its own newspaper devoted to local news and concerns. With the help of Paul Bailey, a local veteran newspaperman, they began their plans for publishing a newspaper.

The year was 1920 when the Post was launched. It was an exciting time to be alive. The Armistice had just been signed ending WWI. The air was full of hope and the economy was swinging from wartime industry to a consumer economy. By the time the first issue of the Farmingdale Post "hit the stands" the population of Farmingdale had already tripled in the past 10 years.

The Post first set up in rented space in a building on the east side of North Main Street opposite the former site of the original post office, then later moved to its own building on Front Street. The first copy was printed in November of 1920. It consisted of four pages and included a history of the village, along with many congratulatory letters from prominent local citizens, including Benjamin Youkum, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., Village Justice Willis B. Carman, Weldon E. Howitt and other notable citizens of Farmingdale.

Of particular interest were the paid advertisements, which included C.O. Schmidt Hardware, Leo Canda, First National Bank, Fred Koop, butcher, Fulton Truck Company, De Marco's Department Store, Farmingdale Amusement Palace (William Rathgeber) and Harry Ketcham, blacksmith and horse shoeing. By the fourth year the Post became a thriving eight-page newspaper. Advertising columns were full, including such merchants as Farmingdale Auto Sales calling attention to a new Ford sedan selling for $625. The Post was growing along with the community.

In this first issue the editor, Mabel Merritt, related her experience when canvassing the community as to the interests or expectations of having a community paper and how she encountered the "spirit of Farmingdale - we met, with exceedingly few exceptions, a spirit of kindly interests and pride. No one inquired our religion or politics. All assumed that our creed would be for a square deal and that our purpose would be to benefit the village, first, last and all the time." And that was the way they ran their newspaper.

Without doubt, one of the most effective and positive roles a community newspaper can provide beyond its primary function of providing local news and information, is in supporting and promoting ideas and plans that will benefit the community and make it a better place to live. The Farmingdale Post certainly exercised this option in supporting numerous programs, including the Agricultural School (Farmingdale State University, now SUNY at Farmingdale), supporting the Long Island Parks Commission to purchase land for the creation of Bethpage State Park and encouraging business and industry to set up in the area. However, it was the urging and organizing of the first official public library that Mabel and Jesse Merritt were most proud of. This first organizational meeting was held in the Merritt's home on North Main Street with strong backing from the Women's Club of Farmingdale.

Another important function a local paper provides is the recording and preservation of local news, people and events that otherwise would never be recorded. The local paper becomes a tremendous historical resource document that otherwise would be lost forever.

In the 15th year Anniversary Edition of the Farmingdale Post, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. wrote a column that praises the value of the local community when he stated that, "When all is said and all is done in this world, it is those things which are mostly associated with us in our everyday life, which have the dominating influence." This sentiment was also shared by Reverend Joseph (Haldemyer) of Saint Kilians in the same anniversary issue in a salutation to the editors of the Farmingdale Post, where he wrote, "In conjunction with many other appreciative citizens, may I extend my sincere felicitations for the splendid endeavors to serve most faithfully the interest of our community and to chronicle in such a charming manner the personal events of its citizens in your Postscripts." (explanation)

In this 15th Anniversary tribute issue, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. again spoke eloquently when he reminded us of the power and responsibility of a newspaper: "It can influence the attitude of thought toward all new movements and impulses that are growing in the community." We have seen how it can influence good movements and impulses, but on occasion the editors of the Post have had to address the negative movements and impulses as well. In the January 18th, 1924 edition, the Merritts wrote an editorial entitled "Ignorance and illiteracy are fertile for bigotry and prejudice." This was in response to the growing influence of the Ku Klux Klan in the Farmingdale area. While some people considered the Klan as patriotic citizens who were defending a certain culture and set of values, my grandparents had views of their own and wrote an editorial condemning prejudice, bigotry and reminding us that we were all immigrants to this country at one time or another. My grandparents awoke the next morning to find a "calling card," a ring of burned out candles on their front lawn. It was a sobering experience.

In 1935, the Merritts sold their interest in the Farmingdale Post. Mabel returned full-time to her law practice and Jesse to his pursuit of preserving and documenting local history. It was the experience of their lifetime and all of the community benefited from this noble cause.

(Editor’s Note: Minute of Farmingdale History is a series of lectures about local history being presented at the Farmingdale Village Pops concert series on the Village Green on Wednesday evenings throughout the summer. This installment was featured at the July 26 concert.)