I'm a little devil

A.E. Huls about 1883 in Millville, Ohio.

I have yet another job description. I am now a printer's devil!

A printer's devil was an apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of menial tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type.

You need proof?

Here's an old photo of Momma's great-grandfather, A.E. Huls, in the doorway of his first printshop in Millville (later Rockbridge), Ohio where he published the Millville Tomahawk. He eventually moved to Logan, Ohio where he published the Logan Republican and ran the Huls Printing Co.

According to the Nov. 10, 1911 edition of the Democrat Sentinel:

After 10 years of having a Democrat for mayor, a Republican was elected - Mr. Huls, Editor of The Logan Republican. It was said that the Logan federation of labor unions toward the end lined up for Huls, because he carried a card as a union printer, and some of the liberal element of the town who were opposed to the other candidate for other reasons, threatened the liberals that if the other candidate were reelected they would vote dry at the coming county election.

The Huls Building (51 E. Main, Logan, OH 43138) was constructed in 1923. It was the first fire-proof building in Logan. Publisher of the Logan Republican newspaper since 1908, Huls’ building also housed his commercial printing business.

Huls planned to operated his printing business as Huls and Sons with the help of his sons, Charlie and Fred. Sadly, Charlie died Jan. 31, 1925 from strychnine poison contained in medicine obtained at the Ohio State University dispensary while completing his final semester in journalism.

Tragedy continued to haunt Momma's family. In the Aug. 1, 1934 Circleville Herald:

FORMER PUBLISHER DIES OF INJURIES
A. E. Huls, Logan, Succumbs In Hospital While Son Is Hunted Through West 

Alpheus E. Huls, 68, former publisher of the Logan Republican and a personal friend of J. W. Johnson, N. Court St., died in Grant hospital injuries he received a week ago in an automobile wreck near Athens.

Mrs. Huls, who was injured at the same time, is reported in serious condition. She has a fractured skull and a broken shoulder.

Frantic efforts are being made to find their son, Fred, who, with his wife and daughter, is touring the west. He does not know of his parents tragedy. He is the present publisher of the newspaper.

Mr. Huls succumbed of a blood clot in the heart artery. He served as inspector of the Division of Workshops and Factories under the late Governor Frank B. Willis and was a former post master and mayor of Logan for two terms.

Mrs. Huls also died from her injuries. Their son Fred continued to publish the paper until the 1940s, closing when he joined the Navy in World War II, and ran the printing business a number of years after that with the help of his son Fritz.

Although no longer in Ohio, Momma is the fourth generation of printers in the Huls family. So I get to be her devil at the new Huls Printing Co.

Hey, that's how Mark Twain got his start!