19th century journalists could be as nasty as today’s radio talk show hosts.

I was curious to learn more about a lovely room at my church (Princeton United Methodist). We are renovating the ground floor of our century-old building, and the Sanford Davis room — which opens onto Nassau Street and onto the sanctuary — is getting lots of use.

I found a fascinating and laudatory account of Charles H. Sanford in a book on PUMC’s history by the late Ruth Woodward. And because a tribute book to Sanford was auctioned last June, additional material has surfaced. A unsigned New Zealand newspaper article castigated his business practices in Brazil and excoriated him as a “Yankee drummer” (salesperson) “for the sale of pills and toilet preprations.” Here is my post with links to the New Zealand article. Fair and balanced? You decide.