The printer's devil

A.E. Huls, Millville, Ohio

A. E. Huls was understandably upset. Not only was his son dead, but now his dead son's name was attached to a growing scandal.

My great-grandfather, Alpheus Eugene Huls, was born in 1866 after his father returned from the Civil War. A. E., or Gene, started his printing company (above) where he also published the Millville Tomahawk out of a tiny office in Millville (later Rockbridge) in 1883. To supplement his income he was issued one-year teaching certificates in 1885 and 1886. He eventually moved to Logan, Ohio where he published the Logan Republican and ran the Huls Printing Co.

Charley was born Dec. 13, 1902 in Logan, Ohio to Gene and Anna Rebecca Troxel Huls. He was Gene's first surviving child from his second marriage. Grandpa followed on Aug. 10, 1904. They, and their older half-brother Walter Harrison Huls, were groomed to become printers and newspaper publishers.

However, the boys had other plans. Walter became a life-long teacher and Grandpa was more interested in his erector sets and wanted to become an engineer. That left Charley, who thankfully wanted to follow in his father's footsteps.

Charley started as a printer's devil -- an apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of menial tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type. Grandpa worked there too, but his heart wasn't in it.

After Charley graduated from Logan High School in 1921, he enrolled at Ohio State University in its Commerce and Journalism program, where he quickly became involved with the university newspaper and yearbook. Grandpa enrolled there as an engineering student the following year.

Neither got to follow their dreams.

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