Kenosha News - Bob The Evening News Dog

Bob The Evening News Dog

Editor-publisher Frank Haydon Hall had just three employees when the Kenosha Evening News started in 1894. A decade later, the staff had grown to a half dozen -- and Bob the Evening News Dog. According to legend, Bob, “a dog of genial nature and remarkable intelligence,” was brought to Kenosha as a pup around 1898, probably by the editor. For a dozen years, he was a regular fixture in the newspaper office.

Bob visited downtown shopkeepers and wagged greetings to countless friends, particularly the children. He had a reputation as “champion rat dog of the city,” which he proved by keeping the Evening News and neighboring buildings mostly rodent-free.

When the old dog died, October 7, 1910, his passing was marked with a page one eulogy: “He was taken with his fatal malady on Thursday and paid his last visit to his old haunts during the afternoon ... and when he reached his bed, he never left it. Death came as a result of advanced years. A good dog, a companionable little fellow, he will be greatly missed by those who had been accustomed to see him daily during his life!”