On April 28, 1881, 22 men signed the charted and were mustered into the Grand Army of the Republic as Post Number 18. That night, James Anderson was elected the post's first commander. They took the name of Capt. Horace M. Walker as their post name.

"In accordance with public anticipation, we this day issue the first number of the first newspaper ever published in this county. ... When we agreed to hazard the undertaking, we had never set foot on the soil of Manitowoc, or even seen an inhabitant of the county. We did so from reliable representations of its past history, present position, business advantages and prospective advancement." Those words were written by C.W. Fitch, the first editor and printer of the Weekly Herald, considered the first newspaper of the growing Manitowoc community.