From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sunday Mercury (New York)
Sunday Mercury (New York)
Sunday Mercury
Type Weekly newspaper (1839–1893)
Daily (1893–1896)
Format broadsheet
Founded 1839
Ceased publication 1896
Headquarters Manhattan
Circulation 145,000 (1861)
OCLC number 9588307
The Sunday Mercury (1839–1896) (sometimes referred to
as the New York Sunday Mercury was a weekly Sunday
Mercury)
newspaper published in New York City that grew to be-
come the highest-circulation weekly newspaper in the
United States at its peak.[1] It was known for publishing
and popularizing the work of many notable 19th century
writers including Charles Farrar Browne and Robert Hen- Lorenzo Dow (1777-1834), the inspiration for the comic "Short
ry Newell, and was the first Eastern paper to publish Patent Sermons" written by Elbridge G. Paige under the name
Mark Twain.[2] It was also the first newspaper to provide "Dow Jr." in the Mercury
regular coverage of baseball, and was popular for the ex-
tensive war correspondence from soldiers it published Elbridge Gerry Paige (1813-1859) and Samuel Nichols
during the Civil War. (1809?-1854) were the two key editors of the Mercury in
its early years,[4][6] and Augustus Krauth joined them as a
one-third owner in 1842.[7]
History
Early years
Prior to 1825, no American newspapers published edi-
tions on Sunday, out of respect to Sabbath. Over time,
however, this created a niche for weekly newspapers
published on Sunday to flourish.[3][4]
The Mercury originated as the Sunday Morning Visiter,
and was first published on May 12, 1839. By 1840, it
changed its name to the Sunday Mercury.[4] It initially
gained some notice for its theatrical coverage and so-
called "machine poetry" (a 19th century euphemism for
slavishly following the "rules" of poetry without any in-
spiration).[5] By the fall of 1842 the paper had a circula-
tion of 3,000, ranking it third among New York’s Sunday Top half of front page of August 5, 1849 Sunday Mercury
papers, trailing the New York Herald’s Sunday edition and
The Atlas.[5] By the summer of 1844, the Herald took note Paige had success with his Short Patent Sermons pub-
of the growth of the Sunday papers, calling them "partly lished in the paper (from its outset) under the pseudo-
literary, partly gossiping, partly silly, partly smart, partly nym "Dow Junior" (a reference to famous eccentric
stupid, partly namby-pamby."[4] preacher Lorenzo Dow who died in 1834),[6][8] which lit-
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sunday Mercury (New York)
erary magazines such as The Knickerbocker lauded for and sports.[1] Sylvester Southworth and Horace P. Whit-
their for their odd and original wit.[9][10] Paige left the ney (1834- August 24, 1884)[18] soon joined as additional
paper in 1849 and went to California, where he continued editors, and the paper began to prosper.[1]
to publish Dow Jr. sermons in The Golden Era[11], but ulti- Cauldwell and the Mercury are credited as being the
mately was unsuccessful there and is said to have died in first newspaper to regularly cover the sport of baseball as
extreme poverty in 1859.[6] news, starting in 1853 with a report on a game between
Nichols was born in Hampstead, England around 1809 the Knickerbockers and the Gothams. (For some time,
and after coming to New York City was eventually in- this 1853 report was thought to be first game ever report-
stalled as the editor of the New Times, an organ of the ed on by the press, but later 20th century scholarship has
"Conservatives" political party.[12] After that venture located an 1845 report in the Herald.)[19][20][21][22][23] The
failed, he joined the Sunday Mercury and grew it with paper was the first to use the phrase "national pastime",
Paige.[12] His work focused on the theater.[4] Nichols in December 1856.[24] In 1858, Cauldwell hired rising star
stayed with the paper until his death in September 1854, Henrick Chadwick, later dubbed the "father of baseball",
when he was run over after unsuccessfully trying to to cover the sport for the paper.[25]
board a Third Avenue Railway car.[12] By early 1861, the Mercury’s circulation was 145,000,
Krauth, the other one-third owner of the paper, died but the advent of Civil War cut off about 90,000 of them
in November 1857.[13] located in the southern and western United States.[1][2]
Cauldwell hit upon an idea for expanding their war cov-
Growth, Baseball, and War erage with little expense. In April 1861, the paper made
an announcement inviting soldiers to send in their re-
ports about the war, and over 3,000 were published dur-
ing the course of the war as a weekly feature.[1][3] The
soldiers would receive a free copy of the paper for their
contributions. In 2000, Civil War historian William B. Sty-
ple compiled 500 of the letters in a book, Writing and Fight-
ing the Civil War: Soldier Correspondence to the New York Sun-
day Mercury.[3]
In 1873, Rowell’s American Newspaper Directory stated
that with a circulation of 45,000, "the circulation of the
Sunday Mercury exceeds that of any other Sunday or daily
newspaper in America without exception, and more than
triples the combined issues of all the other Sunday jour-
nals published in New York."[26]
Southworth retired from the paper before the end of
the war, and Whitney departed around 1876 due to poor
health, leaving Cauldwell solely in charge.[1] In addition
to running the paper Cauldwell also held political office,
serving in the New York State Senate from 1868 to 1879,
and also serving as Bronx supervisor.[15][27]
Ill-fated expansion and collapse
By the early 1890s, competition with the New York daily
papers had increased. The paper responded by introduc-
ing a one cent daily newspaper dubbed the Daily Mercury,
billed as a Democratic paper, in January
1893.[28][29][30][31] The new venture was quickly losing
money, however. Cauldwell apparently began to borrow
William Cauldwell, the "father of Sunday journalism"[14] funds from the estate of millionaire Jason Rogers, of
which he was a co-trustee with his son-in-law Thomas
In 1850, William Cauldwell (1824-1907)[15][14] purchased Rogers, to try to keep the paper afloat.[32] Some sources
Paige’s one-third ownership stake[16] in the paper for reported that it was Jason Rogers’ and Cauldwell’s mutual
$1,200.[1] Cauldwell had gotten into the newspaper field grandson (also named Jason Rogers) who convinced
by doing typsetting work, and worked at the New York Cauldwell to expand the paper in the first place.[32] The
Sunday Atlas from 1841-49.[1][17] Cauldwell expanded the younger Rogers, for his part, later blamed the failure of
paper and increased its coverage of literature, city news, the paper on a decision by the "boss" to launch the daily
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sunday Mercury (New York)
edition as a morning paper, upsetting carefully laid plans ject which Noble had bought out of foreclosure in 1893
and a large number of advance subscriptions for a paper and completed) in exchange for the paper.[39][40]
based on afternoon publication.[28][15] (Rogers later went News reports from mid-1895 reported that "silver
on to transform the Commercial Advertiser into The New men", whose support in the East had been limited, had
York Globe, and helped found the Audit Bureau of Circula- now purchased the paper to be their organ.[41][42][43][44]
tions.[33]) Although the paper did advocate in support of free silver
in 1895, it appears the anticipated sale to "silver men" fell
apart, as Noble had to file for bankruptcy in 1899 due to
his Mercury debts.[45][46]
The Mercury offices on Park Row, circa 1894
During this same period (early-mid 1895), Adolph
Ochs, then-editor of the Chattanooga Times, was invited to
become editor and half-owner of the Mercury in its "free
silver" campaign.[38][47] Ochs turned the offer down, in
Richard Croker, who influenced the Mercury after consolida- part because of his own support for the gold standard.[47]
tion with his Daily America in 1894 The paper was then offered to Ochs for outright sale, but
that also did not come to fruition when it turned out that
In May 1893, Richard Croker, a leader of New York the Mercury could not assure that its rights to press asso-
City’s Tammany Hall political machine, jumped into the ciation copy would transfer to a new owner.[48][49] Ochs
newspaper field and created The Daily America devoted to remained on the lookout for a New York paper, however,
politics to trumpet Tammany’s views (though it also cov- and in August 1896 he purchased the then also-struggling
ered sports; Croker was a big horse racing enthusiast).[34] New York Times.[48]
The other Democratic papers in the city balked at the The Mercury ceased publishing altogether under that
new competition, however, and Croker turned over the that name around late 1896. Some older sources state the
paper to the Mercury by the end of the year.[35] In January paper failed in 1895, but it was being published well into
1894, The New York Times reported that the two papers 1896, though it was certainly on its last legs. On Septem-
had "consolidated" (and that some of "the gentlemen" ber 20, 1896, the New York Times reported that the of-
involved in the America would retain an interest) and fice of the Mercury "was still closed last night"[50] and the
would henceforth be published as The Daily America on Chicago Tribune printed on September 28 that the "free
weekdays with the Sunday Mercury below in small type, silver sentiment in New York was not even warm enough
and reversed on Sundays.[36] to prevent the fail of the New York Mercury."[51]
In August 1894, Cauldwell, now almost 70, gave up ed- When Cauldwell died in 1907, the New York Tribune
itorial control with his grandson Jason Rogers stepping in called him "the father of Sunday journalism."[14]
as publisher, and James F. Graham taking on the editorial
duties.[37] The paper also dropped the Daily America title,
although it remained a Democratic paper.[37]
Rebirth as the Morning Tele-
The paper continued to lose money (reportedly about graph
$2000 a week),[38] and in March 1895 Cauldwell sold out
By end of 1896, the operations of the Mercury were taken
to William Noble in a somewhat unusual exchange,
over and redubbed the New York Morning Telegraph, fo-
where he received a hotel called the Hotel Empire (a pro-
cusing on sporting (especially horse racing) and theatri-
cal news much as the Mercury had been doing at that
3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sunday Mercury (New York)
point.[15][28][52] According to one account published in and a number of additional pieces were published in
1940, the name change came about when Tammany Hall 1867.[2][58][16]
gave $10,000 to writer Blakely Hall, "to run it with the Newell, who wrote under the name "Orpheus C. Kerr"
understanding that he was not to get a nickel more. Hall (a play on "office seeker"), served for a time as the liter-
threw out the Mercury title, called the ’new’ sheet the ary editor of the Mercury, until around 1862. His satirical
Morning Telegraph, hired (Leander) Richardson as manag- weekly columns started in Mercury and gained national
ing editor, and put it out as a daily sporting and theatri- fame,[59][60] so much so that President Abraham Lincoln
cal newspaper."[53] once remarked of Kerr’s writings that “anyone who has
The Telegraph went on to become a successful paper not read them is a heathen.”[61]
and was published until shut down during a strike in Celebrated actress Adah Isaacs Menken contributed
1972. The Telegraph considered itself a continuation of a series of poems to the Mercury in 1860-61, as well as a
the Mercury, though along the way it somehow backdated piece praising Walt Whitman and Leaves of Grass in 1860
its claimed date of founding from 1839 to 1833.[54] as "centuries ahead of his contemporaries".[62][63][64]
Starting in the mid 1870s, John W. Overall (1822-1899)
Noted contributors and legacy served as literary editor of the paper (until at least 1890).
A Southerner, Overall is best known for his pre-Civil War
writing supporting the South.[65][66][67][68]
Historian James W. Cook, in a 2005 compilation of
writings by P. T. Barnum (of circus fame, who also ap-
peared in the Mercury), notes that in the mid 1860s, the
Mercury was "ubiquitous, with a masthead claim of the
largest weekly circulation in America," yet today publica-
tions such as the Mercury, which contained few illustra-
tions, are difficult to locate in library collections. [57]
Chronology of editors and pub-
lishers
• :
• 1855: Krauth, Cauldwell & Southworth
• 1858-61: Cauldwell, Southworth & Whitney
• 1867: Cauldwell & Whitney
• 1876: William Cauldwell
• 1894: James F. Graham
Robert Henry Newell, aka Orpheus C. Kerr, circa 1864, whose • :
humorous writings first drew national attention in the Sunday • 1839: E.G. Paige & J.H. Wilson
Mercury • 1839-40: Paige, Wilson & Nichols
• 1840-41: Paige & Nichols
Aside from the Short Patent Sermons which brought ac- • 1842-48: Paige, Nichols & Krauth
claim to Paige’s "Dow Jr." pseudonym in the 1840s, the • 1854-55: Krauth & Cauldwell
Mercury went on to publish the work of many leading • 1855: Krauth, Cauldwell & Southworth
19th century writers, and was at times the first to in- • 1858-61: Cauldwell, Southworth & Whitney
troduce them to New York and national audiences, in- • 1862-70: Cauldwell & Whitney
cluding Mark Twain, Josh Billings, Charles Farrar Browne • 1876: William Cauldwell[69]
(Artemus Ward), Robert Henry Newell (Orpheus C. • 1894: Jason Rogers, grandson of Cauldwell
Kerr),[55] Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Charles Godfrey Leland,
David Ross Locke (Petroleum V. Nasby), [15][56] Ned Bunt- References
line, and Mortimer Thomson (Doesticks).[57] Though
most of those names are not familiar today, all became [1] ^ Styple, William B. Writing & Fighting the Civil
well-known popular writers of the time. War: Soldier Correspondence to the New York
Mark Twain’s first writing published in the East ap- Sunday Mercury, p. 9-11 (2000) (ISBN
peared in the Mercury in 1864 (prior to his success in 978-1883926137)
1865 with The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County),
4
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sunday Mercury (New York)
[2] ^ Caron, James E. Mark Twain: unsanctified November 1, 2010 (citing Henry Chadwick as
newspaper reporter, p.166 (2008)(ISBN reporting that the Mercury was the first paper
978-0826218025) covering baseball, with Cauldwell regularly
[3] ^ Goode, Stephen (26 March 2001) Styple Delivers reporting on games played in New York City)
News From Civil war Front, Insight on the News, [24] Tygiel, Jules. Past Time: Baseball As History, p.3 (Oxfor
Retrieved November 2, 2010 University Press 2000)(Paperback, 2001, ISBN
[4] ^ Hudson, Frederic. Journalism in the United 978-0195146042)
States, from 1690-1872, p.339-40 (1873) [25] Spink, Alfred Henry. The national game, p. 356
[5] ^ Lee, Alfred McClung. The Daily Newspaper In (1911)
America, p.392 (1937) [26] Rowell’s American Newspaper Directory, p.153
[6] ^ Library of universal knowledge, Volume XI, p.175 (1873)
(1881) [27] Reilly, Brendan (18 March 2009). Noyac house
[7] (22 January 1842) Our Weekly Gossip, Brother nominated to historic registers, Southampton Press,
Jonathan, p.101 Retrieved November 8, 2010 (noting Cauldwell’s
[8] Paige, Elbridge Gerry. Short Patent Sermons by political positions; article focus on proposal to
’Dow Jr.’ (1845) place his summer home in Noyack, New York built
[9] Lorenzo Dow’s Successor, The Knickerbocker in 1892 on the national and New York registers of
(November 1840, pp.449-51) historical places)
[10] Bryant, John. Melville and repose: the rhetoric of [28] ^ Rogers, Jason. Newspaper building, p.78-80 (1918)
humor in the American Renaissance, p.127 [29] (16 January 1893). A New Metropolitan Daily
(1993)(ISBN 978-0195077827) (short), Free Press (Easton, Pennsylvania), Retrieved
[11] Gossip with readers and correspondents, The November 5, 2010
Knickerbocker (February 1860, pp.234-35) [30] (17 January 1893). New Notes of the Metropolis,
[12] ^ (20 September 1854) An Editor Killed - Death of Chicago Tribune, Retrieved November 5, 2010
Mr. Samuel Nicholls, The New York Times, Retrieved [31] King, Moses. Kings handbook of New York City,
November 1, 2010 p.626 (1893)(noting 1893 founding and one cent
[13] (7 November 1857). Unknown title, Sunday Mercury price)
[14] ^ (3 December 1907) Ex-Senator William Cauldwell, [32] ^ (12 May 1898) A Heavy Fine: Thomas Rogers Goes
New York Tribune, Retrieved November 2, 2010 To Jail in Default, The Evening Times (Washington,
[15] ^ (3 December 1907) Ex-Senator Cauldwell Dead D.C.), Retrieved November 2, 2010
Former Owner of The Mercury and The Successful [33] (27 April 1932) Jason Rogers Dead; Former
American, The New York Times, Retrieved November Publisher, The New York Times, Retrieved November
1, 2010 8, 2010
[16] ^ Scharf, J. Thomas. History of Westchester County, [34] (14 May 1893) Devoted to Sports and Politics, The
New York (1886) New York Times, Retrieved November 2, 2010
[17] Cauldwell, William (26 January 1901) Walt [35] (28 November 1893) Personal and political, Lewiston
Whitman as a Young Man, The New York Times, Evening Journal, Retrieved November 2, 2010
Retrieved November 8, 2010 (letter to editor from [36] (11 January 1894) Two Newspapers Consolidated,
Cauldwell which notes he met Walt Whitman while The New York Times, Retrieved November 1, 2010
doing typesetting at the Atlas) [37] ^ (1 August 1894) The Mercury Under A New
[18] Mortuary Record, 1884 in Star Almanac, p.95 (1885) Manager, The New York Times, Retrieved November
[19] Zoss, Joel & Bowman, John. Diamonds in the Rough: 1, 2010
The Untold History of Baseball, p. 59 (2004)(ISBN [38] ^ Douglas, George H. The Golden Age of the
978-0803299207) (discussing different claims to newspaper, p.120 (Greenwood 1999) (ISBN
who was "first" to cover baseball, noting that 1853 978-0313310775)
Mercury reports had been thought to be first in past [39] (20 March 1895) In the Real Estate Field ...
baseball scholarship) Exchange of the Hotel Empire, The New York Times,
[20] Mack, Connie (26 April 1950). Lauds Press’ Help To Retrieved November 4, 2010
Sport, The Miami News, Retrieved November 1, 2010 [40] (10 November 1897) Accused by Sisters-In-Law, The
[21] Martinez, Jose (25 October 2000). Went to bat for Evening Times (Washington, D.C.), Retrieved
baseball: Newspaperman behind game accounts, November 2, 2010
Daily News (New York), Retrieved November 1, 2010 [41] (27 April 1895 Few Liners, Lewiston Saturday Journal,
[22] (13 October 1957) End of an era, The New York Times, Retrieved November 3, 2010
Retrieved November 1, 2010 [42] (2 May 1895)Silver Organ for New York, Clinton
[23] (1 July 1905) Henry Chadwick: The Father of Morning Age, Retrieved November 3, 2010
Baseball, The Spokesman-Review, Retrieved
5
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sunday Mercury (New York)
[43] Two More Free Coinage Papers, Evening Dispatch [54] (9 March 1956)Noted Newsman Is Guest At
(Provo, Utah), Retrieved November 3, 2010 Whitehall Hotel, The Palm Beach Post, Retrieved
(reporting that Senators Stewart and Bryan had November 3, 2010
tried to buy the paper, but rebuffed the $250,000 [55] The Continuum Encyclopedia of American
asking price, and negotiations have been renewed Literature, p.817-18 (2003) (ISBN 0826415172)
with John P. Miller and Major Thomas B. Kirby [56] (2 August 1896). Old New York Weeklies, Brooklyn
involved, trying to induce a contribution of funds Eagle, Retrieved November 5, 2010
from Marcus Daly of Montana) [57] ^ Cook, James W. (ed.) The Colossal P. T. Barnum
[44] (28 May 1895) Free Silver Men Have An Organ, Reader, p.10-11 (2005) (ISBN 978-0252072956)
Baltimore American, Retrieved November 3, 2010 [58] Mark Twain in the New York Sunday Mercury,
(reporting that the Mercury will start advocating twainquotes.com, Retrieved November 5, 2010
for free silver "tomorrow", with Major Kirby as its [59] (13 July 1901) Robert H. Newell Dead, The New York
new editor, and claimed to be a "production" of Times, Retrieved November 5, 2010
Congressman William A. Jones of Virginia) [60] (20 July 1901). Derby, George. Orpheus C. Kerr: His
[45] William Noble a Bankrupt ... His Failure Attributed Recent Death in Brooklyn and the True Facts in his
to a Newspaper Venture, The New York Times, Career, The New York Times, Retrieved November 5,
Retrieved November 3, 2010 2010
[46] La Follette v. Noble (Superior Court of New York [61] Thomas, Benjamin P. “Lincoln’s Humor: An
City 1895) (providing details of the arrangements Analysis,” 3 Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association
between Cauldwell, Noble, and the "silver men") (1981)
[47] ^ Duffus, Robert L. (19 September 1926) 1851-1926: [62] Sentilles, Renée M. Performing Menken: Adah
The Story of the Times, The New York Times, Isaacs Menken and the birth of American celebrity
Retrieved November 3, 2010 (2003) (ISBN 978-0521820707)
[48] ^ Davis, Elmer Holmes. History of the New York [63] Haralson, Eric L. Encyclopedia of American poetry:
times, 1851-1921 (1921) The nineteenth century, 194-96 (1998) (ISBN
[49] Tifft, Susan E. & Jones, Alex S. The Trust: The Private 978-1579580087)
and Powerful Family Behind The New York Times [64] Alcaro, Marion Walker. Walt Whitman’s Mrs. G: a
(2000)(ISBN 9780316836319) biography of Anne Gilchrist, p.129-30 (1991)(ISBN
[50] (20 September 1896) City and Vicinity, The New York 978-0838633816)
Times (noting that the office of the Mercury "was [65] Herringshaw, Thomas William (ed.) Local and
still closed last night"), Retrieved November 2, 2010 national poets of America, p.711-12 (1890)
[51] (28 September 1896) Other news items Chicago (biographical sketch and poetry samples of John W.
Tribune, Retrieved November 5, 2010 Overall, noting that he has been literary editor of
[52] (27 September 1899) Massage Advertising, Printer’s the paper for "over fourteen years")
Ink, p. 16, Retrieved November 5, 2010 (article [66] (21 May 1899). Death list a day, Retrieved
noting that Morning Telegraph was at that point the November 19, 2010
only paper to allow "massage advertisements", and [67] M’Caleb, Thomas. The Louisiana book: selections
also noting that the Mercury changed to the from the literature of the state, p.514 (1894)
Telegraph name but did not change that policy) [68] Davidson, James Wood. The living writers of the
[53] Gilbert, Douglas. American vaudeville, its life and South, p.403-07 (1869)
times, p.154 (1940) [69] About this Newspaper: Sunday Mercury,
Chronicling America website, Retrieved November
2, 2010
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