Greeley, Horace

Horace (1811-1872), an American journalist. Born February 3, 1811, at Amherst, New Hampshire. Died November 29, 1872, near New York City. Greeley's father was a farmer. Like other farmer boys Horace took a share in leading the horse to plow, in dropping corn, and in driving the cows. He learned to read before other boys learned to talk, and by the time he was ten years old he had borrowed and read every book in the neighborhood. Horace was a famous speller and was fond of recitations. His only education was that of a district school. In 1826 he became an apprentice in a newspaper office in East Poultney, Vermont; thus gratifying an ambition to follow the trade of Benjamin Franklin. After working on various country papers Greeley set out for New York. He arrived in 1831. He had ten dollars in his pocket and owned a small bundle of clothes. After the usual search for employment, which he obtained with difficulty, he worked for wages about one year and one-half. He then went into partnership with Francis Story and commenced to publish the Penny Post--the first penny paper published in this country. The enterprise was unsuccessful, but the partnership was continued for a time, ending with Mr. Story's death.

Mr. Greeley was connected with the New Yorker, the Daily Whig, the Jeffersonian, and with the Log Cabin--a campaign journal in the interest of Gen. Harrison, the candidate for the presidency. In 1841 the Log Cabin and the New Yorker were merged in the Tribune with which Mr. Greeley's name is identified. The history of the Tribune is a chapter in itself. It began as a small penny sheet, without presses, without capital, with but 500 subscribers. Through the energy of a business manager and the ability of Mr. Greeley as an editor, the Tribune acquired an enormous circulation and later paid Mr. Greeley an editorial salary of $10,000 a year. Greeley was averse to moneymaking. He was generous, always ready to help those in difficulty, but had no patience with people who approached him with schemes for making money. Although a large stockholder in the Tribune, he was opposed to dividends, desiring that all surplus be used in enlarging and improving the paper. He lived for influence, as other men live for wealth. It is doubtful whether any other American editor ever equaled Horace Greeley in his influence on public opinion.

Among other public measures, Greeley favored the homestead system of disposing of public lands. He became much interested in the west. "Go west, young man, go west, and grow up with the country," is attributed to Greeley. He took part in the establishment of the irrigation colony at Greeley, Colorado. The town, in fact, was named for him. Agricultural societies and agricultural addresses were his delight. He was in favor of the protective tariff. He was a Whig in politics and took part in the organization of the new Republican party. Greeley tried to prevent the Civil War, and, for a time, even denied the right of the North to "coerce" the South; but, when war became inevitable, he favored a vigorous prosecution of hostilities. The Tribune was no doubt partly responsible for the precipitate attack upon the Confederacy which ended in the disastrous rout of Bull Run. At the close of the war Greeley was the recipient of much abuse because be became one of the bondsmen for Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, who was imprisoned on the charge of treason. The Tribune favored universal suffrage and universal amnesty.

Mr. Greeley held few public offices. In 1849 he was a member of the National House of Representatives for a short time. He served as a juror of the World's Fair in Crystal Palace, London, 1851, contributing editorial letters to the Tribune during his absence. In 1855 he visited the French Exposition. In 1859, before the day of the Union Pacific, he made an overland journey across the plains to California and was much pleased with the reception given him by the public at Sacramento and San Francisco. Greeley was a staunch supporter of Grant's first administration, but joined the opposition on the score that Grant was in the hands of a circle of corrupt officeholders. He took part in uniting the various anti-administration parties into the Liberal party, and in 1872 accepted its nomination for the presidency. During the canvass Greeley underwent excessive mental and physical labor. The death of his wife at this time and a crushing defeat at the polls are believed to have been the cause of Mr. Greeley's death shortly after the election. In addition to his labors as a newspaper man, Mr. Greeley wrote several works:

Horace Greeley is a unique figure in American journalism. Old-fashioned, quick-tempered; always clean, never tidy; his linen always presentable, his necktie always awry; profane, incorruptible; scorning money, yet controlling all that man could want of it; reckless in politics, but unswerving in the support of right men and measures; decisive, able, and fearless; a man of the common people--there has been but one Horace Greeley, and there never can be another. Parton's Life of Greeley is the best view of his services. See Fourier; Cary