Benjamin Perley Poore was an American journalist born on November 2nd, 1820. He was born near Newburyport, Massachusetts in his family's estate. His father was also named Benjamin and his mother's name was Mary. Poore's family on his father's side had lived in the area for quite some time, but his mother's family was from Georgetown (near Washington D.C.). His family took him to visit Washington D.C. for the first time when he was seven years old and it was under the presidency of John Quincy Adams.
Poore attended Governor Dummer Academy in Massachusetts, but was expelled because of misbehavior. It was here where he apprenticed himself to a printer and learned all the tricks of the trade. Benjamin, his father, purchased a newspaper in Athens, Georgia. The newspaper was called the Southern Whig. Poore edited the paper for two years. In 1842, he went back to England and became the foreign correspondent for the Boston Atlas. He also edited Boston Bee and Sunday Sentinel.
By 1854, he was back in the nation's capital as a Washington correspondent for the Boston Journal. He was at the Boston Journal until 1883 and it was there that he established his reputation. His daily reports included "Waifs" (defined as "things found but not claimed" of gossip by Poore himself) and breaking news.While in Washington he also served as the clerk of the committee for the United States Senate's printing records. There he edited the Congressional Directory and the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Poore is credited with being the founder of the Gridiron Club and he was the club's first president.
He died on May 30th, 1887 in Washington D.C.
Famous Writings:
Campaign Life of General Zachary Taylor (1848)
The Conspiracy Trial for the Murder of Abraham Lincoln (1865)
(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Perley_Poore)
No comments:
Post a Comment