Horatio D. Sheppard

Horatio Davis Sheppard (c. 1809 – February 24, 1879) (sometimes spelled Horatio Shepard) was an American physician who in 1833 founded the first penny press newspaper in the United States, the ''New York Morning Post''.

In 1830, Sheppard was a medical student with no real experience in publishing, but he had witnessed the populace of New York City willing to buy anything that cost a penny. For over a year he approached printing offices to propose that a paper could be successfully sold at a penny price, but had no luck convincing anyone until meeting Francis Story. Story was a foreman at the ''Spirit of the Times'' and printer of other items, and wanted to start his own business. He agreed to go in with Sheppard if they also brought on Horace Greeley. Greeley, however, insisted that the paper must be marketed at two cents, not one cent. Sheppard was forced to agree, but that defied the entire scheme of the venture.Goodman, Matthew. ''The Sun and the Moon'' (2010)

With Greeley and Story, the two-cent ''Morning Post'' was first issued on January 1, 1833, but it did not prove a success. Its debt was quickly mounting, and they had little capital to speak of. All finally agreed to drop the price to one-cent (for its final two issues, which sold better), but it was too late, and the paper folded the same month. Nevertheless, Sheppard has been credited for the concept of the penny press in America, which proved successful later the same year when Benjamin Day launched '' The Sun''.(26 February 1879)

''Brooklyn Union-Argus'', col. 3(27 February 1879)
Funeral of Dr. Horatio D. Sheppard
''The New York Times''(28 February 1879)

''Syracuse Daily Courier'' Hudson, Frederic
Journalism in the United States, from 1690-1872
p. 417 (1873) (crediting Sheppard's venture as "the seed of the Cheap Press.")Parton, James
The Life of Horace Greeley
pp. 139-44 (1872)

After the adventure of the ''Morning Post'' ended, Sheppard left the newspaper business and went into medical practice, but he remained friends with Greeley until Greeley's death in 1872.A Memorial of Horace Greeley
p. 59 (1873)

Sheppard died from pneumonia at St. Luke's Hospital in New York on February 24, 1879.(26 February 1879)
An Old Journalist Dead - The Founder of the First Penny Newspaper
''The New York Times''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard, Horatio D.
1879 deaths
19th-century American newspaper founders
Deaths from pneumonia in New York City
1809 births
19th-century American physicians
Physicians from New York (state)
19th-century American journalists
American male journalists
19th-century American male writers