John Andrew Rea (June 18, 1848 – February 10, 1941) was an American journalist and politician. A native of

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Lancaster County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Lengeschder Kaundi), sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the south central part of Pennsylvania. ...

, he was one of the eight members of

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

's first graduating class. As a correspondent for the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' and the ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. His ...

'', he covered the 1877 flight of

Chief Joseph ''Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt'' (or ''Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it'' in Americanist orthography), popularly known as Chief Joseph, Young Joseph, or Joseph the Younger (March 3, 1840 – September 21, 1904), was a leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa ...

and the

Nez Perce The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

and their final battle with the US Army. While living in

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

, he covered the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...

and drafted the constitution adopted by North Dakota when it became a state in 1889. From 1889 until his death, Rea lived in

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

where he was the editor-in-chief of ''

The Olympian ''The Olympian'' is a newspaper based in Olympia, Washington, in the United States. History Olympia was home to the first newspaper to be published in modern-day Washington, ''The Columbian'', which published its first edition on September 11, ...

'' and later president of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

Board of Regents and the first executive director of the

Port of Tacoma The Port of Tacoma is an independent seaport located in Tacoma, Washington. The port was created by a vote of Pierce County citizens on November 5, 1918. The ''Edmore'' was the first ship to call at the port in 1921. The port's marine cargo opera ...

Biography

John Andrew Rea was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to John Rea and Sarah Ann Robb on June 18, 1848.''New York Times'' (21 February 1941) He studied for three years at

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...

. However, when Cornell University opened in 1868, he was attracted by "its promise of liberality in education" and moved there to complete his final year, along with two fellow students at Ohio Wesleyan, Morris Buchwalter and Joseph Foraker.''Cornell Alumni News'' (27 February 1941) p. 262 While at Cornell, Rea was a founding member of the Irving Literary Society and the Cornell chapter of

Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded by William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore in Widow Letterman's home on the campus of Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pen ...

, as well as a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

. Following his graduation from Cornell in 1869, he worked as a journalist for the ''

Philadelphia Press ''The Philadelphia Press'' (or ''The Press'') is a defunct newspaper that was published from August 1, 1857, to October 1, 1920. The paper was founded by John Weiss Forney. Charles Emory Smith was editor and owned a stake in the paper from 1880 un ...

''. For the next 30 years, journalism was to be his primary profession. In 1873, he married the former Mary Terry of

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...

, and the couple moved to

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. He worked as a reporter in both

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

and

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

, where among other stories, he covered the Nebraska Constitutional Convention of 1875. He later became managing editor of the ''

Minneapolis Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'', editor of the ''

Bismarck Tribune ''The Bismarck Tribune'' is a daily newspaper with a weekly audience of 82,000 unique readers, printed daily in Bismarck, North Dakota. Owned by Lee Enterprises, it is the only daily newspaper for south-central and southwest North Dakota. Histo ...

'' and editor of the Dakota edition of the '' St. Paul Pioneer Press'', for whom he had covered the

As a correspondent for the ''

'' and the ''

'', he singlehandedly covered the 1877 flight of

and the

and their final battle with the US Army. While Rea was living in Bismarck, he was also for a time the Register of the

United States Land Office The General Land Office (GLO) was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department o ...

there.Copp (1886) p. 115 In 1889 he organized the North Dakota state constitutional convention, serving as its secretary and helping to draft the state's constitution.Tacoma Public Library Image Archives In late 1889, Rea moved to

where he became the editor-in-chief of ''

'', which had recently changed from a weekly to a daily newspaper. During his time in Olympia, he became an advisor and close friend of

Elisha P. Ferry Elisha Peyre Ferry (August 9, 1825October 14, 1895) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the List of governors of Washington, first governor of Washington from 1889 to 1893. Ferry was a Republican Party (United States), Republic ...

, Washington's first

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

when it achieved statehood in 1889. In the late 1890s, Rea and his family settled in Tacoma where he developed timber and real estate businesses and became the first executive director of the

, a post which he held until 1921. Rea also sat on the

Board of Regents In the United States, a board often governs institutions of higher education, including private universities, state universities, and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual col ...

for the

and served for a time as the board's president. Described as one of Tacoma's most colorful characters and an astute

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician, US Presidents from

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

referred to him as "Mr. Tacoma".Magden (3 November 2008) p. 6 John Rea died at his home in Tacoma on February 10, 1941. At the time of his death, he was the oldest surviving alumnus of Cornell University and the last surviving member of Cornell's first graduating class.

Notes and references

Sources

*Copp, Henry Norris
''The American settler's guide: a popular exposition of the public land system of the United States of America''
1886 (accessed 16 May 2010) *''Cornell Alumni News''
"Oldest Alumnus Dies"
Vol. 43 No. 19, 27 February 1941, p. 262 (accessed 16 May 2010) *Lounsberry, Clement A.
''Early history of North Dakota''
Liberty Press, 1919 (accessed 16 May 2010) *Magden, Ronal
"Port Leadership – Past to Present – Envision Tacoma's Future"
''Journal of Commerce'', 3 November 2008, p. 6 (accessed 16 May 2010) *Nebraska State Historical Society

January–March 1921 (accessed 16 May 2010) *''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', "John Rea, Ex-Editor, Cornell Alumnus", 21 February 1941 *''

The Register-Guard ''The Register-Guard'' is a daily newspaper in the northwestern United States, published in Eugene, Oregon. It was formed in a 1930 merger of two Eugene papers, the ''Eugene Daily Guard'' and the ''Morning Register''. The paper serves the Eugene- ...

''
"Covering Indian Wars Was No Joke, Old Time Reporter Recalls"
15 March 1936, p. 3 (accessed 16 May 2010) *Prosser, William Farrand
''A history of the Puget Sound country, its resources, its commerce and its people''
Lewis Publishing Co, 1903, p. 463 (accessed 16 May 2010) *Tacoma Public Library Image Archives
John A. Rea, Image 3381
(accessed 16 May 2010) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rea, John Andrew 1848 births 1941 deaths American male journalists Cornell University alumni Politicians from Bismarck, North Dakota People from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania People from Tacoma, Washington Regents of the University of Washington Journalists from North Dakota Writers from Tacoma, Washington Politicians from Tacoma, Washington Journalists from Pennsylvania