John Hopkins Selkreg (September 10, 1817 in

Staatsburgh The Staatsburgh State Historic Site preserves a Beaux-Arts mansion designed by McKim, Mead, and White and the home's surrounding landscape in the hamlet of Staatsburg, Dutchess County, New York, United States. The historic site is located within ...

Dutchess County, New York Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later orga ...

– October 6, 1906 in

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

, Tompkins County, New York) was an American newspaper editor and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Life

He was the son of Capt. John Selkreg (1774–1829) and Betsey Selkreg (1778–1825). He attended the district school in Staatsburgh, and then went to the county seat Poughkeepsie and learned the printer's trade at the ''Poughkeepsie Telegraph''. In 1838, he went to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and became co-publisher of the ''

Brooklyn Eagle :''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently'' The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...

''. The next year he returned to Poughkeepsie and published the ''Poughkeepsie Casket'', a literary paper. In 1841, he moved to Ithaca, and became first co-publisher, later sole owner, of the ''

Ithaca Journal ''The Ithaca Journal'' is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper published in Ithaca, New York. It is locally edited and printed in Johnson City, New York, and publishes Monday through Saturday. It has been owned by Gannett since 1912. Publications ...

''. The ''Journal'' was originally a Democratic paper, but supported Martin Van Buren and the Free Soil Party in 1848, then continued as a Democratic paper until 1856 when Selkreg supported

John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...

and adopted a Republican stance. Selkreg was a Commissioner of Loans from 1857 to 1861; Postmaster of Ithaca from 1861 to 1866; a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

(Tompkins Co.) in

1867 Events January–March * January 1 – The Covington–Cincinnati Suspension Bridge opens between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky, in the United States, becoming the longest single-span bridge in the world. It was renamed a ...

1868 Events January–March * January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. * January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Jap ...

1869 Events January–March * January 3 – Abdur Rahman Khan is defeated at Tinah Khan, and exiled from Afghanistan. * January 5 – Scotland's oldest professional football team, Kilmarnock F.C., is founded. * January 20 – E ...

1870 Events January–March * January 1 ** The first edition of ''The Northern Echo'' newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England. ** Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed. * January 3 – Construction of the Broo ...

and

1871 Events January–March * January 3 – Franco-Prussian War – Battle of Bapaume: Prussians win a strategic victory. * January 18 – Proclamation of the German Empire: The member states of the North German Confederation and the sout ...

; and a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

(24th D.) from 1874 to 1877, sitting in the 97th, 98th, 99th and

100th New York State Legislature The 100th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 2 to May 24, 1877, during the first year of Lucius Robinson's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the provisi ...

s. In 1883, he ran on the

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

ticket for the State Assembly. He was President of the Ithaca and Binghamton Telegraph Company; and of the Ithaca Calendar Clock Company. In 1865, he became Grand Master of Odd Fellows of Northern New York. In 1894, he published ''Landmarks of Tompkins County''. He was married to Clara M. Turner (1818–1891). He was buried at the Ithaca City Cemetery.

Sources

''Life Sketches of the State Officers, Senators, and Members of the Assembly of the State of New York in 1868''
by S. R. Harlow & S. C. Hutchins (pg. 346ff)
''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (1870; pg. 545 and 553)

in NYT on August 23, 1865
''JOHN H. SELKREG'S ACCEPTANCE''
in NYT on September 30, 1883
''John H. Selkreg''
in NYT on October 7, 1906

External links

''Landmarks of Tompkins County''
entry at Archive.org (readable photo-pages)
''Landmarks of Tompkins County''
(full text as e-book) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Selkreg, John H 1817 births 1906 deaths Republican Party New York (state) state senators Politicians from Ithaca, New York Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly 19th-century American newspaper editors People from Staatsburg, New York New York (state) postmasters Journalists from New York (state) 19th-century American legislators