Neville Burgoyne Craig (29 March 1787 – 3 March 1863) was a journalist, politician, historian and lawyer from
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. He edited the ''
Pittsburgh Gazette
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...
'' newspaper from 1829 to 1841 and served a term in the state legislature.
Family and early life
Craig was born in 1787 in Pittsburgh's
Fort Pitt Blockhouse
The Fort Pitt Block House (sometimes called Bouquet's Blockhouse or Bouquet's Redoubt) is a historic building in Point State Park in the city of Pittsburgh. It was constructed in 1764 as a redoubt of Fort Pitt, making it the oldest extant structur ...
, where resided his father
Isaac Craig
Isaac Craig (1742–1826) was a Pittsburgh businessman and politician in the early days of western Pennsylvania settlement.
Life
Craig was born in County Down in Ireland of Protestant parents, and was fortunate enough to be apprenticed as a carpen ...
and mother Amelia Neville Craig, daughter of
General John Neville. He attended the
Pittsburgh Academy
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universi ...
, now known as the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...
, and then
Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...
, from which he was expelled for participating in a student riot. He went on to study law under Judge
Alexander Addison and was admitted to the bar in 1810. After marrying Jane Ann Fulton, he took leave of the legal profession, taking charge of a store at
New Lisbon, Ohio
Lisbon is a village in and the county seat of Columbiana County, Ohio, United States, along the Little Beaver Creek. The population was 2,597 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the Salem micropolitan area, southwest of Youngstown and northwe ...
, where he remained for three or four years. In the 1820s, back in Pittsburgh, he worked in local government as Deputy Attorney General for
Allegheny County
Allegheny County () is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's seco ...
, Solicitor of the City of Pittsburgh, and the city's Clerk of Select Council.
Journalism
Taking an interest in political discourse, Craig began to write for the ''
Pittsburgh Gazette
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...
''. In 1829 he purchased the paper, serving as proprietor until 1840 and editor until 1841.
He oversaw a boom in circulation and introduced a daily edition, the city's first. In an era rife with the exchange of verbal abuse between rival newspapermen, Craig's vitriolic pen showed no mercy to his journalistic opponents, which were many, including at one time or another almost every newspaper editor in Pittsburgh. Politically, Craig led the ''Gazette'' in support of the
Anti-Masonic Party
The Anti-Masonic Party was the earliest third party in the United States. Formally a single-issue party, it strongly opposed Freemasonry, but later aspired to become a major party by expanding its platform to take positions on other issues. After ...
. The prolonged life of that party in Allegheny County may have owed something to his persistent advocacy.
Craig sympathized strongly with the antislavery and temperance movements. He set a lasting precedent for the ''Gazette'' in refusing to print runaway slave notices.
Politics
In 1842, the year following his departure from the ''Gazette'', Craig was elected to the
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts.
It ...
on an "Anti-Masonic–
Whig" fusion ticket. He served a one-year term in 1843. In an 1843 election for
US Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
, the sides of the faltering Anti-Masonic–Whig alliance fielded separate candidates: the Anti-Mason Craig and the Whig
Henry Marie Brackenridge
Henry Marie Brackenridge (May 11, 1786 – January 18, 1871) was an American writer, lawyer, judge, superintendent, and U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania.
Born in Pittsburgh in 1786, he was educated by his father, the writer and judge Hugh H ...
. Although Craig outpolled Brackenridge, both lost badly to Democrat
William Wilkins. Craig tried again for a US House seat as the candidate of the anti-slavery
Liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
(1844) and
Free Soil
The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery into ...
(1852) parties, but captured only a few percent of the vote each time. He similarly unsuccessfully ran for
Mayor of Pittsburgh
The mayor of Pittsburgh is the chief executive of the government of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Pittsburgh. This article is a listing of past (and present) mayors of Pittsburgh. ...
in 1849 and 1854 under the Free Soil banner.
Historical work
For two years starting on 1 January 1845, Craig published a monthly historical journal called the ''Olden Time''. It was held in high value by historians, as was his 1851 book ''History of Pittsburgh''. In 1854 he published his ''Memoirs of Major Robert Stobo'', on which is based
Sir Gilbert Parker
Sir Horatio Gilbert George Parker, 1st Baronet (23 November 1862 – 6 September 1932), known as Gilbert Parker, Canadian novelist and British politician, was born at Camden East, Addington, Ontario, the son of Captain Joseph Parker, R.A.
Edu ...
's ''
The Seats of the Mighty
''The Seats of the Mighty'' is a novel published in 1896 by Gilbert Parker. It was first published in serial form in ''The Atlantic'' starting in March 1895, and released in book form in 1896. It was the third highest best-selling book in the U ...
''. In the same year, in honor of his father, he wrote the ''Sketch of the Life and Services of Major Isaac Craig''. Other works are ''Exposure of a Few of the Many Misstatements in H. M. Brackenridge's History of the Whiskey Insurrection'' and ''Registeres des Baptismes et Sepultures qui se sont fait au Fort Du Quesne'', both published in 1859.
Late life and death
After the death of his wife, with whom he had ten children,
Craig resided alternately with his three surviving daughters. He spent his last days with his youngest daughter, at his farm, "Bellefield," in the
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
part of
Pitt Township, now part of Pittsburgh. He died there of
bronchial asthma
Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, coug ...
on 3 March 1863. He is buried in
Allegheny Cemetery
Allegheny Cemetery is one of the largest and oldest burial grounds in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is a historic rural cemetery.
The non-sectarian, wooded hillside park is located at 4734 Butler Street in the Lawrenceville neighborhood, and boun ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, Neville B.
1787 births
1863 deaths
19th-century American newspaper editors
Editors of Pennsylvania newspapers
Pennsylvania political journalists
American male journalists
19th-century American male writers
Politicians from Pittsburgh
Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Anti-Masonic Party politicians from Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Libertyites
Pennsylvania Free Soilers
19th-century American historians
Lawyers from Pittsburgh
19th-century American lawyers
Burials at Allegheny Cemetery
Historians from Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh alumni
Princeton University alumni