''The New York Evening Express'' (1836–1881) was a 19th-century American newspaper published in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Publication history

The ''Express'' began publication on June 20, 1836, as the ''New York Express'', a Whig publication under the direction of James Brooks, formerly an editor of the ''Portland Advertiser'' in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, with the assistance of Brooks' younger brother

Erastus Brooks Erastus Brooks (January 31, 1815 – November 25, 1886) was an American newspaper editor and politician from New York. Life He was born on January 31, 1815, in Portland, then in the District of Maine, Massachusetts, the son of Capt. James Brooks ...

(originally as their Washington correspondent). Robert E. Hudson served at its initial commercial editor.(16 July 1836)
New York
''The New Yorker'',Vol. I., No. 17, p. 269 It was merged with ''Hudson's Prices Current and Shipping List'' upon its creation, and on November 1, 1836, merged with the ''Daily Advertiser'' founded in 1817 by Theodore Dwight, and thus referred to as the ''New York Daily Express''.Hudson, Frederic.
Journalism in the United States from 1690–1872
Ch. 32 (1873)Centennial Newspaper Exhibition, 1876
p. 218-19 (1876) William B. Townsend of the ''Advertiser'' became a part owner of the ''Express'' with James Brooks.(21 May 1867)
Death of Mr. Wm. B. Townsend
''

The 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 ...

'' When the Whig Party declined, the ''Express'' supported the

Know Nothing The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...

movement, and then the Constitutional Union Party, followed by the Democrats. (April 1902)
The Great Newspapers of the United States: The New York Evening Newspapers
''

The Bookman (New York) ''The Bookman'' was a literary journal established in 1895 by Dodd, Mead and Company. It drew its name from the phrase, "I am a book-man," by James Russell Lowell. The phrase, without the hyphen, regularly appeared on the cover and title page of ...

'', pp. 159-61 James Brooks remained editor-in-chief of the paper until his death in 1873,(1 May 1873)
Obituary: Hon. James Brooks
''

'' and in June 1877 Erastus gave over control to a group led by John Kelly (a boss of

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

) and Augustus Schell, though he still made contributions to the paper. In late 1881

Cyrus West Field Cyrus West Field (November 30, 1819July 12, 1892) was an American businessman and financier who, along with other entrepreneurs, created the Atlantic Telegraph Company and laid the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean in 1858. Early ...

acquired the ''Express'' (which had a coveted New York Associated Press membership) and merged it into the ''

New York Evening Mail The ''New York Evening Mail'' (1867–1924) was an American daily newspaper published in New York City. For a time the paper was the only evening newspaper to have a franchise in the Associated Press. History Names The paper was founded as the ' ...

'', creating the ''New York Evening Mail and Daily Express''.Schwarzlose, Richard A
The Nation's Newsbrokers, Vol 2: The rush to institution, from 1865 to 1920
p. 89 (1990) The ''Evening Mail'' survived until 1924 (it dropped the "Express" part of its name completely by 1904). CyrusField4

Content

Historian Richard Schwarzlose has referred to the ''Evening Express'' as "never an outstanding newspaper" (1990). This agrees with

Frederic Hudson Frederic Hudson (April 25, 1819 – October 21, 1875) was a leading 19th century American newspaper editor, working from 1838 to 1866 for ''New York Herald'', where he served as managing editor, and was influential in the development of Am ...

's colorful observations about the paper in ''Journalism in the United States'' (1873), though Hudson was also managing editor of the rival ''

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 ...

'' from 1846 to 1866. Hudson remarked that the ''Express'' was "remarkable for its politics, its numerous editions, and its strangers' lists" (list of daily arrivals at local hotels). The "Strangers' List" was popular with merchants looking for customers, which led ''Herald'' editor

James Gordon Bennett, Sr. James Gordon Bennett Sr. (September 1, 1795 – June 1, 1872) was the founder, editor and publisher of the '' New York Herald'' and a major figure in the history of American newspapers. Early life Bennett was born to a prosperous Roman Catholi ...

to once call the paper the ''Drummer's Gazette''. Hudson also remarked that the ''Express'' had "a character of its own. ... Its editorials seem hurriedly written, and have a sort of homely vigor about them. Every thing about the paper looks as if it had been thrown together with great haste. .... It will take news wherever and whenever it can get it, but it has little or no individual enterprise outside of the Associated Press." Hudson remarked that its readership "is largely confined to the numerous railway cars and steam-boats running to and from and within the limits of the city, where a numerous class engaged in business in the metropolis do all their reading," and had "outlived a number of evening papers." The ''New York Times'' 1886 obituary of Erastus Brooks described the paper as "prosperous" from 1860 to 1870, and though "its make-up was typographically an abomination" it "always had the news, and in the days before railroads and telegraphs were known it earned the reputation of getting all the news possible, and as early as possible." One anecdote shared in the younger Brooks' obituary is that in order to get the news printed quickly after an election in the early 1840s, the younger Brooks set up a printing office in a steamboat returning from Albany to New York with the election returns, so that upon arriving in New York they were ready to go to press with the results before the rival papers. In January 1847, the ''Express'' accepted the offer of

Ezra Cornell Ezra Cornell (; January 11, 1807 – December 9, 1874) was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He was the founder of Western Union and a co-founder of Cornell University. He also served as President of the New York Agricul ...

to use his new

telegraph line Electrical telegraphs were point-to-point text messaging systems, primarily used from the 1840s until the late 20th century. It was the first electrical telecommunications system and the most widely used of a number of early messaging systems ...

from Albany to New York to get legislative news, and was able to publish a new message from the governor in advance of the

pony express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pik ...

line used by the ''Herald''.(26 November 1886)
A veteran editor gone: Erastus Brooks dead at his Staten Island Home
''

''(15 June 1872)
James Gordon Bennett Versus The Telegraph
''Journal of the Telegraph'', p. 166 (this 1872 article reports that the message was the January 1847 message of new governor

John Young John Young may refer to: Academics * John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow * John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Col ...

; the 1886 ''New York Times'' obituary of Erastus Brooks reports it was the January 1845 message of

Silas Wright Silas Wright Jr. (May 24, 1795 – August 27, 1847) was an American attorney and Democratic politician. A member of the Albany Regency, he served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, New York State Comptroller, United Stat ...

, but that appears to be incorrect as the New York-Albany telegraph line was not completed until sometime in 1846) Beaten badly to press, it is said that the ''Herald'' then abandoned its opposition to the telegraph.Schwarzlose, Richard Allen
The Nation's Newsbrokers, Vol. 1: The formative years, from pretelegraph to 1865
p. 40 (1989)Grondahl, Paul
Ink stains led to a white collar
, ''

Times Union (Albany) The ''Times Union'' is an American daily newspaper, serving the Capital Region of New York. Although the newspaper focuses on Albany and its suburbs, it covers all parts of the four-county area, including the cities of Troy, Schenectady and Sar ...

'', Retrieved 6 October 2014Reid, James D
The Telegraph in America: Its Founders, Promoters, and Noted Men
p. 307 (1879) The political bent of the ''Express'' followed the opinions of the Brooks brothers. James Brooks served as a Whig in the U.S. Congress from 1849 to 1853, and as a Democrat from 1863 to 1866 and from 1867 until his death. After Brooks declared in Congress in February 1864 that the Democratic Party should stop defending slavery, the ''Express'' also moved in that direction.Vorenberg, Michael
Final Freedom: The Civil War, the Abolition of Slavery, and the Thirteenth Amendment
pp. 73-74 (2001)

Editions

The ''Express'' originally had both morning and evening editions. The morning edition probably inserted the word "morning" into its title around 1843, disappeared by about 1864.Lossing, Benson J
History of New York City, Vol. I
p. 277 (1884) The edition under the "evening" name probably commenced in 1839, and became the edition by which the paper is best known. For many years a "Semi-Weekly" edition was also published. By the end of its run, the paper was publishing four editions of the "Evening" every day, at 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30 p.m., as well as a ''Weekly Express'' edition (which it advertised also included sermons from

Thomas De Witt Talmage Thomas De Witt Talmage (January 7, 1832April 12, 1902) was a preacher, clergyman and divine in the United States who held pastorates in the Reformed Church in America and Presbyterian Church. He was one of the most prominent religious leaders ...

).Hubbard's Newspaper and Bank Directory of the World
p. 250 (1882)

Locations

The ''Express'' had a number of headquarters during its existence. It started in 1836 in an office on

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

, and after a fire moved to the corner of Centre Street and City Hall place. It later moved to the National Hotel building at 112

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

(later occupied by

Delmonico's Delmonico's is the name of a series of restaurants that operated in New York City, with the present version located at 56 Beaver Street in the Financial District of Manhattan. The original version was widely recognized as the United States ...

restaurant), and then to Wall and Nassau Street, and moved to its final location around 1873 to a building constructed for the paper at 23 Park Row.

References

External links

{{commons category, New York Evening Express
''Evening Express''
newspaper scans 1843–1881 at

Fultonhistory.com Fultonhistory.com or Old Fulton NY Postcards is an archival historic newspaper website of over 1,000 New York newspapers, along with collections from other states and Canada. As of February 2018, the website had almost 50 million scanned newspap ...

''Daily Express''
newspaper scans 1836–1844 at Fultonhistory.com
''New York Express''
(1836–1836) entry at Chronicling America
''New York Daily Express''
(1836–1843) entry at Chronicling America
''New York Morning Express''
(1843–1864) entry at Chronicling America
''New York Evening Express''
(1839–1881) entry at Chronicling America
''New York Semi-Weekly Express''
(1839–1879) entry at Chronicling America Publications established in 1836 Publications disestablished in 1881 Defunct newspapers published in New York City 1836 establishments in New York (state) 1881 disestablishments in New York (state) Daily newspapers published in New York City