The ''Sunday Mercury'' (1839–1896) (sometimes referred to as the ''New York Sunday Mercury'') was a weekly Sunday

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

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 ...

that grew to become the highest-circulation weekly newspaper (at least by its own claims) in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at its peak. It was known for publishing and popularizing the work of many notable 19th-century writers, including

Charles Farrar Browne Charles Farrar Browne (April 26, 1834 – March 6, 1867) was an American humor writer, better known under his '' nom de plume'', Artemus Ward, which as a character, an illiterate rube with "Yankee common sense", Browne also played in public perfo ...

and Robert Henry Newell, and was the first Eastern paper to publish

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

.Caron, James E
Mark Twain: unsanctified newspaper reporter
p.166 (2008)() It was also the first newspaper to provide regular coverage of

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, and was popular for the extensive war correspondence from soldiers it published during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

History

Early years

Prior to 1825, no American newspapers published editions on Sunday, out of respect to

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...

. Over time, however, this created a niche for weekly newspapers published on Sunday to flourish. Lorenzo Dow

The ''Mercury'' originated as the ''Sunday Morning Visiter'', and was first published on May 12, 1839. By 1840, it changed its name to the ''Sunday Mercury''.Hudson, Frederic
Journalism in the United States, from 1690–1872
pp. 339–40 (1873) It initially gained some notice for its theatrical coverage and so-called "machine poetry" (a 19th-century euphemism for slavishly following the "rules" of poetry without any inspiration).Lee, Alfred McClung
The Daily Newspaper In America
p.392 (1937) By the fall of 1842 the paper had a circulation of 3,000, ranking it third among New York's Sunday papers, trailing 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 ...

''’s Sunday edition and '' The Atlas''. By the summer of 1844, the ''Herald'' took note of the growth of the Sunday papers, calling them "partly literary, partly gossiping, partly silly, partly smart, partly stupid, partly namby-pamby." Elbridge Gerry Paige (1813–1859) and Samuel Nichols (1809?–1854) were the two key editors of the ''Mercury'' in its early years,Library of universal knowledge, Volume XI
p.175 (1881) and Augustus Krauth joined them as a one-third owner in 1842.(22 January 1842
Our Weekly Gossip
'' Brother Jonathan'', p.101 Sunday Mercury 1849

Paige had success with his ''Short Patent Sermons'' published in the paper (from its outset) under the pseudonym "Dow Junior" (a reference to famous eccentric preacher

Lorenzo Dow Lorenzo Dow (October 16, 1777February 2, 1834) was an eccentric itinerant American evangelist, said to have preached to more people than any other preacher of his era. He became an important figure and a popular writer. His autobiography at one ti ...

who died in 1834),Paige, Elbridge Gerry
Short Patent Sermons by 'Dow Jr.'
(1845) which literary magazines such as ''

The Knickerbocker ''The Knickerbocker'', or ''New-York Monthly Magazine'', was a literary magazine of New York City, founded by Charles Fenno Hoffman in 1833, and published until 1865. Its long-term editor and publisher was Lewis Gaylord Clark, whose "Editor's Ta ...

'' lauded for their odd and original wit.Lorenzo Dow's Successor
''

'' (November 1840, pp.449-51)Bryant, John
Melville and repose: the rhetoric of humor in the American Renaissance
p.127 (1993)() Paige left the paper in 1849 and went to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where he continued to publish Dow Jr. sermons in ''

The Golden Era ''The Golden Era'' was a 19th-century San Francisco newspaper. The publication featured the writing of f.e.g. Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Charles Warren Stoddard (writing at first as "Pip Pepperpod"), Fitz Hugh Ludlow, Adah Isaacs Menken, Ada Clar ...

'',Gossip with readers and correspondents
''

'' (February 1860, pp.234-35) but ultimately was unsuccessful there and is said to have died in extreme poverty in 1859. Nichols was born in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

around 1809 and after coming to New York City was eventually installed as the editor of the ''New Times'', an organ of the "Conservatives" political party.(20 September 1854
An Editor Killed - Death of Mr. Samuel Nicholls
''

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 ...

'', retrieved November 1, 2010 After that venture failed, he joined the ''Sunday Mercury'' and grew it with Paige. His work focused on the theater. Nichols stayed with the paper until his death in September 1854, when he was run over after unsuccessfully trying to board a

Third Avenue Railway The Third Avenue Railway System (TARS), founded 1852, was a streetcar system serving the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx along with lower Westchester County. For a brief period of time, TARS also operated the Steinway Lines i ...

car. Krauth, the other one-third owner of the paper, died in November 1857.(7 November 1857)
Unknown title
''Sunday Mercury''

Growth, baseball, and war

In 1850, William Cauldwell (1824–1907)(3 December 1907
Ex-Senator William Cauldwell
''

New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...

'', retrieved November 2, 2010(3 December 1907
Ex-Senator Cauldwell Dead Former Owner of The Mercury and The Successful American
''

'', retrieved November 1, 2010 purchased Paige's one-third ownership stakeScharf, J. Thomas.
History of Westchester County, New York
(1886) in the paper for $1,200.Styple, William B
Writing & Fighting the Civil War: Soldier Correspondence to the New York Sunday Mercury
pp. 9–11 (2000) () Cauldwell had gotten into the newspaper field by doing typesetting work, and worked at the New York ''Sunday Atlas'' from 1841 to 1849.Cauldwell, William (26 January 1901

''

'', retrieved November 8, 2010 (letter to editor from Cauldwell which notes he met

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...

while doing typesetting at the ''Atlas'') Cauldwell expanded the paper and increased its coverage of literature, city news, and sports. Sylvester Southworth and Horace P. Whitney (1834 – August 24, 1884)Mortuary Record, 1884 in Star Almanac
p. 95 (1885) soon joined as additional editors, and the paper began to prosper. Cauldwell and the ''Mercury'' are credited as being the first newspaper to regularly cover the sport of

as news, starting in 1853 with a report on a game between the Knickerbockers and the Gothams. (For some time, this 1853 report was thought to be first game ever reported on by the press, but later 20th-century scholarship has located an 1845 report in the ''Herald''.)Zoss, Joel & Bowman, John
Diamonds in the Rough: The Untold History of Baseball
p. 59 (2004)() (discussing different claims to who was "first" to cover baseball, noting that 1853 ''Mercury'' reports had been thought to be first in past baseball scholarship) Mack, Connie (26 April 1950)
Lauds Press' Help To Sport
''

The Miami News ''The Miami News'' was an evening newspaper in Miami, Florida. It was the media market competitor to the morning edition of the ''Miami Herald'' for most of the 20th century. The paper started publishing in May 1896 as a weekly called ''The Miami ...

'', retrieved November 1, 2010Martinez, Jose (25 October 2000)
Went to bat for baseball: Newspaperman behind game accounts
'' Daily News'' (New York), retrieved November 1, 2010.(13 October 1957
End of an era
''

'', retrieved November 1, 2010(1 July 1905
Henry Chadwick: The Father of Baseball
''

The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...

'', retrieved November 1, 2010 (citing Henry Chadwick as reporting that the ''Mercury'' was the first paper covering baseball, with Cauldwell regularly reporting on games played in New York City) The paper was the first to use the phrase "national pastime", in December 1856. In 1858, Cauldwell hired rising star Henrick Chadwick, later dubbed the "father of baseball", to cover the sport for the paper.Spink, Alfred Henry
The national game
p. 356 (1911) By early 1861, the ''Mercury''s circulation was 145,000, but the advent of

cut off about 90,000 of them located in the southern and western United States. Cauldwell hit upon an idea for expanding their war coverage with little expense. In April 1861, the paper made an announcement inviting soldiers to send in their reports about the war, and over 3,000 were published during the course of the war as a weekly feature.Goode, Stephen (26 March 2001
Styple Delivers News From Civil war Front
''

Insight on the News ''Insight on the News'' (also called ''Insight'') was an American conservative print and online news magazine. It was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate founded by Unification movement founder Sun Myung Moon, ...

'', retrieved November 2, 2010 The soldiers would receive a free copy of the paper for their contributions. In 2000, Civil War historian William B. Styple compiled 500 of the letters in a book, ''Writing and Fighting the Civil War: Soldier Correspondence to the New York Sunday Mercury''. In 1873, ''Rowell's American Newspaper Directory'' stated that with a circulation of 45,000, "the circulation of the ''Sunday Mercury'' exceeds that of any other Sunday or daily newspaper in America without exception, and more than triples the combined issues of all the other Sunday journals published in New York."Rowell's American Newspaper Directory
p. 153 (1873) Southworth retired from the paper before the end of the war, and Whitney departed around 1876 due to poor health, leaving Cauldwell solely in charge. In addition to running the paper Cauldwell also held political office, serving in 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 ...

from 1868 to 1879, and also serving as Bronx supervisor.Reilly, Brendan (18 March 2009)
Noyac house nominated to historic registers
''Southampton Press'', retrieved November 8, 2010 (noting Cauldwell's political positions; article focus on proposal to place his summer home in

Noyack, New York Noyack (also Noyac) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The CDP population was 4,325 at the 2020 census. ''Noyac'' is an Algonquin word meaning "a corner or point of land". It is believed tha ...

built in 1892 on the national and New York registers of historical places)

Ill-fated expansion and collapse

By the early 1890s, competition with the New York daily papers had increased. The paper responded by introducing a one cent daily newspaper dubbed the ''Daily Mercury'', billed as a Democratic paper, in January 1893.Rogers, Jason
Newspaper building
p.78-80 (1918)(16 January 1893)
A New Metropolitan Daily (short)
''Free Press'' (

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a river tha ...

), retrieved November 5, 2010(17 January 1893)
New Notes of the Metropolis
''

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 ...

'', retrieved November 5, 2010King, Moses
Kings handbook of New York City
p.626 (1893)(noting 1893 founding and one cent price) The new venture was quickly losing money, however. Cauldwell apparently began to borrow funds from the estate of millionaire Jason Rogers, of which he was a co-trustee with his son-in-law Thomas Rogers, to try to keep the paper afloat.(12 May 1898
A Heavy Fine: Thomas Rogers Goes To Jail in Default
''The Evening Times'' (Washington, D.C.), retrieved November 2, 2010 Some sources reported that it was Jason Rogers' and Cauldwell's mutual grandson (also named Jason Rogers) who convinced Cauldwell to expand the paper in the first place. The younger Rogers, for his part, later blamed the failure of the paper on a decision by the "boss" to launch the daily edition as a morning paper, upsetting carefully laid plans and a large number of advance subscriptions for a paper based on afternoon publication. (Rogers later went on to transform the ''

Commercial Advertiser The ''New-York Commercial Advertiser'' was an American evening newspaper. It originated as the ''American Minerva'' in 1793, changed its name in 1797, and was published, with slight name variations, until 1904. History The paper had its origins ...

'' into ''

The New York Globe ''The New York Globe'', also called ''The New York Evening Globe'', was a daily New York City newspaper published from 1904 to 1923, when it was bought and merged into ''The New York Sun''. It is not related to a New York City-based Saturday fami ...

'', and helped found the

Audit Bureau of Circulations An Audit Bureau of Circulations is a private organization that provides industry-agreed standards for media brand measurement of print publications and other media outlets in a given country. The International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Circula ...

.(27 April 1932
Jason Rogers Dead; Former Publisher
''

'', retrieved November 8, 2010) In May 1893,

Richard Croker Richard Welstead Croker (November 24, 1843 – April 29, 1922), known as "Boss Croker," was an Irish American political boss who was a leader of New York City's Tammany Hall. His control over the city was cemented with the 1897 election of ...

, a leader of New York City's

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 ...

political machine, jumped into the newspaper field and created ''The Daily America'' devoted to politics to trumpet Tammany's views (though it also covered sports; Croker was a big horse racing enthusiast).(14 May 1893
Devoted to Sports and Politics
''

'', retrieved November 2, 2010 The other Democratic papers in the city balked at the new competition, however, and Croker turned over the paper to the ''Mercury'' by the end of the year.(28 November 1893
Personal and political
''

Lewiston Evening Journal The ''Sun Journal'' is a newspaper published in Lewiston, Maine, United States, which covers central and western Maine. In addition to its main office in Lewiston, the paper maintains satellite news and sales bureaus in the Maine towns of Farming ...

'', retrieved November 2, 2010 In January 1894, ''The New York Times'' reported that the two papers had "consolidated" (and that some of "the gentlemen" involved in the ''America'' would retain an interest) and would henceforth be published as ''The Daily America'' on weekdays with the ''Sunday Mercury'' below in small type, and reversed on Sundays.(11 January 1894
Two Newspapers Consolidated
''

'', retrieved November 1, 2010 In August 1894, Cauldwell, now almost 70, gave up editorial control with his grandson Jason Rogers stepping in as publisher, and James F. Graham taking on the editorial duties.(1 August 1894
The Mercury Under A New Manager
''

'', retrieved November 1, 2010 The paper also dropped the ''Daily America'' title, although it remained a Democratic paper. The paper continued to lose money (reportedly about $2000 a week),Douglas, George H
The Golden Age of the newspaper
p.120 (Greenwood 1999) () and in March 1895 Cauldwell sold out to William Noble in a somewhat unusual exchange, where he received a hotel called the ''Hotel Empire'' (a project which Noble had bought out of foreclosure in 1893 and completed) in exchange for the paper.(20 March 1895
"In the Real Estate Field ... Exchange of the Hotel Empire"
''

'', retrieved November 4, 2010(10 November 1897
Accused by Sisters-In-Law
''The Evening Times'' (Washington, D.C.), retrieved November 2, 2010 News reports from mid-1895 reported that " silver men", whose support in the East had been limited, had now purchased the paper to be their organ.(27 April 189
Few Liners
''Lewiston Saturday Journal'', retrieved November 3, 2010(2 May 189
Silver Organ for New York
''Clinton Morning Age'', retrieved November 3, 2010Two More Free Coinage Papers
''Evening Dispatch'' (Provo, Utah), retrieved November 3, 2010 (reporting that Senators Stewart and Bryan had tried to buy the paper, but rebuffed the $250,000 asking price, and negotiations have been renewed with John P. Miller and Major Thomas B. Kirby involved, trying to induce a contribution of funds from Marcus Daly of Montana)(28 May 1895
Free Silver Men Have An Organ
''

Baltimore American The ''Baltimore News-American'' was a broadsheet newspaper published in downtown Baltimore, Maryland until May 27, 1986. It had a continuous lineage (in various forms) of more than 200 years. For much of the mid-20th century, it had the largest ...

'', retrieved November 3, 2010 (reporting that the Mercury will start advocating for free silver "tomorrow", with Major Kirby as its new editor, and claimed to be a "production" of Congressman William A. Jones of Virginia) Although the paper did advocate in support of free silver in 1895, it appears the anticipated sale to "silver men" fell apart, as Noble had to file for bankruptcy in 1899 due to his ''Mercury'' debts.William Noble a Bankrupt ... His Failure Attributed to a Newspaper Venture
''

'', retrieved November 3, 2010La Follette v. Noble
(Superior Court of New York City 1895) (providing details of the arrangements between Cauldwell, Noble, and the "silver men") During this same period (early–mid-1895),

Adolph Ochs Adolph Simon Ochs (March 12, 1858 – April 8, 1935) was an American newspaper publisher and former owner of ''The New York Times'' and ''The Chattanooga Times'' (now the ''Chattanooga Times Free Press''). Early life and career Ochs was born t ...

, then-editor of the ''

Chattanooga Times The ''Chattanooga Times Free Press'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is distributed in the metropolitan Chattanooga region of southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia. It is one of Tennessee's maj ...

'', was invited to become editor and half-owner of the ''Mercury'' in its "free silver" campaign.Duffus, Robert L. (19 September 1926
1851–1926: The Story of the Times
''

'', retrieved November 3, 2010 Ochs turned the offer down, in part because of his own support for the

gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the la ...

. The paper was then offered to Ochs for outright sale, but that also did not come to fruition when it turned out that the ''Mercury'' could not assure that its rights to press association copy would transfer to a new owner.Davis, Elmer Holmes
History of the New York Times, 1851–1921
(1921)Tifft, Susan E. & Jones, Alex S. ''The Trust: The Private and Powerful Family Behind The New York Times'' (2000)() Ochs remained on the lookout for a New York paper, however, and in August 1896 he purchased the then also-struggling ''

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 ...

''. The ''Mercury'' ceased publishing altogether under that name around late 1896. Some older sources state the paper failed in 1895, but it was being published well into 1896, though it was certainly on its last legs. On September 20, 1896, the ''New York Times'' reported that the office of the ''Mercury'' "was still closed last night"(20 September 1896
City and Vicinity
''

'' (noting that the office of the Mercury "was still closed last night"), retrieved November 2, 2010 and the ''

'' printed on September 28 that the "free silver sentiment in New York was not even warm enough to prevent the fail of the New York Mercury." When Cauldwell died in 1907, the ''

'' called him "the father of Sunday journalism."

Rebirth as the ''Morning Telegraph''

By end of 1896, the operations of the ''Mercury'' were taken over and redubbed the ''

New York Morning Telegraph ''The Morning Telegraph'' (1839 – April 10, 1972) (sometimes referred to as the ''New York Morning Telegraph'') was a New York City broadsheet newspaper owned by Moe Annenberg's Cecelia Corporation. It was first published as the ''Sunday ...

'', focusing on sporting (especially horse racing) and theatrical news much as the ''Mercury'' had been doing at that point.(27 September 1899
Massage Advertising
''Printer's Ink'', p. 16, retrieved November 5, 2010 (article noting that ''Morning Telegraph'' was at that point the only paper to allow "massage advertisements", and also noting that the ''Mercury'' changed to the ''Telegraph'' name but did not change that policy) According to one account published in 1940, the name change came about when Tammany Hall gave $10,000 to writer Blakely Hall, "to run it with the understanding that he was not to get a nickel more. Hall threw out the ''Mercury'' title, called the 'new' sheet the ''Morning Telegraph'', hired

Leander Richardson Leander Pease Richardson (February 28, 1856 – February 2, 1918) was an American journalist, playwright, theatrical writer and author.Gilbert, Douglas
American vaudeville, its life and times
p.154 (1940) The ''Telegraph'' went on to become a successful paper and was published until shut down during a strike in 1972. The ''Telegraph'' considered itself a continuation of the ''Mercury'', though along the way it somehow backdated its claimed date of founding from 1839 to 1833.(9 March 195
Noted Newsman Is Guest At Whitehall Hotel
''

The Palm Beach Post ''The Palm Beach Post'' is an American daily newspaper serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and parts of the Treasure Coast. On March 18, 2018, in a deal worth US$42.35 million, ''The Palm Beach Post'' and ''The Palm Beach Daily News'' we ...

'', retrieved November 3, 2010

Noted contributors and legacy

Aside from the ''Short Patent Sermons'' which brought acclaim to Paige's "Dow Jr." pseudonym in the 1840s, the ''Mercury'' went on to publish the work of many leading 19th-century writers, and was at times the first to introduce them to New York and national audiences, including

Josh Billings Josh Billings was the pen name of 19th-century American humorist Henry Wheeler Shaw (April 21, 1818October 14, 1885). He was a famous humor writer and lecturer in the United States during the latter half of the 19th century. He is often compa ...

(Artemus Ward), Robert Henry Newell (Orpheus C. Kerr),The Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature
p.817–18 (2003) ()

Ella Wheeler Wilcox Ella Wheeler Wilcox (November 5, 1850October 30, 1919) was an American author and poet. Her works include the collection '' Poems of Passion'' and the poem "Solitude", which contains the lines "Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you ...

Charles Godfrey Leland Charles Godfrey Leland (August 15, 1824 – March 20, 1903) was an American humorist and folklorist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was educated at Princeton University and in Europe. Leland worked in journalism, travelled extensivel ...

David Ross Locke David Ross Locke (also known by his pseudonym Petroleum V. Nasby) (September 20, 1833February 15, 1888) was an American journalist and early political commentator during and after the American Civil War. Biography Early life Locke was born i ...

(Petroleum V. Nasby),(2 August 1896).
Old New York Weeklies
, ''

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 ...

'', retrieved November 5, 2010

Ned Buntline Edward Zane Carroll Judson Sr. (March 20, 1821 – July 16, 1886), known by his pseudonym Ned Buntline, was an American publisher, journalist, and writer. Early life and military service Judson was born on March 20, 1821, in Harpersfield, New Yo ...

, and Mortimer Thomson (Doesticks).Cook, James W. (ed.) ''The Colossal P. T. Barnum Reader'', p.10–11 (2005) () Though most of those names are not familiar today, all became well-known popular writers of the time. Mark Twain's first writing published in the East appeared in the ''Mercury'' in 1864 (prior to his success in 1865 with ''

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is an 1865 short story by Mark Twain. It was his first great success as a writer and brought him national attention. The story has also been published as "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" (its orig ...

''), and a number of additional pieces were published in 1867.Mark Twain in the New York Sunday Mercury
twainquotes.com, retrieved November 5, 2010 Newell, who wrote under the name "Orpheus C. Kerr" (a play on "office seeker"), served for a time as the literary editor of the ''Mercury'', until around 1862. His satirical weekly columns started in ''Mercury'' and gained national fame,(13 July 1901

''

'', retrieved November 5, 2010(20 July 1901). Derby, George
Orpheus C. Kerr: His Recent Death in Brooklyn and the True Facts in his Career
''

'', retrieved November 5, 2010 so much so that President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

once remarked of Kerr's writings that “anyone who has not read them is a heathen.” Thomas, Benjamin P. “Lincoln’s Humor: An Analysis,” 3 ''Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association'' (1981) Celebrated actress

Adah Isaacs Menken Adah Isaacs Menken (June 15, 1835August 10, 1868) was an American actress, painter and poet, and was the highest earning actress of her time.Palmer, Pamela Lynn"Adah Isaacs Menken" ''Handbook of Texas Online,'' published by the Texas State Histor ...

contributed a series of poems to the ''Mercury'' in 1860-61, as well as a piece praising

and

Leaves of Grass ''Leaves of Grass'' is a poetry collection by American poet Walt Whitman. Though it was first published in 1855, Whitman spent most of his professional life writing and rewriting ''Leaves of Grass'', revising it multiple times until his death. T ...

in 1860 as "centuries ahead of his contemporaries".Sentilles, Renée M
Performing Menken: Adah Isaacs Menken and the birth of American celebrity
(2003) ()Haralson, Eric L
Encyclopedia of American poetry: The nineteenth century
194–96 (1998) ()Alcaro, Marion Walker
Walt Whitman's Mrs. G: a biography of Anne Gilchrist
p.129-30 (1991)() Starting in the mid-1870s, John W. Overall (1822–1899) served as literary editor of the paper (until at least 1890). A Southerner, Overall is best known for his pre-Civil War writing supporting the South.Herringshaw, Thomas William (ed.
Local and national poets of America
pp. 711–12 (1890) (biographical sketch and poetry samples of John W. Overall, noting that he has been literary editor of the paper for "over fourteen years")(21 May 1899)

retrieved November 19, 2010M'Caleb, Thomas
The Louisiana book: selections from the literature of the state
p.514 (1894)Davidson, James Wood
The living writers of the South
p.403-07 (1869) Historian James W. Cook, in a 2005 compilation of writings by

P. T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He was ...

(of circus fame, who also appeared in the ''Mercury''), notes that in the mid-1860s, the ''Mercury'' was "ubiquitous, with a masthead claim of the largest weekly circulation in America", yet today publications such as the ''Mercury'', which contained few illustrations, are difficult to locate in library collections.

Chronology of editors and publishers

* Editors: ** 1855: Krauth, Cauldwell & Southworth ** 1858–61: Cauldwell, Southworth & Whitney ** 1867: Cauldwell & Whitney ** 1876: William Cauldwell ** 1894: James F. Graham * Publishers: ** 1839: E.G. Paige & J.H. Wilson ** 1839–40: Paige, Wilson & Nichols ** 1840–41: Paige & Nichols ** 1842–48: Paige, Nichols & Krauth ** 1854–55: Krauth & Cauldwell ** 1855: Krauth, Cauldwell & Southworth ** 1858–61: Cauldwell, Southworth & Whitney ** 1862–70: Cauldwell & Whitney ** 1876: William CauldwellAbout this Newspaper: Sunday Mercury

Chronicling America ''Chronicling America'' is an open access, open source newspaper database and companion website. It is produced by the United States National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a partnership between the Library of Congress and the National Endowme ...

website, retrieved November 2, 2010. ** 1894: Jason Rogers, grandson of Cauldwell

References

{{reflist, 3 1839 establishments in New York (state) 1896 disestablishments in New York (state) Defunct newspapers published in New York City Publications disestablished in 1896 Newspapers established in 1839