''The Cleveland Leader'' was a

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

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

from 1854 to 1917.

History

The ''Cleveland Leader'' was created in 1854 by

Edwin Cowles Edwin Cowles (1825–1890), born in Austinburg, Ohio, was notable as the publisher of '' The Cleveland Leader.'' During the President Abraham Lincoln administration and Civil War, he was appointed as US postmaster of Cleveland, serving April 4, ...

, who merged a variety of

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

, pre-Republican Party titles under the ''Leader''. From a program celebrating the opening of the Leader Building in 1913, "In 1847 an anti-slavery Whig paper which had been published for about a year in

Olmsted Falls Olmsted Falls is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and a southwestern suburb of Cleveland. The population was 9,024 at the 2010 census. The city's main business district is located at the corners of Bagley and Columbia Roads, and c ...

, now, as then, a small village, was moved to Cleveland and changed from a weekly to a daily, retaining the name of "True. Democrat." That event is commonly reckoned the beginning of the ''Cleveland Leader''..." The ''Leader's'' initial editorial bias was reflective of the antebellum period in Ohio; pro-Union, anti-slavery, but also according to several sources, virulently anti-Catholic. ''The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History'' notes, "Cowles was as outspoken a nativist as he was a Republican, heading the Cleveland chapter of the anti-Catholic Order of the American Union, and carrying on an editorial war with Manly Tello, editor of the ''Catholic Universe''." The ''Leader'' was explicitly political from its founding. Cowles' March 5, 1890 ''New York Times'' obituary claims, "In the Winder of 1854-5 the germ of the Republican Party was formed in the ''Leader'' editorial rooms as a meeting was held there which resulted in the first Republican Convention, which was held at Pittsburg. Col. R. C. Parsons,

Joseph Medill Joseph Medill (April 6, 1823March 16, 1899) was a Canadian-American newspaper editor, publisher, and Republican Party politician. He was co-owner and managing editor of the ''Chicago Tribune'', and he was Mayor of Chicago from after the Great Ch ...

, John C. Vaughn, Judge R. P. Spaulding, and J. F. Keeler, were at the meeting, which resulted in the consolidation of 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". ...

, Whig, 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 ...

Parties into the Republican Party." The ''Leader'' quickly became the most influential newspaper in Ohio. "By 1875 its circulation of 13,000 was double that of the ''Herald'' and 5 times that of the ''

Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

''. Cowles kept the paper technologically up to date, importing Cleveland's first perfecting press in 1877 and pioneering the use of electrotype plates in Ohio." After Cowles' death in 1890, the ''Leader'' began a swift decline, as competition from the ''Plain Dealer'' and other newspapers took advantage of the huge void left by Cowles personal control. Many examples of the ''Leader's'' poster art from the period immediately after Cowles' death in the 1890s are included in a collection at the New York Public Library as some of the finest examples of late Victorian American poster art. Despite the marketing efforts, the ''Leader'' continued its decline. Charles Otis began a consolidation of local newspapers with the ''Cleveland World'' in 1904, and the ''Leader'' in 1905. Through Otis, ownership of the ''Leader'' passed through various hands in the famous Hanna family, via Marcus Hanna's son-in-law

Medill McCormick Joseph Medill McCormick (May 16, 1877 – February 25, 1925) was part of the McCormick family of businessmen and politicians in Chicago. After working for some time and becoming part owner of the ''Chicago Tribune,'' which his maternal grandfath ...

, married to

Ruth Hanna McCormick Ruth McCormick (née Hanna, also known as Ruth Hanna McCormick Simms; March 27, 1880 – December 31, 1944), was an American politician, activist, and publisher. She served one term in the United States House of Representatives, winning an at-l ...

, then to Daniel R. Hanna, Marcus Hanna's son. By 1917, the ''Leader'' had been sold to the ''Plain Dealer'', just four years after moving into the Leader Building in 1913.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cleveland Leader Defunct newspapers published in Cleveland Newspapers established in 1854 1854 establishments in Ohio Mass media companies disestablished in 1917 1917 disestablishments in Ohio