Walter Newman Haldeman (April 27, 1821 – May 14, 1902) was an American newspaper publisher, owner, and businessman from

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, in the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was the founder of the ''Louisville Courier'', which would later merge to become ''

Louisville Courier-Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is the highest circulation newspape ...

''. He was the founder of the city of

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

and the owner of the Major League Baseball team

Louisville Grays The Louisville Grays were a 19th-century United States baseball team and charter member of the National League, based in Louisville, Kentucky. They played two seasons, 1876 and 1877, and compiled a record of 65–61. Their home games were a ...

Early life

Walter Newman Haldeman was born on April 27, 1821, in

Maysville, Kentucky Maysville is a home rule-class city in Mason County, Kentucky, United States and is the seat of Mason County. The population was 8,782 as of 2019, making it the 51st-largest city in Kentucky by population. Maysville is on the Ohio River, north ...

to Elizabeth and John Haldeman. He spent his childhood years in Maysville and attended Maysville Academy with future prominent Americans'

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

William H. Wadsworth William Henry Wadsworth (July 4, 1821 – April 2, 1893) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky. Born in Maysville, Kentucky, Wadsworth attended town and county private schools. He studied law and graduated from Augusta College, Bracken Coun ...

, Thomas H. Nelson, and

William "Bull" Nelson William "Bull" Nelson (September 27, 1824 – September 29, 1862) was a United States naval officer who became a Union general during the American Civil War. As a Kentuckian, Nelson could have sympathized with the Confederates but, like his st ...

under the tutelage of Professor William A. Richardson. At age 16, Haldeman moved with his family to

where he worked in a grocery store called Rogers & Dunham and commission house. In 1840, Haldeman started his newspaper career in a clerical position at the Louisville Journal, but within a few years he had opened his own bookstore and print shop.

Career

In 1843, Haldeman started the publication of a small newspaper called the ''Daily Dime''. Haldeman renamed the newspaper in 1844 to the ''Louisville Courier''. It was a pro-secessionist newspaper both before and during the Civil War. It was shut down by General Robert Anderson in September 1861, but Haldeman fearing arrest as a traitor, removed to

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Warren County, Kentucky, United States. Founded by pioneers in 1798, Bowling Green was the provisional capital of Confederate Kentucky during the American Civil War. As of the 2 ...

, where he continued publication. After the war, in 1868, the ''Courier'' merged with its cross-town rival—the pro-Union Louisville Journal—to form the ''

''. Haldeman became president of the new corporation. The combined paper is still in circulation and currently owned by the

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

and the owner of the Major League Baseball team, the

; a charter member of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

. His son,

John Haldeman John Avery Haldeman (December 2, 1855–September 17, 1899) was a journalist who played one game for Major League Baseball's Louisville Grays in the 1877 season. Early life Haldeman was born on December 2, 1855 in Pewee Valley, Kentucky.Connel ...

, played in one game for the Grays in 1877. Haldeman shied away from the spotlight, as a ''

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 ...

'' article from May 14, 1902 described him as "a man of unusual force of character, but remarkably modest, so that he resented any form of publicity about himself"; thus providing the spotlight for the Courier-Journal editor,

Henry Watterson Henry Watterson (February 16, 1840 – December 22, 1921), the son of a U.S. Congressman from Tennessee, became a prominent journalist in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as a Confederate soldier, author and partial term U.S. Congressman. A Democr ...

Personal life

Haldeman married Eliza Metcalfe of

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

in 1844. They had six children, one who died in infancy and Lizzie, Isabel, William, Bruce and John. Haldeman died in Louisville on the morning of May 14, 1902, from

peritonitis Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and cover of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One part or ...

following an injury from being hit by a street car a week prior.

References

External links

Louisville Courier Journal, The Encyclopedia of Louisville

Louisville Grays, The Encyclopedia of Louisville

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haldeman, Walter Newman 1821 births 1902 deaths People from Maysville, Kentucky Businesspeople from Louisville, Kentucky American newspaper founders The Courier-Journal people 19th-century American businesspeople