James Kelly (1809–1895) was a founder of

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 a ...

, serving as business manager among other roles when the first daily issue of the paper came out July 10, 1847, according to the recollection of a partner some 50 years later in the Tribune. The partner, Joseph K.C. Forrest, recalled his colleague as a "practical writer." But Kelly evidently left journalism for more profitable ventures: the recollection described him as involved in the wholesale leather trade. Prior to producing the ''Chicago Daily Tribune'', Kelly helped to create a literary journal, the ''Gem of the Prairie'', which in the typically fast-moving style of frontier newspapers, experienced several name, format, and ownership evolutions prior to becoming the Tribune. At the time of his death, ''

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 d ...

'' reported that Kelly was a man of property who "owned a great deal of property in and about Chicago."

References

1809 births 1895 deaths 19th-century American journalists American male journalists 19th-century American male writers {{US-journalist-19thC-stub