American newspaperman and politician
So complete a system of government never before existed, and it became the admiration of the lovers of liberty throughout the world. The prayers of its founders, as they passed from earth, were for its perpetuity. It was received by their children and cherished as an inheritance above all price. With them the man who dared to lisp of its destruction was branded as a traitor and an enemy of mankind.
?John D. Defrees, 1864
[1]
John Dougherty Defrees
(1810–1882) was an American newspaperman and politician.
Political career
[
edit
]
Born in
Sparta, Tennessee
, Defrees moved to
Ohio
and worked in the law office of
Thomas Corwin
, who would later serve as
Governor of Ohio
. In 1831, Defrees and his brother,
Joseph
, moved to
South Bend, Indiana
, where they founded the
Northwestern Pioneer and St. Joseph Intelligencer
,
Northern Indiana
's first newspaper.
[2]
Newspaper career
[
edit
]
In 1833, Defrees moved to
White Pigeon, Michigan
, and began publishing the
Michigan Statesman and St. Joseph Chronicle
, only the third newspaper published in the
Michigan Territory
and the first published between Chicago and Detroit. Under Defrees, the paper took a radical
Democratic
line and supported
President
Andrew Jackson
. Defrees sold his interest in the paper in mid-1834 to
Henry Gilbert
, who later shortened its title to
Michigan Statesman
. The paper became the
Kalamazoo Gazette
in 1837, which, as of 2019
[update]
, remains in publication.
[3]
[4]
Defrees returned to South Bend, was admitted to the Indiana bar, and became involved in Indiana state politics, winning election to the
Indiana Senate
as a
Whig
. In 1845, he bought the
Indiana Journal
(now
The Indianapolis Star
) which he also edited until he sold the paper a decade later, contributing editorials sharply critical of the
Polk administration's
conduct of the
Mexican?American War
. When the Whig Party collapsed in the early 1850s, Defrees became an important leader in the fusionist movement that established the
Republican Party
in Indiana.
[5]
After divesting himself of the
Journal
, Defrees sought the Republican nomination for
Indiana's 6th congressional district
seat in
House of Representatives
in 1858, but lost to
Albert G. Porter
, who later became
Governor of Indiana
. Defrees subsequently founded the
Indianapolis Atlas
, which under his leadership promoted
Edward Bates
for the 1860 Republican presidential nomination, although Bates lost to
Abraham Lincoln
.
[6]
Defrees sold the
Atlas
to the
Journal
in 1861 after President Lincoln named him superintendent of the newly created
U.S. Government Printing Office
.
[6]
Civil war politics
[
edit
]
Defrees was a vocal supporter of the Union and the government during the
American Civil War
.
[1]
In those days, the Government Printing Office was a rich source of patronage, and Defrees' failure to satisfy members of Congress in that regard led to his removal in 1869, and the restructuring of the post of
Public Printer
. Previously, the President named the printer; now and to this day the Senate must approve the appointment.
[6]
[7]
Defrees backed
Horace Greeley
for president in 1872 and
Rutherford B. Hayes
in 1876; after his election, Hayes returned Defrees to the Printing Office, which post he held until April 1, 1882. Defrees retired to
Berkeley Springs, West Virginia
, where he had made his home since 1861, and died there October 19, 1882. He is buried in
Crown Hill Cemetery
, Indianapolis.
[8]
Defrees was the brother of
Joseph H. Defrees
, who served in the
United States House of Representatives
.
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Defrees, John D. (1864).
Remarks made by John D. Defrees before the Indiana Union Club of Washington, D.C.
Gale Cengage Learning.
ISBN
9781432818272
.
- ^
Deahl (1905), 35.
- ^
Bishop (1900), 346-347.
- ^
"Kalamazoo Gazette"
.
Michigan Historical Markers
. Retrieved
2010-01-02
.
- ^
Lighty, Chandler (August 16, 2013).
"A Brief History of The Indianapolis Journal"
.
Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program
. Indianapolis, Indiana: Indiana State Library and Historical Bureau
. Retrieved
April 6,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
Woollen (1975), 486.
- ^
44 U.S.C.
§ 301
- ^
Woollen (1975), 487-488.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|