Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 November 1884 — WILBUR F. STOREY. [ARTICLE]

WILBUR F. STOREY.

Biographical Sketch of the Deceased Proprietor of the Times. ————— A Life of Great Ambitions, Arduous Labors, and Brilliant Successes. _ Wilbur F. Storey, editor and proprietor of the Chicago 2 imes, died at his residence on Prairie avenue, in that city, on the 27th of (October. Hi* death was not unexpected, as it had becomegenerally known that his phvsicai system wasseriously impaired and his mind shattered. For some time before his death his mind was entirely powerless and inactive, and the only evidence of life remaining was shown in respiration aud by his pulse, both of which were faint. His passing away was rainless. Wilbur F. Storey was one of the best and most widely known residents of Chicago. Hi* reputation as a journalist ranked among theforemost. When in his vigor he was radical and a .-gressive, and at the same time comprehensiveand well poised. These qualities were reflected ■ in the great newspaper which he edited so ably and successfully for so many years. He had qualities which drew to him many strong and faithful friends, and at tho same time made him bitter enemies. His influence, and that of the Times, when hewa- actively at its head and shaped and enforced its policy, were very great. But few, if any, journalists in this country have wielded a wider or more potent influt nee. I rom the Chicago Daily Fetes we glean the following biographical sketch of the deceased journalist: Mr. Storey was bom Dec. 19,1819, in Salisbury, Vt. His family was of the same stock a* that of the celebrated jurist. He passed the first ten years of his lire on his father’s farm, attending a cpnntry school in the winter only.. When he was 12 years old, his father having moved to Middlebury, he entered the office of the Middlebury Press Press, to learn the printing Dnsiness. He remained there until he was 17, with the exception of one winter, during which he attended school. At 17 he had saved sl7, and with this small amount, added to $lO which hi 9 mother gave him, he went toNew York to begin life for himself. As a youth he was said to be quiet, retiring, and industrious, and rather averse to society. In New York he worked as a compositor oh the Journal of Commerce for a year and a half and then came West to LaPorte, Ind., where he established a Democraticpaper, he undertaking the mechanical part of its management and the celebrated Ned Hanneg&n afterward United States Senator, being editor. This enterprise did not suoceed, and Mr. Story purchased a drug store. Falling in this, also, he established a Democratic paper in Mishawaka called the Tocsin. After editing it a year and a half he went to Jackson, Mich., and studied law for two years. A tithe end of that time he started the JacksoaiWU-Jof, and conducted it with such ability that he pushed to the wall the Democratic paper already in existence there. After editing the Patriot a year and a half, he was appointed Postmaster by President Polk and held the office until deposed by President Taylor. Having sold his paper when he became Postmaster, he was again, without an occupation. Soon he went again> into the drug business, and dealt also in groceries, books, and stationery. While in Jackson he took an active part in politics, and in 1850 waselected a member of the constitutional convention of Michigan by a large majority over Austin Blair. Having an opportunity to acquire am interest in the Detroit Free Press he availed himself of it, and in 1853 removed to Detroit. Before long he becameihalf owner and subsequently sole owner of the paper. When he wentto Detroit the Free Press was a feeble organ, with almost no circulation or inflnenee. In tight years Mr. Storey paid for the entire concern, saved about $30,000 and made the paper the most able, prosperous, and influential Democratic organ in the West. For the first six years Mr. Storey did all the editorial work on the paper and during the next two years had but a singleassistant. He was always the first to reach the office in the morning and tho last to leave it at. night. His remarkable success was due not alone to his ability as a journalist, intellectuallyspeaking, but to untiring industry. It was notunusual for Mr. Storey to remain at his offleauntil the paper went to press, at 4 o’clock in the morning, and then to return at 8 o’clock to resume his labor.

In 1861 Mr. Storey realized that he had built up the Free Press to the limit of prosperity which its field permitted, and his ambition urged him to something of larger scope and dimensions. After hesitation between Chicago* and several other cities, he decided to come to this growing commercial center of the West. At that time the Chicago Times had deteriorated from being the influential organ of Stephen A. Douglas to a paper of almost no influence or standing, and with a circulation less than 1,200. Mr. Storey.bought the paper and at once began the work of makingi the influential journal it subsequently became. He i racticed the same industry and wonderful application, and exerted the same remarkable journalistic ability by the exercise of which he had gained success in Detroit. The rebellion, had just begun and the time was one of great political excitement. Mr. Storey sent out numerous special r orresr ondents with the different armies, used the telegraph most liberally, and the Times had always the freshest war news, often outstripping its contemporaries in thecompleteness and accuracy of its accounts of battles and operations at the front The attitude which the paper took editorially during the exciting times of the rebellion was such a* to give the paper an enormous circulation. Mr. Storey was accounted & rank copperhead and ardent rebel sympathizer, and shaped the policy of his paper accordingly. Numerous threats against his life were made by exasperated Unionists, and once the Times was suppressed for a few days by military order Whatever else may b« said of the course of the Times at that time, It certainly was such as was best calculated to Increase its reputation and circulation. The paper grew very rapidly into one of the greatftt journals of the West, and Mr. Storey was obliged again and again to increase its publishing facilities. The financial sueoess of the paper was great, and Mr. Storey, as was often said,, had more money than he knew what to do with. In 1867 the Times building on Dearborn street was built by Mr. Storey. Tula was .burned in the great fire of 1871, after which Mr. Storey built the existing Times building at the corner Oi Fifth avenhe and Washington street. For the past six or seven years Mr. ,Storey has done but comparatively little in the matter of editing the Times. The strain of hard work and close application began to tell upon his system, and he was obliged to relax his labor. In the spring of 1881 he took a European trip in hopes of regaining his health. While abroad hesuffered a paralytic stroke, and was almost immediately brought home. He grew better, and undertook to do editorial work again. It was apparent, however, that the vigor of his mind was gone. Subsequently he spent periods of greater or less length at Green Lake, Wis., Hot Springs, and other health resorts. During last winter he was in Philadelphia undergoing medical treatment. From there he returned last spring in a partially demented and physically weak condition. It has been more than twoyears since he did any editorial work on tne Times, and since his return from Philadelphia he has not been at the office. One of the strange ambitions of Mu Storey’s declining years was to erect for himself a magnificent residence, of proportions and elegance so great as to entitle it to be called a palace. As is well known, he entered upon this undertaking some years ago, and the mammoth white marble edifice, still unfinished, though having eaten up hundreds of thousands of dollars iu its construction, remains down on Vincennes avenue to testify to his strange desire. In personal appearance Mr. Storey was tall and always neatly attired. His hair was abundant and snowy white. His forehead was high, and his hazel eyes clear and bright. As a journalist Mr. Storey had a clear, concise, and veryforcible style. He was more of a paragraphisb than essayist. In his editorials he often repeated the prominent idea again and again, each time with verbiage so forcible yet different that the effect was like that of the repeated blows of a battering ram, as many who have felt theforce of them can testify. Even his enemies, and they were many, attest to his remarkable ability as a journalist.

i It is said that gold and. silver mines, changed hands over the result of the Owens-Murphy prize-fight at Butte City. They do things in a large way out in Montana. Washington McLean has given up hia comfortable residence in Cincinnati to hia Bon and his bride. The old gentleman will make Washington his future home. It has been proposed to furnish the railroads with grain cars built entirely of steel. It is said that more grain can be carried with less wear and tear. One of the daughters of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is engaged to be married to Mr. Thorpe, brother of Mrs. Ole BulL The Metropolitan Railroad in London runs 1,211 trains a day.