Murat Halstead
Encyclopedia
Murat Halstead was an American
newspaper editor
and magazine
writer
. He was a war correspondent during three wars.
, Revolutions in Europe and Rollin's Ancient History. He spent the summers on his father's farm and the winters in school until he was nineteen years old, and, after teaching for a few months, in 1848 entered Farmer's College, near Cincinnati, where he graduated in 1851. He then decided to study law.
He had begun writing for newspapers when he was 18,
writing for The Hamilton Intelligencer and The Roseville Democrat, two Butler Country papers. While a student near Cincinnati, he contributed to the Commercial and especially to the literary department of the Gazette. After leaving college, he became connected with the Cincinnati Atlas, and then with the Enquirer. He afterward established a Sunday newspaper in Cincinnati, and from 1852-1853 worked on the Columbian and Great West, a weekly. He began work on the Commercial on 8 March 1853, as a local reporter, and soon became news editor. The following year, he acquired a pecuniary interest in the paper, which began rapidly to increase in circulation and influence. He personally reported several battles during the Civil War
. He was also a war correspondent for the Franco-Prussian War
, where he sided emphatically with the Germans.
In 1867, he acquired a controlling interest in the Commercial. After pursuing for a time a course of independent journalism, he allied himself with the Republican Party
. The Cincinnati Gazette was consolidated with his paper in 1883, and he became president of the company that published the combined journal under the name of the Commercial Gazette, also a recognized organ of the Republicans.
In 1890, he moved to Brooklyn, New York, where he edited the Standard Union, though he continued to write for the Commercial Gazette. President Benjamin Harrison
nominated him for Minister to Germany
, but the nomination was rejected by the Senate
, perhaps due to editorials he had written accusing some senators of purchasing their seats.
At the start of the Spanish-American War
, he became a war correspondent and went to the Philippines
. His later years he spent writing books, mainly biographies, and contributing articles to magazines. He died in Cincinnati, being survived by his wife and nine children. His son Marshall, at one time United States consul in Birmingham, England, predeceased him.
He also wrote a number of books, including:
He contributed to these newspapers and magazines:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
newspaper editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
and magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
. He was a war correspondent during three wars.
Biography
He was the son of Griffin Halstead, a farmer. With his mother's help, he was a reader by the time he was four, and during his boyhood read works such as Plutarch's Lives, JosephusJosephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
, Revolutions in Europe and Rollin's Ancient History. He spent the summers on his father's farm and the winters in school until he was nineteen years old, and, after teaching for a few months, in 1848 entered Farmer's College, near Cincinnati, where he graduated in 1851. He then decided to study law.
He had begun writing for newspapers when he was 18,
writing for The Hamilton Intelligencer and The Roseville Democrat, two Butler Country papers. While a student near Cincinnati, he contributed to the Commercial and especially to the literary department of the Gazette. After leaving college, he became connected with the Cincinnati Atlas, and then with the Enquirer. He afterward established a Sunday newspaper in Cincinnati, and from 1852-1853 worked on the Columbian and Great West, a weekly. He began work on the Commercial on 8 March 1853, as a local reporter, and soon became news editor. The following year, he acquired a pecuniary interest in the paper, which began rapidly to increase in circulation and influence. He personally reported several battles during the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. He was also a war correspondent for the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
, where he sided emphatically with the Germans.
In 1867, he acquired a controlling interest in the Commercial. After pursuing for a time a course of independent journalism, he allied himself with the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. The Cincinnati Gazette was consolidated with his paper in 1883, and he became president of the company that published the combined journal under the name of the Commercial Gazette, also a recognized organ of the Republicans.
In 1890, he moved to Brooklyn, New York, where he edited the Standard Union, though he continued to write for the Commercial Gazette. President Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
nominated him for Minister to Germany
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, but the nomination was rejected by the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, perhaps due to editorials he had written accusing some senators of purchasing their seats.
At the start of the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
, he became a war correspondent and went to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. His later years he spent writing books, mainly biographies, and contributing articles to magazines. He died in Cincinnati, being survived by his wife and nine children. His son Marshall, at one time United States consul in Birmingham, England, predeceased him.
Works
His reports from the 1860 presidential election have been collected as Three against Lincoln; Murat Halstead reports the caucuses of 1860, ed. William Best Hesseltine. Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 1960. OCLC 337677.He also wrote a number of books, including:
- The illustrious life of William McKinley : our martyred president, 1901
- The story of Cuba her struggles for liberty ; the cause, crisis and destiny of the Pearl of the Antilles, 1896 and 1898
- Life of Jay Gould how he made his millions, 1892
- The story of the Philippines. Natural riches, industrial resources, statistics of productions, commerce and population; the laws, habits, customs, scenery, and conditions of the Cuba of the East Indies, and the thousand islands of the archipelagoes of India and Hawaii, with episodes of their early history ... Events of the war in the west with Spain, and the conquest of Cuba and Porto Rico, 1898
- Life and achievement of Admiral Dewey from Montpelier to Manila, 1899
- Galveston the horrors of a stricken city ; portraying by pen and picture the awful calamity that befell the Queen city on the gulf and the terrible scenes that followed the disaster, 1900, reprinted 1980
- Pictorial history of America's new possessions, the isthmian canals, and the problem of expansion, 1898
- Our Country in War and Relations with All Nations, 1898
He contributed to these newspapers and magazines:
- Editor for Cincinnati Commercial (merged into Cincinnati Commercial Gazette)
- Editor for Brooklyn Standard Union
- Published articles for Cosmopolitan Monthly