A. Homer Byington

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Aaron Homer Byington (July 23, 1826 – December 29, 1910) was the U.S. Consul in Naples from 1897 to 1907. He was a newspaper publisher and editor. He also represented Norwalk in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1858 to 1860, and was a member of the Connecticut Senate representing the 12th District from 1861 to 1863.

Early life and family[]

He was born in Herkimer, New York, on July 23, 1826, the son of Aaron Byington and Sarah Waterbury. He attended the Amos Smith Collegiate School for boys, but was unable to attend college. On November 8, 1849, he married Harriet Sophia Richmond.^[2]

Career[]

Upon completion of his studies, he went to work as an office boy at the Norwalk Gazette.^[2] When the began publication with as editor, Byington became business manager.^[2] He remained in this capacity until 1848, when he bought the Norwalk Gazette.^[2] In the Gazette, Byington editorialized for giving blacks the vote, a distinctly minority position at the time.^[4]

He was hired by Horace Greeley of the New-York Tribune as the newspaper's congressional correspondent in Washington. He later was named head of the paper's corps of army correspondents.^[2]

At the outbreak of the American Civil War, and before regiments of Northern troops had arrived to defend Washington, there was a report of a plot to burn the capital. On April 18, 1861, this report mobilized loyal citizens, including Byington, and former congressman Orris S. Ferry, also of Norwalk to form a militia. This militia was led by Cassius Marcellus Clay, and came to be known as the Cassius Clay Guard.^[4]

Byington gained a reputation as a war correspondent when he became the first to deliver news of the outcomes of the first and second battles of Bull Run and Gettysburg.^[2]

During the war, Byington worked as a lobbyist for Connecticut's arms manufacturers.^[4] Byington was a raconteur who eventually got to know Abraham Lincoln and swapped tall tales and jokes with him.^[4]

After the war Byington co-founded the New York Sun, along with Edmund C. Stedman and Charles A. Dana. However, he sold his interest in the paper after a dispute arose between Dana and Ulysses S. Grant.^[2]

He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention from Connecticut in 1868 and an alternate in 1880.^[3]

In 1897, he suspended operations of the Norwalk Gazette when he was appointed by President William McKinley United States Consul in Naples. He served until 1907.^[3]

Byington died on December 29, 1910, in Flushing, New York.^[2]

References[]