S. J. McCormick
S. J. McCormick | |
---|---|
10th Mayor of Portland, Oregon | |
In office 1859–1860 | |
Preceded by | A. M. Starr |
Succeeded by | G. Collier Robbins |
Delegate to the Oregon Constitutional Convention | |
In office 1857 | |
Constituency | Multnomah County |
Personal details | |
Born | Stephen James McCormick 1828 Ireland[1] |
Died | 1891 (aged 62–63)[1][2] San Francisco, California |
Profession | Printer, publisher, editor |
Stephen James McCormick (1828–1891)[1] was a prominent printer and publisher in Oregon, United States, who served as mayor of Portland, Oregon, from 1859–1860.[3] He was originally from Dublin, Ireland.[2]
He worked as a newspaper reporter in New York.[2] He came to Portland with his wife in 1851.[1]
In Oregon, McCormick worked as a printer and publisher. In 1852, he opened a book shop in Portland, the Franklin Book Store.[4] He began publishing a semi-weekly newspaper, The Portland Commercial, on March 24, 1853, but it was discontinued after a short life.[5]
He was elected as a Multnomah County delegate to the Oregon Constitutional Convention,[1] held in 1857. He also served on the county commission and school board. He became a prominent publisher in Oregon, and his publications included the Oregon Almanac[2] (originally known as McCormick's Almanac), Oregon Monthly Magazine,[1] a city directory for Portland,[1] and Abigail Scott Duniway's Captain Gray's Company (1859).[4] In 1857, he was elected chief of the Portland Fire Department (established in 1854), serving for a brief period.[6] He was elected mayor of Portland on April 4, 1859,[7] for a one-year term.[1][3] During and after his term as mayor, he continued working in his main occupation, publishing.
On May 13, 1859, he established another Portland newspaper, the , which was only the second daily newspaper in the Pacific Northwest (the first being the Portland Daily News, which began publication less than four weeks before McCormick's Advertiser).[5] It ceased publication – a suspension that became permanent – in October 1862.[5] McCormick sold the paper before the start of the Civil War[8] in 1861, the same year that The Oregonian became a daily paper. The Advertiser was pro-slavery[5] and, according to a 1911 account by Henry Pittock, it took a pro-secession stance after the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as U.S. President in March 1861, causing the paper to lose influence in Portland, where the majority of residents were pro-Union.[8] It ceased publication the following year.
McCormick subsequently moved to San Francisco, California,[1] where he became editor of the Catholic Monitor newspaper.[6] In 1889, he wrote the book, The Pope and Ireland.[9]
He died in San Francisco in 1891.[1]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j "Biographical Sketch of Stephen McCormick". State of Oregon. 2009. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Swing, William (May 6, 1962). "Portland's Early Mayors Busy Men". The Sunday Oregonian. Section 3, p. 10.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Directory of Current and Past Elected Officials: Mayors of Portland". City of Portland, Oregon. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Skinner, Jeremy. "Book Publishing". The Oregon Encyclopedia.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Himes, George H. (February 4, 1911). "Life of Most Pioneer Papers in Oregon Country Was Very Brief". The Morning Oregonian. Section 2, p. 13.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Harry, De Witt (June 13, 1920). "Spirit of Emulation Inspires Portland's Fireman [sic] to Great Deeds". The Sunday Oregonian. Magazine section, p. 1.
- ^ "Portland City Elections". The Oregon Argus. Oregon City, Oregon. April 9, 1859. p. 2.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Pittock, H. L. (February 4, 1911). "Story of The Daily Oregonian Told By Its Founder". The Morning Oregonian. Section 2, pp. 2–3.
- ^ "Book Notices". The American Catholic Quarterly Review. Philadelphia: Hardy & Mahoney. 14: 574. 1889.
- Mayors of Portland, Oregon
- 1828 births
- 1891 deaths
- Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923)
- Members of the Oregon Constitutional Convention
- 19th-century American politicians
- 19th-century American newspaper founders
- 19th-century American newspaper editors
- Journalists from Portland, Oregon
- Businesspeople from San Francisco
- Writers from San Francisco