The Man Who Never Looks Into a Newspaper Is Better Informed Than He Who Reads Them
| John Norvell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator from Michigan | |
| In part Jan 26, 1837 – March iv, 1841 | |
| Preceded past | Himself (Shadow Senator) |
| Succeeded by | William Woodbridge |
| Us Shadow Senator from the Michigan Territory | |
| In function November 10, 1835 – January 26, 1837 | |
| Preceded by | Seat established |
| Succeeded by | Himself (U.South. Senator) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1789-12-21)December 21, 1789 Danville, Kentucky, U.Due south. |
| Died | April 24, 1850(1850-04-24) (aged 60) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Autonomous-Republican |
| Military service | |
| Fidelity |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Ground forces |
| Battles/wars | State of war of 1812 |
John Norvell (December 21, 1789 – Apr 24, 1850) was a newspaper editor and one of the kickoff U.South. Senators from Michigan.
History [edit]
Norvell was built-in in Danville, Kentucky, so still a office of Virginia, where he attended the common schools.
He is the son of Lt. Lipscomb Norvell, an officer of the Virginia Line in the American Revolutionary War and Mary Hendrick. Lipscomb Norvell was taken prisoner by the British when they captured Charleston, S Carolina in 1781 and later was an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati. Lipscomb is cached in the Nashville City Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee.
Lipscomb descended from Captain Hugh Norvell (1666–1719), one of the original trustees of the Urban center of Williamsburg in the 17th century and a Vestryman at Bruton Parish Church. Mary Norvell, Lipscomb's girl, married James Walker, the father of William Walker (1824–1860) a soldier of fortune or filibusterer in Nicaragua in 1857.
In 1807, Norvell wrote to U.S. President Thomas Jefferson:
It would be a corking favor, too, to accept your opinion of the manner in which a newspaper, to be most extensively beneficial, should be conducted, as I expect to go the publisher of one for a few years.
Accept venerable patriot, my warmest wishes for your happiness.
—John Norvell
He received a reply in which Jefferson beginning recommended authors to read on government and history, then issued a scathing critique of newspapers:
To your request of my stance of the manner in which a newspaper should exist conducted, so as to be most useful, I should answer, 'by restraining it to true facts & audio principles only.' Even so I fear such a paper would find few subscribers. It is a melancholy truth, that a suppression of the printing could non more than completely deprive the nation of its benefits, than is done past its abandoned prostitution to falsehood. Nothing tin now exist believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. ... I will add, that the human who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nil is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods & errors. He who reads cipher will still learn the great facts, and the details are all false.
Despite Jefferson'due south highly skeptical appraisement, Norvell manifestly took his words equally a challenge to reform newspapers and decided to learn the printing trade. Norvell did not publish this letter until after Jefferson'due south death in 1826, the original alphabetic character is now lost, just was in his son's possession as late equally 1880.
Norvell edited the Baltimore Whig 1813-14. He also studied constabulary, was admitted to the bar in 1814, and began a private practise in Baltimore, Maryland. He enlisted equally a private in the War of 1812, serving in the Battle of Bladensburg.
Norvell'south adventures during the State of war of 1812 were chronicled in the Some Business relationship of the Life of Spencer Houghton Cone, A Baptist Preacher in America. Norvell and his blood brother in law Spencer Cone were partners in Baltimore and together at the Battle of Bladensburg. After the battle, they returned to Washington to rescue their wives, who had been left in that location.
In Washington a scene of terror greeted Norvell and Cone. Catherine Cone Norvell was eight months significant and could only travel by railroad vehicle. They attempted to walk out of the city, but Cone's feet were badly blistered and he found information technology impossible to move. Norvell found a pony in a neighboring field and caught him. Cone mounted him and they were once once more on their way. Stopping at the White Business firm, they asked one of the servants for a drink. Thus refreshed, they crossed the Potomac and proceeded out of the city for three miles. They were so exhausted that they fell asleep fifty-fifty earlier they had finished their meager meal, sleeping on the handbag of clothes spread out on the floor. While the men slept, Amelia, Cone's wife, awoke and went out into the garden—in the distance she could see the burning White House and Capitol edifice.
After the war, Norvell worked at various newspapers in several cities, including: the Baltimore Patriot 1815-17. Norvell stayed with the Patriot almost 2 years before abruptly moving back to Kentucky, perchance with the encouragement of Henry Clay, where he took over the state's oldest newspaper, the Lexington Kentucky Gazette in 1817. For nearly the adjacent two years, he maintained Clay's support at dwelling, which earned Norvell apparently no great pecuniary rewards. Past early in that year, he was again applying for clerkships in Washington, and shortly moved east to Philadelphia, where he became editor of an Anti-Federalist newspaper. By 1819, he joined the Franklin Gazette, which he published with Richard Bache Jr. the brother of Benjamin Franklin Bache, and grandson of Benjamin Franklin. The Franklin Gazette, which supported Jefferson politically, was published in offices "at 180 the start door on the left hand side of Carpenter's lane, leading from the Post Office to the Banking concern of the The states."
In June 1829, Norvell and John R. Walker co-founded the Pennsylvania Inquirer, which was to become The Philadelphia Inquirer, although they had to sell the paper in Nov to Jesper Harding. Norvell connected to work in newspapers when he was appointed to an part in the Treasury Department by his friend Alexander J. Dallas, who was secretary of the treasury for President James Madison.
In Michigan [edit]
In 1831, Norvell moved to Michigan Territory later on being appointed postmaster of Detroit by Andrew Jackson. Norvell was awarded the postal service because of his support of U.South. President Andrew Jackson, as were many other printers who had supported the Republican (autonomous) party. He served every bit postmaster until 1836. The people in the Michigan Territory had approved a constitution and elected country officials in 1835, although it was not admitted every bit a land until 1837 because of a conflict known every bit the Toledo War with neighboring Ohio. Norvell was selected to be Senator in 1835. However, because the state of Michigan had non been recognized, he was only granted "spectator" status.
Norvell was an influential and active participant in the start constitutional convention in 1835.[1] He was a fellow member of the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan from 1837 to 1839.
Upon the admission of Michigan as a State into the Union, Norvell entered the U.Southward. Senate with the Jacksonian wing of the Democratic-Republican Party. He served one term in the 24th, 25th, and 26th Congresses from January 26, 1837, to March 4, 1841. He did not seek reelection and resumed the practice of law in Detroit. Norvell was a fellow member of the State senate in 1841 and of the State house of representatives in 1842. He served equally Usa district attorney in Michigan from 1846 to 1849.
Senator John Norvell Grave, Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan
Personal [edit]
Norvell had ten sons by iii wives. His third wife, Isabella Hodgkiss Freeman (1804–1873) was the adopted daughter of Tristram B. Freeman, a noted Philadelphia printer and founder of the Freeman sale house. Her parents were Michael Hodgkiss and Sarah DeWeese. With Isabella, Norvell fathered 2 daughters and viii sons, one fought in the Mexican–American War and vi fought in the American Ceremonious War. They all survived the war. Colonel Freeman Norvell, was a Marine Lieutenant who fought at the Battle of Chapultepec in September 1847 and in the Ceremonious War at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. Freeman's younger brother Lt. Dallas Norvell served on the staff of Full general George Custer. Another son, Colonel Stevens Thompson Norvell was an officeholder with the 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers after the state of war and at the Battle of San Juan Colina with Theodore Roosevelt during the Spanish American War. Norvell'south older daughter Isabella Gibson Norvell married Capt. Angus Keith, a Bully Lakes boat captain, and the younger girl Emily Virginia Norvell married Henry Nelson Walker, a paper possessor, lawyer, and attorney general of Michigan.
Norvell died in Detroit on Apr 24, 1850, the day that news came from Washington that he had been appointed U.S. Delegate to Turkey. He is interred in Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit. Norvell Township in Jackson Canton, Michigan is named for him.
References [edit]
- Notes
- ^ Michigan Historical Committee. (1924). Michigan biographies, including members of Congress, elective state officers, justices of the Supreme court. Vol. Two. Lansing: The Michigan historical commission. pp. 151–2. hdl:2027/mdp.39015071173960.
- Sources
- Goodwin, William A., The Record of Bruton Parish Church, Richmond, Virginia, 1941.
- Hemans, Lawton T., The Life and Times of Stevens Thompson Mason, Lansing, Michigan, 1920.
- Streeter, Floyd Benjamin, Political Parties in Michigan 1837-1860, Lansing, Michigan, 1918.
- Pasley, Jeffrey, The Tyranny of Printers: Newspaper Politics in the Early American Republic. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2001.
- Pasley, Jeffrey, "The 'Indiscreet Zeal' of John Norvell: Paper Publishing and Politics in the Early on Commonwealth." Paper read at the almanac meeting of the Arrangement of American Historians, Atlanta, Ga., April fourteen, 1994.
- Norvell, Colonel Freeman, "History and Times of the Hon. John Norvell" Michigan Pioneer Collections, Lansing Michigan, 1881.
External links [edit]
- United States Congress. "John Norvell (id: n000158)". Biographical Directory of the Usa Congress.
- John Norvell facsimile pages from Michigan Biographies, Michigan Historical Commission, 1924
- Jefferson's letter to Norvell
- John Norvell entry at The Political Graveyard
- John Norvell at Detect a Grave
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Norvell
0 Response to "The Man Who Never Looks Into a Newspaper Is Better Informed Than He Who Reads Them"
Post a Comment