THE NEWSPAPER LIFE WAS HIS LIFE. J. Howard Watson, pioneer homestead on Lake Chelans south shore, spent his life in the newspaper business. J. Howard Watson, son of Joseph and Rebecca (Sproule) Watson was born August 15, 1858, one of seven children born to Joseph and Rebecca. His parents had come to America from County Tyrone, Ireland in 1849 at the beginning of the great potato famine and eventually settled in Mount Vernon, Ohio where J. Howard attended public school. In 1876 at the age of 16, J. Howard began his life long newspaper career as a printer in the newspaper profession. Two years later in 1878 and at the age of 18, he became the managing editor of the Knox County Advocate, a newspaper published in the interests of the Republican Party. It was shortly there after that Mr. Watson was offered a position in the U.S. Treasury Department. A trip was made back to Washington D.C to accept the position but at the advise of Secretary Sherman, he declined but Mr. Watson remained on the East Coast for a couple years doing work in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and for the Washington Post. After his time on the East Coast Mr. Watson returned to Ohio and established a paper there called The Pen in Newark which was published until he sold out in 1882. He then moved to Chicago where he spent four years as reporter, Assistant City editor and telegraph editor for the Chicago Daily News. Following his work with the Daily News he went to work with the Chicago Tribune. In 1889 Horace Brown of Spokane Falls WA. traveled to Chicago to purchase new book stock following the great fire there. It was while Mr. Brown was in Chicago that he contacted J. Howard Watson, Joseph French and William H. Cowles as well as others, and proposed the idea of establishing a second paper in Spokane Falls. Shortly there after J. Howard left the Chicago Tribune and headed west to help start the new daily paper called The Spokane Spokesman. With Horace T. Brown as business manager, Joseph French Johnson as managing editor, the first copy of the new paper was born March 9, 1890 at 5:15am. In May of 1890 the paper became the property of a stock company consisting of J.F. Johnson, L.A. Agnew, W.H. Cowles and J. Howard Watson. Mr. Watson succeeded Mr. Brown as business manager. The new paper was said to have had brilliant features and was independent and courageous, ill spirited and gained rapidly in public favor but the founders found it extremely and financially difficult competing with the established Review. Horace Brown bowed out of the new Spokesman enterprise and another staff member, Charles B. Dullingham quit the Spokesman and returned to Chicago without full pay. The Spokesman was slipping and J. Howard Watsons health was not well. Finally, it was decided that J. Howard needed to travel back to Chicago and urge their fellow stockholder William H Cowles to come west and save the failing paper. With extreme excitement Mr. Watson returned to Spokane with the news that Mr. Cowles would soon be joining them and in July of 1891, Mr. Cowles arrived. Despite the arrival of Mr. Cowles, matters for the Spokesman (and with the Review) continued to decline. After owners of both the Spokesman and the Review met, details of a merger were made. Mr. Cowles purchased stock in the Review and on February 20, 1893 the consolidation resulted in a new paper named (and still is today) The Spokesman-Review. To be continued.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 19:43:26 +0000
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