My Genealogy Hound

JAMES FRANKLIN McDOWELL, editor of the News, was born April 11, 1843, in Montgomery County, Ind. His education was obtained mainly at the common schools, and his life was spent on a farm until 1861. On the 21st of August of that year, he enlisted as a private soldier in Company G, Twenty-sixth Indiana Infantry, and served until January 11, 1866. During a portion of this time he served as clerk at regimental headquarters, in the Adjutant General’s Department, Quartermaster’s Department, and in the Freedmen’s Bureau. After leaving the army he came to Kansas, arriving in Cherokee County October 5, 1866; engaged in farming until 1869, when he came to Columbus and assisted in establishing the Workingman’s Journal, the first paper published in the town. Was appointed Pro- bate Judge to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Amos Sanford, continuing his connection with the Journal; in 1871, became business manager of that paper, and in the winter of 1871-72, purchased it in partnership with C. D. Nichols. In July, 1872, resigned the office of Probate Judge and became sole proprietor of the Journal; sold the paper September 1, 1874, and about the 1st of October, established the Courier, publishing this paper until the spring of 1876, when he sold it to S. O. McDowell, and removed to Illinois. In June, 1877, he returned to Kansas and became editor of the Galena Miner, then published by Mc Dowell & Lea. In February, 1878, in company with A. W. McDowell, purchased the Galena Miner, and continued its publication until October of the same year, when he sold his interest and established The Times at Baxter Springs. In August, 1880, having purchased the Border Star at Columbus, he removed The Times to that city, and continued its publication until October 1, 1882, when the paper was sold to a joint stock company. On the 14th of December, 1882, started the weekly News, which he still publishes. In these newspapers Mr. McDowell favored Independent Reform until 1876, when he espoused the Greenback cause, which he has since advocated. An original Republican, he adhered to that party until 1868, when just after the election of Gen. Grant to the Presidency of the United States, he joined the liberal element of the Republican party, and supported Horace Greeley for the Presidency in 1872. He has always sympathized with the laboring classes, and opposed giving away the public lands to corporations, and maintains strong ground in favor of Prohibition, Female Suffrage, and is inclined to Free Trade. He was married to Miss Mattie E. Hall, of Columbus, Kan., daughter of Joseph T. and Mary L. Hall, March 26, 1870. Mrs. McDowell is a granddaughter of Andrew Stuart, of Pennsylvania, widely known in his day, as “Tariff Andy.” Mr. and Mrs. McDowell have had five children, three boys and two girls; only the girls— Carrie, Edna and Pearl Orpha, are living. Mr. McDowell’s great-grandfather was the James McDowell who was a companion of Simon Kenton in the early settlement of Kentucky.