William Alexander Linn

Background

William Alexander Linn, the son of Dr. Alexander and Julia (Vibbert) Linn, was born on September 4, 1846 at Deckertown, now Sussex, New Jersey, United States.

Education

Linn went to school at Deckertown and Andover, Massachusetts. Later he entered Yale College, where he became an editor of the Yale Literary Magazine and graduated in 1868 as class poet.

Career

In 1868 Linn joined the staff of Horace Greeley as a reporter and served the New York Tribune for three years, then became city editor of the Evening Post of William Cullen Bryant in 1871. From July 1872 to May 1873 he edited the Morning Whig, Troy, New York, but it was not successful financially and he returned to the Evening Post. He was made news editor in 1883, after the accession to the editorship of Edwin Lawrence Godkin, and managing editor in 1891. His worth as a first-rate news editor and as a journalist of the highest professional standards became speedily apparent.

The Evening Post of this period never sought popular favor, but because of the brilliancy of the editorial page of Godkin and the complete reliability and trustworthiness of the news columns under Linn, was considered almost unique in the journalism of that time. Eager as he was for news promptness, Linn never permitted his news sense to interfere with the kindliness and consideration which should be foremost in the calendar of a journalist who is also a gentleman. Nevertheless, he shared to the full Godkin's capacity for wrath at injustice.

His highest journalistic achievement was his refusal after the election of 1884 to accept the returns from New York State disseminated by the Associated Press, with their insistence that Blaine was elected. The returns extended over several days because of the difficulty of getting news from remote counties. In the Evening Post's first issue the day after the election, Linn insisted that Cleveland had "probably" won and set himself to the task of obtaining from every disputed county a separate, trustworthy report. The result was that the Evening Post announced on the second day: "Cleveland President--New York Gives Him Her Vote, " although the Associated Press (not to be confused with the existing organization of that name) still insisted on the third day that Blaine had carried New York by 1, 000 votes.

After retiring from the Evening Post in 1900, because of ill-health, Linn gave considerable time to independent writing. He published The Story of the Mormons (1902) and Horace Greeley (1903). Rob and His Gun (1902), four valuable historical monographs published in the Papers and Proceedings of the Bergen County Historical Society (1905, 1908, 1915, 1917), and numerous articles on the building-and-loan movement are among the products of his pen.

For many years he was a resident of Hackensack, New Jersey, where he was a founder of the Johnson Public Library, the Historical Society, the Hackensack Mutual Building and Loan Association (a pioneer enterprise over which he presided thirty years with remarkable efficiency and success), and the Peoples National Bank, of which he was president for a dozen years. He was county collector (1915 - 1917), and a member of the Palisades Park Commission, which created the New York and New Jersey Interstate Park.

Achievements

• Linn was known as an author of "The Story of the Mormons" (1902), a volume of 637 pages. It was his most ambitious literary work. He was the first to make use of the extensive Helen Gould collection of materials on the Mormon Church.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Rob and His Gun (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Rob and His Gun Rob's First Morning at the ...)

  • Horace Greeley, Founder And Editor Of The New York Tribune

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • The Story of the Mormons, from the Date of Their Origin to the Year 1901

Membership

Linn was a member of the National Geographic Society, the New Jersey Historical Society and Bergen County Historical Society.

Personality

Evening Post described him at the time of his death as "fiery in rebuke and cutting in contempt". He was also tender-hearted, thoroughly just, of an impeccable intellectual honesty, and possessed of unusual executive power.

Connections

On January 31, 1871, Linn married Margaret A. Martin, who died in 1897. They had no children.

Father:

Alexander Linn

Mother:

Julia (Vibbert) Linn

Spouse:

Margaret A. Martin

References

• The Evening Post: A Century Of Journalism