Fremont Older (August 30, 1856 – March 3, 1935) was a newspaperman and editor in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

for nearly 50 years. He is best known for his campaigns against civic

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

, prison reform, and efforts on behalf of Tom Mooney and Warren Billings, wrongly convicted of the Preparedness Day bombing of 1916.

Career

Born in a

log house A log house, or log building, is a structure built with horizontal logs interlocked at the corners by notching. Logs may be round, squared or hewn to other shapes, either handcrafted or milled. The term " log cabin" generally refers to a sm ...

in Appleton, Wisconsin, Older began working at age 12 circa 1868 as an apprentice printer. He claimed that this was after reading the story of

Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and editor of the '' New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressman from New York ...

. He worked in Virginia City,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, on the ''Enterprise'', then moved on to the '' Redwood City Journal'', later writing for the ''

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

''. In 1895, Older became managing editor of the '' San Francisco Bulletin'' (later merged with the ''San Francisco Call'' in 1929). He gained notoriety when he took on the Boss

Abe Ruef Abraham Ruef (September 2, 1864 – February 29, 1936) was an American lawyer and politician. He gained notoriety as the corrupt political boss behind the administration of Mayor Eugene Schmitz of San Francisco during the period before and after ...

machine in San Francisco, during the mayoralty of

Eugene Schmitz Eugene Edward Schmitz (August 22, 1864 – November 20, 1928), often referenced as "Handsome Gene" Schmitz, was an American musician and politician, the 26th mayor of San Francisco (1902-7), who was in office during the 1906 San Francisco earthqu ...

. This led to the corruption trials during the rebuilding of

following the 1906 earthquake and fire. On September 27, 1907, Older was kidnapped and threatened with murder by private detective Luther Brown, said to be working for the grafters. In his later years at the ''Bulletin'', Older was offended by the owner's rewriting of his editorials and refusal to commit to a lifelong appointment. Hence, after 23 years of service, he resigned in 1918 and went to

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

's paper, the '' San Francisco Call''. Along with talented staff, he brought the Mooney case and numerous other stories that the ''Bulletin'' owner had refused to carry, including the James Graham Fair will case involving former state Supreme court justice Frederick W. Henshaw and a bribe amounting to $400,000. Older originally believed Mooney was guilty, but changed his mind and spent 20 years working for the release of Mooney and Billings. Although it was reported that he disliked Mooney, thinking him worthy of jail for real crimes, but not for the bombing at Steuart and Market for which he was jailed. For his efforts, Older was called a communist, a

Wobblie The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...

, a syndicalist and traitor, but Hearst backed him. Older died a few years before Mooney was pardoned by California Governor Culbert Olson in 1939. Older was also an early defender of prostitutes, having published a story at the ''Bulletin'' in 1917 entitled "A Voice from the Underworld, by Alice Smith." The article also increased the circulation of the ''Bulletin''. Older was married to Cora Baggerly, herself well-known as "a noted Californian historian and writer." He was also a long-time friend and correspondent of Clarence Darrow and was known as a friend to the poor. He regularly tried to reform drunkards and criminals with mixed success. After 20 years of attempting to help such persons, Older said, "I'm sorry, but I must admit that of the scores I have helped, all but one or two have failed me." Older died at a hospital in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquired Rancho Campo de los Franceses. The city is named after R ...

after suffering a heart attack while driving.

Legacy

*The

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Liberty ship, the S.S. ''Fremont Older'', was named for Older. *The

Fremont Older Open Space Preserve Fremont Older Open Space Preserve is a regional park located in Santa Clara County, California and operated by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. The preserve contains 14.7 miles (23.7 km) of hiking trails, nearly all open to e ...

incorporates his home and estate in the hills above Cupertino, California. *The Fremont Older Elementary School, Cupertino, California was also named for Older.

References

Resources

* Gaudy Century, the story of San Francisco's hundred years of robust journalism - John Bruce -

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

N.Y. 1948
My Own Story
- Fremont Older - The Call Publishing Co, San Francisco 1919 - Focuses on the San Francisco newspaper and political scene 1895-1917.
Fremont Older & the 1916 San Francisco Bombing. A Tireless Crusade for Justice
- John C. Ralston. The History Press, Charleston, S.C., 2013. About Older's crusade to free two men wrongly convicted of a terrorist bombing.

External links

*Short radio episode

', from ''My Own Story'', 1919. California Legacy Project.
Biography of Fremont OlderGuide to the Fremont Older Papers
at

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Older, Fremont Writers from Appleton, Wisconsin 1856 births 1935 deaths Writers from San Francisco 19th-century American newspaper editors Journalists from Wisconsin 20th-century American newspaper editors Editors of California newspapers 19th-century American male writers 20th-century American male writers American male journalists American anti-corruption activists