Charles Nordhoff (journalist)
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Charles Nordhoff (31 August 1830 – 14 July 1901) was an American journalist, descriptive and miscellaneous writer.


Biography

He was born in
Erwitte Erwitte () is a town in the Soest (district), district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Erwitte is situated approximately 8 km south of Lippstadt and 15 km east of Soest, Germany, Soest. Neighbouring municipali ...
,
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...
, in 1830, and emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1835. He was educated in
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, and apprenticed to a printer in 1843. In 1844, he went to
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
where he worked for a short time in a newspaper office. He then joined the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
in 1845 (aged 15), where he served three years and made a voyage around the world in the
USS Columbus (1819) USS ''Columbus'' was a 92-gun ship of the line in the United States Navy. Although construction of the warship was authorized by Congress on 2 January 1813, the burning of the Washington Navy Yard by the Americans in 1814 just prior to the Burn ...
, which was engaged in first attempts at opening up Japan to the U.S.A, and in establishing full diplomatic relations with China. After his Navy service, he remained at sea from 1847 in the merchant service, and then whaling, mackerel fishery ships until 1854 (aged 24). From 1853 to 1857, he worked in various newspaper offices, first in Philadelphia, then in
Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
. He was then employed editorially by
Harpers Harpers may refer to: * Harpers, popular misnomer for ''Harper's Magazine'', American monthly magazine * ''Harper's Bazaar'', monthly American fashion magazine * ''Harpers Wine & Spirit'', formerly ''Harpers Magazine'' (since 1878), British trade ...
in 1857 until 1861, when he went to work the next ten years on the staff of the
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
'' Evening Post'', 1861-1871, and he later contributed to the New York ''
Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the Tribune of the Plebs, tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs ac ...
''. From 1871 to 1873 Nordhoff traveled in California and visited
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
. He then became Washington correspondent of the New York ''
Herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen ...
'' 1874-1890. Nordhoff died in
San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. ''The Valley of Cross Purposes'', an extensive biography by Carol Frost, PhD, was published in 2017.The Valley of Cross Purposes: Charles Nordhoff and American Journalism, 1860 - 1890
Carol J. Frost, PhD


Family

He was the father of Walter Nordhoff (1855-1937), author of ''The Journey of the Flame'', penned under the name "Antonio de Fierro Blanco", and of Evelyn Hunter Nordhoff (ca. 1865–1898), America's first female bookbinder and printmaker. He was the grandfather of Charles Bernard Nordhoff, co-author of ''
Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the ''Bounty'' occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship, , from their captain, Lieutenant (navy), Lieutenant William Bli ...
''.


Legacy

Nordhoff High School in
Ojai, California Ojai ( ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''’Awhaỳ'') is a city in Ventura County, California. Located in the Ojai Valley, it is northwest of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara. The valley is part of the east– ...
and Nordhoff Street in the
San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...
of
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
are named in his honor.


Works

His most widely known books are ''Communistic Societies of The United States'', and ''California for Health, Pleasure and Residence''. * Kern, ''Practical Landscape Gardening'', editor (Cincinnati, 1855) * ''Man-of-War Life: a Boy's Experience in the U. S. Navy'', largely autobiographical (Cincinnati, 1855) * ''The Merchant Vessel'' (1855) * ''Whaling and Fishing'' (1855; new edition, 1903) * ''Nine Years as a Sailor'' (1857) * ''Stories from the Island World'' (New York, 1857) * ''Secession Is Rebellion: the Union Indissoluble'' (1860) * ''The Freedmen of South Carolina: Some Account of their Appearance, Character, Condition, and Customs'' (1863)
''America for Free Working Men!''
(1865) * ''Cape Cod and All Along Shore'', a collection of stories (1868) * ''California: For Health, Pleasure, and Residence'' (1873) * ''Northern California, Oregon, and the Sandwich Islands'' (1874) * ''Politics for Young Americans'' (1875) This was adopted as a school textbook.
''The Communistic Societies of the United States''
(1875) * ''The Cotton States in the Spring and Summer of 1875'' (1876) * ''God and the Future Life'' (1881) * ''A Guide to California, the Golden State'' (1883) * ''The merchant vessel - a sailor boy's voyages around the world'' (1884) * ''Peninsular California'' (1888)


Notes


References

* * *"Inventing Ojai: When Edward Libbey's Vision Met Our Reality," by Mark Lewis, Ojai Quarterly magazine, Fall 2016, p.p. 123-126


External links

* *
The Perfectionists of Oneida and Wallingford (online text)
-Includes description of their " complex marriage" and rites of "criticism."
California: for health, pleasure, and residence. A book for travellers and settlers (online text)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nordhoff, Charles American male journalists Writers from California 1830 births 1901 deaths Prussian emigrants to the United States Ojai, California Journalists from New York City