Daniel Read Anthony (August 22, 1824 – November 12, 1904) was an American

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

, women's suffragist, and

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

. He moved to Kansas, where he published the '' Leavenworth Times'' in Leavenworth, Kansas, as well as other newspapers in the area. He was a leader of the New England Emigrant Aid Company. He was a younger brother of activist Susan B. Anthony. He killed a man in a duel, and was shot by another man in public, due to the heated politics of the era. He was considered colorful and controversial, provoking strong emotions.

Early life

Anthony was born in South Adams, Massachusetts, one of seven children of Daniel Anthony (1794–1862) and Lucy Read Anthony (1793–1880). His older sister was Susan B. Anthony. He attended school in Battenville, New York. He later worked in his father's cotton and flour mill until age 23.

Kansas

Anthony first moved to

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

in 1854 with others sponsored by the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company, in order to fight against the extension of

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

to the

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

. Congress was going to allow residents to determine if they wanted the territory to allow slavery. He settled in Leavenworth in 1857, residing in a house at 515 North Esplanade Street. Around this same time Anthony was involved with the Underground Railroad in Leavenworth, helping William Dominick Matthews, a freedman, provide refuge to escaped slaves. On January 26, 1861, Anthony founded the ''Leavenworth Daily Conservative'' paper, later selling it in order to purchase the ''Leavenworth Times.'' He was also appointed as the town postmaster. At the time, Leavenworth was the end of the telegraph line. In January 1861 Anthony printed a special edition of his newspaper and rode by horseback to

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...

to inform the territorial legislature that Congress had approved statehood for

. In 1861, rival publisher Robert C. Satterlee of the ''Kansas Herald'' accused Anthony of being a coward. They met on the street in Leavenworth and exchanged gunfire, resulting in the death of Satterlee. A jury acquitted Anthony in the death.

Military service

During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, in 1861 and 1862, Anthony served as a lieutenant colonel in the Union 7th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. He saw action in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

and

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. He was elected as mayor of Leavenworth in 1863. He enlisted several volunteers to burn buildings of Confederate sympathizers on the edge of town. Union General Thomas Ewing Jr., who placed Leavenworth under martial law during the

, had Anthony arrested for interfering with martial law. (Anthony said that the city could maintain its own order.)

Postwar years in Kansas

In 1864, Anthony bought the ''Leavenworth Bulletin''. In 1866, he was removed as postmaster because he did not support Reconstruction policies of President Andrew Johnson, whom he thought too accommodating of the South. Johnson came to office after the assassination of President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

. Anthony was elected as presiding officer of the 1868 Republican State Convention. In 1870–1871, he was elected to the Leavenworth City Council. In 1871, Anthony purchased the '' Leavenworth Times'', the oldest daily newspaper in Kansas. His editorial stance on issues and his steady acquisition of newspapers were controversial, as observers did not think one man should control the newspapers. In 1875, William Embry, rival editor of the ''Daily Appeal'', shot Anthony at the Leavenworth Opera House, seriously wounding him. His sister Susan B. Anthony came to visit him. After recovering from his injuries, in 1876 Anthony bought the ''Leavenworth Commercial'', gaining a monopoly on local newspapers. He continued to provoke strong emotions amid the heated late 19th-century politics. In 1887, Anthony was horsewhipped by a man. Many Leavenworth residents raised money by "nickel subscription" to pay the $100 fine for the man charged with horsewhipping. In 1891, the town's mayor was fined $30 (~$ in ) for shooting and horsewhipping Anthony.

Death and legacy

Anthony died at the age of 80 on November 12, 1904, in Leavenworth, Kansas. He is buried at Mount Muncie Cemetery in Lansing, Kansas. Anthony married Anna Eliza "Annie" Osborn (1844–1930) from

Edgartown, Massachusetts Edgartown is a town on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States, for which it is the county seat. The town's population was 5,168 at the 2020 census. It was once a major whaling port, with historic houses ...

on January 21, 1864. They had several children together including son, Daniel Read Anthony Jr. His son Daniel Read Anthony, Jr. went into the newspaper business with his father, editing the ''Leavenworth Times''. He was elected to the US Congress, serving more than two decades from 1907 to 1929. The Anthony family retained control of the '' Leavenworth Times'' for four generations until 1960; their last editor was Daniel R. Anthony IV. The Anthony family home in Adams, Massachusetts, was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2007. It has been preserved and is operated as a museum dedicated to his sister Susan B. Anthony, a renowned leader in the women's rights and

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

movement.

References

External links

Kansas Press Association Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, Daniel 1824 births 1904 deaths 19th-century American newspaper publishers (people) 19th-century Kansas politicians Suffragists from Kansas Kansas city council members Kansas Republicans Mayors of places in Kansas People from Adams, Massachusetts Politicians from Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth Times people People of Kansas in the American Civil War Politically motivated migrations Underground Railroad people Conservative media in the United States