Marcus Mills "Brick" Pomeroy (also known as Mark M. Pomeroy; December 25, 1833 – May 30, 1896) was an American journalist who became notorious for his anti-

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

sentiment 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 ...

Early life

Pomeroy was born in

Elmira, New York Elmira () is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. ...

in 1833. As a young man, he worked as a

printer's devil A printer's devil was a young apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type. Notable writers including Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, Ambrose Bierce, Bret Harte, and Mar ...

Career

Pomeroy established the first newspaper in

Corning, New York Corning is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States, on the Chemung River. The population was 10,551 at the 2020 census. It is named for Erastus Corning, an Albany financier and railroad executive who was an investor in the company th ...

in 1854 and then moved to Wisconsin in 1857. There he was a

La Crosse La Crosse ( ) is a city in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population was 52,680 as of the 20 ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

newspaperman, editor of the '' La Crosse Democrat'' from 1860 to 1869, then editor of '' Pomeroy's Democrat'' from 1869 to 1887 (1869 to 1879 in New York City, then in La Crosse, with branch offices in Chicago and probably elsewhere). It was during this time that he acquired the nickname "Brick". According to one account, after he had displayed skill in writing an article, another editor said that someone that could write so well was "a perfect brick" (i.e., a good fellow). According to another account, a journalist in the eastern United States had written a series of articles about celebrities called "charcoal sketches," and Pomeroy imitated these in a more extravagant manner, describing Wisconsin personalities and dubbing his articles "brick-dust sketches." During the American Civil War, Pomeroy initially supported preservation of the Union and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Union forces. However, he later became a Copperhead, and in an editorial he called Abraham Lincoln "fungus from the corrupt womb of bigotry and fanaticism" and a "worse tyrant and more inhuman butcher than has existed since the days of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

.... The man who votes for Lincoln now is a traitor and murderer.... And if he is elected to misgovern for another four years, we trust some bold hand will pierce his heart with dagger point for the public good." Pomeroy relocated to New York in 1868, and then to Chicago in 1875, also spending time in Denver before returning to New York. In later years, he became a leader of the

Greenback Party The Greenback Party (known successively as the Independent Party, the National Independent Party and the Greenback Labor Party) was an Political parties in the United States, American political party with an Competition law, anti-monopoly ideolog ...

and the People's Party/Union Labor Party of Wisconsin. During the 1880s he employed

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

journalist George Edwin Taylor as

city editor A city editor is a section editor of a newspaper responsible for daily news from a city or metropolitan area. They often work at night to be able to track news that happens at any time and include it in the following day's publication. Regional ...

of ''Pomeroy's Democrat''. It claimed to have the largest circulation of any political newspaper in the country. In July of 1891, he visited

Logan County, West Virginia Logan County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,567. Its county seat is Logan. Logan County comprises the Logan, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Cha ...

and interviewed William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield. Pomeroy died in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

in 1896.

Family

Pomeroy married three times; his second wife, née Louise Rider or Ryder, became a celebrated Shakespearean actor, known as Louise Pomeroy.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pomeroy. Marcus M. 1833 births 1896 deaths 19th-century American newspaper publishers (people) American newspaper editors Copperheads (politics) Writers from La Crosse, Wisconsin Wisconsin Democrats Wisconsin Greenbacks 19th-century American politicians Wisconsin Laborites Journalists from Wisconsin