''The Daily Exchange'' was a daily newspaper published in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

from 1858 to 1861. It was originally owned and edited by Charles G. Kerr and Thomas Hall Jr. In 1859, Henry Fitzhugh, William Carpenter, and

Frank Key Howard Frank Key Howard (October 25, 1826 – May 29, 1872) (also cited as Francis Key Howard) was an American newspaper editor and journalist. The grandson of Francis Scott Key and Revolutionary War colonel John Eager Howard, Howard was the edit ...

bought into the paper. Howard soon headed the editorial staff and

Severn Teackle Wallis Severn Teackle Wallis (September 8, 1816 – April 11, 1894) was an American lawyer and politician. Biography Severn Teackle Wallis graduated from the secular St. Mary's College in northwest inner Baltimore in 1832, and later studied law ...

contributed editorial columns frequently. It was a four-page paper and was published every morning except Sundays. The paper included news items; financial reports and editorials; political intelligence and editorials, claiming to “to preserve a position of honest and fearless independence;” reviews of literature and art; and advertisements.

Background

In 1858, Baltimore was highly run by the mob, and the ''Exchange'' was highly critical of the

Know-Nothing Party The American Party, known as the Native American Party before 1855 and colloquially referred to as the Know Nothings, or the Know Nothing Party, was an Old Stock nativist political movement in the United States in the 1850s. Members of the m ...

. Any businesses or political figures involved were viewed as corrupt. Following a series of threats to the editors, on August 12, 1858, the paper's office was broken into, and employees were assaulted and property was destroyed. All of these tactics only served to increase the popularity of the ''Exchange''. In 1860, the scope of the newspaper shifted to national politics and Kerr, Hall, and Fitzhugh sold their shares to

William Wilkins Glenn William Wilkins Glenn (July 20, 1824 - June 24, 1876) was a journalist, newspaper proprietor, and Confederate sympathizer from Baltimore, Maryland. Portions of his estate helped establish the town of Glen Burnie, Maryland.

, who maintained ownership with Carpenter and Howard. The ''Exchange'' backed

John C. Breckinridge John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American politician who served as the 14th vice president of the United States, with President James Buchanan, from 1857 to 1861. Assuming office at the age of 36, Breckinrid ...

in the 1860 presidential election and supported

states' rights In United States, American politics of the United States, political discourse, states' rights are political powers held for the state governments of the United States, state governments rather than the federal government of the United States, ...

although not

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

. Because of its anti-Lincoln administration views during the Civil War, the newspaper was suppressed by the government and on September 10, 1861, finally banned from the U.S. Mail. The next day the ''Exchange'' published an editorial of protest and Howard was arrested that night and Glenn was arrested a few days later. Carpenter, who remained free, wrote a scathing editorial appearing on September 14, after which the government permanently suppressed the paper, alongside the Marlboro Planter's Advocate and the Frederick Herald. Days later, two former employees of the ''Exchange,'' Edward F. Carter and William H. Neilson, began publishing the ''Maryland Times'' with Carpenter serving as editor. The paper looked exactly like the ''Exchange'' and was discontinued on September 24, 1861. The ''Maryland News Sheet'' replaced it and was published until August 14, 1862, when it was also suppressed by the government. The ''Exchange'' strongly opposed the nomination of Augustus W. Bradford as a gubernatorial candidate, calling him an "extreme coercionist" and his support of the government, "unconditional". Carter and Neilson then established the ''

Baltimore Daily Gazette The ''Baltimore Gazette'', also known as the ''Baltimore Daily Gazette'' and ''The Gazette'', was a daily newspaper published in Baltimore, Maryland between 1862 and 1875. It broke some high-profile stories including the fact that The Turk, al ...

'' on October 7, 1862, and by 1865 ownership of the paper was returned to Glenn, Carpenter, and Howard.

References

External links

Newspaper page
at Library of Congress

Chronicling America ''Chronicling America'' is an open access, open source newspaper database and companion website. It is produced by the United States National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a partnership between the Library of Congress and the National Endowm ...

project. 1858 establishments in Maryland Defunct newspapers published in Maryland {{Maryland-newspaper-stub Newspapers established in 1858