Henry Watterson

Henry Watterson

Henry Watterson (born February 16, 1840 in Washington, DC , †  December 22, 1921 in Jacksonville , Florida ) was an American politician and journalist. Between 1876 and 1877 he represented the state of Kentucky in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Henry Watterson was a son of Harvey Magee Watterson (1811-1891), who represented the state of Tennessee in Congress between 1839 and 1843 . He was also a nephew of Stanley Matthews (1824-1889), who was from 1877 to 1879 US Senator for the state of Ohio . Watterson enjoyed a private education. He then attended the Academy of the Diocese of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia . In the following years he began a career as a journalist. He was a newspaper correspondent and publisher. He worked first in Washington and then in Nashville . During the Civil War he served in the Confederation Army . There he was active in some general staffs.

After the war, Watterson published newspapers in various places before settling in Louisville, Kentucky. There he published the newspaper "Louisville Journal". He combined this newspaper with a few other papers to form the "Courier Journal", which he was to publish for 50 years. Politically, Watterson was initially a member of the Liberal Republican Party . Then he joined the Democratic Party . In 1876 he was temporarily chairman of the Democratic National Convention .

After the death of Congressman Edward Y. Parsons , Watterson was elected in the fifth constituency of Kentucky as his successor in the US House of Representatives in Washington, where he took up his new mandate on August 12, 1876. Since he did not run again in the regular congressional elections of 1876, he was only able to end the current legislative period of his predecessor in congress until March 3, 1877. Between 1880 and 1892, Watterson was a delegate at all federal party conventions of the Democrats. He also continued to work as a journalist. In 1918, he received the Pulitzer Prize for articles that justified the United States' entry into World War I. Watterson also made a name for himself as a reciter and orator.

Hanry Watterson was married to Rebecca Ewing. He died in Jacksonville on December 22, 1921 and was buried in Louisville.

Web links

Commons : Henry Watterson  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• Henry Watterson in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Henry Watterson in the database of Find a Grave (English)