Eugene Lorton
| Eugene Lorton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Eugene Lorton May 28, 1869 Missouri |
| Died | October 17, 1949 Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Occupation | Newspaper publisher |
| Known for | Owner of Tulsa World |
Eugene Lorton (1869-1949) was the long-time editor and publisher of the Tulsa World newspaper. Born in Missouri, he moved to Tulsa in 1911, where he bought a minority interest in the Tulsa World. Within six years, he owned the newspaper outright. He spent the rest of his life in Tulsa.
Eugene Lorton was born on a farm in Montgomery County, Missouri, near Middletown on May 28, 1869. His father, R. R. Lorton, was a farmer and stock raiser who also worked on farms in Kansas and Texas. In his youth, Eugene attended public schools in Missouri and Kansas, before starting work as a printer's apprentice in Medicine Lodge, Kansas. He worked briefly for a railroad, until he was injured in an accident in Kansas City, and returned to the newspaper business.
After recovering from the train accident, Eugene Lorton moved to Idaho Territory, where he returned to the newspaper business. He published weekly papers in Salubria, Emmett and Boise. In 1896, he moved back to Kansas and bought the Linn County Republic in Mound City, Kansas. He became active in politics and was elected mayor of Mound City.
In 1900, he moved to Walla Walla, Washington where he became managing editor of the Walla Walla Daily Union and founded the Walla Walla Daily Bulletin. He also raised his political activity by becoming campaign manager for Governor Cosgrove. When Cosgrove was elected, he appointed Lorton as the chairman of the state board of control.
The Tulsa World had been founded in 1905, and had been owned by Missouri mine owner, George Bayne and his brother-in-law Charles Dent. They also served as editors, after firing the previous editor in 1906, following a financial scandal. Its major competitor was the Morning News, owned by local businessman, Charles Page. Lorton found an opportunity to become editor of, and purchase a one-third interest in, the Tulsa World in 1911, which he increased to one-half interest in 1913, by buying out Bayne's share. By 1917, Lorton, with financial backing of oilman and banker, Harry Sinclair, owned the Tulsa World outright. In 1919, Page sold his paper to Richard Lloyd Jones, who renamed it as the Tulsa Tribune. The two papers would remain competitors until 1992.
...
Wikipedia