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Crosby Stuart Noyes

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Crosby Stuart Noyes
Born(1825-02-16)February 16, 1825
Minot, Maine
DiedFebruary 21, 1908(1908-02-21) (aged 85)
Pasadena, California
EmployerWashington Evening Star
Spouse
Elizabeth Selina Williams
​
​
(m. 1856)​
ChildrenTheodore W. Noyes
Frank Brett Noyes
Thomas Clarence Noyes
Signature

Crosby Stuart Noyes (February 16, 1825 – February 21, 1908) was the publisher of the Washington Evening Star.

Biography

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Noyes was born on February 16, 1825, in Minot, Maine.[1] Interested in writing from childhood, he published a juvenile newspaper called the Minot Notion when he was fifteen. Later, Maine newspapers began to publish his humorous sketches. One such sketch, a dialect-heavy piece titled "A Yankee in a Cotton Factory" was widely republished.[2]

Having arranged to write letters from Washington, D.C., for several New England newspapers, he set out for the nation's capital in 1847. In Baltimore, his funds ran too low to afford onward train fare, so he walked the rest of the way to Washington.[3] In D.C., he worked for a bookseller, as an usher in a theatre, and as a route agent for The Baltimore Sun before becoming a writer for a local weekly, the Washington News. He also added newspapers in Philadelphia as a client for his letter dispatches, and became part of the press gallery that covered the United States Congress.[3]

In 1855, he traveled around Europe on foot, contributing letters to the Boston Transcript. He returned to Washington later that year and became a reporter for the Evening Star,[4] a three-year-old newspaper managed by William Douglas Wallach.

Circulation increased in the decade before the American Civil War and Noyes developed contacts with the Lincoln administration's cabinet such that the Star became an outlet for official announcements. He eventually rose to the position of assistant editor. In 1863, he served on the Washington, D.C., city council and for a couple of terms as an alderman.

In 1867, he and two other investors purchased the Star from Wallach for $110,000[5] ($2,400,000 today[6]). Appointing himself editor-in-chief, Noyes used his newspaper to crusade to improve Washington's buildings and infrastructure, encouraging the efforts of Alexander Robey Shepherd.[3] He was active in the establishment of Rock Creek Park.[7]

In 1893, Noyes and Brainard Warner, an early developer of Kensington, Maryland, built and stocked what became the first public library in the D.C. area, now known as the Noyes Children's Library in Kensington.[8]

He died on February 21, 1908, in Pasadena, California.[9][10]

Personal life

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He married Elizabeth S. Williams in 1856. They had three sons, Theodore Williams, Frank Brett, and Thomas Clarence; and at least one daughter.[3] Theodore was an associate editor at the Evening Star and Frank was the treasurer and business manager.[5]

Legacy

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Crosby S. Noyes Education Campus, a public school in Washington, D.C., was named in his honor. Two residential streets — Noyes Drive and Crosby Road — carry his name in the Woodside Park neighborhood of Silver Spring, Maryland. The entire neighborhood was developed from his country estate, known as Alton Farm.[11] Mount Noyes in Washington state is named in his honor.[12]

References

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  1. ^ Little, George Thomas, ed. (1909). Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine. Vol. III. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company. pp. 2050–2051. Retrieved September 5, 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ Noyes, Crosby S (November 4, 1847). "A Yankee in a Cotton Factory". Commercial Advertiser. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d Proctor, John Clagett (1932). Washington Past and Present. New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co. pp. 890–894.
  4. ^ "Newbold Noyes, Jr." Archived August 22, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Howell Family Genealogy Pages
  5. ^ a b Crew, Harvey W. (1892). Centennial History of the City of Washington D.C. Dayton, Ohio: United Brethern Publishing House. Archived from the original on September 18, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  6. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  7. ^ Macfarland, Henry Brown Floyd (1908). District of Columbia: concise biographies of its prominent and representative contemporary citizens, and valuable statistical data. The Potomac Press. p. 348. Retrieved July 9, 2016 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ Ditto, Gary. Kensington Stories.
  9. ^ "Crosby S. Noyes editor of the Washington Star, died late this afternoon". Dallas Morning News. February 22, 1908. Retrieved December 14, 2008. Crosby Stewart Noyes, whose death was reported today from Pasadena, Cal., was 83 years of age, and no less than sixty years of his manhood had been spent in the newspaper business. He was born in Minot, Maine, Feb. 16, 1825, and, finding farm life too hard for his frail physique, he came to Washington in 1847, making the last stages of his journey on foot for lack of funds. He began his newspaper work in the following year as a special correspondent and a writer for the Washington News. From that date until a week preceding his death Mr. Noyes labored unceasingly at his chosen profession, and set a high example upon Washington journalism as a purveyor of clean, sound, active facts. [dead link]
  10. ^ "Final Call Comes to Crosby S. Noyes: Surrounded by All Members of Family, Veteran Washington Editor Passes Away at Pasadena. His Long and Useful Career". Los Angeles Times. February 22, 1908. p. 3. Archived from the original on September 5, 2024. Retrieved September 5, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. Crosby Stuart Noyes, editor-in-chief of the Washington Evening Star, died at 5:30 o'clock last evening at the Hotel Raymond, Pasadena, after an illness...
  11. ^ Oshel, Robert (1998). Home Sites of Distinction: The History of Woodside Park. Silver Spring, MD: Woodside Park Civic Association. pp. 27–38.
  12. ^ Parratt, Smitty (1984). Gods and Goblins: A Field Guide to Place Names of Olympic National Park (1st ed.).
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