Edwin Croswell

Edwin Croswell (May 29, 1797 in Catskill, New York – June 13, 1871 in Princeton, New Jersey), was an American journalist and politician. Croswell's father and uncle were both influential editors and journalists in the early 19th century. Edwin expanded the family's influence on American journalism.

Early life In 1800, while he lived in the Hudson River town of Catskill, Croswell's father, Mackay Croswell, started a newspaper called the Western Constellation. When it closed in 1804, Mackay Croswell started the Catskill Recorder, in which he was later joined by his brother Harry Croswell. Harry had been named in a libel lawsuit, People vs Croswell, over an article about President Thomas Jefferson that had appeared in The Wasp, a satiric newspaper that had been published for a few years in Hudson, New York.

A contemporary of Edwin's, Thurlow Weed, said "Mr. Croswell, as a boy, was noticeable for the same quiet, studious, refined habits and associations which have characterized his whole life." When Croswell was seven, he had "the advantage of the best tutors in the locality to instruct his youthful mind." He later attended college, where he studied English. When he was fourteen he began his apprenticeship at the family paper. By his mid-twenties, he had assumed more responsibility for writing, editing, and publishing the paper.

Albany years In January, 1823, Croswell went to Albany, New York for the funeral of Judge Moses I. Cantine, the editor and one of the publishers of the Albany Argus. Cantine was a Catskill native, and had written articles for the Recorder. Martin Van Buren and other members of the Albany Regency, an influential Democratic party machine, urged Croswell to take the position of assistant editor of the Argus.