Boston Atlas

City: Boston

State: Massachusetts

Started by John H. Eastburn in July 1832, the Boston Atlas became one of the leading Whig Party organs in New England. As such, it engaged in a war for the minds of Boston readers with the Boston Post, its Democratic counterpart. Eastburn hired Richard Haughton to edit and manage the paper. Under Haughton's management, the Atlas became a top notch news gathering organization. Among his many innovations, Haughton established horse and railroad expresses to cities across Massachusetts and other states in order to be the first to acquire and publish election results. In 1840, Eastburn sold his interest to Haughton, and the latter carried on the enterprise alone. Seeing the Presidential Election of 1840 as an opportunity for the Whigs to win the White House, Haughton became the first to abandon native son Daniel Webster and endorse William Henry Harrison. William Hayden and Thomas M. Brewer succeeded Haughton as editor, with varying degrees of success. In 1847, William Schouler became part proprietor. During the late 1840s and 1850s, the Atlas struggled for subscribers in the glutted Boston newspaper market, and in April 1857, the new Boston Daily Traveller absorbed the Atlas.

Frederic Hudson, Journalism in the United States, From 1690 to 1872 (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1873), 390-94.