Ray, Medill & Company

City: Chicago

County: Cook

State: Illinois

Ray, Medill & Company was a publishing firm that owned, edited, and published the Chicago Tribune. The origins of the enterprise began in June 1853, when Joseph Medill purchased a share of the newspaper. Medill partnered with Timothy Wright to publish the Tribune under the name Wright, Medill, and Company. Charles H. Ray and John C. Vaughan joined the firm and became co-editors of the Tribune in July 1855. Alfred Cowles also joined the firm in 1855. J. D. Webster was also one of the partners. In 1857, Vaughan withdrew from the firm, and the partnership became Ray, Medill and Company. The name was retained until July 1, 1858 when the Tribune and Democratic Press consolidated to become the Chicago Press and Tribune. Medill, Ray, Cowles, John L. Scripps, and William Bross were the chief stockholders in the new partnership.

A. T. Andreas, History of Chicago, (Chicago: A. T. Andreas, 1884), 1:402; Franklin William Scott, Newspapers and Periodicals of Illinois, 1814-1879, vol. 6 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1910), 59-60, 63.