Charles H. Taylor (publisher)

General Charles Taylor redirects here, but may also refer to President Charles Taylor of Liberia.

Charles Henry Taylor Taylor (July 14, 1846 – June 22, 1921), also known as General Charles H. Taylor, was an American journalist and politician. He created the modern Boston Globe, acting as its publisher starting in 1873. He was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1872, and later served as private secretary to the Governor of Massachusetts.

Taylor was born July 14, 1846 in Charlestown, Massachusetts to John Ingalls Taylor and Abigail Russell Hapgood. At the advent of the American Civil War, Taylor enlisted in the Union Army at the age of 16 and was badly wounded at the Battle of Port Hudson.

Taylor married Georgiana Olivia Davis in March 1867, and the couple had 5 children. His wife died in 1919, predeceasing him by two years. His commonly used military rank, General Taylor, was due to his service and rank in the Massachusetts state militia.

Taylor joined The Boston Globe in 1873, one year after it was founded. The newspaper was started by six Boston businessmen, led by merchant Eben Dyer Jordan, who jointly invested $150,000. The first issue was published March 4, 1872 at the price of four cents. In August 1873, with the paper facing low circulation and financial difficulties, Jordan hired Taylor as temporary business manager. At the time Taylor was a 27-year-old Civil War veteran, who had worked as a staff member and printer for the Boston Traveler, and as a stringer for the New York Tribune.

His efforts ultimately created a profitable, large-circulation newspaper. He reduced the price to two cents and "laid down a strict rule that all news should be given impartially." His most important innovation, however, was adding stock quotations, women's pages, and sports coverage to the previous menu of political, national and foreign news, creating a prototype of a modern, family newspaper. Within three weeks of his advent as publisher, the circulation climbed from 8,000 to 30,000.

• 

  Charles H. Taylor and The Boston Daily Globe in 1885