Clarence W. Barron
Clarence W. Barron | |
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Born | Clarence Walker Barron July 2, 1855 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Died | October 2, 1928 Battle Creek, Michigan, U.S. | (aged 73)
Occupation | Financial journalist |
Spouse |
Jessie Waldron (m. 1900) |
Children | 2 adopted daughters (Jane & Martha) |
External image | |
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Photo of Clarence W. Barron from The Wall Street Journal site. |
Clarence Walker Barron (July 2, 1855 – October 2, 1928) was an American financial editor and publisher who founded the
He was one of the most influential figures in the history of Dow Jones. As a career newsman described as a "short, rotund powerhouse",[1] he died holding the posts of president of Dow Jones and de facto manager of The Wall Street Journal. He is considered the founder of modern financial journalism.
Early life and education
Barron was born in Boston and graduated from Boston English High School in 1873.[2][3]
Career
Barron began his journalism career as a reporter for the Boston Daily News from 1875 to 1878 and the Boston Evening Transcript from 1878 to 1887.[3] At the Transcript, Barron gradually focused on financial news.[3] He founded the Boston News Bureau in 1887 and the Philadelphia News Bureau in 1897, supplying financial news to brokers.[3] Barron sought to improve objectivity in financial journalism to reflect what he called "the public interest, the financial truth for investors and the funds that should support the widow and the orphan."[3]
In 1902, Barron purchased Dow Jones & Company for $130,000, following the death of co-founder Charles Dow.[3] In 1912, he appointed himself president of Dow Jones and its newspaper The Wall Street Journal.[3] Under Barron, The Wall Streeet Journal gained new printing presses and expanded reporting staff, with circulation increasing from 7,000 in 1912 to over 18,000 in 1920 to beyond 50,000 by 1930.[3]
In 1913, he gave testimony to the Massachusetts Public Service Commission regarding a
Barron also established the financial advertising agency
Personal life
Barron married Jessie M. Waldron in 1900 and adopted her daughters, Jane and Martha. Mrs. Barron died in 1918. After Jane married
Barron was a prominent lay member of the Massachusetts New Church (Swedenborgians).[6][7]
Barron died in 1928 in Battle Creek, Michigan.[2]
Legacy
After his death, Barron's responsibilities were split between his son-in-law Hugh Bancroft, who became president of Dow Jones, and his friend Kenneth C. Hogate, who became the managing editor of the Journal.
They Told Barron (1930) and More They Told Barron (1931), two books edited by Arthur Pound and S. T. Moore were published that showed his close connections and his role as a confidant to top financiers from New York City society, such as Charles M. Schwab. As a result, he has been called "the diarist of the American Dream." (Reutter 148) This has led to allegations that he was too close to those he covered.
The Bancroft family remained the majority
Books
- The Boston Stock Exchange (1893)
- The Federal Reserve Act: A discussion of the principles and operations of the new Banking Act as originally published in the Wall Street Journal and the Boston News Bureau, including a description of the financial, commercial and industrial characteristics of each of the Federal Reserve Districts and the Federal Reserve Act fully indexed, with pertinent legislation (1914): a.k.a. "Twenty-Eight Essays on the Federal Reserve Act".
- The Audacious War (1915)
- The Mexican Problem (1917)
- War Finance, As Viewed From the Roof of the World in Switzerland (1919)
- A World Remaking; or, Peace Finance (1920)
- Lord's Money (1922)
- My Creed (unk.)
- They Told Barron (1930)
- More They Told Barron (1931)
See also
Notes
- ^ Robert McG. Thomas, Jr., "Mary Bancroft Dead at 93; U.S. Spy in World War II", The New York Times, January 19, 1997. (The subject of this Times obituary was Barron's step-granddaughter.)
- ^ a b "Clarence W. Barron". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4381-0987-9.
- ^ Goebel, Greg (February 1, 2008). "The Confidence Artists". VectorSite. Archived from the original on October 25, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
- Advertising AgeEncyclopedia, September 15, 2003.
- ISBN 978-0-470-13951-6. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ "Church On The Hill". Retrieved 23 April 2023.
References
- Roberts, John B. Rating the First Ladies. ISBN 0-8065-2608-4
- Reutter, Mark. Making Steel. ISBN 0-252-07233-2