David Ross Locke
David Ross Locke | |
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| Born | September 20, 1833 Vestal, Broome County, New York, U.S. |
| Died | February 15, 1888 (aged 54) Toledo, Ohio, U.S. |
| Other names | Petroleum V. Nasby |
| Occupation | Journalist |
David Ross Locke (also known by his pseudonym Petroleum V. Nasby) (September 20, 1833 – February 15, 1888) was an American journalist and early political commentator during and after the American Civil War.
Biography
Early life
Locke was born in Vestal, Broome County, New York,[1] the son of Nathaniel Reed Locke and Hester Locke.[2]
Career
He was apprenticed at age 12 to the newspaper, the Democrat in
On March 20, 1856, he became the editor of the Bucyrus Journal. By 1861 he had purchased and was the editor of The Jeffersonian in
Nasby Letters
Locke's most famous works, the "Nasby Letters", were written in the character of, and over the signature of "Rev. Petroleum V(esuvius) Nasby", a
Locke's fictional
The Nasby Letters, although written in the semi-literate spelling used by other humorists of the time, were a sophisticated work of ironic fiction. They were consciously intended to rally support for the Union cause; "Nasby" himself was portrayed as a thoroughly detestable character – a supreme opportunist, bigoted, work-shy, often half-drunk, and willing to say or do anything to get a Postmaster's job. (Locke's own father had served as Postmaster of Virgil, New York.)[9]
At the time the Letters were written, postmaster positions were political plums, offering a guaranteed federal salary for little or no real work. Until the glorious day when he received a "Post Orfis" from Andrew Johnson, Nasby worked, when he worked, most frequently as a preacher. His favorite biblical texts, unsurprisingly, were the ones that were used by Southern ministers to "prove" that slavery was ordained by the Bible.
Abraham Lincoln loved the Nasby Letters, quoting them frequently. Lincoln is reported to have said, "I intend to tell him if he will communicate his talent to me, I will swap places with him!"[10]
After the Civil War, Nasby wrote about
Locke discontinued the Nasby Letters a few years before his death, since the times had changed and Nasby was no longer topical. While the semi-literate spelling in which they are written has often discouraged modern readers, it can also be seen as a point of characterizing "Nasby".
Several collections of the Letters came out in book form, some illustrated by Thomas Nast, who was a friend and political ally of Locke.
Death
Locke died on February 15, 1888, in Toledo.[7]
Works by Locke
- The Nasby papers: letters and sermons containing the views on the topics of the day of Petroleum V. Nasby (1864)
- Divers views, opinions, and prophecies of yoors trooly Petroleum V. Nasby (1865)
- Swingin' Round the Cirkle (1866)
- Swingin' Round the Cirkle, or Andy's trip to the West, together with a life of its hero (1866)
- Life of Androo Johnson (1866)
- Ekkoes from Kentucky (1867)
- The impendin crisis uv the Dimocracy, bein a breef and concise statement uv the past experience, present condishun and fucher hopes uv the Dimokratic party; incloodin the most prominent reesons why evry Dimokrat who loves his party shood vote for Seemore and Blare, and agin Grant and Colfax (1868)
- The struggles (social, financial and political) of Petroleum V. Nasby ... embracing his trials and troubles, ups and downs, rejoicings and wailings, likewise his views of men and things; together with the lectures "Cussed be Canaan," "The struggles of a conservative with the woman question," and "In search of a man of sin" (1872)
- The Moral History of America’s Life-Struggle (1874), illustrated by Thomas Nast.
- Eastern fruit on western dishes; The morals of Abou Ben Adhem (1875)
- Inflation at the cross roads being a history of the rise and fall of the Onlimited Trust and Confidence Company of Confedrit X roads, in a series of five letters (1875)
- A Paper City (1878)
- The Democratic John Bunyan being eleven dreams (1880)
- Hannah Jane(1881), a sentimental poem
- Nasby in exile: or, six months of travel in England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium, with many things not of travel (1882)
- The demagogue, a political novel (1890)
- The Nasby letters. Being the original Nasby letters (1893)
- Petroleum V. Nasby on silver. (1896)
- Civil War Letters of Petroleum V. Nasby, compiled with an introduction by Harvey S. Ford (1962)
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the New International Encyclopedia. Vol. 12 (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. p. 376.
- ISBN 978-0-7884-1457-2.
- ISBN 978-0-7884-1457-2.
- ^ see Alastair M. Johnston, ed., Typographical Tourists, Poltroon Press, 2012
- ^ Jeffries, Evone. "Locke, David Ross – Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library". Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ^ "Locke, Robinson". Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ^ Taft, William (June 1957). "David Ross Locke: Forgotten Editor". Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. 34 (2): 202–207. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85109-682-4.
- ^ "The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume]". National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ^ Harrison, John M. (1969). The Man who Made Nasby. University of North Carolina Press. p. 85.
- ^ McClure, Alexander K. (1901). "Abe" Lincoln's Yarns and Stories. Henry Neil. p. 198.
External links
- Works by David Ross Locke at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about David Ross Locke at Internet Archive
- Works by or about Petroleum V. Nasby at Internet Archive
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