Search >> Ottarson, Franklin J.

Journalist, Editor, Reformer.

Also known by the alias “Bayard” (perhaps inspired by Pfaff’s visitor and travel writer Bayard Taylor), Franklin J. Ottarson was a successful New York journalist, editor, and civil servant. Born in Watertown, New York, Ottarson learned the trade of the printing business in a Whig newspaper (possibly the Whig or the Tribune Almanac) (Brockway 172). Under the editorship of Horace Greeley, Ottarson was part of the “very strong” Tribune staff of 1854 along with Bayard Taylor (Brockway 141).

Ottarson is perhaps best remembered for his editorship, first at the Tribune and later at the New York Times. Junius Henri Browne characterizes him as “for five and twenty years a city journalist, nearly all of which he has spent in the service of the Tribune” (156). After Henry J. Raymond assumed his seat in Congress and abdicated his editorship of the New York Times, Ottarson took over these responsibilities. He is characterized by an article in the Independent as “a gentleman who, we believe, is never remembered to have been young, but who is the kindest of editors to juvenile applicants with manuscripts; for we happen to know of a youngster whose first piece of newspaper writing was accepted and printed by Mr. Ottarson, then city-editor of The Tribune” (“The Young Men of the New York Press” 4).

Junius Browne identifies Ottarson as part of the Pfaff’s fraternity as does Henry Clapp’s obituary, which lauds him as "Frank Ottarson, who stirred up the Bohemians so savagely in the Round Table, [and] was an occasional visitor" to Pfaff’s (7). The obituary also states that at the time of Clapp’s death in 1875, Ottarson had become a federal officeholder who continued to dabble in journalism (“Obituary” 7). Following the example of fellow Pfaff’s visitor and labor activist John Swinton, Ottarson became interested in social issues. He also served as Secretary for the International Typographical Union, which was formed after the National Convention of Journeymen Printers that convened in New York City on December 2, 1850. The convention of “these pioneer organizers of the printing trade laid the foundation of a stable, well-disciplined and intelligent national craft organization” (“The Labor Movement” 183).

Later, Ottarson became a Councilman for New York and was the Chairman of the third National Quarantine and Sanitary Convention held in New York April 27-30, 1859. The records of the proceedings reflect that Ottarson offered “additional proof of the well-earned reputation which the Metropolitan has long enjoyed” (Proceedings 617). The Proceedings also reflect Ottarson’s successful execution of the event.

References & Biographical Resources

Brockway, Beman. Fifty Years in Journalism Embracing Recollections and Personal Experiences with an Autobiography. Watertown, NY: Daily Times Printing and Publishing House, 1891. [more about this work]

Brockway discusses the Tribune staff in general and Ottarson's role as city editor. [pages: 141, 172]

Browne, Junius Henri. The Great Metropolis; A Mirror of New York. Hartford: American Publishing, 1869. 700 p. [more about this work]

Ottarson "for five and twenty years a city journalist, nearly all of which he has spent in the service of the Tribune" (156).

He was part of the "fraternity" that met at Pfaff's resturant, that "had late suppers, and were brilliant with talk over beer and pipes for several years." Browne claims "Those were merry and famous nights, and many bright conceits and witticisms were discharged over the festive board" (156-7). [pages: 156-157]

Haynes, John Edward. Pseudonyms of Authors: Including Anonyms and Initialisms. New York, 1882. [more about this work]

This text identifies the following pseudonym: Bayard (17). [pages: 17]

McNeil, George E., ed. The Labor Movement: The Problem of To-Day. NY: M.W. Hazen Co., 1892. 183. [more about this work]

Ottarson's role in the International Typographical Union's formation is briefly mentioned. [pages: 183]

Miller, Tice L. Bohemians and Critics: American Theatre Criticism in the Nineteenth Century. Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, 1981. [more about this work]

Referred to as Bayard (36).

[pages: 36, 42, 46, 49, 65]

"Obituary: Henry Clapp." The New-York Times. 11 Apr. 1875: 7. [more about this work]

He is mentioned as an occasional visitor of Pfaff's and described as "Frank Ottarson, who stirred up the Bohemians so savagely in the Round Table." At the time of Clapp's death, Ottarson "has become a Federal office-holder, and only occasionally dabbles in press writing." [pages: 7]

Personne [Wilkins, Edward G. P.]. "Dramatic Feuilleton." New-York Saturday Press. 12 Feb. 1859: 2. [more about this work]

Ottarson is the City Editor of the Tribune that claims he will not be married to Ada Clifton. Personne makes it clear that Ottarson's remarks seem unncesscary as she's already to be married and quite pretty (2). [pages: 2]

Proceedings and debates of the third National Quarantine and Sanitary Convention held in the City of New York April 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th, 1859. NY: Edmund Jones & Co., Printers, 1859. [more about this work]

The proceedings record Ottarson's role in successful reform in New York. [pages: 2, 21, 677, 716]

Sentilles, Renee M. Performing Menken: Adah Isaacs Menken and the Birth of American Celebrity. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2003. [more about this work]

A regular in the bohemian circle at Pfaff's. [pages: 142]

Starr, Louis Morris. Bohemian Brigade; Civil War Newsmen in Action. New York: Knopf, 1954. 367 p. [more about this work]

During the riots of July 13-14, 1863, Ottarson is described by Starr as "Gay's first lieutennant" on the Tribune staff. When the mob advanced on the office, he was sent to find a policeman to arrest the leader of the mob who was calling for the downfall of the Tribune. The policeman arrived and promptly vanished. The mob dispursed shortly but returned in twenty minutes with larger numbers and would later break into the paper's offices (222).

Gay suspected Ottarson, England, and Wilkeson alternately of angling for his job at the Tribune amid his fears of being replaced by Greeley (293). [pages: 222,293]

"The Young Men of the New York Press." The Independent. 7 Jun. 1866: 4. [more about this work]

“It is a striking fact that the number of young men prominently connected with the New York press as writers is greater now than at any former period… the chief editorial work in these journals is done by men between the years of twenty-five and forty” (4).

“The Times, in the absence of Henry J. Raymond (who is just finding out how much less influential his congressional chair is than his editorial), is conducted by Franklin J. Ottarson—a gentleman who, we believe, is never remembered to have been young, but who is the kindest of editors to juvenile applicants with manuscripts; for we happen to know of a youngster whose first piece of newspaper writing was accepted and printed by Mr. Ottarson, then city-editor of The Tribune” (4).
[pages: 4]