COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCER - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

The COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCER was a Whig daily introduced by Benjamin Andrews, formerly publisher of the Cleveland Herald. Cleveland's 4th daily, it appeared in Jan. 1838, after the merger of the Daily Gazette into the Herald and shortly before the reversion of the Advertiser to weekly status. Committed to the presidential candidacy of Henry Clay, the Commercial Intelligencer was designated the city's "official paper" under the administration of Mayor JOSHUA MILLS†. Habitually referred to as "the disorganizer" by the Herald & Gazette, the Commercial Intelligencer was condemned by that paper as the creation of "leading loco focos" (Democrats) seeking the disruption of the Whig party. Although denying the charge, the Commercial Intelligencer unsuccessfully backed the candidacy of an independent Whig candidate for the lower house of the state legislature. After more than a year of existence, it suspended publication on 11 June 1839.

Related Article(s)

• COMMUNICATIONS