Biography:

First printed in September 1827, New York City’s Journal of Commerce made its name intercepting incoming shipping vessels far off the shore in a schooner, taking note of their stock, and bringing the news to the harbor before it reached other papers so that merchants could prepare their bids. The Journal of Commerce was founded by Arthur Tappan, a silk merchant and prominent abolitionist.  In 1840, Tappan turned control over the paper to Gereard Hallock and David Hale, editor and business manager respectively.
The Journal of Commerce was unique in its coverage of the Amistad case in 1839, as Tappan was spearheading the revolters’ defense; the paper is largely credited with keeping the incident central to the national news media’s focus. In 1840, it merged with the New York Gazette to gain stronger circulation base.
Leading up to the Civil War, mirroring Hallock’s personal politics, the Journal of Commerce advocated for the abolition of slavery by legal means, taking a strong anti-war and states’ rights stance. Many Republicans who had previously supported the paper were angered, and under the Lincoln administration in 1861, Hallock was indicted for publishing material supportive of the Confederacy; additionally the Postmaster General refused to distribute the paper by mail. In order to placate the federal government, Hallock retired, selling his shares in the paper to David M. Stone and William Cowper Prime.
The paper faced financial difficulties as printing technologies changed rapidly after the Civil War and commerce and business news increasingly came from the new Western states and territories, rather than New York Harbor. But the paper persists into the 21st century having undergone a series of mergers, and is now published daily as an online subscription-only paper.