The Press: Kentucky Team

On his Louisville newspaper's 40th birthday, fire-breathing, shaggy-browed Colonel "Marse Henry" Watterson penned an editorial prophecy: "The time will probably never come when the Courier-Journal will be exempt from the accusations of corrupt motives, which invariably assail it whatever it says or does."

That 1908 Wattersonianism was more of a boast than a lament. In his own rambunctious time, which lasted 50 years, Marse Henry's paper was branded as a tool of the Freedmen's Bureau, of the Gold Bugs, of the brewers and distillers. Never batting his one good eye, Watterson roared right back at his accusers.

Last week, with Marse Henry dead...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!