William T. Porter

William T. Porter
Engraving of William T. Porter
Born	William Trotter Porter (1809-12-24)December 24, 1809 Newbury, Vermont
Died	July 19, 1858(1858-07-19) (aged 48) New York, New York
Other names	William T. Porter
Occupation	Newspaper editor and journalist

William Trotter Porter (December 24, 1809 – July 19, 1858) was an American journalist and newspaper editor who founded an early American newspaper devoted to sports. After working at a number of small newspapers, Porter moved to New York City in the 1830s. After employment at a newspaper in the city, he founded the Spirit of the Times, a newspaper modeled on a London paper called Bell's Life in London. The Spirit, which went through a number of names and incarnations over the years, was devoted to sports and other recreational pursuits. One of Porter's main interests involved horse racing, and he was involved in attempts to create the first stud book in the United States, which did not bear fruit. He was also instrumental in the development of American literature, as the Spirit published a number of short stories by American tall tale writers, and Porter edited two collections of short stories by American writers. After publishing the Spirit through the 1830s, he sold it to another printer but continued as the editor into the 1850s. He left the original Spirit in 1855 and in 1856 was hired as editor for another sporting newspaper, Porter's Spirit of the Times, published by George Wilkes. Porter died in 1858.

Porter was born on December 24, 1809, the son of Benjamin Porter and Martha Olcott in Newbury, Vermont. He was one of five boys born to his parents. His father was a lawyer, but died suddenly in 1818, leaving the family in difficult financial circumstances. He attended a charity school in Hanover, New Hampshire after the family moved there, but left school to work in a print shop. He also attended Dartmouth College. His mother died in 1825, which meant the family was broken up and Porter worked at a number of small newspapers before arriving in New York City in the early 1830s. While in New York, Porter gained the nickname of "York's Tall Son".

Porter edited the Constellation, a newspaper in New York City that published humorous stories. Porter became interested in sports, and concentrated on the emerging sports journalism field. In December 1831, Porter published the first issue of a new newspaper devoted to covering sports and other recreational activities, which he called The Spirit of the Times. Porter imitated Bell's Life in London, a contemporary English publication covering the same subjects. The first attempt at Spirit of the Times failed quickly, and Porter sold the magazine to C. J. B. Fisher, who merged it into Fisher's publication of the Traveller, and the Spirit was combined with the Traveller as the Traveller and Spirit of the Times. During the brief period that Porter operated the Spirit, he employed Horace Greeley as a typesetter. When Porter sold the Spirit, he then went to work at the New-Yorker, which was edited at the time by Horace Greeley. In January 1835 Porter purchased the Traveller and Spirit of the Times and renamed the newspaper back to Spirit of the Times, returning to editing it. This version of the Spirit managed to survive, although with some initial financial difficulties. Porter focused on selling his paper in the south and west of the United States, and emphasized subjects of use to his readers, such as cattle breeding, farm methods, books of interest, as well as sports. The newspaper was published weekly.