(1818 – 1866)
Cousin of James Mogg Scripps, son or grandson of the Rev. John Scripps, and cousin of James Edmund Scripps
Attorney, Biographer of Abraham Lincoln, FOUNDER AND SENIOR EDITOR OF THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE in 1847
Early education teacher for all sons of James Mogg Scripps
Newspaper mentor to James Edmund Scripps and his brother George Henry Scripps in Chicago. Cousin John Locke Scripps gives James E. Scripps his first job in the newspaper business on the Chicago Democratic Press where James begins his career in journalism in 1857.
NOTE: Previous Scripps Family involvement in newspapers and journalism… from MEMORIALS OF THE SCRIPPS FAMILY, A CENTENNIAL TRIBUTE, by James E. Scripps, 1891, Detroit, limited edition privately printed for the family by John F. Eby & Co.
The first Scripps family newspaper venture occurred when William A. Scripps (father of James Mogg Scripps) became publisher of the London, SUN & TRUE BRITON, ca. 1800. William continued as publisher of this London newspaper until approximately 1820, when he became publisher of the London, LITERARY GAZETTE, a position he held for thirty years. William’s son Thomas (brother of James Mogg Scripps) continued as a general newspaper agent in London, followed by his son Charles F. Scripps. [Thomas’s fourth son William Henry Scripps became a writer for the Detroit Evening News]. After relocating from Missouri to Rushville, Illinois, the Reverend John Scripps (older brother of both James Mogg and Thomas Scripps) founded, published and edited for seven years the Rushville, “Prairie Telegraph”. Two of the Reverend Scripps sons worked on the Prairie Telegraph, while his son JOHN LOCKE SCRIPPS studied to become an attorney, moved to Chicago and founded and edited THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE among other interests, including becoming a recognized Lincoln scholar and published Abraham Lincoln biographer.