Shadrach Penn, one of the ablest of Kentucky journalists, was born at
Frederick, Maryland, in 1790. His family settled near Georgetown,
Kentucky, when he was a mere boy. Penn began his newspaper career at
Georgetown when he was but nineteen years of age; and he subsequently
served in the War of 1812. In 1818 Penn removed to Louisville and
established _The Public Advertiser_, which was a weekly for the first
few years of its history, then a semi-weekly, and, on April 4, 1826, a
final change was made "and the first daily newspaper west of the
Alleghanies was flung to the public." After the establishment of the
_Kentucky Gazette_, this marked the second most epoch-making event in
Kentucky journalism. Penn was an able editor, the very ablest in
Kentucky, and he was having things his own way in the West, advocating
Jacksonian Democracy. In 1828 President Jackson showed his appreciation
of Penn's services by offering him a place in his cabinet, which he
declined, but he did spend a winter at Washington as the President's
warm friend and adviser. Then, _mirabile dictu!_ the Whigs brought
George D. Prentice to Kentucky and, in 1830, he established the
_Louisville Journal_, and began a most bitter fight upon Penn's paper.
Penn fought back as best he could, but he was quite unequal for the
contest. For nearly twelve years the warfare was waged without either
editor asking quarter, and to the infinite amusement of the whole
country. In 1841 Penn ran up the white flag and went to St. Louis to
become editor of the _St. Louis Reporter_. Prentice bade him farewell in
the best of temper, and when he died at St. Louis, on June 15, 1846, the
old Whig's tribute to his memory was the finest one written.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. _The Pioneer Press of Kentucky_, by W. H. Perrin
(Louisville, 1888); _Memorial History of Louisville, Kentucky_, by
J. Stoddard Johnston (Chicago, 1896).