One section of this book might be devoted wholly to the work
of newspaper men in furthering the progress of literature in
the state. Several names would deserve mention in such
connection,--among them E. D. Coe, of Whitewater; Colonel
Robert M. Crawford, of Mineral Point; John Nagle, of
Manitowoc; Major Atkinson, of Eau Claire; Horace Rublee and
A. M. Thomson, of the Milwaukee Sentinel; Bruce Pomeroy, of
La Crosse; Amos P. Wilder, of the State Journal, Madison; E.
P. Petherick, of Milwaukee; Colonel A. J. Watrous, of
Milwaukee, and two former Governors of Wisconsin,--W. D.
Hoard, of Fort Atkinson, and George W. Peck, of Milwaukee,
besides Mr. Nye and Mr. Taylor, mentioned above.
Mr. Peck was born in New York in 1840, but he has lived in
Wisconsin since 1843. He has been connected with newspapers
at Whitewater, Jefferson, La Crosse, and Milwaukee. He
founded the "Sun" at La Crosse in 1874, and later removed it
to Milwaukee, where he called it "Peck's Sun." At one time he
was unquestionably the best-known writer in Wisconsin, and
the best-known Wisconsin writer throughout the country, which
fame came to him through his "Peck's Bad Boy" sketches. He
was also the author of "Peck's Compendium of Fun," "Peck's
Sunshine," together with almost countless sketches which
usually were in some way connected with the mischief-loving,
mirth-provoking "Bad Boy." Neighbors of the Pecks in
Whitewater tend, by their recollection of the former
Governor, to confirm the suspicion that not all of "Peck's
Bad Boy" was fiction, and that the author himself may have
played a not inconsiderable part in the scenes therein
depicted.
Mr. Peck's fellow-citizens in Milwaukee honored him with the
mayoralty, and the citizens of the state made him Governor
from 1891 to 1895. He is now, January, 1916, a familiar
figure to Milwaukee citizens. He has a keen memory for his
old friends, and citizens, both young and old, who can remind
him of some of his old neighbors in Whitewater or Jefferson
are always sure of a pleasant chat with him.