John Locke Scripps (Scripps Genealogical History)

John Locke Scripps (George H., William, William, Robert, Robert, Thomas), born in Cape Girardeau February 27, 1818; educated at McKendree College, Ill.; settled in Chicago, in the practice of law, in 1847, but soon interested himself in journalism; was one of the founders of the Chicago Tribune, and for some years its chief editor. President Lincoln appointed him postmaster for Chicago, a position he held for four years. Jointly with George B. Armstrong, his assistant postmaster, he conceived and carried out the idea of distributing mails on the cars, a system which has since been generally introduced. He wrote in 1860 the first life of Abraham Lincoln ever published. He was a man of high scholarly attainments, great purity of character and amiable disposition. He married, October 24, 1848, Mary Elizabeth Blanchard. daughter of Seth Blanchard, of Greenville, Ill., who was born January 2, 1825, and educated at Monticello Seminary, Ill. She died suddenly on January 1, 1866, and he on September 21 of the same year.