The New-York Daily Times was established in 1851 by New-York Tribune journalists Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones. The Times experienced significant circulation, particularly among conservatives; New-York Tribune publisher Horace Greeley praised the New-York Daily Times. During the American Civil War, Times correspondents gathered information directly from Confederate states. In 1869, Jones inherited the paper from Raymond, who had changed its name to The New-York Times. Under Jones, the Times began to publish a series of articles criticizing Tammany Hall political boss William M. Tweed, despite vehement opposition from other New York newspapers. In 1871, The New-York Times published Tammany Hall's accounting books; Tweed was tried in 1873 and sentenced to twelve years in prison. The Times earned national recognition for its coverage of Tweed. In 1891, Jones died, creating a management imbroglio in which his children had insufficient business acumen to inherit the company and his will prevented an acquisition of the Times. Editor-in-chief Charles Ransom Miller, editorial editor Edward Cary, and correspondent George F. Spinney established a company to manage The New-York Times, but faced financial difficulties during the Panic of 1893.
1851–1861: Origins and initial success
Seven newspapers in New York titled The New York Times existed before the Times in the early 1800s. In 1851, journalists Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones working for Horace Greeley at the New-York Tribune formed Raymond, Jones & Company on August 5, 1851. The first issue of the New-York Daily Times was published on September 18, 1851, in the basement of 113 Nassau Street. The Times frequently culled from European newspapers at the time and from within the United States, particularly in California.
The New-York Daily Times was well received by conservatives. By its ninth issue, the Times boasted that it had been circulated ten thousand times. On its first anniversary, the New-York Daily Times announced it had printed 7,550,000 copies and circulated 24,000 copies a day, although these figures were contested by Bennett. The following day, the price of the Times increased to two cents (). Early investors of the company included Edwin B. Morgan and Christopher Morgan.
The New-York Daily Times experimented with multiple formats, with the Weekly Family Times circulating until the 1870s, and Semi-weekly Times lasting several years longer. The prevalence in rail transportation also ended the Campaign Times for presidential years. The Times for California was started in 1852 and circulated when mail boats could be sent to California from New York.
By 1854, the New-York Daily Times had moved to Nassau and Beekman Streets. The company purchased the Brick Presbyterian Church in 1857, following the congregation's egress to Murray Hill. Architect Thomas R. Jackson designed a five-story Romanesque Revival building at the 41 Park Row site. When the New-York Daily Times moved into the building in 1858, the paper became the first housed in a building specifically constructed for a newspaper. On September 14, 1857, Raymond shortened the paper's name to The New-York Times.
1861–1869: Civil War, expansion, and Raymond's death
In the 1860 presidential election, The New-York Times was a leading Republican newspaper. During the Civil War, the Times experienced a transformation necessitated by the public's demand for recent updates on the war. To gather updates, The New-York Times relied on correspondents in Confederate states rather than telegraphs from the Associated Press.
The New-York Times correspondents competed against other newspapers to gather as much information as possible. Benjamin C. Truman, a distinguished war correspondent, reported on the Confederacy's repulse in the Battle of Franklin four days before the Department of War heard from John Schofield. Due to mounting opposition to the Civil War in New York, on July 13, 1863, a series of violent disturbances broke out. Thousands of Irish American rioters set flame to the draft registration office and attacked the New-York Tribune office. Warned by the attack on the Tribune, the staff of the Times armed themselves with Gatling guns. Raymond sent sixteen men armed with Minié rifles to the Tribunes office to stave off the mob while two hundred policemen marched onto Printing House Square. The New-York Times remained prideful in its coverage of the event.
The Civil War drove The New-York Times to purchase more presses and to stereotype, an approach tested by the New-York Tribune and met with failure. On April 20, 1861, eight days after the attack on Fort Sumter, the Times began issuing a Sunday edition of the paper. For 3 years, both The Sunday Times and The New-York Times went up in price to four cents (), where it would remain until 1883. By May 1861, circulation had gone up by 40,000 issues. In December, the paper extended its columns from six to seven—in line with the English newspaper The Times. The New-York Times suffered a reputational loss in August 1866. Raymond attended the National Union Convention in Philadelphia and composed the Philadelphia Address to endorse Andrew Johnson. The address cost Raymond his position as chairman of the Republican National Committee, and The Timess rivals seized on the opportunity to gain an advantage. According to Raymond, the incident cost the paper .
In 1868, The New-York Times supported Grant. Raymond also established principles for the Times to follow, including objecting to "easy but unsound money"—including Greenbacks and later free silver. The paper did not support Samuel J. Tilden in the 1876 presidential election nor William Jennings Bryan in the 1896 presidential election, falling in line with the National Democratic Party. The New-York Times also supported reforming the tariff and introducing a merit system into civil service. The Times also became involved in local issues; in 1868, the paper opposed the Erie Railroad. On June 18, 1869, Raymond died.
At an annual salary of (), George Jones inherited the company and took over its editorial and financial end. The New-York Timess directors—composed of Jones, Leonard Jerome, and James B. Taylor—elected John Bigelow editor. The Black Friday of 1869 occurred that year when investors Jay Gould and James Fisk cornered the gold market. The Times published an article by Abel Corbin promoting gold, but its prose was rendered innocuous after financial editor Caleb C. Norvell suggested that Corbin had an ulterior motive to "bull gold". Shortly after Black Friday, Bigelow left The New-York Times, replaced by George Shepard.
1869–1876: Jones era, the Tweed Ring, and national recognition
Under Jones, The New-York Times actively sought to challenge William M. Tweed and the Tweed Ring. The death of Taylor, who was a business partner of Tweed's through the New-York Printing Company, in September 1870 allowed the Times to attack the Tweed Ring. The New-York Times, except for Harper's Weekly through Thomas Nast, was the only newspaper in New York that actively went against Tweed; municipal advertising created a virtual hush fund. Jennings publicly questioned Tweed's wealth—having gone from bankruptcy in 1865 to owning a mansion on Madison Avenue and 59th Street—in an editorial on September 20. Jennings feuded with the New York World in the following days over his editorial. The Sun jovially suggested a monument of Tweed, a "benefactor of the people", should be erected, although a great deal of readers seriously. The Sun later attacked Jennings, writing that his career was "doomed". The New-York Times and Harper's Weeklys reporting did not elicit a strong response from readers themselves. In October, the Astor Committee—of which John Jacob Astor III was a member—found no wrongdoing, and the Tammany faction was reelected that year.
In January 1871, county auditor James Watson was killed in a sleighing accident. The Timess reporting of the accident a week prior mentioned Watson's () mare, though readers remained unfazed. To replace Watson, Tweed hired Matthew J. O'Rourke, who secretly worked for James O'Brien, a former sheriff and Tammany insurgent. Through William Copeland, a tax accountant and O'Brien adherent, O'Rourke was able to obtain incriminating entries in the Tweed Ring's books. O'Rourke attempted to offer the books to The Sun, who rejected his offer. In March, Tweed proposed purchasing The New-York Times for , much to Jones's chagrin. Tweed's offer was publicly rejected in the Times on March 29. On July 8, 1871, The New-York Daily Times published the first of these books. The Times published the second set on July 19, after the Orange Riots subsided. The release of the Tweed Ring's books severely damaged Tweed; he offered Jones million to suppress the stories. In early 1871, Raymond's widow considered selling her stock to Tweed. Jones wired to multimillionaire Edwin D. Morgan, who came out of rural retirement to block the move. The New-York Daily Times continued its coverage from July 22 to 29. Tweed was tried in 1873 and sentenced to twelve years in prison, although he only served a year. For their coverage of the Tweed Ring, the Times received praise from newspapers nationally.
Despite recognition and a steadfast stock price, The New-York Daily Timess circulation numbers remained low and the paper regularly paid high dividends, despite low salaries and living costs. The New-York Tribune was able to use the Timess continuous coverage of Tweed to cover the Great Chicago Fire and the Great Boston Fire of 1872 in greater detail, although the Times was able to cover the Franco-Prussian War through transmissions. In the years following the Tammany campaign, the editors of the Times reconciled their beliefs with the overall Republican Party. In May 1872, the Liberal Republicans gathered to oppose Ulysses S. Grant's reelection bid and the Radical Republicans. At the convention, the Liberal Republicans nominated Horace Greeley. The New-York Times chose to attack Greeley for his beliefs and did not resurface his admiration for Fourierism. The appointment of John C. Reid as managing editor allowed the paper to cover the trial of Henry Ward Beecher in full, a feat unheard of in journalism, though not without criticism from readers who felt that the continuous coverage was vulgar.
1876–1896: Democratic support, Jones's death, and financial hardship
Ahead of the 1876 presidential election, the Timess editors rejected a third-term for Grant and did not believe James G. Blaine would be a proper candidate. Jennings's radical Republicanism clashed with Jones's moderate beliefs, and he plotted to solidify control of The New-York Times to further his agenda and forge the paper into an organ of the party through the estate of James B. Taylor. Jennings's efforts were stopped when Jones purchased Taylor's stock for on February 4, 1876, a figure widely reported in financial circles; rival papers refused to believe that the stock was worth that much and accused the Times of inflating the price by bidding against Jennings and that part of the price represented "back dividends". Jennings resigned several months later and became a Member of Parliament. John Foord of the Connolly books succeeded him until 1883. Entering the election, The New-York Times was a Republican paper with a streak of independence. Emboldened by the political controversy surrounding the Mulligan letters, which prevented Blaine from receiving the nomination, the Times supported Rutherford B. Hayes and vehemently attacked Samuel J. Tilden.