William Alexander Linn, Horace Greeley Founder and Editor of The New York Tribune

Very soon after this note was written, Thomas McElrath surprised him with an offer to become his partner in the new enterprise, and this Greeley gladly accepted, and the announcement of the new firm was made on July 31. McElrath contributed $2,000 in cash as an equivalent for a half-interest. Not until this arrangement was made did Greeley consider the paper “fairly on its feet.” The new partner was a member of the firm of McElrath & Bangs, who kept a bookstore under the printing-office in which Greeley had set up the Testament, and his natural business tact and his experience supplied something in which the Tribune editor was always lacking. This partnership continued for more than ten years. Greeley has called McElrath's business management “never brilliant nor specially energetic,” but so “safe and judicious” that it lifted the responsibility of the publication office from the editor's shoulders. The Weekly Tribune took the place of the New Yorker and the Log Cabin on September 20, and the new journal was then ready to address both city and rural