Posted in : Comics , Vintage Paper| Tagged : madcap , hitler , lev gleason
The class background of Golden Age comic book publishing firm Lev Gleason .
I ’ve long wondered if American periodic publishersFrederick GleasonandLev Gleasonwere related . The parallel between the life of the two men are compelling : Both lived in the same orbit for a metre . Both were pioneer periodic publishing firm in their 24-hour interval . And both often employed their publication apparatus in the service of process of their extremist political relation ( TheKnow - Nothingsin the vitrine of Frederick , while Lev issue and editedCommunist Frontmagazines , and more stuff that is the subject for another twenty-four hours ) . Just as I ’d completed this research , I was made cognizant that the eagerly - anticipatedAmerican swashbuckler : Comics , Communism , and the Battles of Lev GleasonbyBrett Dakinwas recently release . I ’ve pick up my copy and will be reviewing the rule book here shortly . But first , have ’s set the point for what brought Lev Gleason and his family to that clip and plaza in the humanity .
It turns out that Frederick and Lev Gleason are likely not related . Perhaps a very , very aloof relationship that you ’d have to go back far than the seven generations I was able to go , to discover . The issue was briefly made more complicated by a absorbing set of concurrence I found along the style , that appears to have obnubilate paper editors in the 1800s just as much as it confused me for a while .
Lev ’s great - grandfather on his mother ’s side , a man namedThomas F. Eckert , was an engineer and an influential trailblazer in the development and use of steamships in America . His achievements made him extremely flush , and after in biography , he became a principal of the Western Insurance Company . A coeval of his , Thomas T. Eckert , was an influential pioneer in the area of telegraph . An companion ofSamuel Morse , Thomas T. became Chief of the War Department Telegraph Staff and then United States Assistant Secretary of War during the Civil War . Later in sprightliness , he became president of Western Union . While Thomas F. and Thomas T. are not related , the name law of similarity , expert background , and Western Insurance / Western Union happenstance have proved too much for many newspapers , historiographer , and even government record - keeper to keep straight .
I was further pull in here by the Morse connecter . Morse was potential one of the principal fiscal angel of the Know - Nothings . As the Civil War was getting underway , his companion Thomas T. Eckert was accused of being a Union undercover agent in North Carolina . He was acquitted , fled to the North , and at once became creditworthy for the wholeness of sensitive military and govt communications . That is a gripping series of events I ’m break to have to study more someday . Nevertheless , it ’s a coincidence to us here in the context of Lev Gleason .
I had a enquiry breakthrough when I found a 1921 letter in theCincinnati Enquirerfrom Lev ’s motherJosephine Stone Gleason . The letter outline some of the story of her home as she bang it , particularly in regard to her own father and gramps . It ’s an telling household story , but if anything , as we ’ll soon see — she was small-scale .
The first of Lev ’s direct line on his mother ’s side to come to America , George Eckert , came here during the compound era . allot to an entry inOhio Biographical Sketches , 1787 - 1876 , George was " a successful and opulent merchandiser . Deeming the fresh world better adjust to the raising of a home , and to offer capital motivator to capitalists , he loaded a brig at Hamburg with product … and sailed to the United States . "
George ’s boy , Leonard , marriedMary Chesire , and again consort toOhio Biographical Sketches : " girl ofColonel William Cheshire , the revolutionary sub , who was defeat by the twilight of a tree while on obligation near Bunker Hill . She was first cousin-german toRichard M. Johnson , Vice - President of the United States under Van Buren , who killedTecumseh , and sustain the same relation toDaniel Boone , the distinguished Kentucky pioneer … She was the stepdaughter ofJohn Nornavill , Washington ’s loyal drum John Major . "
While that all sound historically impressive , and it certainly is , when you explore people who dwell during this period , you will find such connections as often than not .
Lev ’s great - grandfather Thomas F. Eckert has a history even more impressive than his granddaughter outlines in the attached newspaper clipping . Once again fromOhio Biographical Sketches :
The name of Thomas F. Eckert had now become widely known among river Man as one of the most skillful engineers and mechanics on the Western amnionic fluid , and in the wintertime of 1832 - 33 , when Colonel Robert Beveridge , of Florida , take a contract for carrying the mail three times a week from Apalachicola to Columbus , Georgia , he select him to superintend the mechanical arrangements of his six boats .
After six months in this service he was elaborated to go North to make a new boat ; and , finding the yards and workshop at Cincinnati already overrun , he proceed to Wheeling , where he completed his task in the allotted time , and produced in 1833 the beautiful Mya arenaria " Andrew Jackson . " At the expiration of the year he was commission to build the " Floridian ; " in it he had one - quaternary interestingness , and ran her a time of year on the Apalachicola and Chattahoochee river . Returning to Cincinnati in 1834 he built the " Hyperion , " which he ran a time of year ; and then follow the " Paul Jones , " on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers , the " President , " " Commodore , " the second " Paul Jones , " the second " Andrew Jackson " and the " Walnut Hills . "
He left the latter in 1852 to retire to individual life , having been take in steamboating twenty - two year , four as engineer and eighteen as police chief ; but he was not permitted to remain idle , for the Democrats elect him to the State Legislature in 1852 by an overwhelming absolute majority . Among his distinguished services in that physical structure was his authorship of " The Ten Hour System of Labor . " After the departure of his term he was elected President of the Western Insurance Company , then in its early childhood , but which , under his direction , has taken rank among the ripe in the country . To him the city is indebted for the brilliant avenue connecting it with Carthage , which , after years of patient labor , was thrown assailable to the world in 1861 . His public flavor and never-say-die initiative has materially advanced the interests of the city , and he has done much to advertise and perpetuate the river trade , so essential to the animation of the mercantile interest of Cincinnati .
The 10 - hr movement is deserving further distinction in the context of this household history . This was part of a toil reform movement from the 1820s-1840s period , and led to other organized labor efforts . In 1840 , President Martin Van Buren rate a 10 - hour working day for those employed on federal projects .
[ Below : an article from Lev Gleason Communist Front magazineFriday vol . 2 # 7 , February 14 , 1941 . ]
Lev Gleason , whose full name is Leverett Stone Gleason , was named after his grandfather on his mother ’s side , Leverett Stone . While Leverett Stone is described in the attached clip as a grocer , this seems to be minimise the matter somewhat . Leverett Stone ’s firm " L & M Stone " is described in one Civil War - era history as " a leading foraging declarer in Cincinnati . " The business firm provided corn whisky , oat , and other caryopsis to the federal government during the war , as can be date in theReport of the Secretary of War , contract Made by the Quartermaster ’s Department , 1863 - 1865 .
There ’s much more in the 1921Cincinnati Enquirerclip below . While I do not claim that any of this serves to explain the Lev Gleason enigma , he ’s so little understood , and his background knowledge has been comparatively underexplored up to now that it ’s perhaps at least a little something to ramp up on .
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