{{short description|American newspaper entrepreneur and diplomat}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Moses Yale Beach | image = Moses Yale Beach, late portrait, restored, with fixes, black and white historical (recropped).png | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1800|1|15}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6269390/moses-yale-beach|title=correct date of birth|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=13 March 2023}}</ref> | birth_place = [[Wallingford, Connecticut]], U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1868|7|19|1800|1|7}} | death_place = Wallingford, Connecticut, U.S. | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | family = [[Yale (surname)|Yale]] | nationality = | other_names = | known_for = [[New York Sun (historical)|New York Sun]]<br>[[Associated Press]] | education = | employer = | occupation = | title = | height = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | spouse = | partner = | children = [[Alfred Ely Beach]]<br>[[Moses S. Beach]]<br>[[William Yale Beach]] | parents = | relatives = [[Elihu Yale]], cousin<br>[[James Murray Yale]], cousin<br>[[Arthur Yale]], cousin<br>[[William Yale (merchant)|William Yale]], cousin<br>[[Edwin R. Yale]], cousin<br>[[Frederick C. Beach]], grandson<br>[[Charles Yale Beach]], grandson<br>[[Emma Beach Thayer]], granddaughter<br>[[Stanley Yale Beach]], great-grandson<br>[[Brewster Yale Beach]], great-great-grandson | signature = Signature of Moses Yale Beach (1800–1868).png | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Moses Yale Beach''' (January 15, 1800 – July 19, 1868)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6269390/moses-yale-beach|title=correct date of birth|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=13 March 2023}}</ref> was an American inventor, entrepreneur, philanthropist and publisher, who founded the [[Associated Press]], and is credited with originating [[print syndication]].<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1868/07/21/87582915.html?pageNumber=2 Moses Y. Beach Obituary], ''New York Times'', July 21, 1868, p. 2</ref><ref>Beach, Stanley, [https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/11/resources/850 Archives at Yale, Stanley Yale Beach papers], Number: GEN MSS 802, 1911-1948</ref> His fortune, as of 1846, amounted to $300,000, which was about 1/4 of the fortune of [[Cornelius Vanderbilt]] at the time, and was featured in a book that he published named the Wealthy citizens of the City of New York.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wEUuAAAAYAAJ&q=moses&pg=PA13|title=The Wealth and Biography of the Wealthy Citizens of the City of New York, Page 4 and 29|author=Moses Yale Beach|work=Sun office|date=1855-05-22|access-date=2022-09-05}}</ref>
His newspaper, the [[The Sun (New York City)|''Sun'']], became the most successful newspaper in America, and was a pioneer on [[crime]] reporting and [[Human-interest story#Background|human-interest stories]] for the masses.<ref>[https://open.lib.umn.edu/mediaandculture/chapter/4-2-history-of-newspapers/ Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication], Newspapers as a Form of Mass Media; The Penny Press, Libraries Publishing</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00947679.1979.12066929?journalCode=ujhi20|title=George W. Wisner: Michigan Editor and {{as written|Poli|tican [sic]}}|website=tandfonline.com|author=Wm. David Sloan|date=December 1979 |doi=10.1080/00947679.1979.12066929 |language=en|access-date=2022-11-17|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benjamin-Henry-Day |title=Benjamin Henry Day, American journalist and publisher |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica |date=2022-09-05}}</ref><ref>Bird, S. Elizabeth. For Enquiring Minds: A Cultural Study of Supermarket Tabloids. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1992: 12-17.</ref>
==Biography== [[File:(King1893NYC) pg619 THE SUN, NASSAU AND FRANKFORT STREETS.jpg|thumb|Offices of the [[The Sun (New York City)|New York ''Sun'']], 1893, on [[Nassau Street (Manhattan)|Nassau Street]], Manhattan]] Moses was born in [[Wallingford, Connecticut]], to Moses Sperry Beach and Lucretia Yale, and was a cousin of Canadian fur trader [[James Murray Yale]] and Gov. [[Elihu Yale]] of [[Yale University]], members of the [[Yale (surname)|Yale family]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/yalegenealogyhis00byuyale/page/142/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater&q=moses |title=Yale genealogy and history of Wales : the British kings and princes, life of Owen Glyndwr, biographies of Governor Elihu Yale, for whom Yale University was named, Linus Yale, Sr. |pages=170|publisher=Archived.org |access-date=2022-11-27}}</ref><ref>[https://ia800203.us.archive.org/30/items/cu31924072688090/cu31924072688090.pdf America's successful men of affairs. An encyclopedia of contemporaneous biography, p. 66-67]</ref> Merchant [[William Yale (merchant)|William Yale]] and Gen. [[Edwin R. Yale]] were second cousins, while [[Linus Yale Sr.]] and [[Linus Yale Jr.]], of the [[Yale Lock Company]], were fourth cousins.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/yalegenealogyhis00byuyale/page/142/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater&q=moses |title=Yale genealogy and history of Wales : the British kings and princes, life of Owen Glyndwr, biographies of Governor Elihu Yale, for whom Yale University was named, Linus Yale, Sr. |pages=170|publisher=Archived.org |access-date=2023-03-27}}</ref> His grandfather, Capt. [[Elihu Yale (captain)|Elihu Yale]], son of Capt. [[Theophilus Yale]], was one of the first [[bayonet]] manufacturer in Connecticut during the [[American Revolutionary War]], and one of the largest landholders of Wallingford.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/yalegenealogyhis00byuyale/page/142/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater&q=moses |title=Yale genealogy and history of Wales : the British kings and princes, life of Owen Glyndwr, biographies of Governor Elihu Yale, for whom Yale University was named, Linus Yale, Sr. |pages=142–170|publisher=Archived.org |access-date=2022-11-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/cul/texts/ldpd_6337184_000/ldpd_6337184_000.pdf|title=The Wealth and Biography of the Wealthy Citizens of the City of New York, Page 4|author=Moses Yale Beach|work=Sun office|date=1855-05-22|access-date=2022-09-05}}</ref>
His father was a plain farmer, and gave him an ordinary education. As a boy, he was a [[fifer]] in the [[War of 1812]] at [[Fort Nathan Hale]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSsWAAAAYAAJ&dq=sally+beach+horatio+green&pg=PA41|title=Sketches of the Old Inhabitants and Other Citizens of Old Springfield of the Present Century: And Its Historic Mansions of "ye Olden Tyme"|author=Charles Wells Chapin|publisher=Press of Springfield Print. and Binding Company|year=1893}}</ref> He showed a mechanical aptitude from an early age, and at 14 was [[apprentice]]d to a [[cabinetmaker]]. Before his term was up, he purchased his freedom and established a cabinet-making business in [[Northampton, Massachusetts]], competing with [[John Holbrook (publisher)|John Holbrook]], father of Gov. [[Frederick Holbrook|Holbrook]].<ref>Chapin, Charles Wells (1893). [https://ia800202.us.archive.org/26/items/sketchesofoldinh00chap/sketchesofoldinh00chap.pdf Sketches of the Old Inhabitants and Other Citizens of Old Springfield], Historic Mansions of "Ye Olden Tyme", Press of Springfield Printing and Binding Company, p. 38-39</ref> The business failed, and he moved to [[Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield]]. There he endeavoured to manufacture a [[gunpowder engine]] for propelling balloons; but this enterprise was also a failure.
He was among the first to invest in [[paddle steamship]]s to open [[steamship|steam navigation]] on the Connecticut river between [[Hartford]] and Springfield, and would have succeeded if financial difficulties had not obliged him to cease operations before his [[steamboat|steamer]] was completed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSsWAAAAYAAJ&dq=sally+beach+horatio+green&pg=PA41|title=Sketches of the Old Inhabitants and Other Citizens of Old Springfield of the Present Century: And Its Historic Mansions of "ye Olden Tyme"|author=Charles Wells Chapin|publisher=Press of Springfield Print. and Binding Company|year=1893}}</ref> This venture was in association with [[Thomas Blanchard (inventor)|Thomas Blanchard]], the inventor of America's first assembly line in 1819, and inventor of the first American automobile in 1826.<ref>[https://ia800203.us.archive.org/30/items/cu31924072688090/cu31924072688090.pdf America's successful men of affairs. An encyclopedia of contemporaneous biography, p. 66-67]</ref><ref>[https://www.nps.gov/spar/learn/historyculture/thomas-blanchard-and-his-lathe.htm Thomas Blanchard, Springfield Armory, National Historic Site, National Park Services, MassachusettsMassachusetts].</ref> He then invented a rag-cutting machine for [[paper mill]]s.
The invention was widely used, but Moses derived no pecuniary benefit due to his tardiness in applying for a [[patent]]. He then settled in [[Ulster County, New York]], where he invested in an extensive paper mill. At first he was successful, and after six years was wealthy; but after seven years, an imprudent investment dispersed his fortune, and was compelled to abandon his enterprise. In 1829, he became one of the trustees of [[Saugerties, New York|Saugerties, N.Y.]], organizing their fire department, and purchased the first [[fire engine]] of the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSsWAAAAYAAJ&dq=sally+beach+horatio+green&pg=PA41|title=Sketches of the Old Inhabitants and Other Citizens of Old Springfield of the Present Century: And Its Historic Mansions of "ye Olden Tyme"|author=Charles Wells Chapin|publisher=Press of Springfield Print. and Binding Company|year=1893}}</ref> In the meantime though, he had married the sister of [[Benjamin Day (publisher)|Benjamin Day]], founder and proprietor of the ''[[New York Sun (historical)|New York Sun]]''.
In 1835, he acquired an interest in the paper from George W. Wisner, an early founder who had been in charge of reporting police news and writing police reports, being the first to do so in the industry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED360650.pdf|title=The Founding of the Penny Press: Nothing New Under The Sun, The Herald or The Tribune|author=Julie Hedgepeth Williams|language=en|access-date=2022-11-17}}</ref> His brother was Gov. [[Moses Wisner]], a member of the family of Patriot [[Henry Wisner]], a gunpowder manufacturer for [[George Washington]] during the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]]. After selling his shares, he would go back to Michigan and found his own journal. The Sun was then small, both in the size of its sheet and circulation, and with a $40,000 payment, Moses soon became sole proprietor, acquiring the shares of Benjamin Day and Mr. Wisner.
==''The Sun''== {{Main|The Sun (New York City)}} [[File:1836 the-great-moon-hoax-new-inhabitants-of-the-moon.png|thumb|150px|[[Great Moon Hoax]] of 1835, attention-grabbing stories published by ''The Sun''.]]
[[The Sun (New York City)|''The Sun'']], as a [[penny press]] journal, brought many innovations to the industry, such as being the first U.S. journal to hire a Police [[reporter]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/New-York-Sun |title=New York Sun, American newspaper|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica |date=2022-09-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benjamin-Henry-Day |title=Benjamin Henry Day, American journalist and publisher |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica |date=2022-09-05}}</ref> They were also the first newspaper to report crimes and personal events such as suicides, deaths, and divorces, which featured everyday people rather than public figures. As the early developers of the craft of reporting and storytelling, they changed journalism, and brought a new business model focused on mass-production and advertising rather than subscriptions. With the breakthrough of selling their newspaper for a penny, a very low price affordable to most, it got New Yorkers from all walks of life reading the news and stay informed. They also launched hoaxes with the aim of attracting attention, such as the [[Great Moon Hoax|Great Moon Hoax of 1835]] or [[the Balloon-Hoax]].<ref>[https://ia800203.us.archive.org/30/items/cu31924072688090/cu31924072688090.pdf America's successful men of affairs. An encyclopedia of contemporaneous biography, p. 66-67]</ref> Theses innovations led the journal to eventually become the most successful newspaper in America.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00947679.1979.12066929?journalCode=ujhi20|title=George W. Wisner: Michigan Editor and {{as written|Poli|tican [sic]}}|journal=Journalism History|author=Wm. David Sloan|year=1979 |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=113–116 |doi=10.1080/00947679.1979.12066929 |language=en|access-date=2022-11-17|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
[[James Gordon Bennett Sr.]], intrigued by the success of ''The Sun'', would go on and copy the paper and found his own journal in 1835, naming it the ''[[New York Herald]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED360650.pdf|title=The Founding of the Penny Press: Nothing New Under The Sun, The Herald or The Tribune|author=Julie Hedgepeth Williams|language=en|access-date=2022-11-17}}</ref> Through his 10 years of proprietorship, Moses would expand the four-page paper from three to eight columns. He would also develop horse, rail, and [[Pigeon post|pigeon service]]s to accelerate the speed of news-gathering into his New York offices.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://biography.yourdictionary.com/moses-yale-beach|title=Moses Yale Beach|website=Biography.yourdictionary.com|language=en|access-date=2022-09-05}}</ref> He established a ship news service in association with other organizations to obtain news from Europe, acquiring the steamboat "Naushon".<ref name="tucker98">C. Tucker, Spencer (2013.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=9dvYAQAAQBAJ&dq=%22moses+yale+beach%22+Naushon&pg=PA98 ''American Civil War: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection''], ABC-CLIO, Library of Congress, p. 98–99</ref><ref>[https://apimagesblog.com/historical/2021/1/30/ap-at-175-a-photographic-history AP at 175: A Photographic History, Part 1: Beginnings, 1846-60], Harbor News Association contract, June 1, 1848. APCA., Valerie Komor, Director, AP Corporate Archives.</ref><ref>Benson John Lossing (1884).[https://books.google.com/books?id=MZZe-BT4BbwC&dq=%22moses+yale+beach%22+news+vessel&pg=PA362 History of New York City: Embracing an Outline Sketch of Events], Volume 1., The Perine Engraving And Publishing Co., New York, p. 362</ref>
The "[[Pony Express]]" horses brought important news from Albany, and he ran special trains that ran from Baltimore to speed up their arrival.<ref name="tucker98" /> His [[pigeon house]] was built on the roof of his New York office at [[Nassau Street (Manhattan)|Nassau Street]] to bring news from nearby ports.<ref>Benson John Lossing (1884).[https://books.google.com/books?id=MZZe-BT4BbwC&dq=%22moses+yale+beach%22+news+vessel&pg=PA362 ''History of New York City: Embracing an Outline Sketch of Events''], Volume 1., The Perine Engraving And Publishing Co., New York, p. 362–363</ref> An important competitor was [[Horace Greeley]] of the ''[[New-York Tribune]]''. The "[[Commodore Vanderbilt]]" used the newspaper to advertise his steamship sailings from New York to [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]], charging one dollar a passenger to get aboard his [[steamboat]] the "Water Witch".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/AEH2457.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext|author= Frank Michael O'Brien|year=1947|title=The Story of the Sun : New York, 1833-1918|pages=7–9}}</ref>
[[File:Steamship Cunard Line 1878.jpg|thumb|[[Cunard Line|Cunard Line steamship]], used by "The New York Sun" to get their news from Europe<ref>Benson John Lossing (1884).[https://books.google.com/books?id=MZZe-BT4BbwC&dq=%22moses+yale+beach%22+news+vessel&pg=PA362 ''History of New York City: Embracing an Outline Sketch of Events''], Volume 1., The Perine Engraving And Publishing Co., New York, p. 362</ref>]]
According to historian Elmo Scott Watson, Moses invented [[print syndication]] in 1841 when he produced a two-page supplement and sold it to a score of newspapers in the U.S. northeast.<ref name=Watson>Watson, Elmo Scott. "CHAPTER VIII: Recent Developments in Syndicate History 1921-1935," ''History of Newspaper Syndicates''. [https://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2016/07/history-of-newspaper-syndicates-by-elmo_8.html Archived at ''Stripper's Guide''].</ref> He became the major shareholder in four banks and started being a banker himself, establishing banks in the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Florida.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wEUuAAAAYAAJ&q=moses&pg=PA13|title=The Wealth and Biography of the Wealthy Citizens of the City of New York, Page 4 and 29|author=Moses Yale Beach|work=Sun office|date=1855-05-22|access-date=2022-09-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSsWAAAAYAAJ&dq=sally+beach+horatio+green&pg=PA41|title=Sketches of the Old Inhabitants and Other Citizens of Old Springfield of the Present Century: And Its Historic Mansions of "ye Olden Tyme"|author=Charles Wells Chapin|publisher=Press of Springfield Print. and Binding Company|year=1893}}</ref> He also later acquired the American book publishing company [[Harper Brothers]] and established the ''American Sun'' in Europe, the ''Weekly Sun'' for farmers, and the ''Illustrated Sun and Monthly Literary Journal''.<ref>Ross Eaman (2021). [https://books.google.com/books?id=yP4WEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22moses+yale+beach%22+Illustrated+Sun+and+Monthly+Literary+Journal&pg=PR24 ''Historical Dictionary of Journalism''], Second Edition, Rowman & Littlefield, p. 24</ref><ref>Linda Sybert Hudson (1999). [https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc278486/m2/1/high_res_d/1002658825-hudson.pdf JANE MCMANUS STORM CAZNEAU (1807-1878): A BIOGRAPHY], University of North Texas, p. 105-106</ref>
In 1842, he published the first directory of wealthy Americans called the Wealth and Pedigree of Wealthy Citizens of [[New York City]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wEUuAAAAYAAJ&q=moses&pg=PA13|title=The Wealth and Biography of the Wealthy Citizens of the City of New York, Page 4 and 29|author=Moses Yale Beach|work=Sun office|date=1855-05-22|access-date=2022-09-05}}</ref> In the 1846 edition, Moses Yale Beach was featured with a fortune of US$300,000, which translates to 3.3 billion dollars in 2022 money in relation to GDP, and was featured along with [[Cornelius Vanderbilt]] at 1.2 million, and [[John Jacob Astor]] at 25 millions, the richest man in the world at the time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://measuringworth.com/calculators/uscompare/|title=Seven Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount - 1790 to Present|website=MeasuringWorth.com|access-date=2022-11-17}}</ref> In 1846, only fourteen individuals were millionaires in New York, with a population of about 500,000 people, making Moses Yale Beach among the richest men in the city.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Albion |first=Robert Greenhalgh |date=1935 |title=Commercial Fortunes in New York: A Study in the History of the Port of New York About 1850 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23134861 |journal=New York History |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=158–168 |jstor=23134861 |issn=0146-437X}}</ref>
[[File:Naushon (1845 steamboat).jpg|thumb|225px|The "Naushon", a [[steamboat]] vessel co-owned by Moses Yale through the [[Associated Press]], used for their news service from [[New York Harbor]] starting in 1846<ref>C. Tucker, Spencer (2013.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=9dvYAQAAQBAJ&dq=%22moses+yale+beach%22+Naushon&pg=PA98 ''American Civil War: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection''], ABC-CLIO, Library of Congress, p. 98–99</ref><ref>[https://apimagesblog.com/historical/2021/1/30/ap-at-175-a-photographic-history ''AP at 175: A Photographic History, Part 1: Beginnings, 1846-60''], Harbor News Association contract, June 1, 1848. APCA., Valerie Komor, Director, AP Corporate Archives.</ref>]]
From 1843 to 1847, Moses grew the newspaper, employing 8 editors and reporters, 16 pressmen, 12 female folders, and 100 [[Newspaper hawker|newsboys]].<ref>Linda Sybert Hudson (1999). [https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc278486/m2/1/high_res_d/1002658825-hudson.pdf JANE MCMANUS STORM CAZNEAU (1807-1878): A BIOGRAPHY], University of North Texas, p. 105–106</ref> In the same year, he was appointed [[:category:Ambassadors of the United States to Mexico|United States Ambassador to Mexico]], and named [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Mexico|Special Diplomatic Agent]] by U.S. President [[John Tyler]]. He was also a representative of New York's bankers for the war mission, and a director of several New York banks, carrying with him $50,000 to establish a National Bank in Mexico.<ref>Linda Sybert Hudson (1999). [https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc278486/m2/1/high_res_d/1002658825-hudson.pdf JANE MCMANUS STORM CAZNEAU (1807-1878): A BIOGRAPHY], University of North Texas, p. 125</ref>
He cofounded the [[:fr:Harbor News Association|Harbor News Association]] in association with other newspapers and [[Samuel Morse]], inventor of the [[telegraph]], and the [[:fr:New York Associated Press|New York Associated Press]], implicating robber baron [[Jay Gould]]. In May 1846, Moses founded the [[Associated Press]]<ref>Beach, Stanley, [https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/11/resources/850 Archives at Yale, Stanley Yale Beach papers], Number: GEN MSS 802, 1911-1948</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://newyorknatives.com/on-this-day-in-nycs-history-associated-press-formed/|title=Associated Press Founded - This Day in History May 22|work=New York Natives|date=2015-05-22|access-date=2016-03-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324173630/http://newyorknatives.com/on-this-day-in-nycs-history-associated-press-formed/|archive-date=2016-03-24|url-status=dead}}</ref> (at that time publisher of ''The Sun''), and was joined by the ''[[New York Herald]]'', the ''[[New York Courier and Enquirer|New York Courier]]'', ''[[The Journal of Commerce]]'', and the ''[[New York Evening Express]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2016/06/26/the-birth-of-atari-modern-computer-design-and-the-software-industry-this-week-in-tech-history/#14b8630f6f38|title=The Birth of Atari, Modern Computer Design, And The Software Industry: This Week In Tech History|last=Press|first=Gil|work=Forbes|access-date=2018-02-20|language=en}}</ref> The AP had been formed by the five New York daily papers to share the cost of transmitting news of the [[Mexican–American War]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/christmas-specials/2013/09/24/network-effects|title=Network effects|newspaper=The Economist|language=en|access-date=2018-02-20}}</ref> It became the oldest and largest [[news agency]] in the United States, and the largest in the world.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Associated-Press Associated Press, News Agency], Britannica, History & Society, The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, July 22, 2023.</ref> Their offices would later be at [[50 Rockefeller Plaza]], formerly known as the Associated Press Building, and be part of [[Rockefeller Center]].
==Mexican–American War== [[File:Carl Nebel - Genl. Scott's entrance into Mexico, Plate 45.jpg|thumb|230px|Mexico City, [[Mexican–American War]], featuring General [[Winfield Scott|Scott]]]] During the [[Mexican–American War]], Moses went on a trip to Washington where he met with Secretary of State [[James Buchanan]] and U.S. President [[James K. Polk]] for talks.<ref>[https://archives.dickinson.edu/document-descriptions/letter-james-buchanan-moses-beach Letter from James Buchanan to Moses Beach, November 21, 1846]</ref> His mission, as the President personal [[spy]], would be to try to persuade the Mexican government to settle its ongoing war with the United States.<ref>[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/The_works_of_James_Buchanan%2C_comprising_his_speeches%2C_state_papers%2C_and_private_correspondence%3B_%28IA_cu31924092885387%29.pdf The works of James Buchanan, comprising his speeches, state papers, and private correspondence, Vol. VII, 1846-1848]</ref><ref name="emissary">{{Cite web|url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/moses-yale-beach-polks-secret-emissary-to-mexico/|title=Moses Yale Beach: Polk's Secret Emissary to Mexico|website=WarfareHistoryNetwork|language=en|access-date=2022-09-07}}</ref> At the time, newspapers had better news gathering techniques than the government, having President Polk and government officials receiving the war news through their daily newspapers.<ref>Linda Sybert Hudson (1999). [https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc278486/m2/1/high_res_d/1002658825-hudson.pdf JANE MCMANUS STORM CAZNEAU (1807-1878): A BIOGRAPHY], University of North Texas, p. 127</ref>
As he already had a personal relationship with the former foreign minister of Mexico, [[Juan Almonte]], President [[James K. Polk|Polk]] sent him to Mexico to arrange a treaty of peace, bringing with him his daughter and a journalist named [[Jane Cazneau]]. Arrived on Mexican grounds, Moses received informations from General [[Mirabeau Lamar]], the former president of the Republic of Texas, about the disenchantment of the Mexican [[bishop]]s and clergy, as they were penalized by the war.<ref name="emissary" />
He took meetings with them and tried to organize a resistance. His resistance would prove successful as the Bishops were able to raise an army of 5,000 men. The financing provided also prevented the Mexican army to counterback U.S General [[Winfield Scott]]. Following the [[Revolt of the Polkos|Polkos Revolt]], President [[Antonio López de Santa Anna|Santa Anna]] would post a reward to capture Moses and declared that anyone found with a copy of his paper, the [[The Sun (New York City)|New York Sun]], would be punished as a traitor.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FZVQcZpic-8C&dq=moses+yale+beach+philanthropy&pg=PA53|title=The Encyclopedia of the Mexican-American War: A Political, Social, and Military History Vol1 P. 53|isbn=9781851098538 |language=en|access-date=2018-02-20|last1=Tucker |first1=Spencer |last2=Arnold |first2=James R. |last3=Wiener |first3=Roberta |last4=Pierpaoli Jr. |first4=Paul G. |last5=Cutrer |first5=Thomas W. |last6=Santoni |first6=Pedro |year=2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref> The negotiations were eventually broken off by a false report announcing the defeat of General [[Zachary Taylor]] by Mexican General [[Antonio López de Santa Anna]]. Moses returned home, along with General Scott, and eventually the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]] would be settled, in 1847, where the territories of [[California]], [[Nevada]], [[Utah]], [[Colorado]], [[New Mexico]], along with parts of [[Texas]] and [[Arizona]], would be obtained by the United States.<ref name="emissary" /> Gov. [[Sam Houston]] declared that Texas owes much to the work of Moses Yale Beach during the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSsWAAAAYAAJ&dq=sally+beach+horatio+green&pg=PA41|title=Sketches of the Old Inhabitants and Other Citizens of Old Springfield of the Present Century: And Its Historic Mansions of "ye Olden Tyme"|author=Charles Wells Chapin|publisher=Press of Springfield Print. and Binding Company|year=1893}}</ref>
==Gold Rush== [[File:An 1855 lithograph of ships being used as businesses in San Francisco. Apollo storeship and Niantic Hotel.jpg|225px|thumb|The [[Apollo (storeship)|Apollo storeship]], 1849, converted into the "Apollo Saloon", next to the [[Niantic (whaling vessel)#Storeship and hotel|Niantic Hotel]], San Francisco]]
During the [[California Gold Rush]], after talks with U.S. Consul [[Thomas O. Larkin]], Moses acquired and sent the [[Apollo (storeship)|Apollo storeship]] with his sons Henry and Joseph to [[San Francisco]].<ref>[https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/7a331b12-f13f-4732-ab94-129097add0fb United States Department of the Interior National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet, Apollo Storeship], April 5, 1991, p. 9</ref> They equipped the vessel to become a profitable business venture and created advertisements to bring passengers on board at a cost of 75$ per individual. They also brought two printing presses to establish a newspaper at the gold mines.<ref name="storeship">[https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/7a331b12-f13f-4732-ab94-129097add0fb United States Department of the Interior National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet, Apollo Storeship], April 5, 1991, p. 9–13</ref> They sailed at full capacity from New York to Rio de Janeiro, then to Peru and San Francisco. Once arrived, the passengers and crew deserted the ship, attracted by California's gold.<ref name="storeship" /> As a result, they converted the ship into a warehouse and a [[Western saloon|Saloon]] named the "[[Apollo (storeship)#Gallery|Apollo Saloon]]", next to Euphemia Prison, previously owned by [[William Heath Davis]], a vessell holding prisoners on the water in front of the establishment.<ref>[https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/7a331b12-f13f-4732-ab94-129097add0fb United States Department of the Interior National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet, Apollo Storeship], April 5, 1991, p. 18</ref><ref name="delgado">[https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=The_Prison_Ship_%27Euphemia%27 James P. Delgado, ''California History'' magazine, Fall 1978]</ref> It became California's first formal insane asylum.<ref name="delgado" /> The [[Apollo (storeship)#Gallery|Apollo Saloon]] served doughnuts, alcohol and coffee, and became a San Francisco landmark.<ref>[https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/7a331b12-f13f-4732-ab94-129097add0fb United States Department of the Interior National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet, Apollo Storeship], April 5, 1991, p. 9-13</ref> The saloon served also as a [[coffee house]] and was next to [[Niantic (whaling vessel)#Storeship and hotel|Niantic Hotel]] on Battery Street. It burned down two years later in 1851.
Moses was a partner in a mining venture to extract gold and quartz with [[P.T. Barnum]] of [[Barnum & Bailey Circus]], with 2 million dollars in capital stock.<ref name="brown">[https://books.google.com/books?id=92VNAAAAYAAJ&q=beach+barnum&pg=PA27 ''Brown & Dallison's Nevada, Grass Valley and Rough and Ready Directory'', p.28]</ref> He also helped Barnum get the approval for [[Barnum's American Museum]] in New York and financed him.<ref name="brown" /><ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1865/07/14/78745531.html?pageNumber=8 History of the Museum], ''New York Times'', July 14, 1865, p. 8</ref><ref>[https://electricscotland.com/history/barnum/chap7.htm The P.T. Barnum of the Barnum and Bailey Circus by Joel Benton, Hard Times]</ref> The ruins of the [[Apollo (storeship)|Apollo storeship]] are now buried in the underground of the [[Old Federal Reserve Bank Building (San Francisco)|Old Federal Reserve Bank Building]] of San Francisco, and two rooms are named after the ship. Moses's son, Joseph P. Beach, would write a book about his journey named ''The Log of the Apollo: Joseph Perkins Beach's Journal of the Voyage of the Ship Apollo from New York to San Francisco 1849''.
== Personal life ==
[[File:SOUTHEAST (FRONT) ELEVATION, SHOWING CAST-IRON FENCE IN FOREGROUND - Moses Yale Beach House, 86 North Main Street, Wallingford, New Haven County, CT HABS CONN,5-WALF,6-3.tif|thumb|230px|Moses Yale Beach's [[Italianate]] house in Wallingford, Connecticut, built in 1850 and designed by [[New Haven]] architect [[Henry Austin (architect)|Henry Austin]]<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.ct0102.photos?st=gallery Moses Yale Beach House, 86 North Main Street, Wallingford, New Haven County, CT Photos from Survey HABS CT-269]</ref>]] Moses retired in 1857 with an ample fortune, and left the paper to his sons. He then returned to [[Wallingford, Connecticut]], built a luxurious [[Italianate style|Italianate]] house in the city, and engaged in local philanthropy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.ct0102.photos?st=gallery|title=Moses Yale Beach House, 86 North Main Street, Wallingford, New Haven County, CT|website=Library of Congress|language=en|access-date=2022-09-07}}</ref> The Moses Y. Beach Elementary School would later bear his name, following a land donation from him. He also gave $100,000 to the [[Union Army]] for the [[American Civil War]], installed a 110 foot tall [[Liberty pole#American Revolution|Liberty Pole]], and gave $5,000 for St Paul's Episcopal Church reconstruction.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ki7eDwAAQBAJ&dq=moses+yale+beach+philanthropy&pg=PA24|title=Wallingford's Historic Legacy|year=2020 |publisher=Arcadia |isbn=9781467104944 |language=en|access-date=2022-09-08}}</ref> He was described as [[Patriot (American Revolution)|patriotic]] and liberal by the New York Times.<ref>PATRIOTIC AND LIBERAL. MOSES Y. BEACH, New York Times, April 28, 1861, p. 4</ref> He died in 1868, and was buried at [[Center Street Cemetery, Wallingford]], where a monument was erected in his memory.
Moses Yale was featured in the [[Pulitzer Award]] book "[[Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898]]" and other works, along with his son [[Alfred Ely Beach|Alfred Ely]], who had to bypass corrupt politicians to build [[Beach Pneumatic Transit|New York's first subway]] in 1869.<ref>Burrows, Edwin G. (1999) [https://books.google.com/books?id=xF4NDALYWSAC&q=yale Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898], Oxford University Press, p. 640-677-700-706-932</ref> His sons [[Moses S. Beach|Moses Sperry]] and Joseph Perkins took over the [[The Sun (New York City)|New York Sun]], and under their leadership, they supported [[Abraham Lincoln]], and were described as out-and-out loyalists.<ref>[https://chs.org/finding_aides/finding_aids/beach_pdf.pdf Joseph P. Beach genealogy papers], A Guide to the Collection at the Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3up1EAAAQBAJ&dq=%22The+reelection+of+Abraham+Lincoln+announces+to+the+world+how+firmly+we+have+resolved+to+be+a+free+and+united+people.%22&pg=PT100|author= Frank Michael O'Brien|year=1947|title=The Story of the Sun : New York, 1833-1918|access-date=2022-11-10}}</ref><ref>The Story of the Sun. New York, 1833-1918, Chapter VIII "The Sun" During The Civil War</ref> The paper also covered [[First inauguration of Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln's day of election]] as well as [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln's assassination]].<ref>The Story of the Sun. New York, 1833-1918, Chapter VIII "The Sun" During The Civil War</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3up1EAAAQBAJ&dq=%22The+reelection+of+Abraham+Lincoln+announces+to+the+world+how+firmly+we+have+resolved+to+be+a+free+and+united+people.%22&pg=PT100|author= Frank Michael O'Brien|year=1947|title=The Story of the Sun : New York, 1833-1918|access-date=2022-11-10}}</ref>
Moses Yale Beach was married twice and left six sons and two daughters : *[[Alfred Ely Beach|Alfred Ely]], entrepreneur who invented New York City's [[Beach Pneumatic Transit|first subway system]], opposed by [[John Jacob Astor III]], owner of the [[Scientific American]] magazine, founder of a school for freed slaves after the [[American Civil War]], joined the [[Union League]] *[[Moses S. Beach|Moses Sperry]], politician, co owner of the New York Sun and the [[Boston Daily Times]], featured in [[Mark Twain|Mark Twain's]] book, [[The Innocents Abroad]], member of the [[New York State Assembly]], visited the [[Czar Alexander II]] of the [[House of Romanov]], supported Abraham Lincoln's policies *As well as Eveline Shepherd, Mary Ely Day, Henry Day, Joseph Perkins, Moses Yale Beach (b. 1862), and [[William Yale Beach]], a [[Freemason]] banker and real estate developer, doing business in the [[St. John's Lodge (New York City)|Masonic Temple]]s of [[Grand Lodge of New York|New York]] and [[Grand Lodge of Massachusetts|Boston]], among others.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ghcfAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22William+Yale+Beach%22&pg=PA912 The History of the Descendants of John Dwight of Dedham, Mass], Volume 2, Benjamin Woodbridge Dwight, 1874, p.912</ref><ref>January 12, 1876, The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts · 2, page 2</ref><ref>An Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of the United States, Treasurer's Accounts, 1873, p. 537</ref>
[[File:Latham sur antoinette 1909 96718.jpg|220px|thumb|[[Antoinette IV]] monoplane, inspiration for [[Stanley Yale Beach]]'s design, covered by [[Scientific American]]]]
Moses's nephew, Clarence Day Sr., owned Gwynne & Day, a Wall Street brokerage firm seated at [[40 Wall Street]], and was an investment banker, railroad director, and Governor of the [[New York Stock Exchange]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=SRdD8gvyUOgC&dq=%22clarence+shepard+day+sr%22+broker&pg=PA6 A World of Letters: Yale University Press, 1908-2008, Nicholas A. Basbanes, p. 6]</ref> His great-nephews were [[Yale University]] Treasurer George Day and Yale graduate [[Clarence Day]], grandsons of [[Benjamin Day (publisher)|Benjamin Day]], and cofounders of [[Yale University Press]].
His granddaughter [[Emma Beach Thayer|Emma Beach]] married to artist [[Abbott Handerson Thayer]], who pioneered the creation of the first effective forms of [[military camouflage]], and his grandson, [[Charles Yale Beach]], became a real estate investor. Thayer was a member of the Boston Brahmin [[Thayer family]], and his work was mocked by [[Theodore Roosevelt]]. Emma was also the aunt of the Dean of Harvard Divinity School, [[William Wallace Fenn]], and was a friend and possible lover of [[Mark Twain]], and was featured in his book ''[[The Innocents Abroad]]''.
His grandson, [[Frederick Converse Beach|Frederick C. Beach]], ran the family owned [[Scientific American Magazine]], seated at the [[Woolworth Building]], and invented a [[photolithographic]] process. The magazine is now the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Edmonds |first1=Rick |title=Can a magazine live forever? Scientific American, at 170, is giving it a shot |url=https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2015/can-a-magazine-live-forever-scientific-american-at-170-is-giving-it-a-shot/ |website=[[Poynter.org|Poynter]] |date=12 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=About Scientific American |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/page/about-scientific-american/#:~:text=Founded%201845%2C%20Scientific%20American%20is,than%20200%20Nobel%20Prize%20winners.|website=[[scientificamerican.com]] |date=12 February 2023}}</ref> His great-grandson, [[Stanley Yale Beach]], was also an aviation pioneer and [[airship]] entrepreneur, and his great-great-grandson, [[Brewster Yale Beach]], was a Jungian psychotherapist and Episcopal minister. Stanley was a correspondent of [[Howard Hughes]] and General [[Billy Mitchell]], father of the [[United States Air Force]], and an early financier of another aviation pioneer, [[Gustave Whitehead]], who claimed to have made a powered controlled airplane flight before the [[Wright brothers]].<ref>Jackson, Paul (2013). Jackson, Paul (ed.). "Executive Overview: Justice delayed is justice denied". Jane's All the World's Aircraft 2013. Washington, DC: Macdonald and Jane's: 8–10.</ref><ref>[https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/Lots/auction-lot/(AVIATION)-Archive-of-Stanley-Yale-Beach-aviation-pioneer?saleno=2207&lotNo=43&refNo=627373 Archive of Stanley Yale Beach, aviation pioneer]</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} * {{NIE|wstitle = Beach, Moses Yale}} * {{cite news |title=Moses Y. Beach |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9904EEDD1E3CE13BBC4951DFB1668383679FDE |quote=Moses Yale Beach died suddenly Sunday morning at Wallingford, Conn,, where he was born, Jan. 7, 1800. In 1814 he was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker in Hartford, Conn., whom he served for four years, and then, purchasing his freedom, went into the cabinet business on his own account at Northampton, Mass. |work=[[New York Times]] |date=July 21, 1868 |access-date=2008-07-15 }} * {{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Beach, Moses Yale|year=1900}}
==External links== {{commons category}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Moses Yale Beach |sopt=t}}
{{US Ambassadors to Mexico}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beach, Moses Yale}} [[Category:19th-century American inventors]] [[Category:People from Wallingford, Connecticut]] [[Category:19th-century American newspaper publishers (people)]] [[Category:Beach family|Moses Yale]] [[Category:1800 births]] [[Category:1868 deaths]] [[Category:19th-century American diplomats]] [[Category:Associated Press people]] [[Category:19th-century American journalists]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Mexico]] [[Category:Yale family|Moses Beach]] [[Category:19th-century American male journalists]]