Hitchcock - James S.
Source: History of Montgomery County, Indiana. Indianapolis: AW Bowen, 1913, pp 827-828.
The career of James S. Hitchcock, editor of The Crawfordsville Review, has been strenuous, like that of all who select the newspaper field for their arena of action, and there is nothing in his record savoring in the slightest degree of disrepute, his relations with his fellow men having been ever above reproach and his good name beyond criticism, he wears the proud American title of self-made man, and being in the most literal sense of the term the architect of his own fortune he may well feel a sense of pride in his achievements and the honorable position to which he has attained among the enterprising young men of the county and city of his adoption.
Mr. Hitchcock was born on July 24, 1885 in Jackson, Michigan. He is a son of Charles and Mary (Smiley) Hitchcock. The father was born in 1851, also in Jackson, Michigan, and his death occurred on March 17, 1908. The mother of our subject was born on May 2, 1863 in Lansing, Michigan, and her death occurred on December 26, 1911. These parents grew to maturity, received common school educations and were married in their native state. Also the father was graduated from the Michigan Agricultural College and from a musical college. He spent the major portion of his active life as a commercial traveler. Politically, he was a Republican. Fraternally, he belonged to the Masonic Order and the Knights of the Grip. He was also a member of the Presbyterian church. During the Spanish-American war he enlisted in Company K, Thirty-third Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Allen, and after a very faithful service he was honorably discharged, mustered out a lieutenant.
To Charles Hitchcock and wife only one child was born, James S. Hitchcock, of this review.
Our subject received a common and high school education, later taking special work at the Michigan Agricultural College, and also attended Michigan University.
He learned the printer's trade in the office of The Michigan Statesman, at Marshall, Michigan. In a short time he had mastered the ins and outs of the mechanical department of that paper and two years after he began his apprenticeship there he was editor of the same, although a mere boy, and when only sixteen years old he was editor of The Index at Homer, Michigan, being one of the youngest, if not the youngest editor in the state; but he made a success of this responsible work, and from Homer he went to Lansing, where he joined the staff of The Journal as city editor, and he was also connected with The Lansing Republican for about a year, giving his employers entire satisfaction in every respect. Still seeking larger fields for the exercise of his talent, he went to Detroit where he secured employment on The Times. Subsequently he became city editor of the Marquette Mining Journal in 1905, later working a year on the Kalamazoo Gazette, then he returned to Lansing, and in March, 1910, he came to Crawfordsville, Indiana, and since then has been editor of The Crawfordsville Review, a corporation, and he has brought this paper up to a high rank among the papers of western Indiana, greatly increasing its circulation and rendering it a valuable advertising medium.
Mr. Hitchcock is a Democrat. He belongs to the Presbyterian church, and fraternally is a member of the Masonic Order, No. 33, at Lansing. Michigan; also belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Crawfordsville. Mr. Hitchcock has remained unmarried. --typed by kbz