Charles H. Grasty began and ended his forty-four years in newspapering doing what he considered the most important work in journalism--reporting. Had he done only that, he would be remembered at least for his correspondence from Europe for the Associated Press and the New York Times during World War I. He is a larger figure, though, chiefly because of his important influence upon journalism in Baltimore between 1892, when he became publisher and part owner of the Evening News, and 1914, when he stepped down as president and general manager of the Baltimore Sunpapers.

Charles Henry Grasty was born 3 March 1863 at Fincastle, Virginia, the son of a Presbyterian minister, the Reverend John Sharshall Grasty, and the former Ella Giles Pettus. The family moved to the small town of Mexico, Missouri, 100 miles northwest of St. Louis, when he was a small child. He was a precocious youngster, who taught Latin while...