Scoville, Joseph Alfred

Scoville, Joseph Alfred

(1815–64) journalist, novelist; born in Woodbury, Conn. He was briefly John C. Calhoun's private secretary. After Calhoun's death, he was editor of the New York Picayune (1850–52) and the Pick (1852–55). His writings provoked Northern outrage during the Civil War but he is now better known for his informal history, The Old Merchants of New York City (5 vols. 1863–66), which he published with the pen name, Walter Barrett.