Josephus Daniels - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

Josephus Daniels, one of three sons born to Josephus and Mary Cleves Seabrook Daniels, was born in Washington, North Carolina, May 18, 1862. The elder Josephus, his father, was a shipbuilder for the Confederacy and was killed before his son was three years of age.

In 1878, Josephus, at the age of 16, became editor of his own newspaper by establishing “The Cornucopia.” In 1880, he became Editor of the weekly Wilson Advance and Our Free Blade and by 1882 he owned the newspapers along with the Free Press. The Free Press became the platform from which Daniels campaigned for Grover Cleveland as president of the United States as well as the Democratic Party. Josephus’ political activity and growing influence with the people of eastern North Carolina and his outspoken political views cost his mother her job as Postmistress in Wilson.

In 1885 he secured a controlling interest in the State Chronicle and, as its Editor, was successful in changing it from a weekly to a daily publication. During the period 1887, to 1888, Daniels served as the State Printer for the State of North Carolina. In 1894, the State Chronicle and the News & Observer were consolidated and Daniels eventually became sole owner of the News & Observer Publishing Company when its owner, Thomas R. Jernigan, and others, experienced financial difficulties and placed the company on the auction block. The News & Observer was purchased by Daniels for $6,800.00.

The News & Observer became extremely popular and prosperous. Daniels used the paper to advance the Democratic Party position on the political issues of the day.

In 1913, Mr. Daniels was appointed Secretary of the Navy by President Wilson, by now a trusted and loyal friend. Daniels, a man of humble origin, undertook to reform the Navy in the interest of the common seaman. He insisted on promotion from within the ranks, inaugurated the service-wide practice of making 100 of the most capable enlisted men eligible for the Naval Academy each year. Daniels fought what he called “the fetish of seniority.” In his ruling that no wines or liquors be served aboard ships of the U.S. Navy, he ran headlong into trouble with the “gentlemen of the service.” Secretary Daniels stood by his decisions and eventually won high praise from most of the top ranking admirals, as well as with the Navy’s enlisted men. Naval legend has it that the term “Cup of Joe’ began when sailors, now denied of their daily ration of alcohol, raised a cup of coffee in mock tribute to Josephus. Additionally, Josephus attacked corrupt civilian contractors who had been providing inferior armor plating to the Navy for use in shipbuilding.

Description: Only a few days after his inauguration in 1933, President Roosevelt summoned Daniels to Washington for private talks. Daniels was asked to become the United States Ambassador to Mexico, a position he served in from 1933 to 1942. Date of birth: 05/18/1862 Date of death: 01/15/1948 Area of notoriety: Literature Marker Type: Headstone Setting: Outdoor Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link] Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
To post a visit log for waymarks in this category, you must have personally visited the waymark location. When logging your visit, please provide a note describing your visit experience, along with any additional information about the waymark or the surrounding area that you think others may find interesting.

We especially encourage you to include any pictures that you took during your visit to the waymark. However, only respectful photographs are allowed. Logs which include photographs representing any form of disrespectful behavior (including those showing personal items placed on or near the grave location) will be subject to deletion.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   05/30/2009 3newsomes visited it