Howe, Edgar W.

Edgar W. Howe, editor and publisher, author, philosopher and noted ‘sage of Potato Hill,” was born in Indiana on May 3, 1853. In 1877, he came to Atchison and established the Globe. For nearly half a century, the paper was one of the most widely quoted publications in the country.

Many magazines, in publishing Howe’s writing, labeled him the best country-town newspaper reporter in America. He “had the ability to seek the points overlooked by the majority and work them into paragraphs having an irresistable combination of sarcasm and good humor.”

His first work of fiction, “The Story of a Country Town,” appeared in 1882. The book was published in Howe’s office after being rejected elsewhere, but it went on to be classed by critics as one of the ten best American novels. According to William Allen White, Mark Twain covered the book with warm praise.

Howe sold the Globe to his son Gene in 1910 and retired to his country home, Potato Hill. He died July 17, 1937, at age 84.