Douglas Gunn
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
scholar, publisher, pioneer and Republican politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Douglas Gunn was born August 31, 1841 in Wheelersburg, Ohio to Dr. and Mrs. Lewis Carstairs Gunn. He was named after Frederick Douglas. His family moved to Sonora, California
Sonora, California
Sonora is the county seat of Tuolumne County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,903, up from 4,423 at the 2000 census. Sonora is the only incorporated community in Tuolumne County.-Geography:...
in 1852, where his father bought and ran the Sonora Herald. In 1860 his family moved to San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
where his father edited the Times, then they moved again in 1868 to San Diego. During this time Douglas Gunn learned the newspaper trade, working for the San Diego Union
The San Diego Union-Tribune
-Predecessors:The predecessor newspapers of the Union-Tribune were:* San Diego Sun, founded 1861 and merged with the Evening Tribune in 1939.* San Diego Union, founded October 10, 1868.* Evening Tribune, founded December 2, 1895.-Ownership:...
. He lived in New Town San Diego and walked daily to Old Town, where the paper was published. In 1871 he bought the paper, moved it to New Town, and made it a daily paper. Gunn ran the paper until about 1886.
Gunn was mayor of San Diego from 1889 until 1891. He was the first mayor to serve after a new city charter, with a mayoral form of government replaced a Board of Trustees that served from 1852 to 1889. Although a Republican, the party ran two separate tickets in the mayoral election, with Gunn on the "Citizens' Non-Partisan" ticket.
Gunn's civic works include establishing a metropolitan police department for San Diego, having the Santa Fe Railroad build tracks to San Diego, organizing a company of the National Guard, and publishing an illustrated history of the county, Picturesque San Diego (1887).
Gunn died in 1891 and his father died next year, on October 15, 1892.
See also
- Obituary, Daily San Diegan, November 30, 1891 reprinted in a biography in the San Diego Historical Society
- Records of a California family; journals and letters of Lewis C. Gunn and Elizabeth Le Breton Gunn (1928), edited by Anna Gunn. Available online from "California As I Saw It", American Memory, Library of Congress exhibit. Reprinted 1956 by Riverside Museum Press. Mentioned in connection with Union Press on p. 182.