The Biographical Dictionary of America/Ballou, Mathurin Murray

BALLOU, Mathurin Murray, journalist, was born in Boston, April 14, 1820; son of Hosea and Ruth (Washburne) Ballou. He was graduated at the Boston high school; served as a clerk in the post-office for five years, and in the U. S. treasury department for another five years. He became a contributor to the Olive Branch in 1838: established and edited for thirteen years Gleason's Pictorial, the first illustrated paper issued in America, and also edited Ballon’s Monthly. He was editor-in-chief of the Boston Globe for several years: editor and proprietor of Ballou’s Pictorial; The Flag of Our Union and the Boston Sunday Budget. He traveled in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Polar regions. He is the author of "Due West, or Round the World in Ten Months: "Due South, or Cuba, Past and Present"; "Under the Southern Cross"; "Aztec Land"; "The New Eldorado, a Summer Trip to Alaska": "Footprints of Travel"; "Equatorial America" and "Treasury of Thought," an encyclopedia of quotations from ancient and modern authors. He died in Egypt, March 27, 1895.