Hillsborough-Marion-Polk County FlArchives Biographies.....Stovall, Wallace Fisher 1869 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/flfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 3, 2008, 5:14 pm Author: B. F. Johnson Wallace Fisher Stovall Wallace Fisher Stovall, President and Manager of the Tribune Publishing Company, of Tampa, Fla., and editor of the Tampa Tribune, published by that company, is not only a conspicuous example of success achieved by patient and untiring effort, but by reason of the well directed work done through his paper for the benefit of Tampa and the State of Florida, has become one of the most valued and indispensable citizens of that great and growing Commonwealth. Thrown at an early age entirely upon his own resources, he has steadily climbed upward on the toilsome ladder of public life, and while yet a young man, has reached a position of great influence in the field to which his labors have been consistently and exclusively devoted. Mr. Stovall was born in Elizabethtown, Ky., January 4, 1869, the son of Jasper and Eliza (Duncan) Stovall. Left an orphan at the age of five, he spent his earlier years upon a farm, meanwhile attending the public schools of his native town where he obtained the rudiments of education. In 1886, a youth of seventeen, he moved to Florida, and in casting about for some means of obtaining a foothold in the business life of the community, he landed in a country newspaper office at Ocala. He began at the bottom, learning the mechanical branch of the business through the laborious stages of print-shop drudgery, at that time unrelieved by any of the modern facilities which now lighten the typo's troubles. In 1890, a young man of twenty-one, he saw his way clear to establish the Polk County News at Bartow, of which he was owner, editor and general manager, and frequently, under the exigencies of rural journalism, printer and pressman also. This venture seemed to strike a popular chord, but a more inviting field soon offered in Tampa, then just beginning to give some promise of future commercial importance. The Polk County News was sacrificed to the demands for a larger environment, and Editor Stovall moved his plant to the "Gateway of the Gulf." Here in 1893 the Tampa Tribune was born. The development and advancement of the Tribune have been in pace with the development and advancement of Tampa. From the old style "blanket sheet" with out-of-date equipment and limited circulation it has become in fifteen years the leading journal south of Jacksonville, with a modern plant, machine composition, Associated Press news service, and occupies the influential and important position of being the only morning daily in South Florida. The Tribune is now published by a stock company, of which Mr. Stovall is the President and General Manager, and the majority stockholder. Its circulation fully covers the southern section of the State, and Mr. Stovall has devoted the Tribune to the upbuilding of South Florida, and since he established the paper has seen the city and section which it serves develop wonderfully. He has always believed in the ultimate greatness of Tampa as a general port, and has incessantly advocated the improvement of the harbor. Deep water is to his mind the greatest possibility of Tampa, and of the most pressing importance to the interest of South Florida. His paper has been the medium of calling the attention of capital and investors to the advantages and resources of the peninsula, and its special editions and articles have been circulated all over the union, resulting in an influx of new citizens who have cast their lot and used their capital and energy in making Tampa a live, progressive and promising city. Mr. Stovall has through the Tribune been a consistent friend and supporter of the big Tampa cigar manufacturing industry, and his paper has always championed the interests of the manufacturers who have made Tampa the greatest cigar manufacturing center in the country. This immense industry which now employs millions of capital, thousands of people, and turns out cigars by the hundred millions each year, owes as much, and possibly more, to W. F. Stovall than to any other citizen of Tampa. In politics Mr. Stovall is a Democrat. He has never, however, been an enthusiastic Bryan supporter, although his paper has advocated the nominees and platform in each of the campaigns. He believes that the party must return to its former standards before it can hope to regain national power. One of Mr. Stovall's favorite hobbies is the bringing of desirable settlers to Florida, and through the Tribune he has conducted year in and year out a campaign proclaiming the advantages of his section. It was his belief that the State Fair could be made to exercise a strong influence in bringing people to Florida that induced him to take active part in that enterprise. Mr. Stovall has two children, Miss Minnie and Wallace O. Stovall, both now students at Gainesville, Ga., Miss Minnie being in attendance at Brenau College, and Wallace at Riverside Military Academy, the latter being captain of the cadet company at that institution. Mr. Stovall is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, secretary and general manager of the Florida State Fair Association, one of the organizers and leading stockholders of the Florida State Baseball League, and recently elected president of that league. He owns stock in a number of business corporations in the city of Tampa. He now enjoys the rank of Colonel in the Florida State Troops, having been appointed on the staff of Governor Gilchrist. Barely forty years old, by his own indomitable spirit, adaptability to the conditions around him, and business capacity, he has built up a great paper, and in doing so has made an instrument which has been of untold value to the city, which largely through his efforts, now ranks first in population in the State of Florida. Additional Comments: Extracted from: FLORIDA EDITION MAKERS OF AMERICA AN HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORK BY AN ABLE CORPS OF WRITERS VOL. III. Published under the patronage of The Florida Historical Society, Jacksonville, Florida ADVISORY BOARD: HON. W. D. BLOXHAM COL. FRANK HARRIS HON. R. W. DAVIS SEN. H. H. McCREARY HON. F. P. FLEMING W. F. STOVALL C. A. CHOATE, SECRETARY 1909 A. B. CALDWELL ATLANTA, GA. COPYRIGHT 1909 B. F. JOHNSON Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/hillsborough/photos/bios/stovall30gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/hillsborough/bios/stovall30gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/flfiles/ File size: 6.9 Kb