June 29 Friday – The Keokuk Dispatch described a man believed by the MTP editors to be Sam:

We know a man in this city who would make a prime editor, and we believe that if he has any “genius” at all, it runs in that direction, “ ‘cos” he says there is not a single paper published in town worth reading—and he says that not one of them has any news—and if he published a paper, he says he would make news, and lots of it, and spirited news, too.

We propose to have all the papers in the city to club together and secure the services of this chap, and have spirited news; it will pay—we bet on it. What do you all say about hiring this editorial genius? He will save us the expense of a telegraph. Everybody in the morning will be up at four to get the spirited news, and everybody will take the paper” [MTL 1: 58].