1915-16 Walter B. Whitman Holland's Magazine

Walter B. Whitman, 37th president, was born at Starrville on Nov. 8, 1872. He attended the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., entering as a cadet in 1889. His first newspaper venture was the Cherokee Blade in Rusk and in 1894 he became editor and part owner.

Whitman joined Texas Press Association in 1906. For several years he was on the staff of Holland’s Magazine at Dallas. He was listed as a captain in the Texas Adjutant General's Texas Volunteer Guard military rolls from 1892 to 1895.

In 1917 he returned to East Texas and purchased the Register at Carthage, which he edited and published until 1921 when he moved to New York to become night editor of the New York Sun.

Whitman married in 1899. His wife also was a newspaper worker and member of TPA. They had one son.

Whitman died on Oct. 31, 1953. He was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Rusk.