William Trotter Porter was born in Newbury on this day in 1809. Porter became a well-known journalist, and the first to truly specialize in writing about sports.

Porter, like so many others, loved sports, but Porter’s passion made him turn his powerful literary skills to sports reporting. Porter was the founder and editor of Spirit of the Times, which was America’s first paper dedicated to sports.

American fly fishermen credit him with creating the first national fly-fisherman heroes. Many specific sports interest groups would sing the praises of Porter.

At its peak, Spirit of the Times was reporting a circulation of 40,000 copies.

Image courtesy The Life of William T. Porter by Francis Brinley in the collections of the Vermont Historical Society.