Walter McDougall, 1858-1938
Born in Newark, New Jersey, Walter McDougall began his long career in art as an engraver, working for the legendary New York Graphic in the 1870s. He freelanced during the rest of the nineteenth century, contributing to publications such as The Extra, Harper’s Weekly, and Puck, and was hired by the New York Herald in 1896. His illustrations for a regular editorial feature by Bill Nye established him as the first syndicated newspaper artist. McDougall was astoundingly prolific, producing half a dozen regularly occuring comic strips in addition to hundreds of full-page one-shots for Sunday comic sections. He also wrote and illustrated “McDougall’s Good Stories for Children” for the Herald newspapers. He lived the last 20 years of his life in seclusion in Connecticut, and committed suicide at the age of 80.
