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William A. Rennie

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William A. Rennie (1854-1919) was a jurist and journalist in Southern California, the founder of the Venice Vanguard.

Personal life

Rennie was born in 1854 in Illinois, the son of William A. Renne of England and Hannah Renne of New York.[1]

Rennie and Sarah E. Emerson were married on December 3, 1883, in Chicago, Illinois.[2] They came to Los Angeles in 1885.[3] They had two sons, Robert and Walter.[4]

Rennie died on January 22, 1919, in Sacramento, California, of an "attack of pneumonia" or of "influenza."[4][5] Funeral services were conducted in Santa Monica on January 25 under the auspices of the Elks Lodge. Interment was at Rosedale Cemetery, Los Angeles.[6]

Career

Rennie worked on the Los Angeles Times, then founded the Venice Vanguard in 1907.[3][7][8][9][10][11] He was vice president of the Southern California Editorial Association.[5]

A Progressive, he was appointed justice of the peace of Ballona Township in Venice, California, on January 10, 1910, succeeding H.C. Rogers, who had moved to San Francisco. He was also city recorder for Venice, California.[12] In that office he presided over the police court.[13]

In October 1910 Rennie sued Raymond Wayman of the Wilmington Journal, alleging libel and asking $50,000 in damages.He claimed that the Journal, in an article headlined "The Squealing of a Rat," had called him a "cheap little squirt" who "stole editorials," a "lovely ass," and a "long-tailed sewer rat." He said the article painted him as "out of sympathy" with the families of the victims of the 1910 Los Angeles Times bombing.[14][15]

In 1911, the Vanguard's ownership consisted of William A. Rennie, Robert R. Rennie, Walter W. Rennie, and Mrs. S.E. Rennie.[16]

References

  1. ^ 1880 U.S. census
  2. ^ Illinois State Marriage Records. Online index. Illinois State Public Record Offices.
  3. ^ a b "Print Paper Cost," Los Angeles Times, September 18, 1917, image 16
  4. ^ a b "Judge Rennie Falls Victim of Pneumonia," Los Angeles Times, January 23, 1919, image 17
  5. ^ a b "Venice Newspaperman Dies in Sacramento," The Sacramento Star, January 23, 1919, image 5
  6. ^ Venice Vanguard, January 23, 1919
  7. ^ "Amateur Conductors to Lead Italian Band," Los Angeles Herald, May 18, 1910, image 14
  8. ^ "40 Scribes Make 'Kite Track' Trip," Los Angeles Herald, November 28, 1910, image 12
  9. ^ "Venice Paper Goes Daily," Los Angeles Daily Times, March 16, 1949, image 41
  10. ^ "Resigns as Secretary," Los Angeles Daily Times, February 23, 1912, image 16
  11. ^ "Phenomenal Growth Venice Daily Vanguard," The Venice Daily Vanguard, July 19, 1913,, image 2
  12. ^ "Editor Appointed Justice," Los Angeles Herald, January 11, 1910, image 14
  13. ^ "Rennie Gives Up Race; Field to Bloodgood," Los Angeles Express, August 28, 1912, image 3
  14. ^ "Summary of the Day," Los Angeles Times, October 19, 1910, image 18
  15. ^ "Editor Wants $50,000 for Being Called 'Sewer Rat,'" Los Angeles Herald, October 19, 1910, image 8
  16. ^ "Venice Daily Vanguard; Publishing and Printing, September 19, 1911, image 3
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