Louis B. Costello

Louis Bartlett Costello (September 14, 1876 – May 6, 1959) was an American banker and newspaper publisher who served as general manager and then president of The Evening Journal and The Lewiston Daily Sun in Lewiston, Maine. Costello began his career in journalism while still a student at Bates College and, by the end of his life, was one of the leading media figures in New England.

Louis B. Costello
Born(1876-09-14)September 14, 1876
Wells, Maine, U.S.
DiedMay 6, 1959(1959-05-06) (aged 82)
Lewiston, Maine, U.S.
Alma materBates College (BA)
OccupationNewspaper publisher
TitlePresident of the Lewiston Daily Sun company (1945–1959)
Spouse(s)
Sadie May Brackett
(
m. 1900)

Early life and education
Board of The Bates Student in 1897, with business manager Costello second from left in the top row

Costello was born in Wells, Maine on September 14, 1876.[1] His father was Nicholas H. Costello (c. 1842–1885), a sea captain who drowned when Costello and his sister were young.[2][3][4] In 1889, his mother, Annie Hill Costello (1842–1927) remarried William S. Wells, a prominent York County lumberman who later served in the Maine House of Representatives.[4][5]

Costello attended Berwick Academy and gave an oration at the school's 1894 class day.[6][1] Thereafter he attended Bates College, where he and Sadie Brackett, a fellow member of the class of 1898, wrote for The Bates Student.[7] He was also a competitive debater and, after graduation, would participate in organizing a chapter of Delta Sigma Rho on Bates' campus.[1][8] Costello and Brackett married in Lewiston on February 14, 1900.[9]

Career

In 1898, Lewiston publisher George W. Wood purchased the two-year old Lewiston Daily Sun, merging it with his weekly Maine Statesman, and hired Costello as the paper's business manager.[9] In 1926, Wood acquired The Evening Journal and promoted Costello to treasurer and general manager of the papers' publishing company.[1] Costello served in this position until Wood's death in 1945, when he took over as president.[10] During his tenure, he served for a time as president of the Maine Daily Newspaper Publishers Association.[11]

Costello was named a trustee of Androscoggin County Savings Bank in 1916 and remained on the board until 1956.[1] In 1931, he was elected president of the bank when incumbent William J. Crawshaw, resigned due to ill health.[12] He served in this position for eight years.[1]

Later life and death

On June 15, 1952, in recognition of his lifetime of achievements, including more than 30 years of dedicated service on Bates College's board of trustees, Costello was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by university president Charles Phillips.[7] Other recipients honored at the ceremony were New Jersey Governor Alfred E. Driscoll, financier Frank Altschul, filmmaker Louis de Rochemont, and clergyman Daniel A. Poling.[13]

After a period of prolonged illness, Costello died at Central Maine General Hospital on May 6, 1959. Following services at the Bates College chapel, he was buried in Riverside Cemetery, alongside his wife, who preceded him in death.[1] His son, Russell, succeeded him as president of the Daily Sun company and oversaw the merger of The Sun and The Evening Journal into the Sun Journal in 1989; Russell passed the presidency of the paper to his son, James, on own death in 1993.[14] In 2017, the Costellos announced the sale of the Sun Journal to MaineToday Media.[15]

References
  1. "Louis B. Costello, Prominent Maine Publisher, Dies". The Lewiston Daily Sun. May 7, 1959. pp. 1–2. Retrieved June 15, 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  2. "Drowned by Upsetting of His Carriage". Portland Daily Press. June 9, 1885. p. 1. Retrieved June 15, 2020 – via Chronicling America.
  3. "He Missed the Road". The Boston Daily Globe. June 9, 1885. p. 1. Retrieved June 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Mrs. Annie H. Wells". The Lewiston Daily Sun. June 27, 1927. p. 2. Retrieved June 15, 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  5. "A Leading Citizen of Town of Wells". Biddeford Weekly Journal. June 9, 1916. p. 3. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  6. "Berwick's Class Day". The Boston Globe. July 3, 1894. p. 4. Retrieved May 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Wellehan, Jane (November 15, 2017). "Bates Is A Family Tradition". The Bates Student. pp. 1, 6. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  8. McConville, Emily (Fall 2019). "A (Not So) Great Debate". Bates Magazine. pp. 26–31. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  9. Hatch, Louis Clinton (1919). Maine: A History. 4. New York: The American Historical Society. p. 165. OCLC 1101997. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  10. "LOUIS B. COSTELLO DIES; President of The Sun and The Journal in Lewiston, Me". The New York Times. May 7, 1959. p. 33. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  11. "Louis B. Costello; Maine Newspaper Publisher, 82, Dies". The Boston Globe. May 7, 1959. p. 28. Retrieved May 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Crawshaw Retires As Androscoggin Bank Head". The Boston Globe. June 10, 1931. p. 11. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  13. "Gov. Driscoll Gets Degree at Bates". The Philadelphia Inquirer. June 16, 1952. p. 4. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  14. "Russell H. Costello, 88". The Boston Globe. June 10, 1993. p. 59. Retrieved June 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. Skelton, Kathryn (July 17, 2017). "Sun Journal sold to MaineToday Media owner Reade Brower". Sun Journal. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
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