More than forty years have been spent in the newspaper business by Leander K. Carr, of Newport, who began his career in that industry in 1886, after a previous service in other lines for a number of years.
He was born in Newport, Rhode Island, May 18, 1863, a son of Samuel J. Carr, deceased, a commission merchant and a native of Newport, and of Mary Ann (Tew) Carr, also born in Newport and now deceased. Educated in the public schools, he then worked as a clerk in the Newport post office for two years and at the conclusion of that service was engaged as assistant librarian at the Redwood Library. He was then with Professor Charles E. Munroe as his assistant at the chemical laboratory of the Newport Torpedo Station. He remained in that occupation until 1886, when he entered the service of the Newport “Observer,” the second morning newspaper to be established in the State. He remained with that paper until 1894, during which time he also acted as special correspondent for a number of newspapers, continuing in the last-named work exclusively from 1894 to 1917, when he became associated with W. Douglas Hazard and Stephen J. Buckley in the purchase of the Newport Herald Corporation. He was made treasurer and general manager and holds that office today (1931).
Mr. Carr is a Republican in politics and serves as chairman of the Newport school committee, of which he has been a member since 1917. He is also secretary and a member of the council of the Newport Association for the Prevention and Care of Tuberculosis. He attends Charming Memorial Church and enjoys walking and reading. He is a member of the Newport Chamber of Commerce and of the Miantonomi Club and is fraternally affiliated with St. Paul’s Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Newport Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Washington Commandery, Knights Templar. He is a member of Malbour Lodge, New England Order Federation, and of the Modern Woodmen of America.
Leander K. Carr married, in 1891, Abbie W. Westcott, of Newport, Rhode Island.
Source: Carroll, Charles. Rhode Island: Three Centuries of Democracy, vol 3 of 4. New York: Lewis historical Pub. Co., 1932.