CantonRep.com - The Repository was founded March 30, 1815, by John Saxton. It was a weekly newspaper, called the Ohio Repository. It became a daily newspaper Feb. 23, 1878. The first Sunday Repository was printed July 31, 1892.

The Repository passed through the hands of the Saxton family to George Frease, Brush- Moore Newspapers, Inc., and Thomson Newspapers, Inc. It was sold to its current owner, The Copley Press, Inc., on August 1, 2000.

The Repository has been the starting place for several notable journalists, including former ABC TV correspondent and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Scali, and Joseph Medill, former editor and publisher of The Chicago Tribune and the man generally credited with naming the Republican Party. The Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University carries his name.

The Repository was the first news medium in U.S. history to play a nationwide role in a presidential election campaign. William McKinley, who was married to the granddaughter of the founder of The Repository, conducted his "Front Porch Campaign" for the presidency by literally giving speeches from the front porch of his home on Market Avenue North. The speeches were set in type at the Repository in special election issues. Those newspapers were sent cross-country by train and distributed to party faithful, who read them aloud at political gatherings.

The Repository is one of nine daily newspapers, including the San Diego Union-Tribune, owned and published by The Copley Press Inc., based in La Jolla, Calif. Copley News Service, with news bureaus in Columbus, Ohio; Washington D.C.; Mexico City; Sacramento; Los Angeles; and Springfield, Ill., is also part of the corporate family.

In addition to The Repository and San Diego Union-Tribune, other Copley papers are the Dover-New Philadelphia (Ohio) Times-Reporter Massillon (Ohio) Independent, Peoria (Illinois) Journal Star, Galesburg (Illinois) Register-Mail, Torrance (California) Breeze and the Borrego (California) Sun. The Repository, Times-Reporter and Independent comprise Copley Ohio Newspapers Inc., with headquarters at The Repository.

The president of Copley Ohio Newspapers is David Greenfield. He also is publisher of The Repository. The general manager of The Repository is Michael Hanke; the editor is David Kaminski; the advertising director is Kim Bergman; circulation director is James Porter; finance director is Darryl Hudson; director of operations is Bruce Brunner; marketing director is Margie Centrone, and human resources director is John Dascenzo.