Harrison Gray Otis ( publisher ) Harrison Gray Otis ( 1837 – 1917 ) was the president and general manager of the Times - Mirror Company , publisher of the " Los Angeles Times " . Biography . Early life . Otis was born near Marietta , Ohio , on February 10 , 1837 , the son of Stephen and Sara Otis . His father was from Vermont and his mother , a native of Nova Scotia , Canada , came to Ohio from Boston , Massachusetts , with her family . The young Otis received schooling until he was fourteen , when he became a printer ' s apprentice . Otis and Eliza Ann Wetherby were married in Lowell , Ohio , on September 11 , 1859 , and they had three daughters , Lillian Otis McPherson , Marian Otis Chandler , who was secretary of Times - Mirror , and Mabel Otis Booth . He was a Kentucky delegate to the Republican National Convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for president in 1860 . At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 , he left his job as a compositor in the office of the " Louisville Journal " to volunteer as a private for the Union army . Otis fought in the 23rd Ohio Infantry . He was promoted through the ranks and was made on officer , a lieutenant , in November 1862 and left the Army in July 1865 as a captain . He was wounded twice in battle , was " twice breveted for gallant and meritorious conduct " and was promoted seven times . Journalism . After the war , Otis was Official Reporter of the Ohio House of Representatives , then moved to Washington , D . C . , where he was a government official , correspondent and editor . In 1876 , he and his family moved to Santa Barbara , California , which had a population then of about 3 , 000 , and he purchased a local newspaper , the Santa Barbara Press , from C . W . Hollister , effective March 11 of that year . He gave up journalism temporarily in 1879 when he was offered the post of chief government agent or special treasury agent of the Northern Seal Islands , now known as the Pribilof Islands , in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the newly acquired territory of Alaska . He left that position in 1881 to return to Santa Barbara . Otis was editing his newspaper there when he went to Los Angeles — a larger city with a population of some 12 , 500 — and agreed with the firm of Yarnell , Caystile & Mathes to take over editorial responsibilities at the " Los Angeles Daily Times , " now the " Los Angeles Times . " Beginning August 1 , 1882 , he was to " have the editorial conduct of the " Daily Times " and " Weekly Mirror , " " according to an announcement in the " Times . " Later the company was named Times - Mirror , and on April 6 , 1886 , it was reorganized , with Albert McFarland and W . A . Spalding as owners and Otis as president and general manager . That was Otis ' s official title at the time of his death in 1917 . The " Times " story about his demise noted that the Times - Mirror Company was " publishers of the " Los Angeles Daily Times . " " The article called Otis the " principal owner " of the newspaper but never referred to him as publisher . Eleven years earlier , however the Associated Press had called him " publisher of the " Los Angeles Times . " " When the Spanish - American War broke out in 1898 , Otis asked President William McKinley for an appointment as Assistant Secretary of War . But Secretary of War Russell A . Alger did not want the conservative Otis serving under him . Otis thereupon again volunteered for the Army and was appointed brigadier general of volunteers . He served in the Philippines . He did not see any action against the Spanish , but commanded the 1st Brigade , 2nd Division , VIII Corps during the Philippine - American War . Otis was known for his conservative political views , which were reflected in the paper . His home was one of three buildings that were targeted in the 1910 " Los Angeles Times " bombing . During his time as publisher of the Times Otis is known for coining the phrase " You are either with me , or against me . " His support for his adopted city was instrumental in the growth of the city . He was a member of a group of investors who bought land in the San Fernando Valley based on inside knowledge that the Los Angeles Aqueduct would soon irrigate it . He died on July 30 , 1917 at the home of his son - in - law , Harry Chandler .