1911 - James Haller Ottaway Sr. was born July 8 in Michigan, where his father co-owned the Port Huron, Mich. Times-Herald.
1936 - Ottaway and his wife, Ruth, bought their first paper, the semi-weekly Endicott Bulletin in upstate New York and converted it into a daily within a year.
1936 - The couple's first child, Ruth, was born. She was followed by James Jr. in 1938 and David in 1939.
1944 - Ottaway takes first step in creating a newspaper group when he bought The Oneonta, N.Y. Star.
1960 - Ottaway created The Times Herald-Record by merging the broadsheet The Middletown (N.Y.) Times Herald and the Middletown Record, a tabloid established in 1956 that was the first photo offset daily in the world.
1970 - Ottaway Newspapers grew to nine dailies and merged with Dow Jones Co., which publishes The Wall Street Journal. The merger gave Ottaway Sr. a seat on the Dow Jones board of directors from 1970-1984.
1976 - Ottaway retired as president and CEO of Ottaway Newspapers Inc., a group of newspapers based in Campbell Hall, N.Y., 60 miles north of New York City, although he still went to his office every day. His son, James Jr. took the reign as CEO.
2000 - January 4, 2000, Ottaway Sr. died at age 88 in Goshen, N.Y.
