John D. Defrees

Defrees sold his interest in the paper in mid-1834 to Henry Gilbert, who later shortened its title to Michigan Statesman.

In 1845, he bought the Indiana Journal (now The Indianapolis Star) which he also edited until he sold the paper a decade later, contributing editorials sharply critical of the Polk administration's conduct of the Mexican–American War.

[6] Defrees sold the Atlas to the Journal in 1861 after President Lincoln named him superintendent of the newly created U.S. Government Printing Office.

[1] In those days, the Government Printing Office was a rich source of patronage, and Defrees' failure to satisfy members of Congress in that regard led to his removal in 1869, and the restructuring of the post of Public Printer.

Defrees retired to Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, where he had made his home since 1861, and died there October 19, 1882.