Mansfield met his future wife, Sarah H. Gannett, when they were both employed at the Boston Transcript, he as an apprentice and she as a "feeder," working the presses.
[2] On January 23, 1854, Mansfield became part owner of the newspaper[4] and began to edit it as a voice of the Democratic Party.
[5] Meanwhile, also in the early part of 1854, John Tabor took over the Stockton Journal and edited as a voice of the Whig Party.
The columns of these two newspapers were filled every day with rancor for the opposing candidate, and soon the editors began to disparage each other.
The following morning at 9:00 a.m., as Mansfield stood on the corner of Levee and Center Streets talking with J. M. Schofield, the custom house collector, Tabor approached him.
As Tabor was about to pass, Mansfield stepped in front of the editor and said, "Young man, I want to tell you what I think of you," while raising his hand.