Documents relating to the colonial history of the state of New Jersey, Vol. XII, Part 1

Author: New Jersey Historical Society; Nelson, William, 1847-1914
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Paterson, N.J. : Press Printing and Publishing
Number of Pages: 910

USA > New Jersey > Documents relating to the colonial history of the state of New Jersey, Vol. XII > Part 1

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GENEALOGY 974.9 N421D V.12

MIL

GENEALOGY COLLECTION

GEN

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01267 7859

GENEALOGY 974.9 N421D V.12

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ARCHIVES

OF THE

STATE OF NEW JERSEY,

FIRST SERIES.

Vol. XII.

This volume was prepared and edited by authority of the State of New Jersey, at the request of the New Jersey Historical Society, and under the direc- tion of the following Committee of the Society :

WILLIAM NELSON, GARRET D. W. VROOM, FREDERICK W. RICORD, WILLIAM S. STRYKER, EDMUND D. HALSEY.

Rumb. i.

The Bofton News-Letter.

· Publithen by Authority.

· From Monday April 17. 0 Monday April 24; . 1704.

Amidans Wing-Poft from Decemb, ad .. . to 4tb. 170}. : "From all his he infers That they have hopes of Aliiftance from: Franse, orherwife they would never.' E'ters from Scotland bring us the Copy of be for impudent ; and he gives Reasons for his Ap- D Sheet lately Printed there, Intituled, .4 Scafonable Alarm for Scotland. In a Letter . from a Gentleman in the City, to his Friend in. the County, concerning the present Danger "Kingdom and of the Protestant Religion. prehentions that the French King may fend Troops thither this Winter, t. Because the English & Duteb will not then be ar Sea to oppole them." 2. He can then beft fpare them, the Sifon of Action beyond Sea being over. 3. The Expectation given him of 2 confiderable number to joyn then, may incourage him .to the undertaking with fewer Men,if he can but fend over a fufficient number . of Officers with. Arms and Ammun tion ..

This L. trer takes Notice, That Pap:fts fwarm in mst Nation, that they tratuck more avowedly than medy, and that of late many Scores of Priefts & pourres an como thither from France, and gone to' North, to the Highlands & other places of the .He endeavours in the reft of his Letters to and Country. That the. Minifters of the Highlands and fwer the foolith Pretences of the Pretender's being Noin gare in large Lifts of them to the Commit- a Proteftant, and that . he will govern us according de a' the General Affembly, to be laid before the. to Law. He lays, that being bred up in the Reli- Bia . Cancil

: Itlikew.fe olblerves, that a great Number of o. drill-affectali perfons are come over from France, End " pretence of accepting her Majesty's Gracious Ince hity ; buwin reality, to increafe DiviGons in fue N.tion, andro, entertain a Corr fpondence with Ean: That their ill Intentions are evident fiom ring bily, their owning the Intereft of the sw led - King James VIII. their fecret Cabals, and acir Duy1:1g up of Arms and Ammunition, whether they can find them.

gion and Politicks of France, he-is by Education & Itated Enemy to our Liberty and Religion .. . That the Obligations which he and his. Family owe to the French King, muft neceffafily make him to be wholly'at his Devotion, and to follow his Example ; that if he fit upon the Throne, the three Nations muft be obliged to pay the Debt which he owes the' French King for the Education. of himfelf, and for Entertaining his fuppoled Father and his Eam'ly. And fince the King muft reftore him by his Troops,. if ever he b: reltored, he will. fee to . fecure. his own Debt, before. thofe Troops leave Britain. The Pretender being a good Proficient in the French "and Remifh. Schools, he will never think himfelf fufficiently aveng'd, ber by the utter Ruine of his. Proteftant Subjects, both as .Hereticks and Traitors. The late Queen, his pretended Mother, who iny cold Blood when fhe was Oucen of Britain, advis'd .. to turn the West of Scotland into a hunting Field, will be then for doing fo by the greateft part of the Nation ; and, no doubt. is at Pains to have her pre- tended Son educated to her own Mind : Therefore,. .he fays, it were a great Madnefs. in the Nation to. titude, Perfccution . and Cruelty, and filled with Rage and Envy. The. Jacobites, he fays, both iu. Scotland and at St. Germains,, are impatient under. their prefent Straits, and knowing their Circum-

Tthis hefteds the late Writinge. and . Actings of far dititendlea perfons,, many of whom are for. Pry had ir ; that feveral of them have de- clar4h the pretaather embrace Popery than con. ¡foryff, for the dnt Government; that they'refufe. ta Mign, and fueen, but ufe the ambiguous word Set King andme of them pray in exprefs Words find genera Royal Family ; and the charita-" h_ Kindmus Prince who has flew'd them JE, not longs .. "Ha likewife takes notice of n-fon lateryago found in Cypher, & directed la fays that thone thither from St. Germains. : le themfelv(: g-cateft Jacobites, who will not . take a Prince bred up in the horrid School of Ingra,

Bado. now we by taking the Oaths to Her Ma. MAfrom St. Gin:the Papifts and their Compa Eobject, codomains fet up for the. Liberty. of sto ktonfrary.to their own Principles, but that iV. p.up,. a Divifion in the Nation. He Iftances cannot be much worfe than they are, at Die coney aggravate. thofe things which the | prefent, are the more inclinable to the Undertaking. Premiplain of, as to England's refufing to al. Tafre:dom of Trade, &c. and do all they 1.2 ment Divifiuns betwixt the Nations, & to a rendre's of those things complain'd of." Riboobies, .he fays, do all they can. to per- Moc. Nation that their pretended King is a Tht in his, Heart, tho'- he-dares not declare it sander the Power of France ; that he is ac. with the: Miftakes of his Father's Go

He adds,; That the French King knows there cannot:" 'be a more effectuil way for himfelf to arrive at the Univerfal Monarchy, and to ruine the ; Protefranci Intereft, than by letting up the Pretender upon the' "Throne of Great Britain, he will in all probability, attempt it", and tho' he fhould be perfuaded that the Defign, would mifcarry in the clofc, yet he can not but reap fame" Advantage by imbroiling the three Nations.

Chewill govern us more according to Lawy : " From all this the Author concludes it to be the Banderaimfelt to his Subjects.

Intere:ft of the Nation, to provide for Self defence; Findey Abenific, The Strength of their own Party, and days, that as many have already taken the the Weeknets and Die hors of the other, in Abem, and are furnithing themselves with Arms Share and haften they Underr aing ; and Ammunition, he hopes the Government will To Lunfelves out of their Esars, and into. not only allow it, but encourage it, fince the Nati- het Hozner af accadutithing their purpose. on ought all to appear as one Man in the Defence

THE FIRST AMERICAN NEWSPAPER.

DOCUMENTS

RELATING TO THE

COLONIAL HISTORY

OF THE

STATE OF NEW JERSEY.

EDITED BY WILLIAM NELSON.

VOLUME XII.

SOME ACCOUNT OF AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS, PARTIC- ULARLY OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, AND LI- BRARIES IN WHICH THEY MAY BE FOUND. PART II .- MASSACHUSETTS.

II. EXTRACTS FROM AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS, RELATING TO NEW JERSEY.

VOL. II. 17740-1750.

PATERSON, N. J. : THE PRESS PRINTING AND PUBLISHING CO., 269 MAIN STREET. .

1895.

PREFACE. 1136404

The Preface and Introduction to Volume XI .. of the New Jersey Archives, explain the origin and scope of the present volume, and render it needless to say much here in relation thereto. The reader of the Newspaper Extracts herewith given will observe that they are more varied in character than in the preceding volume, and that there is a growing freedom in the discussion of themes of public interest. These discus- sions are still in the form of communications, for the "editorial" is yet half a century or more in the future.

Here we get some idea of the profound depths to which George Whitefield's preaching stirred the people as he swept through the country like a flaming meteor, followed by the scarcely less fiery Gilbert Tennent, who aroused the bitterest animosities on the one hand, and on the other awoke the lyric muse to chant his praises.

The beginnings of the College of New Jersey are here chron- icled, from the first charter of 1746 (now first rescued from the oblivion of a newspaper advertisement in 1747), through the succeeding four years. including its first commencements, the attempts to secure a favorable location, and the first lottery in its behalf, in 1750, to raise funds the better to enable the Trus- tees to instil into the minds of the youthful students "the Prin- ciples of Morality and Piety."

Other lotteries are advertised, with tempting lists of prizes, whereby the "adventurers" are shown how they may benefit either themselves or some church, parsonage, charity, poor person, or some mere land speculator, although usually the appeal to the cupidity of the reader is coupled with some pious or other praiseworthy motive.

PREFACE.

It is not unlikely due to the encouraging influence of the Col- lege of New Jersey that more attention is paid to education, so that communities advertise for schoolmasters or schoolmis- tresses, to whom as much as "IS or 20 pounds ($45 or $50) a year with Accommodation." is sometimes assured, provided they come "well recommended to be of sober behaviour," and can "spell well ;" but many places were so exacting as to re- quire the masters to be able also to teach "Reading, Writing and Cyphering."

The improvement in the general condition of the Province is apparent from the numerous advertisements of new houses, of brick or stone, with cellars under them, fireplaces in each room, and other provision for the comfort of the occupants, scarcely known in the earlier years. So, too, new ferries and "stage-waggons" are established. With improved roads and better traveling accommodations, we notice, as might be ex- pected, more attention to the breed of horses. "Natural pacers" appear to have been the favorites ; but in September, 1750, a race by running horses is advertised to be held at Mount Holly, for a prize of twenty pistoles, and the conditions of the contest are given with a detail that indicates the familiar- ity of the people with such exhibitions. Advertisements of runaway servants and slaves are less numerous than formerly, and the clothing of those advertised is evidently better in qual- ity ; these, also, are indications of better times. So, too, may be regarded the increasing number of books and sermons ad- vertised. Possibly, likewise, the price-list of drugs and medi- cines given on pages 646-7.

The controversies between the people and the East Jersey . Proprietors increase in bitterness ; and so do the disputes in local politics. The communications on these subjects throw much light on land titles, and on neighborhood affairs generally. De- spite these domestic differences, it will be seen that the Province responded with splendid alacrity to every call for men and money, to attack the common foe-the French in Canada, and their savage allies on the frontiers.

The development of industries goes on apace, as shown by the announcements of new iron furnaces, grist-mills, saw- mills and tanneries.

PREFACE.

Stories of pirates and privateers are less frequent than in the preceding volume ; nor are there as many allusions to slavery. Sad tales of wrecks along the New Jersey shore are frequent, with their attendant hardships and loss of life.

Some unusual words will be found in these Extracts. Many have been noticed in the preface to Volume XI. "Well accus. tomed" is a phrase often applied to a well-patronized tavern or grist-mill. "Unaccustomed" goods are those not dutiable.

The local historian, especially, will find these volumes a rich mine of information, giving details of early families, individ- uals, buildings, farms, place-names and the like, that seem to bring us face to face with the country as it was a century and a half ago.

The History of American Newspapers is continued from the Introduction to Volume XI. As Massachusetts was the cradle of American Journalism, and the region where the development of that great engine of popular liberty was most fully exempli- fied, the chronicle of the Newspapers of that Commonwealth is unusually full. It is hoped and believed that this will be found of special interest and value to many.

In the preparation of the notes, the aim has been to give in- formation not always readily accessible to the general reader. The Index, it will be observed, is very full.

February 10, 1895.

American Newspapers of the Eighteenth Century. Chronology and History; Lists of Files, and Libraries in which they may be found.

With Some Notices of the First Printing and the First Newspaper in each State.

Part II .-- Massachusetts.

٠٠.

ABBREVIATIONS.

In the use of abbreviations to indicate the libraries in which certain files are to be found, any arbitrary or conventional sys- tem has been avoided. The customary abbreviations are em- ployed to signify names of States ; where they are used alone, the meaning is that the files are in the State Library. The let- ters "H. S." added, indicate the Historical Society called by the name of the State. It will be noticed that in the follow- ing table the letter "L." stands for "Library," and "S." for '.Society."

A. A. S .- American Antiquarian Society.

B. A .- Boston Athenæum.

B. P. L .- Boston Public Library.

C. H. S., or Conn. H. S .- Connecticut Historical Society.

Essex Inst .- Essex Institute, Salem.

H. U .- Harvard University Library.

L. C .- Library of Congress.

1 .. C. P .- Library Company of Philadelphia.

L. I. H. S .- Long Island Historical Society.

L. L .- Lenox Library.

M., or Mass .- Massachusetts State Library.

M. H. S. or Mass. H. S .- Massachusetts Historical Society. Me. H. S .- Maine Historical Society.

N .- Library of William Nelson.

N. E. H. G. S .- New England Historic Genealogical Society. N. J .- New Jersey State Library.

N. J. H. S .- New Jersey Historical Society.

N. Y., or N. Y. S. L .- New York State Library.

N. Y. H. S .- New York Historical Society.

P. L. F .- Library of Paul Leicester Ford, of Brooklyn. Penn. - Pennsylvania State Library.

Penn. H. S., or H. S. P .- Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Wis .- State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

Y. U .- Yale University Library.

HISTORY OF AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS.1

1638-Printing introduced at Cambridge.

"In January, 2 1639, printing was first performed in that part of North America which extends from the Gulf of Mexico to the frozen ocean. For this press our country is chiefly indebted to the Rev. Mr. Glover, a non- conformist mirister, who possessed a considerable estate, and had left his native country with a determination to settle among his friends, who had emigrated to Massachusetts: because in this wilderness, he could freely enjoy, with them, those opinions which were not countenanced by the gov- ernment and a majority of the people in England. Another press, with types, and another printer, were, in 1660, sent over from England by the corporation for propagating the gospel among the Indians in New Eng- land. This press, &c., was designed solely for the purpose of printing the Bible, and other books, in the Indian language. On their arrival they were carried to Cambridge, and employed in the printing house already established in that place."-Thomas, I., 14-15.

The Rev. Mr. Glover left the old country for New England in 1638, having with him on shipboard a press and one Stephen Daye to work it. Glover died on the voyage. Daye, with the consent of the magistrates, set up the press in Cambridge, which Glover's widow continued to own.

1 Authorities :

Thomas, History of Printing.

Buckingham, Specimens of Newspaper Literature.

Memorial History of Boston, including Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 1630-1880. Ed- ited by Justin Winsor. Boston, 1880, 4 volumes, quarto.

A Narrative of the Newspapers printed in New-England, in Collections of the Massa- chusetts Historical Society, Vols. V. and VI., 1798, 1800.

Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, passim.

Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution, by Lorenzo Sabine. 2 vols. 80 Boston, 1864.

History of Western Massachusetts, etc., by Josiah Gilbert Holland, in two volumes. Springfield, 1855. Vol. I. contains a chapter on "The Newspapers of Western Massachu- setts," pages 435-472.

History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, etc., two volumes, quarto, Phila- delphia, 1879.

An Account of the Newspapers and Other Periodicals Published in Salem, from 1768 to 1856. By Gilbert L. Streeter. Salem, 1856. (From the Proceedings of the Essex Institute.) Newspapers and Newspaper Writers in New England. 1787-1815. By Delano A. Goddard. Boston, 1880. 8º Pp. 39.

Various local histories, as cited.

As in other cases, the principal reliance for the history of newspapers, especially after the Revolution, has been the newspapers themselves, which have been freely consulted for this work.

2 The "first month" in 1639, Thomas says elsewhere. This would be March, and not January.

cxxviii NEW JERSEY COLONIAL DOCUMENTS.

In October, 1638, Hugh Peters wrote to Bermuda: "Wee have a printer here and thinke to go to worke with some speciall things." In March, 1639, the press was at work. The almanac, and a broadside oath for free- men to subscribe, 'were the initial issues, and then followed the well known Bay Psalm Book, as it was called. The widow Glover now married Henry Dunster, the first President of Harvard College, and the substantial con- trol of the press passed into his hands, the sanction of the college being given by implication to what the press brought forth. In 1648-9 Samuel Green succeeded Daye as the printer; the latter died at Cambridge, De- cember 22, 1668, aged about 58 years.

In 1661 Marmaduke Johnson was sent over by the Society for the Pro- pagation of the Gospel among the Indians. He brought a new press, with new type, and was set to work printing books for the natives to read. In 1662 licensers were named by the government, and in 1664 it was ordered that no printing should be allowed in any town but Cambridge. On May 27, 1674, the General Court "granted that there may be a printing press elsewhere than at Cambridge." Under this permission John Foster set up to be the first Boston printer. He was a Dorchester boy, who graduated at the college in 1667. In December, 1674, he hung out the "Sign of the Dove" in front of his office. He died September 9, 1681. On his tomb- stone it was said of him, "Skill was his Cash."-Memorial Hist. Boston, I., 455-6.

Early in 1690 Bartholomew Green, fourth son of Samuel Green of Cam- bridge, set up a printing office in Boston, but his press and types were hardly in place before the great fire of that year destroyed them. In two years he procured a fresh outfit, and established his press in Newbury street, now Washington, near the corner of Avon street, a site which he and his successors occupied until the Revolution. -- Ib., II., 388.

The first book printed in America, in the English-speaking colonies, was:

[ Cambridge, Stephen Daye,] Imprinted | 1640 |

A fac simile of this title is given in the Memorial History of New York, I., 57I.

The Vermont Historical Society has part of a very old press, which is believed to have been the first press in Vermont, and perhaps the first in Connecticut, the first Vermont printer having come from New London, Conn .; and this has led to the conjecture that it is possibly a part of the first press in the present United States. But so competent an authority as

HISTORY OF AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS. CXXix

Dr. Samuel A. Green, of the Massachusetts Historical Society, writes me (April 27, 1894) that he is "inclined to be very skeptical in regard to its authenticity."

HISTORY AND CHRONOLOGY OF NEWSPAPERS.

Samuel Green, jun., who had been a writer of news letters, printed one of them experimentally in 1689, with the title, "The Present State of the New-England Affairs." It had none of the attributes of a newspaper, and the experiment was not repeated. It is reprinted in the New Hampshire Historical Society's Collections for 1866.

1690, September 25 (Thursday)-Public Occurrences, at Boston, by Benjamin Harris.

This was the first newspaper printed in the Western hemisphere. But one number was issued, and the only copy known is in the Public Record Office, London, where it was discovered many years ago by the Rev. Dr. Joseph B. Felt. A complete transcript of it was published in the Histori- cal Magazine, I., 228, and again in Hudson's History of Journalism, 44. The title, etc., was thus arranged :

NUMB. I.

PUBLIC OCCURRENCES Both FORREIGN and DOMESTICK. Boston, Thursday, Sept. 25th, 1690.

It was a small quarto, printed on three sides of a folded sheet, two columnns to a page, and each page about 7 x II inches ; it was printed by Richard Pierce for Benjamin Harris; Harris was a London bookseller, who after a brief experience as a printer in Boston, returned to London in 1694 and resumed the selling of books. His modest venture of a news- paper in Boston was frowned upon by the government :

"It was immediately noticed by the legislative authorities. Four days after it was edited, they spoke of it as a pamphlet, stated that it came out contrary to law, and contained 'reflections of a very high nature.' They strictly forbade 'anything in print without license, first obtained from those appointed by the government to grant the same."-Annals of Salem, by the Rev. J. B. Felt, 1849, II., 14.

Harris had his printing office at Cornhill or its neighborhood.

1704, April 17 (Monday)-The Boston News-Letter, at Boston, by John Campbell, proprietor. Imprint : Boston: "Printed by B. Green. Sold by Nicholas

cxxviii NEW JERSEY COLONIAL DOCUMENTS.

In October, 1638, Hugh Peters wrote to Bermuda: "Wee have a printer here and thinke to go to worke with some speciall things." In March, 1639, the press was at work. The almanac, and a broadside oath for free- men to subscribe, were the initial issues, and then followed the well known Bay Psalm Book, as it was called. The widow Glover now married Henry Dunster, the first President of Harvard College, and the substantial con- trol of the press passed into his hands, the sanction of the college being given by implication to what the press brought forth. In 1648-9 Samuel Green succeeded Daye as the printer; the latter died at Cambridge, De- cember 22, 1668, aged about 58 years.

Early in 1690 Bartholomew Green, fourth son of Samuel Green of Cain- bridge, set up a printing office in Boston, but his press and types were hardly in place before the great fire of that year destroyed them. In two years he procured a fresh outfit, and established his press in Newbury street, now Washington, near the corner of Avon street, a site which he and his successors occupied until the Revolution .- Ib., II., 388.

The first book printed in America, in the English-speaking colonies, was:

[ Cambridge, Stephen Daye, ] Imprinted | 1640 |

A fac simile of this title is given in the Memorial History of New York, I., 57I.

cxxix

HISTORY OF AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS.

Dr. Samuel A. Green, of the Massachusetts Historical Society, writes me (April 27, 1894) that he is "inclined to be very skeptical in regard to its authenticity."

HISTORY AND CHRONOLOGY OF NEWSPAPERS.

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Documents relating to the colonial history of the state of New Jersey, Vol. XII, Part 1

Author: New Jersey Historical Society; Nelson, William, 1847-1914 Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Paterson, N.J. : Press Printing and Publishing Number of Pages: 910

Author: New Jersey Historical Society; Nelson, William, 1847-1914
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Paterson, N.J. : Press Printing and Publishing
Number of Pages: 910