USA > New Jersey > Documents relating to the colonial history of the state of New Jersey, Vol. XII > Part 12
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The cut in the title was a striking wood-cut of oval form, representing a maritime city, with its spires, observatory, blocks of buildings, ships at the wharves, with the flags at mast head, a horse and rider, etc.
HISTORY OF AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS. CCX1X
Abraham Shearman was a member of the Society of Friends. He was born upon his father's farm, about a mile north of the Friends' Meeting- House at Acushnet, 4th Mo., 4th, 1777. He was for a long time a prominent and valuable member of his denomination, and held several important offices in the Society. "Owing to an injury in his youth, he became quite lame and somewhat of an invalid during the remainder of his life. His personal appearance was highly respectable, and during his later years, venerable. He possessed considerable literary, as well as business talent. He was respected as a man of sound judgment, pure and refined nature, honest, intelligent, faithful, and truly religious. His life was one of re- markable purity. He died at New Bedford, 12th mo., 26th, 1847."1
As was to be expected from the disposition of its editor, the Columbian Courier, although not specially sprightly, was entirely respectable in its character. He continued the same style of dating his paper for some time, thus: "No. I-Vol. II., Morning of Sixth-day, XII. Mº. 6-Or-Friday, December 6, 1799. Whole Number 53." The issue for December IO, 1802, No. 2, Vol. V., Whole No. 210, omits the cut and adds to the title the words And Weekly Miscellany. No. I, Vol. VI., Whole No. 261, De- cember 2, 1803, changes the word "And" in the title to "or." The paper was discontinued March 1, 1805.
1799, April 12 (Friday, est.)-Patriotic Gazette, at North- ampton, by Andrew Wright.
Printed weekly, on a sheet 19 x 23 inches, four pages, four columns to a page. This was the second paper established at Northampton. The latest issue known is No. 27, Vol. I., Friday, October II, 1799. Very little is known of either the paper or its editor, and it is understood that the Gazette ceased to exist in about a year after its beginning. Wright, however, continued to print at Northampton, as late as 1805.2 In 1809 there was a printer named Wright, at Troy, N. Y .- perhaps the same person.
1799, October 2-The Constitutional Telegraphe, at Boston, by Samuel S. Parker.
This was a semi-weekly paper, issued on Wednesday and Saturday, and was apparently founded to express the sentiments of the more radical Republicans. In his introduction the editor said :
Exclusive of the common motive, by which every effort of industry is stimulated, the editor is induced to believe that a new paper, in this town, would be cheerfully received and zealously patronized by those federal Republicans, who constitute the great mass of real American citizens, men attached to no faction, who prefer the interests of their own to those of any other country ; who comprehend and revere the principles of civil liberty, as recorded and established in the Declaration of Independence, and in the constitutions
1 History of New Bedford, by Daniel Ricketson, New Bedford, 1858, 148-9.
2 Brinley, 5902, 5959, 5914, 5928, 5951.
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NEW JERSEY COLONIAL DOCUMENTS.
of the states and federal government ; who will support these illustrious monuments of the American revolution with their fortunes and their lives; who, to a just sense of their obligations to maintain these institutions and the laws of the land, made in pursuance of them, unite a belief that " the liberty of the press is essential to the security of freedom in a state."
The paper contained little or nothing of the editor's writing, but had the valuable aid of some able writers. Parker was a physician, residing at Worcester. On July 10, 1800, he appears to have relinquished the management to Jonathan S. Copp, who printed the paper "for the pro- prietor, at his printing-office, south side State-street." Copp was a native of New London, where he had learned his trade under a Federal printer, but his editorials in the Telegraphe show him to have been one of the inost ardent of Republicans. At the end of the first volume, September 27, 1800, Dr. Parker gave notice that he had "sold out his proprietorship" to John S. Lillie, "who had agreed to carry it on in support of the Republi- can interest, for which it was sincerely instituted." He added : "When the proposal for printing the Telegraphe was offered to the public, the proprietor conceived there was not a republican paper printed in this com- monwealth ; which was one principal occasion of his coming forward, to endeavor to advocate and defend the constituted rights of his fellow-citi- zens, which was ever dear and precious to him; but finding his domestic circumstances and avocations such, that he could not pay that personal at- tention to the office, which the nature of the business required, he thought best to sell out to some person, that would pay more particular attention to it than was practical for him to do." In February, 1801, Lillie was in- dicted for libel on Judge Dana, and on conviction was fined $100, and sentenced to three months' imprisonment. He bade farewell to the read- ers of the Telegraphe in a long article dated "Boston Gaol, March 30,- 19th day of Imprisonment." On April 14, 1801, the paper was issued in the name of J. M. Dunham as printer and editor, who, a few weeks later, changed the title to Republican Gazetteer.
John S. Lillie served an apprenticeship to Benjamin Sweetser, an ex- tensive dry goods dealer, who aided him in the purchase of the Telegraphe. He died in 1842.
John Moseley Dunham, who succeeded Mr. Lillie as publisher of the Telegraphe, was a printer by trade. He published the Republican Gazetteer two or three years, and after the War of 1812 went to Ohio. He trans- ferred the paper to Benjamin True and Benjamin Parks, who changed the name to The Democrat. They employed as editor, John Williams, an English author, who wrote over the name Anthony Pasquin, and who was one of the most scurrilous writers of his day. Before leaving England, Williams had had the temerity to bring a suit for libel, but the defendant pleaded the truth of the libel in justification, and the jury, without a mo- ment's hesitation, nonsuited the plaintiff, and the audience hissed him out of court. Under all its names and all its managers, The Democrat led a
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HISTORY OF AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS.
turbulent and wretched life, and as Goddard says, with undoubted truth, "all parties, as well as all decently disposed citizens, rejoiced when it ceased to exist in 1808."
1800, January 2 (Thursday)-The Telescope : or, Ameri- can Herald, at Leominster, by Dr. Daniel Adams and Salmon Wilder.
Printed on a sheet 163 x 20 inches, four pages, four columns to a page. It was filled with the usual assortment of foreign, government, state and local news, with a place for the "Muses," communications and advertise- ments. It was well printed on good paper, with wide margins. The fol- lowing shows the arrangement of title, etc. :
THE TELESCOPE:
OR,
AMERICAN HERALD.
American Independence, } "WE SPEAK THAT WE DO KNOW AND Twenty Fourth Year. 5 TESTIFY THAT WE HAVE SEEN."
Federal Government, Eleventh Year.
[NO. 4. VOL. I.] THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 1800
Colophon :
LEOMINSTER, (Massachusetts) PRINTED at WARREN'S HALL, North of the MEETINGHOUSE,
By ADAMS & WILDER :
By whom SUBSCRIPTIONS and COMMUNICATIONS are thankfully received and ADVERTISE- MENTS reasonably inserted.
The Price of this Paper is One Dollar and Fifty Cents, delivered at the Office.
*** PRINTING in its various branches, performed with neatness, dispatch, and on mod- erate terms.
The subscriptions never amounted to more than five or six hundred, and there was but little advertising and job printing. No. 48, Vol. I., Thursday, November 27, 1800, shows no change in the imprint. The pa- per was discontinued October 14, 1802. Wilder continued for a time to do job printing in the town, and then removed to New Ipswich.
Dr. Adams, who was the editor of The Telescope, subsequently devoted his attention to the production of school books on arithmetic, book- keep- ing, etc., which met with great success, and had very extensive sales dur- ing a long period of years.
1800, January 7 (Tuesday) -The Independent Gazetteer, at Worcester, by Mower & Greenleaf.
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NEW JERSEY COLONIAL DOCUMENTS.
This paper was printed on a folio sheet, four pages, four columns to a page, and was issued weekly. The arrangement of the title and the im- print of the first number appear herewith :
The Independent
Basetteer
Nothing extenuate, nor set down ought in malice. ---
Shakespear.
Vol. I.] Worcester, Tuesday, January 7, 1800. [No. I.
Printed at Worcester, (Massachusetts) by Mower & Greenleaf, at their Office, a few rods North of the South Meeting House,
By whom Advertisements and Subscriptions for this paper, are received. Advertisements inserted three weeks, not containing more than twelve lines for Seventy five cents, and all larger, at a price proportionable. The price of this paper is Nine Shillings per annum, (delivered at the Office) price of a single paper Four Cents. Political and Literary in- telligence, will be thankfully received. Printing, in all its variety, executed with Neatness and Expedition, on reasonable Terms.
With the issue for October 7, 1800, Vol. I., No. 40, there was a change in the management, the paper then and thereafter being published by Dan- iel Greenleaf alone, who continued it so late as Tuesday, December 29, 1801, Vol. II., No. 104.
Nahum Mower afterwards printed in New Hampshire.
1800, May 12 (Monday)-The Impartial Register, at Salem, by William Carlton.
Printed on a sheet 18 x 22 inches, four pages, four columns to a page, and issued semi-weekly on Mondays and Thursdays, by William Carlton, who had withdrawn from the Salem Gazette and dissolved his partnership in the book business with Thomas C. Cushing several years before, as already stated. The Register started in opposition to the Federal party, and during the violent political struggles which ensued was an able sup- porter of the Republican cause. He selected for its motto the following lines :
All parties here may plead an honest, favorite cause, Whoever reasons best on Nature's, Wisdom's Laws, Proclaims eternal Truth-gains Heaven's and Men's applause.
The imprint of No. 51, Vol. I., Monday, November 3, 1800, reads : "Published Mondays and Thursdays, by William Carlton, Essex-Street, near the Common, Salem, Massachusetts. Three Dollars per ann."
Dr. Bentley aided Mr. Carlton in his new publication, as he had pre- viously done in the Gazette, and his famous Summaries, and the variety of miscellaneous and local articles, soon gave the paper a decided character. In a few months, Aug. 7, the title was enlarged to "The Salem Impartial
HISTORY OF AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS.
ccxxiii
.
Register." This was continued until Jan. 4, 1802, when the word "Im- partial" was dropped, leaving "The Salem Register." At the same time the original motto gave place to the well known verse which is still printed in the paper, and which was written impromptu by the late Judge Story, who is said to have scribbled it in pencil on the side of a printer's case :
Here shall the Press the People's Rights maintain, Unawed by Influence, and unbribed by Gain ; Here Patriot Truth her glorious precepts draw, Pledged to Religion, Liberty and Law.
In April, 1803, Mr. Carlton was convicted of a libel on Timothy Picker- ing, and was sentenced to pay a fine of $100, to be imprisoned in the county jail for two months, and to give bonds to keep the peace for two years. He suffered from fever during his imprisonment, from which he never re- covered, and died July 24, 1805, aged 34 years. In announcing his death, the Register says :
He was born in Salem, and descended from two of the ancient families of the country. He always possessed great cheerfulness of temper and great benevolence of mind. He was distinguished by his perseverance, activity, and uprightness. To his generous zeal the public are indebted for the early information, which the Register gave, of the most in- teresting occurrences. The friends of his youth enjoyed the warmth of his gratitude. His professions and friendships were sincere. He was an able editor, a friend to our happy administration, and an honest man.
After Carlton's death, the Register was " Printed for Elizabeth Carlton," his widow, till August 25, when she also died, just thirty-two days after her husband. From that time it was "published for the Proprietors ;" but no name of either proprietor or printer appeared in the imprint for several years. In August, 1806, an advertisement appeared stating that "The Salem Register having been supported in its editorial department by the voluntary assistance of its friends, since the decease of its late editor, Mr. Carlton, the proprietors are desirous of obtaining an editor to conduct the paper in future." On July 23, 1807, a "New Series," entitled The Essex Register, was commenced by Haven Pool and Warwick Palfray, Jun., two young men who had been apprentices in the office, and to whom the print- ing had been entrusted after the death of Mr. Carlton. They were as- sisted by S. Cleveland Blydon, whose name was withdrawn January 6, 1808. The paper passed through many hands subsequently. On January I, 1841,. the original name of The Salem Register was resumed, and it is still published under that title.
The fame of the Register during its earlier years rested principally upon the remarkable "Summaries" of the news of the world, prepared by he Rev. Dr. William Bentley. He was born in Boston, June 22, 1759, graduated from Harvard in 1777, and in 1783 was ordained pastor in Salem, where he remained until his death, December 29, 1819. He was a man of prodigious activity, and is said to have been expert in at least twenty-one languages. "Every week, for a quarter of a century, he wrote for the Register without public acknowledgment, his remarkable epitome
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NEW JERSEY COLONIAL DOCUMENTS.
of the news of the world. He was at the same time a devoted minister, writing and preaching his two sermons every Sunday for thirty-six years, and performing his parochial duties with religious fidelity ; he was a student in natural history, an omnivorous reader and collector, his library being at the time the largest and best in the country except Jefferson's ; an ingenious Biblical student and critic, and generally informed and inter- ested in the political and current affairs of the world. He was a zealous Republican, and a friend of Jefferson to the last."
1800, September 16-The Sun, at Pittsfield, by Phinehas Allen.
Printed on a sheet of full folio size, four pages, four columns to a page. The arrangement of the title of one of the earliest numbers was as follows :
The Sun.
Pittsfield, (Mass.) Published every Tuesday, by Phinehas Allen, Opposite the Meeting-House. No. 7. Vol. I.] Tuesday, October 28, 1800. [I Dol. 50 Cts. pr. Ann.
There was a cut in the center of the caption representing the rising sun. The paper was published for more than half a century.
1800, November-Observer, at Haverhill, by Galen H. Faux.
The paper was sold, December 4, 1804, to Francis Gould, who changed the name to Haverhill Museum. At the end of the second volume, No- vember 22, 1806, it was discontinued, although the printing business was carried on for a time longer at the same office.
1808, September I (Tuesday evening)-Herald of Gos- pel Liberty, at Essex, by Elias Smith.
Printed on a sheet 16 x 24 inches, four pages, each 12 x 16 inches, three columns to a page ; published fortnightly, at one dollar a year,, postage paid by subscribers.
The following shows the title, etc. :
HERALD OF GOSPEL LIBERTY
By Elias Smith.
No. I.] Thursday Evening, September 1, 1803. [Vol I.
" FROM REALMS FAR DISTANT, AND FROM CLIMES UNKNOWN ; WE MAKE THE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR KING YOUR OWN,"
CCXXV
HISTORY OF AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS.
In his "Address to the Public" the editor says :
How difficult the task may be, which is now undertaken, is unknown to me, experi- ence will show this ;- this however is my design, to have a steady and persevering regard to truth, and the general good of men ; and to treat everything in a fair and manly way ; not scandalizing any, or doing anything by partiality. Should any scandalize themselves by bad conduct, let them not charge it to me. If men do not wish to have bad things said of them, let them not do bad things. It is my design in the following numbers to give a plain description of the rights of men, and to shew the principle on which they are found- ed, and likewise to shew the opposite. There are many things taking place in the present day respecting religion, which will be noticed as they occur. A particular attention will be paid to the accounts of revivals of religion in different parts of the world, among the vari- ous denominations who call Jesus Lord, as far as it can be obtained.
A religious News-paper is almost a new thing under the sun ; I know not but this is the first ever published in the world.
The utility of such a paper has been suggested to me, from the great use other papers are to the community at large. In this way almost the whole state of the world is pre- sented to us at once. In a short and cheap way, a general knowledge of our affairs is dif- fused through the whole; and by looking into a News-paper we often look at the state of nations, and see them rise into importance, or crumble into ruin. If we are profited in po- litical affairs in this way, I do not see why the knowledge of the Redeemer's kingdom may not be promoted or increased in the same way. It appears to me best to make the trial. The liberal subscriptions for this work in these trying times, has encouraged me to begin it, hoping that others will find an advantage in forwarding the work by adding their names to the list of those who have already wished such a work to appear in the world.
This paper was the organ of the Freewill Baptists, or Christians, and was doubtless the first religious newspaper in the world. The office was after- wards removed to Philadelphia, and the paper was continued until 1817. A fac-simile of the first page of the first number of this Herald was pub- lished in the Magazine of American History, XVII., 430. Writing in 1857, from recollection, Nathaniel Willis, then in his seventy-ninth year, says : "The Herald of Gospel Liberty was published at Portsmouth, N. H., in quarto form, for Rev. Elias Smith, as I suppose, and contained letters from those places where he had been preaching in his efforts to get up the Free- will Baptist or Christian denomination. It was a circular rather than a newspaper." It will be seen, however, from the description of the paper itself, and from the editor's prospectus, that he considered it a newspaper, and not a circular. 1
1833, August 26 (Monday)-Daily Penny-Post, at Boston.
This was one of the earliest, if not the first of the one-cent papers pub- lished in Boston.
1 Mr. Willis, in the letter quoted above, claimed that "The Recorder, published by Na- thaniel Willis, at No. 76 State Street, Boston," January 3, 1816, was the first religious newspaper published in the world, and that he was the projector and proprietor thereof. This paper was subsequently merged in The Congregationalist. Mr. Sidney Edwards Morse, however, appears to have been the editor, and Mr. Willis was the publisher of the first four numbers only. Quite a full account of the controversy regarding the respective claims of these gentlemen to be considered the founder of The Recorder, will be found in Hudson's History of Journalism, 289-96. It will be seen in later pages, that a religious newspaper was published in Philadelphia in 1813, and another at Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1814. 15
ccxxvi
NEW JERSEY COLONIAL DOCUMENTS.
DAILY PENNY-POST.
PUBLISHED EVERY DAY AT
1 ONE CENT EACH
-Multum in Barbo .-
TWENTY-EIGHT FRANKLIN STREET.
Vot 1 BOSTON, THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 1833. No 4.
This Paper will be published daily, at the low price of one («Ant per number payable on delivery. Those who wish to re ceiva it rogularly, can have il sent them, at any part of the city, by giving us notice - They can also bo had at the following places. viz - William Orne's, 30 Brattlo street,-A Dow s. 3 federal Street,-Falstaff House, opposite the Warren Theatre,- Bornharm's Antiquarian Book store, Cornhill,-J Hartshorn. Quincy house, 46 Hanover street,-J R. Smith, 176 Ann street -Hourly Stage Office, 45 Brattle Street, and at the Office of l'obligation first dans from Washington, in Franklin street.
PADDY DEVOE'S COURTSHIP OR THE POWERS OF BLARSEV
And he shook his long sock, And showed Ins straight back, Singing ' Rory's the boy fos Kate Kearney
But the chief of his brags, Wero the weight of his bags,
And the charms of himself Mister Rory So tho lady for apito Vunished out of his sight,
And left him alone with his glory 1
Not thus gallant Pat, For he knew what was wbat, And the fluws of a young danisel's arinos So that never a word ,
SOME ADDENDA.
1757, August 22-The Boston Weekly Advertiser, at Bos- ton.
As stated on p. cxlix, the title of this paper was afterwards changed, as follows :
FATAL1, 175.]
TRE
[No. 930.]
Maffachufetts
CAZETTE;
THE
AND
AND ADVERTISER.
BOSTON POST-BOY
FROM MONDAY, APRIL 3,
16 MONDAY, APRIL 10, 1775.
1773, December 1-The Essex Journal and Merrimac Packet, etc., at Newburyport.
On page clix it is stated that the latest number of this paper known to the writer, was Numb. 487, October 16, 1793. Since that was printed, there has come to his knowledge a copy of Numb. 509, Wednesday, March 19, 1794. The imprint is the same as that of Numb. 487.
.
HISTORY OF AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS. ccxxvii
1778, June 15-The Independent Ledger, and the American Advertiser, at Boston.
The following is a fac simile of the heading described on p. clxvii :
THE Independent AND AMERICAN
Y y [Numb. 418. Ledger, THE ADVERTISER.
BOSTON: (COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS) By JOHN WEST FOLSOM,
"PRINTED AND PUBLISHED. At the Corner of Ann-Streit.
MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 1786,
OBSERVATIONS On the Government and Laws of the U.ited States of America. trantaied from the . . .. .. #thi de Mably
poliucal machine that retards its morion only 10 feoder it more falu:arv, by coun teractino . sinitation, furprize and
a corrupt Democracy inevitably leads to an Anftocracy, and that this government, though e. e n shearchie."
-
made to moderate ile" Aflitoenev. ay mixing fomething of democracy with i. It is very prones that the ger
1781, October 27-The American Herald, at Boston. (See p. clxix. )
This paper was "Printed and Published by Powars & Willis," from April 26, 1784, until July 10, 1786, and by Edward Eveleth Powars after July 17, 1786.
1781, October-The Salem Gazette, at Salem.
The heading of this paper, as described on p. clxviii, is reproduced herewith :
[MASSACHUSETTS. ]
[VOL. IV .--- NUMB, 195.]
The SALEM
GAZETTE,
TUESDAY,
July 5, 1785.
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED
By SAMUEL HALL
" The LIBERTY of the PRESS IS ESSENTIAL
IT OUGHT NOT, THEREFORE, TO BE RESTRAINED. IN THIS COMMONWEALTH"
to the SECURITY of FREEDOM IN a STATE -Conftitution of Mafechafim
The Influence of COMMERCE. ON the of Pramife, where their hinges are placed. ! Ep of the Rev. Mr Simplen, of Macklet. | Means, withing to establish himfelf at Proza Characters of Marked
PYram D.
happy gerd when she " qutie
HeJ wr. with . others, to' delphis, Sent out & pers_ Adventer m thal *1
1783, September 6 (Saturday)-The Massachusetts Her- ald : Or, Worcester Fournal.
Some mention was made of this paper on page clxxi. It was printed on a quarto sheet, four pages, three columns to the page, issued weekly. The following shows the arrangement of title and the imprint of the first num- ber :
ccxxviii
NEW JERSEY COLONIAL DOCUMENTS.
The Massachusetts Herald : Or, Worcester Journal. Saturday, September 6, 1783. No. I.
Vol. I.
Worcester, (Massachusetts) Printed by Isaiah Thomas, At his Office near the Court- House, where Advertisements are taken in, and Printing in general performed with Neat- ness, Accuracy and Dispatch, and where all Persons may be supplied with This paper at Seven Shillings, and the Massachusetts Spy, published every Thursday (containing four Pages large Demy Folio) at Twelve Shillings per Annum. Book-Binding, performed on reasonable Terms.
1784, December 30-The Exchange Advertiser, at Boston, by Peter Edes.
Printed on a sheet 18 x 23 inches, four pages ; Nos. 1-6 had three col- umns to a page ; Nos. 7-93, four columns to a page. This was doubtless the first independent attempt at journalism made by Edes. With the issue for August 10, 1786, Numb. XCV, Vol. II., the paper was reduced in size, being printed on a sheet 15 x 20 inches, four pages, three columns to a page. The imprint of the first number reads : "Boston, Printed by Peter Edes, in State-Street." No. 105, Vol. II., January 4, 1787, which is the latest number known, shows that the printing office had been removed by Peter Edes to No. 45 Marlborough-Street. It is not likely that the paper was continued long after that date.
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