USA > New Jersey > Documents relating to the colonial history of the state of New Jersey, Vol. XII > Part 7
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The assistance of the learned, the judicious and the curious is solicited : Productions of Public utility, however severe, if consistent with truth, shall be admitted ; and the modest correspondent may depend on the strictest secrecy. Reservoirs will be established in public houses for the reception of information, whether foreign, local, or poetical.
Anxious to deserve, they hope a display of that patronage and assistance, which the people, of these States are celebrated for bestowing on the exertions of young beginners. And finally, if their abilities should be inadequate, it will at least be some recompense, that such as they have shall be exerted with candor.
W. Warden, B. Russell.
Like other newspapers of that day, much space was occupied in re- printing works from the best authors, and during the first year most of the poems of Goldsmith, Gray and Cowper were published. At first, and for many subsequent years, the Centinel of Saturday was always supplied with an article of moral or religious character, sometimes original but gen- erally selected, under the head of "Preparation for Sunday." The paper took a decided stand in favor of protection to all domestic manufactures and products. Soon after the beginning of the second volume, the second title-Republican Journal, was taken from the head, and the motto was omitted. The Centinel decidedly opposed the return of the Loyalists to America.
William Warden, the senior member of the firm, died on Saturday, March 18, 1786, in the twenty-fifth year of his age. "It has been always understood and believed," says Buckingham, "that the duties of the editorial department devolved almost wholly upon Russell, while Warden conducted the mechanical operations."
The Centinel was now enlarged to a crown sheet, folio, and the imprint read :- " Printed by Benjamin Russell, Near the State House, Boston." When Daniel Shays attempted to overturn the government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Centinel exerted all its influence to quiet the public mind, to stimulate the courage of the faithful, and to uphold the cause of patriotism, law and order, resorting at times to solemn and sober argument, and at others to sarcasm and lampoon. Rus-
clxxv
HISTORY OF AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS.
sell gave all his strength to urging the adoption of the Federal Constitu- tion, and subsequently gave most cordial support to the Federal party. On June 16, 1790, the name of the paper was changed to The Columbian Cen- tinel, printed on a larger sheet, with improved typography, at two dollars per annum. Russell was a strong partisan, and after the fashion of the day, resorted to personalities and abuse of the strongest sort, which at times in- volved him in personal encounters. Talleyrand and Louis Philippe, after- wards King of the French, being in Boston about 1795, were frequent visi- tors at the Centinel office. About 1797, the words "Massachusetts Federal- ist" were added to the title of the Centinel. In 1799, Russell got into a con- troversy with William Cobbett, "Porcupine," and showed his ability to wield invective quite as effectively as that master in the art. He bitterly opposed every measure of Jefferson, and denounced the war of 1812 throughout. In November, 1828, Mr. Russell sold the Centinel to Joseph T. Adams and Thomas Hudson, and on November 15, a dinner was given to him by the printers and editors of Boston upon the occasion of his retirement from the profession. In 1830 the paper was united with the New England Palladium, and it was thereafter issued daily as well as weekly. In April, 1836, it was consolidated with the Boston Gazette, and on May 1, 1840, it was merged in the Boston Daily Advertiser.
Benjamin Russell was born in Boston in September, 1761, and, as already stated, learned his trade as printer with Isaiah Thomas. He wielded one of the ablest pens of his day, and his influence in moulding public sentiment in New England was excelled by no other writer of his time. He was active in public affairs, was a member of many benevo- lent and fraternal societies, and held many local offices, being almost con- tinuously a member of the Legislature of Massachusetts from 1805 until 1835. He died January 4, 1845.
1784, May-Gentleman and Lady's Town and Country Magazine, &c., at Boston, by Weeden & Barrett.
No. III, for July, 1784, has added to the above title : "Or, Repository of Instruction and Entertainment." Imprint-" Boston : Printed and Sold by Weeden and Barrett, at E. Russell's Office, Essex-Street : Sold also by W. Green, Shakespear's Head ; where Subscriptions are taken in, Letters of Correspondence received, and the Numbers delivered .- Print- ing in general performed in its various branches." In the same number the publishers make the following announcement :
To the Public.
The Editors of the Gentleman & Lady's Magazine, &c. beg leave to present their respects to the Public, and most gratefully acknowledge the kind reception which their Ist and 2d Numbers met with, from an indulgent liberality of sentiment.
Impressed with an earnest desire to please, they have enlarged the present Number to Forty-Eight large Octavo Pages - - and now offer proposals for Subscription at the moderate price of Twelve Shillings Lawful Money, per Annum. They doubt not in a
1
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short time to adorn their monthly Productions, entirely with original Composition, and if they are indebted to Europe for any Literary pieces, they will be selected from the most approved Authors.
On this Number, the Publishers found their future expectations, and are confident of that success, which modesty may be assured of, without presumption.
The respectable characters who patronized their earliest production, they hope will be pleased with its improvement, and every Subscriber find his wishes gratified.
Boston August 1, 1784.
The number for April, 1790, shows a slight change in the title, to "The Gentlemen and Ladies' Town and Country Magazine." This number con- tains pp. 44, the printed page being 65 x 4 inches in width, two columns to a page. The number for June, 1790, has the imprint-"Boston : Printed and Sold by Nathaniel Coverly, at the Corner of Back-Street, Leading to Charles River-Bridge." It contains pp. 54. For August and September, 1789, the Magazine was printed and sold by Nathaniel Coverly and Wil- liam Hoyt, at the same place. For October, November and December, it was printed and sold by Nathaniel Coverly alone. With the Volume, Feb- ruary-December, 1789, pp. 1-610, there is added a list of the subscribers. The magazine was discontinued with the number for December, 1790.
1785, February 22 (est. )-The American Journal And Suffolk Intelligencer, at Boston, by William Barrett.
This paper was printed on a sheet 12} by 17 inches, four pages, three columns to a page. The printed matter on each page was 93 by 7 inches in area. Only two copies of the paper are known to the writer. The fol- lowing shows the arrangement of title and imprint of one of these copies :
Tuesday, THE July 5, 1785. [Numb. XX. AMERICAN JOURNAL
AND
SUFFOLK INTELLIGENCER. '
Printed by William Barrett, at his Office sign of the Eagle and directly opposite the Rev. Mr. Thacher's Meeting-house, Brattle Street-Where Subscriptions for this Paper are taken in-and Printing in general Per- formed with Fidelity and Dispatch.
1785, November 28-The Massachusetts Gazette, at Bos- ton, by Samuel Hall.
This was a continuation of the Salem Gazette, started by him at Salem, October 18, 1781 (see that date). Mr. Hall made arrangements to supply his Salem subscribers as usual by a carrier. He afterwards sold the Gazette to other parties. In 1789, he opened a book store in Cornhill, which he sold in 1805 to Lincoln and Edmands. Mr. Hall was born in
HISTORY OF AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS. clxxvii
Medford, Mass., November 2, 1740, son of Jonathan Hall and Anna Fowle. He died October 30, 1807, aged 67 years. "He was an in- dustrious, accurate and enterprising printer, a judicial editor, and an ex- cellent man. His life was one of active usefulness and remarkable suc- cess."-Streeter, 12.
The paper was printed on a sheet 19 by 23 inches, four pages, four columns to a page. The office of publication was in State street. The issue for Monday, August 7, 1786, Vol. V., No. 252, contains the follow- ing announcement :
*** Necessity has obliged the printer hereof to reduce the size of his paper, agreeably to the notice lately given. His ambition has been, and still is, to Publish a Paper equally respectable with any in the United States ; but this, he has found by experience, cannot be done (for the present price of 9s. per annum) till the contents are equally free of taxa- tion. His Customers cannot be more dissatisfied with the alteration than he is himself ; but the expedient was unavoidable."
The paper was now printed on a sheet 154 by 193 inches, four pages, three columns to a page. With the issue for August 22, 1786, it was an- nounced that the paper was "to be continued every Tuesday and Friday." The issue for Tuesday, June 5, 1787, Vol. VI., No. 336, has the imprint- "Boston : Printed and Published, every Tuesday and Friday, by S. Hall and J. W. Allen." Numb. 362, Vol. VI., Tuesday, September 4, 1787, shows a change in the ownership, John Wincoll Allen being the sole pub- lisher. Numb. 396, Vol. VII., Tuesday, January 1, 1788, gives the place of publication as "State-Street, North side the State-House." The last num- ber known is Vol. VII., No. 486, November 11, 1788.
Allen had been employed for some time in the office of Samuel Hall before he set up for himself as a newspaper publisher. He afterwards printed papers at Baltimore.
1785, December 9 (Friday)-The American Recorder, And The Charlestown Advertiser, at Charlestown, by John Wincoll Allen and Thomas C. Cushing.
This was a neat, semi-weekly paper, the first published in the county of Middlesex. It was printed on a sheet 12} by 17 inches, four pages, three columns to a page. The arrangement of heading and the imprint of the first number were as follows :
Friday, Dec. 9, 1785.]
THE
[No. I .- Vol. I.
AMERICAN
RECORDER,
AND
Monogram of the
THE
CHARLESTOWN
U. S. A.
ADVERTISER.
Published every Tuesday and Friday, by Allen and Cushing, at their 12
clxxviii NEW JERSEY COLONIAL DOCUMENTS.
Office, near the Ferry, in Charlestown : Where Subscriptions, Advertise- ments, &c. for this Paper, are taken in :- Likewise, by Mr. B. Larkin, Bookseller, No. 45, Cornhill, Boston.
No. 70, Vol. I., Friday, August 18, 1786, states that the printing office was "Near the Bridge: Where Subscriptions, (at Eight Shillings per Ann. )'Advertisements, &c., for this Paper, are taken in." No. 75, Vol. I., Friday, September 22, 1786, announces the dissolution of the co-partner- ship between Allen & Cushing, and that the paper would be published in the future by John W. Allen. No. 82, Vol. I., Friday, November Io, 1786, shows that the publication office had been changed to "The North- West Entrance to the Square." The latest copy known is No. IIO, Vol. II., Friday, May 25, 1787. Thomas says "the paper was printed about three years, by Allen and Cushing, and then discontinued." This is in- correct as regards the publishers, and is doubtless also incorrect as to the period the paper was continued. It was probably discontinued soon after No. IIO.
1786, March 30 (Thursday)-Salem Chronicle and Essex Advertiser, at Salem, by George Roulstone.
This paper was printed on a crown sheet, 17 x 21 inches, four pages, four columns to the page, at nine shillings per annum. The arrangement of title and imprint is given herewith, together with the young publisher's modest salutatory :
[Volume I.] SALEM CHRONICLE [Number [.]
AND
ESSEX ADVERTISER.
Thursday, March 30, 1786.
Printed & Published by George Roulstone, in Paved-Street.
Salem, March 28, 1786.
To the Publick.
The Subscriber being impressed with the fullest conviction of the usefulness of the Typo- graphical Art, and stimulated by the encouragement which he has received from a number of the respectable inhabitants of the several towns in the county of Essex, has now the pleasure of presenting them with the first number of the Salem Chronicle. It is usual in addresses of this kind to run into extravagant promises, and pretend to more than can be expected .- But, as it has not yet appeared that those who were the most pompous, published better papers than their competitors; the subscriber can only assure the publick that he shall spare no pains or attention to render the Salem Chronicle as useful and enter- taining as his abilities will admit ; and flatters himself that his generous patrons and others, will impute any inaccuracy in his present pursuit to youth and inexperience.
The usefulness of Periodical Publications are universally acknowledged :- they have diffused the rays of science, and informed the people more than any other mode of in- struction.
HISTORY OF AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS. clxxix
The productions of the learned and ingenious-and all pieces of wit, humour, and enter- tainment, are most earnestly solicited ; whilst all scurrilous and indecent pieces will ever be rejected.
Matters of a personal or private nature, being improper subjects for a news-paper, will be avoided as much as possible, and never inserted but for reasons, which will be a suffi- cient apology to the publick for insertion.
As the publisher hereof has been at great expence in procuring his Typographical Ap- paratus, he earnestly requests his patrons and friends (who are already subscribers) to advance half their subscription-money for the present year ; and those who may become subscribers, to pay the said half at the time of their entrance-It will enable him to exert his unwearied endeavours with alacrity, not doubting but he shall receive such support from his generons patrons, as, on experience he shall appear to deserve.
The Publick's most obedient, And very humble Servant,
George Roulstone.
0" Those Gentlemen who wish to patronize and encourage the Salem Chronicle, are requested to leave their names with the publisher hereof, or with Mr. James D. Griffith, Court-Street, Boston.
The paper was continued less than a year; indeed, the latest issue known is only No. 19, August 13, 1786. Roulstone subsequently removed to Tennessee, where he published the first paper in that State, in 1793.
1786, September 6 (Wednesday)-Hampshire Gazette, at Northampton, by William Butler.
The paper was printed on a sheet 14 by 18 inches in size, four pages, three columns to the page ; the type used was small pica, long primer and bourgeois, old style. Buckingham says that the paper was established in order to support the State government against the insurrectionary plans of Shays and his associates. Essays on morals and religion appeared oc- casionally, and sometimes an original piece of wit and humor. The Rev. Joseph Lyman, of Hatfield, wrote a series of articles signed "An Old Re- publican." Caleb Strong, of Northampton, and Major Hawley were also frequent contributors. The arrangement of the title, etc., was as follows, in 1792 :
HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE.
Northampton, (Massachusetts) Printed And Published by William Butler.
Vol. VI.] Wednesday, May 9, 1792. [Numb. 297.
William Butler was a young man, twenty-three years of age, when he started the Hampshire Gazette ; he liad served his apprenticeship in the printing office of Hudson & Goodwin, in Hartford. He came to North- ampton in the summer of 1786, and met with so much encouragement in his project of starting a paper, that he also planned the erection of a build- ing for the purpose; it was a modest frame structure, 20x21 feet, two stor- ies high, on the northeasterly side of Pleasant street. His brother Daniel occupied the first floor for a variety store, while the printing office was on
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NEW JERSEY COLONIAL DOCUMENTS.
the floor above. But the demand for his paper was so urgent that he began the publication before the building was ready, occupying temporarily the rear part of Benjamin Prescott's house, on the corner of Main and Pleas- ant streets. The first copies had the imprint-"Printed by William But- ler, a few rods east of the Court-House." At the time he began the Gazette at Northampton, there was no public mail received at that place, and he was obliged to send to Springfield every week for the news. In 1788 John Leonard, post-rider for the Gazette, notified his subscribers in Shelburne, that "wood would be received in payment at Mr. Ransom's store, provided each one pays his proportion of transportation to Northamp- ton." Several of the post-riders came to Northampton on the day before the paper was published, and on some of the routes it required two days to distribute the papers. Mr. Butler built the first paper mill in Hampshire County, about 1794, for the manufacture of writing paper. It had one vat, and the paper was all made by hand. The Gazette was enlarged Jan- uary 1, 1796, at which time the publisher announced : "The price from the first of January, 1796, will be Nine Shillings per annum. He flatters himself that every person of liberality will readily acknowledge the justice of so trifling an advance when they advert to the intolerable rise of almost every article of consumption in the country, without taking into notice the extra labor and expense of a sheet of this size." It was now printed on a sheet 17x21 inches, four pages, three columns to the page. No. 549, Vol. XI., Wednesday, March 8, 1797, has the imprint : " Printed At Northamp- ton (Massachusetts, ) By William Butler." No 610, Vol. XII., Wednes. day, May 9, 1798, has the same imprint. Mr. Butler sold his paper June 28, 1815, on account of impaired health, to William W. Clapp, of Boston. He continued in business as a book seller for several years, and died March 9, 1831, aged 68 years. The Gazette subsequently underwent many changes in proprietorship and in title. It was issued daily, May 27 to Ju- ly 30, 1846, during the Mexican war, and April 26 to May 25, 1861. In 1886 it celebrated its one hundredth anniversary with commendable eclat. It is still published, weekly.
In ISOI William Butler printed Samuel Taggart's "Scriptural Vindica- tion of the Doctrine of Final Perseverance," etc., So, pp. 151.1
Dr. Joseph Priestley's "Notes on all the Books of Scripture" was printed in four volumes, So, at Northampton in 1803, and it was one the largest books issued from any Massachusetts press outside of Boston up to that time.
1786, October 14 (Saturday)-The Salem Mercury, at Salem, by John Dabney and Thomas C. Cushing.
This paper was printed on Saturdays, on a demy sheet, four columns to
1 Brinley, 7675.
HISTORY OF AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS. clxxxi
a page, chiefly on long primer type, at Nine Shillings a year. The arrange- ment of the title, etc., of the first number was as follows :
THE SALEM MERCURY :
Political, Commercial, and Moral.
[9s. per ann.] Vol. I. Saturday, October 14, 1786. [Numb. I.]
Published by Dabney and Cushing, in the Main Street, Salem ; where Subscriptions, Advertisements, and all Favors, are greatfully received.
Mr. Dabney withdrew from the paper at the close of the third volume, October 6, 1789, and opened a book store, leaving Mr. Cushing sole pro- prietor of the business. He changed the name of the paper, December 29, 1789, to The American Eagle, and with the next issue, Tuesday, January 5, 1790, to The Salem Gazette, beginning a new series of nmineration with Number 2, January 12, 1790. This issue was printed on a sheet 234 x 21 inches, four pages, four columns to a page. It announces the subscription price as "1} Dollars Per Ann.," and the place of publication as "No. 8 Paved-Street, Near Court and Washington Streets, Salem." Number 318, Volume VI., Tuesday, November 13, 1792, was printed in "Main-Street, Corner of Court Street, Salem, Massachusetts ;" No. 412, Vol. VIII., Tuesday, September 2, 1794, was printed in "Essex-Street, between Washington and Market Streets, Salem, Mass. ; " No. 418, October 14, 1794, announces that the paper would be published in the future by Wil- liam Carlton, who had been Cushing's partner in the Bible and Heart Book Store, and who continued the paper without change of heading, and at the same place. Under Carlton's management the famous Rev. Dr. William Bentley began in the Gazette his remarkable and altogether in- comparable weekly summaries of the news of the world, which he contin- ued in the Register for twenty-five years.
In the issue for Tuesday, May 3, 1796, the paper gives notice that in the future it would be published twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday, and that the price would be fifteen shillings per year. Mr. Carlton intro- duced the change with the graceful remark : "To a town whose popula- tion exceeds 8,000 souls, we could not pay so poor a compliment as to con- tinue a weekly Gazette." Cushing resumed the proprietorship of the Gazette with the issue for Friday, July I, 1796 (Vol. X., Number 512), continuing the publication on Tuesdays and Fridays at the same place- "Essex-Street, between Washington and Market-Streets." "He espoused the Federalist cause decisively and aggressively ; and until the end, 1815, was its most faithful defender. He was known among his friends and lives in the traditions of Essex County as 'the amiable and gifted Cush- ing.' But his good temper, his pure character, and his lovable nature were not proof against the fierce temper of that time. As a journalist he
clxxxii NEW JERSEY COLONIAL DOCUMENTS.
was lucid, earnest and usually courteous, but he spared no energy of argu- ment or denunciation which his cause seemed to him to require."1 In the congressional contest of 1802, Captain Jacob Crowninshield, the Republican candidate for Congress, in company with Joseph Story, then a young law- yer in the first flush of his youthful genius, and a writer of political arti- cles for the Federalist paper, called upon Mr. Cushing and threatened to shoot him if he continued his assaults.
Thomas C. Cushing was a native of Hingham, in the County of Ply- mouth, Mass., and learned his trade as printer with Samuel Hall. "With talents of no ordinary cast," says Buckingham, "he had imbibed those principles and laid the foundation of that rank which he maintained both in his professional character and as an estimable member of society." Upon the expiration of his apprenticeship he began the publication of The American Recorder, in connection with Jolin Wincoll Allen, as above stated, but soon after removed to Salem and began the Mercury, subse- quently changed to The Salem Gazette. After resuming the ownership of the Gazette, Mr. Cushing continued its publication for a quarter of a cen- tury, relinquishing the paper December 21, 1822, on account of infirm health, and died September 28, 1824, aged 60 years. "His qualities of mind and heart were such as commanded the respect and esteem of all who knew him. He was steadfast and conscientious in his political opin- ions, a person of thorough integrity in his business affairs, gentle and pleasing in his manners. He is described as having had strong powers of mind, warmth of fancy, various and extensive knowledge, and a familiar acquaintance with the best English literature, which gave attraction and fascination to his conversation, and caused him to be pleasantly remen - bered by his hosts of friends."2 Caleb Cushing, his illustrious son, conducted the paper for a few months ; but the son had larger plans in view, and left it in the hands of Ferdinand Andrews, who, in 1827, transferred it to Caleb Foote, who continued the publication for more than half a century. The Gazette still flourishes.
1787, March I-The Hampshire Chronicle, at Springfield, by John Russell.
This paper was probably printed with the old materials of the Hamp- shire Herald. The printing office was near "the Great Ferry," on or near what is now Ferry street, Springfield. Russell removed to Boston, and the Chronicle passed into the hands of E. W. Weld, a former apprentice of Isaiah Thomas, of Worcester, and Zaphaniah Webster. The latter sold out to Isaiah Thomas on January 1, 1788, when the publishers were Weld & Thomas, and the office "opposite the Court House," on the cor- ner of the present Main and Elm streets. In December, 1790, the
1 Goddard, 29.
2 Streeter, 13-16.
HISTORY OF AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS. clxxxiii
Chronicle appeared with the imprint of Weld alone. In 1792, he changed the name of the paper to Hampshire and Berkshire Chronicle. In January, 1793, the paper was published by Edward Gray, by whom it was continued as late as Sept. 14, 1795.
1787, December 1-The American Centinel, at Pittsfield, by E. Russell.
The paper was printed on a sheet IOx18 inches, and on this modest area of superficial space, the printer ambitiously declared :
" Here you may range the World from pole to pole, Increase your knowledge and delight your soul."
In the second number, Mr. Russell "returns his thanks to those gen- tlemen who have expressed their anxiety to have the printing office at Pittsfield by encouraging him to print a certain number of papers and begs leave to inform them that he has a large number of papers on hand for which he has as yet received nothing, and which he wishes those gentle- men to call for, according to agreement. If agreements are not fulfilled the Centinel must stop." The paper was doubtless discontinued soon after.
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