Gen. John H. Morgan’s revenge…

July 9, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

The following item from “The Crisis” newspaper from Columbus, Ohio, March 2, 1864, notes a curious revenge by General Morgan for having his whiskers shaved when in the Ohio penitentiary…

“…one of the vilest scoundrels that ever lived…”

May 21, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

Samuel Medary was the publisher of the controversial newspaper “The Crisis” from Columbus, Ohio, a Civil War era newspaper from the North which was supportive of the Southern cause. Obviously it met with much opposition during its brief life, at one point raided by a hateful mob. When Medary died in1864 it was not surprising that his death would not be treated nicely by other Northern newspapers, but this report went to the extreme. Keep in mind that this appeared in the Jan. 25, 1865 issue of “The Crisis“, so the introductory paragraph would be expected:

The “top ten”: 18th century…

December 14, 2009 by · 9 Comments 

Continuing with our “top ten events to be found in newspapers” for various periods of time, today we consider the 18th century.

What an event-filled one hundred years it was. As you can tell by the list my focal point is on the American Revolution, but there are other events or specific newspapers which made it into my top ten.

Again I offer apologies to our non-American friends as this list has  a decidedly American bias, primarily because the vast majority of those who purchase from us are American.

Here we go, starting with number ten:

George-Washington-death10) Death of George Washington, 1799 (Front page, preferably in a Virginia Gazette)

9) Hanging of Captain Kidd, 1701 (Just can’t resist a great pirate hanging, he being perhaps the most famous of all time)

8.) Any newspaper with the first installment of Paine’s “The Crisis” (“These are the times that try men’s souls…” has to be one of the more famous beginnings of all time)

7) Full text of the Stamp Act (Certainly a trigger event that would lead to the Revolution)

6) Boston Tea Party (In a Boston newspaper. An event every school kid knows about)

5) The Pennsylvania Journal, Nov. 1, 1765 “skull & crossbones” engraving (Replaced its normal masthead on this date: seen in most history books)

Constitution_PA_Packet4) Battle of Lexington & Concord with mention of Paul Revere’s ride (The beginning of the Revolutionary War. I had one once with mention of Revere–exceedingly rare–great to have in a Boston area newspaper)

3) The Boston News-Letter, 1704 (Great to have issue #1 of America’s first successful newspaper, but any issue from 1704 would do)

2) The Pennsylvania Packet, Sept. 19, 1787 (First newspaper to print the Constitution, & done in broadside format. Need I say more?)

1) The Declaration of Independence, 1776 (Ideally the Pennsylvania Evening Post, July 6, 1776, but the Packet of July  8 would work too as it contains the Declaration entirely on the front page: better for display).

A modest resume…

November 23, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

The Crisis” newspaper from Columbus, Ohio, dated May 24, 1863 ran the piece on Lincoln shown in the photo. Keep in mind that this was a “copperhead” newspaper (northern paper opposed to the war, even advocating the continuance of slavery) so there was much criticism to Lincoln and his administration throughout it’s print run, so it is likely the piece was printed to emphasize the “modestness” of his resume.

From what we know of Abraham Lincoln this short piece he submitted, despite likely edits by the newspaper publisher, is largely correct and emphasizes the humble background of the man whom history arguably ranks as among the best of American Presidents.  Certainly the trappings of wealth, family pedigree and the best of education which are traits common to leaders in other parts of the world are not prerequisites to success in America. This simple piece in a 146 year old newspaper is evidence that “the American dream” has been alive and well on this side of the Atlantic for many years.

Lincoln_Dictionary