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First newspapers in South Dakota…
February 13, 2012 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The very first printing of any kind to be done in present-day South Dakota wasn’t until Sept. 20, 1858, relatively late for that section of the country. It was an election notice, and less than a year later the first newspaper appeared on July 2, 1859 titled the “Democrat“, printed in Sioux Falls. It published on an irregular schedule for less than a year when it was discontinued for lack of support. Reports are that the newspaper was revived as the “Northwestern Democrat“, however no copies under that name have survived. The press was destroyed by a band of hostile Sioux Indians in 1862.
The second newspaper in South Dakota was the “Weekly Dakotian” begun in Yankton on June 6, 1861, by Frank Ziebach. A year later it was absorbed by its rival, the “Press“, becoming the “Press and Dakotan“, and a bit later the “Dakota Union“.
Note: Images are not currently available for any of the above… but will be added if/when they are available.
Perhaps the most famous 19th century title is “The Black Hills Pioneer” which was printed in Deadwood City beginning in 1876. It would be an issue in early August of that year that would report the death of Wild Bill Hickok while playing cards that would be one of the most sought after newspapers for any collection.
Interesting items on the Underground Railroad…
February 11, 2012 by TimHughes · 1 Comment
The “Supplement to the New-York Daily Tribune“, May 11, 1849, has the following at the top of the front page. Note the incredibly strong pro-slavery bias in the first paragraph:
“Bigfoot” in 1831…
February 4, 2012 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
This article appeared in the “New Hampshire Gazette“, Portsmouth, on February 15, 1831. Apparently “bigfoot” legends have been around for many years:
John Wilkes Booth appears at Ford’s Theater, in 1863…
January 30, 2012 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The November 4, 1863 issue of the “Daily National Intelligencer” contains a curious and ironic bit of reporting, page 2 containing a lengthy report on the appearance of the distinguished son of Junius Brutus Booth–John Wilkes–at the new Ford’s Theatre in Washington. The next column contains an innocuous letter signed in type by the President: A. Lincoln.
The facing page includes an advertisement for “Ford’s New Theatre!” noting the appearance for the: “…first and only time…the distinguished tragedian, MR. J. WLKES BOOTH in Schiller’s great master piece, the Robbers…”.
Of course no one could have suspected the tragic connection between these two famous names which appeared on the same page in the same newspaper, some one and one-half years before fate would find their names on the same page once again:
“Snake oil” advertisements…
January 28, 2012 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
Various patent medicine advertisements were all the rage in the late 19th century, and it seems they were more prevalent in Western rather than Eastern newspapers. This one (below) appears in the July 7, 1880 issue of “The Deseret News” from Salt Lake City:
The prisoner left with them…
January 21, 2012 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
An interesting legal case reported in the “Harper’s Weekly” issue of May 7, 1859:
A gem in the American Antiquarian Society… The Michigan Essay…
January 14, 2012 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
In celebration of its 20oth anniversary the American Antiquarian Society published a beautiful exhibition catalog titled “In Pursuit Of A Vision – Two Centuries of Collecting at the American Antiquarian Society”. Featured are a fascinating array of books, documents, maps & other paper ephemera, as well as several very rare & unusual newspapers we felt worthy of sharing with our Rare & Early Newspapers’ collectors (with permission from the A.A.S.).
“Michigan Essay; or, The Impartial Observer“, Detroit Michigan, August 31, 1809
Isaiah Thomas devoted substantial space in The History of Printing in America (Cat.9) to a history of American serial publications, closing with an eight-page census of newspapers “Published in the United States in the beginning of the year 1810.” Thomas sought help in its compilation in March 1810 by placing a widely reprinted notice in The Massachusetts Spy, requesting publishers “to forward one or two of their papers … that the right titles of their several Newspapers, may be correctly inserted.” Many responded, and the newspaper issues sent to Thomas were later donated to AAS.
This example — the first and only extant issue of the first Michigan newspaper — arrived too late for inclusion in Thomas’s checklist. The manuscript notation on the side reads, “Utica, (N.Y.) Aug. 3d 1810. Mr. Thomas, Sir I send you this paper printed by a friend of mine to insert in your ‘History of Printing.’ If he sees your advertisement, he will send more, perhaps of a later date. Your obt. Servt. C.S. McConnell.” The Michigan Essay was printed by James M. Miller on Michigan’s first press, brought to Detroit from Baltimore in 1809 by Father Gabriel Richard. Most of the text is in English, but a few articles and advertisements are in French.
A suggestion by young men…
January 14, 2012 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The following items from the March 21, 1874 issue of “Harper’s Weekly” is self-explanatory:
Be careful what you print…
January 7, 2012 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
“The Norwich Gazette” newspaper from England, May 24, 1729, includes the sentences for several people involved in publishing a certainly issue of “Mist’s Journal” which apparently had content unfavorable to the authorities. Once defendant was sentenced: “…to walk round the four courts in Westminster Hall with a paper on his forehead denoting his offence, and to suffer one month’s imprisonment…”. See the other sentences as well:
South Carolina’s first newspapers…
January 2, 2012 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The first two newspapers of South Carolina had feeble beginnings. In fact it is not known for certain which of the two was first.
Eleazer Phillips was named the official printer of the colony on Feb. 3, 1732, the son of a Boston bookseller & binder. He would die a few months later on July 10, 1732 & when his father traveled to Charleston to settle his son’s estate he address to its debtors the fact that his son had founded a newspaper, the “South Carolina Weekly Journal” sometime in January, 1732. But all copies of it have disappeared, also confirmed by Brigham.
Thomas Whitmarsh began his “South Carolina Gazette” on January 8, 1732 which continued until his death in September of the following year. Did it begin before the “South Carolina Weekly Journal“? Odds are it did but with no issues of the latter existing it is not known for sure. Whitmarsh’s paper would begin again in February, 1734 by Lewis Timothy. He would die at the end of 1738 when it would be continued by his widow, Elizabeth Timothy. This newspaper would ultimately last until December, 1775 under this title.