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Happy Passover… Happy Easter…
April 6, 2012 by GuyHeilenman · Leave a Comment
President George Washington is known for his letters to various Hebrew congregations (Newport, Savannah, etc.) and churches which are filled with spiritual references. Considering the recipients, such language might be expected even if the writer was not a person of faith. However, the following is a speech he gave to the leaders of Philadelphia upon his visit to the city while in transit to New York to take the oath of office. At a time when he could have said anything, what he chose to say and how he chose to say it speaks volumes. Please enjoy his address as it appeared in The Massachusetts Centinel, May 2, 1789:
The Traveler… the Czar gets married… loose lips…
April 2, 2012 by The Traveler · 1 Comment
Today’s travels took me to The London Gazette of April 5, 1712 where I found the Czar of Mosco (Moscow) has publicly solemnized his wedding with his Empress 
Catherina Alexewna. The wedding had to be deferred for some time by reason his Czarish Majesty’s “making the Campaign the last Summer.” The article provides details of the wedding.
Another article on the front page is of the Suedes (Swedes) making advancement into Pomerania before the Danes could hinder them. Two officers of the Swedish Fleet had been condemned “to have their Heads struck off, for having held a Correspondence with the Danes, and their Father, who was privy to these Actions of his Sons, and did not discover them, is confin’d to a perpetual Imprisonment…” There are times it is just better to keep the lips sealed. Whereas some have been known to sink ships, this is even worse…
~The Traveler
First newspapers in Tennessee…
February 27, 2012 by TimHughes · 3 Comments
Tennessee–or at least a portion of it–had an interesting history. The Northeastern part originally belonged to North Carolina, and a plan was afoot to cede it to the national government. A serious of conventions at Jonesborough resulted in the adoption in 1784 of a constitution under the name of the state of Franklin. Ultimately statehood plans ended in 1788.
The first printing in Tennessee happened in Rogersville by George Roulstone, who on November 5, 1791 he printed the first issue of the Knoxville “Gazette“, because he intended to move the press to Knoxville when it was expected that town would be the permanent capital of the territory. This ultimately happened in 1792. He printed his first issue there on May 4, 1793 where it continued until 1797.
After a year in absence, Roulstone resumed the newspaper under the title of the “Register” with a subtitle of: “The Genius of Liberty“. After another year of lapse the “Gazette” was revived which in 1799 was consolidated with the “Impartial Observer“. A string of other newspapers begin in the early years of the 19th century.
The Traveler… wanted for murder… new regulations established…
January 23, 2012 by The Traveler · Leave a Comment
Today I journeyed to The Post Boy dated January 24, 1712 where I found there was a “wanted” man. The back page of this singlesheet newspaper was clearing the air on the false reports of the escape of Mr. Mackartney to Holland, “for he has never been on that side of the 
Water since the Murder he committed…” This continued with a Royal Proclamation being issued for his capture along with the a 300 pound reward as he had been found to have committed the murder of James Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, and also with aiding and assisting the Lord Mohun to commit the murder of the Duke.
While researching this incident further, I found the following information through Wikipedia… “In 1712, two years after Mohun’s Whig party had been heavily defeated in an election, the Duke of Hamilton was given the post of special envoy to Paris. Also at this time Mohun’s legal dispute with Hamilton over his inheritance of the Macclesfield estate was going badly. Shortly before Hamilton left for France, Mohun challenged him to a duel which was fought on 15 November in Hyde Park. Hamilton was killed during the fight by Mohun’s second, George MacCartney, after he had mortally wounded Mohun during the duel; Mohun died from his wounds shortly afterwards. This bloody duel was made immortal by William Makepeace Thackeray in his novel The History of Henry Esmond. The injuries suffered by the two men were so horrific that the government passed legislation banning the use of seconds in such duels. Also as a result swords were replaced as the weapons of choice in duel by the pistol, which tended to result in shorter and less bloody fights.”
Enjoy!
~The Traveler
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.
The Traveler… promise to pay…
December 19, 2011 by The Traveler · Leave a Comment
Today I found myself in London, England with the Post-Boy dated December 20, 1711. I also found that even with traveling back three hundred years, a portion of this paper would fit right into today’s newsstands. An article on the front page of this issue was the reporting “…to Bribe an honest member of the Church of England, to vote against the interest of that church, and his own conscience…”. The text of the “promise to pay” note is included in the article as well.
On the back page of this issue also contains a notice posted by a husband, stating that he would no longer be responsible for his wife’s debts. The description of his wife is very interesting!!
Until next year, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
~The Traveler
Must have sounded better than gunshots…
December 17, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
The “Norwich Gazette” of England had this notice (see below) in their August 23, 1729 newspaper. There must have been a heated rivalry between the bell ringers of Norwich and those of Eye in the county of Suffolk. Too bad YouTube wasn’t around then….would have liked to have seen the video.
Pennsylvania’s first newspapers…
December 12, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
It was only in Boston where a newspaper came off a printing press prior to any in Pennsylvania. It was 15 years after the “Boston News-Letter” of 1704 (not counting the one-issue run of Boston’s “Publick Occurrences Both Foreign & Domestick” in 1690) when, on December 22, 1719, Andrew Bradford began his “American Weekly Mercury” (see image) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s first newspaper. This weekly would last until 1746.
But certainly the most successful newspaper in the colony, if not in all of colonial America, was the “Pennsylvania Gazette” begun in December, 1728 by Samuel Keimer. Within a year it was purchased by Benjamin Franklin. As Oswald notes: “…Under Franklin’s guidance, there appeared for the first time a colonial newspaper produced by a man of education who was in addition a capable printer, a versatile writer, and energetic news gatherer and an enterprising & resourceful businessman. This combination had the inevitable result of placing the “Pennsylvania Gazette” in the lead, and it thereby established a model for others to follow.” The “Gazette” would make Franklin a wealthy man and his name appeared on the imprint through 1765.
Pennsylvania has the distinction of having America’s first daily newspaper, the “Pennsylvania Evening Post & Daily Advertiser“, which started publication in 1775 as a tri-weekly and became a daily on May 30, 1783.
For sale: an army, and more…
December 10, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
This tongue-in-cheek “For Sale By Auction…A Warlike Nation” advertisement appeared in “The Connecticut Courant” newspaper of Hartford, August 19, 1783, shortly after the end of the Revolutionary War. It offers some biting commentary on thoughts of the politicians of England and the military leadership after losing the Revolutionary War. Enjoy…