NEW JERSEY COLONIAL RECORDS, Newspaper Extracts: First Series: Part 1: Introduction - Volume 11 1704-1739 Contributed to the USGenWeb Archives by David Tourison and Liz Johnson Copyright. All Rights Reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nj/njfiles.htm ********************************************************* NOTES: Page numbers are listed at the top of each page. Year of newspaper publication is also shown, e.g., [1704 or 1704] Not included in this transcription is a page of Abbreviations, nor are pages xix - cxxvi, which contain Part I - History of American Newspapers. dwt ********************************************************* NEW JERSEY COLONIAL RECORDS Volume 11 Archives of the State of New Jersey, First Series, Volume XI; Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey, Volume I., 1704-1739, Extracts from American Newspapers, Relating to New Jersey, Nelson, William [ed], Paterson NJ, 1894. This volume was prepared and edited by authority of the State of New Jersey, at the request of the New Jersey Historical Society, and under the direction of the following Committee of the Society: William Nelson, Garret D. W. Vroom, Frederick W. Ricord, William S. Stryker, Edmund D. Halsey. PREFACE In Submitting this volume of the New Jersey Archives to the public, the Committee venture the opinion that it will prove by no means the least important and interesting of the series. In its character, it is unique. No similar volume has been pre- viously published in America, if anywhere in the world. No like picture of the manners and customs of a people, of the events and themes uppermost in men's minds, of the daily happen- ings, the political and religious controversies, as viewed from every standpoint, has ever been given of any American com- munity. Hampered as they were by an odious and vexatious censor- ship, nevertheless the Colonial newspapers vividly mirror to us the popular life of their day. We can trace in their pages, too, the gradual evolution of the press toward a broader freedom, as their news items expand from the merest mention of ship news, runaway servants and foreign events, to chronicles of the move- ments of the Governors, the doings of the Legislatures, and finally aspire even to criticisms (at first in the cautious guise of communications) upon the ruling powers. This development of the liberty of the press evidenced the growing independence of popular sentiment in the Colonies. In New Jersey, such independence was greatly fostered by the constant friction between the Council of Proprietors, and the yeomanry who either questioned the title of the Proprietors, or who, in any event, were restive under the exaction of yearly quit-rents. The Proprietors were so closely identified with the Royal Gov- ernment that when the people became accustomed to resist the former, they found it easy to dispute the right of a foreign King to control their affairs. vi Preface. The historian will be glad to have brought within his reach such a mass of contemporaneous chronicles of the period cov- ered by this volume. These Newspaper Extracts have been gleaned with entire impartiality from all available sources. True, they have been taken exclusively from Boston, New York and Philadelphia newspapers, for the reason that from 1704 to 1719 the only American newspaper was published at Boston, and for nearly all the rest of the period, the three cities named had the only periodicals in the country. Besides, from a careful comparison of files it was found that the newspapers of those cities contained all the news published relating to New Jersey. Sometimes a paragraph or article was published only in one paper; or a New York file is lacking for a particular date, and the omission has been supplied from another file; or, a news item is given in a different form, or with additional particulars. It was deemed best, at the outset, not to attempt a mere selec- tion of what might be considered the most important articles. That is always an effort to substitute one man's opinion for that of others. The modern school of historical students pre- fer to do their own thinking, and consequently want all the in- formation available. Hence, everything relating to New Jersey has been gleaned from the earliest files. Nothing has been omitted because it might be considered unimportant. The casual reader will notice the preponderance of ship- news in the first extracts, in the days when Perth Amboy, Bur- lington, Salem and Cape May ranked with Boston and New York as seaports. The number of runaway servants and slaves will attract at- tention, and will call to mind the first need of the young Colony -- population to till the ground and carry on the necessary labors of the community; and how persons were brought from the home country, often against their will, and sold for a term of years into a modified system of bondage, to pay for their passage across the ocean; and how those "servitors" or "redemption- ers" often fled from their masters, who were thereupon required by law to advertise them, or be liable for their maintenance whenever captured. These advertisements are among the most Preface. vii interesting and diverting in the volume. The curious garbs worn by the runaways -- relics of finery indicating often their former gentle condition, or the sterner stuff wherewith the common people were clad; the reference to branding, show- ing the prevalence of that barbarous custom as a punishment for crime; the peculiar descriptions of some of the servants -- the "Leering down Look," "proud hambling Gate," "walks Crimplin," "he is so prodigious a Lyar that if observed he may easily be discovered by it," "with a long Nose and a wild Look," "goes crooked and groans very much in his sleep," "speaks by Clusters," "talks West Country," etc., etc., and the varied accomplishments of others -- all throw a flood of light on the condition of the toiling masses in those days. Here we have tales of piracies on the high seas; and on land reports of counterfeiting and other crimes, punished by the pillory, the whipping post and branding, discrimination being made against negro slaves, who were summarily tried and burnt, for offences punishable in the case of whites with the lash or the brand. The sparseness of population is indicated by the frequent mention of wild animals killed -- panthers, bears, deer, etc. The relations between the whites and the Indians appear in an unfavorable light in these pages. The aborigines are usually mentioned as in a condition of servitude, or in some discreditable transaction. It should be borne in mind, how- ever, that the dusky natives had no newspaper to represent their point of view. Small-pox was frightfully prevalent. Frequent epidemics are reported, and most of the servants advertised are described as "pock-fretten." Inoculation had made little progress in America. While the mother country imposed grievous restrictions on American commerce and industries, still we find, accounts of numerous mills, mines and forges, and as the country developed new ferries and "stage waggons" were established to meet the demands of internal trade. Other signs of prosperity are found in the shop keepers' lists of wares, the sales of books, the increase of printing, and the stylish furniture that gradually came in vogue. With prosperity came gentler manners, so viii Preface. that we are prepared for the statement that in 1738, in the Quaker town of Burlington, an election was held at which it was agreed to reform the ancient practices, and accordingly there was no "reaping of Characters, or using of Canes in a Hostile manner on one another." The advertisements of sales of lands, houses, mills, etc., give a great deal of information of importance to the local historian. It is hoped that the notes which have been added may increase the usefulness of the volume to the reader; to the student they may be of service in pointing to other sources of information. The aim has been to make them fullest regarding men and events least familiar to the general reader. In the Index, it has been sought to give the name of every person and place mentioned in the text; also of every vessel. Subjects are likewise indexed fully. In procuring the material for this volume the editor has been greatly indebted to the cordial co-operation of William Kelby, Librarian of the New York Historical Society, and to his brother, Robert H. Kelby, who personally copied the News- paper Extracts from the files of that Society; to Frederick D. Stone, Librarian of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, who supervised the gleaning of Newspaper Extracts from that So- ciety's files; to Dr. Samuel A. Green, Librarian of the Massa- chusetts Historical Society, who secured and directed the ser- vices of Miss S. B. Kidder, in making similar gleanings from the extensive files in Boston, and at Harvard University; and to Miss Mary Robinson, Assistant Librarian of the American Antiquarian Society, for the like aid among that Society's great Newspaper Collections at Worcester. The preliminary History of American Newspapers, with the Lists of Files, etc., forms a natural introduction to the volume, and has an interest of its own, to the student. INTRODUCTION Several years ago the writer conceived the idea that a very interesting and valuable volume could be made up of extracts from early American newspapers, relating to New Jersey -- af- ter the manner of such gleanings relating to New York City, published in the New York Corporation Manuals for 1862 and subsequent years, and those relating to "Old New York and Trinity Church," in the New York Historical Society's Col- lections, Vol. III., for 1870. To that end, he procured lists of files of the newspapers of Boston, Philadelphia and New York, in the principal libraries of those cities, in Harvard Uni- versity, and in the Library of the American Antiquarian Soci- ety in Worcester. It then occurred to him that these lists would be useful to all historians, and that their value would be increased if similar lists could be procured from other libraries. As the investigation was extended, it was found that no full list had ever been printed of all the American newspapers pub- lished in the last century. The nearest approach to it was by S. N. D. North, in his very excellent monograph on the Ameri- can Press, published in the U. S. Census for 1880, Vol. VIII. Nor had anyone ever attempted to publish a list showing where files of these early newspapers could be found. Only a few libra- ries had ever published a list of their own newspaper files. The tendency of modern historical research is to examine and re- examine constantly the original sources of information. A newspaper file is a mine of history to every student. It is the contemporaneous record of events, chronicled as witnessed by the writers, often with distorted vision, it is true, but frequent- ly all the more truth-telling because of partisan bias. Histori- ans have been many a time perplexed for want of a date or a fact that could be best obtained from a contemporary newspa- xii Introduction. per, but did not know where to look for such journals. It is believed that this List will be a help to all historical students. The history of the newspaper is so closely interwoven with that of printing in general, that is was thought advisable to add a few notes on the introduction of the press into each State and Territory of the United States, and into each of the Provinces of Canada, as well as into Mexico, with the title of the first book printed in each, and of the first newspaper issued therein, so far as such data could be obtained. The first contribution toward a history of American newspa- pers that the writer has found was: A Narrative of the Newspapers printed in New-England -- In a letter to the President of the Historical Society, from one of the members. This was published in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society for the year 1798, Boston, 1798, Vol. V., pp. 208-216; and in Vol. VI., 1800, pp. 64-77. The Narra- tive was written by John ELIOT. It includes a brief and inter- esting history of Connecticut newspapers, by Noah WEBSTER, jun. Subsequent writers on this theme appear to have entirely overlooked this early Narrative. In the compilation of the present work, however, it has been found that the best and most comprehensive account of the early printers of America is still: The History of Printing in America. With a Biography of Printers, and an Account of Newspapers. To which is prefixed a concise view of the Discovery and Progress of the Art in Other Parts of the World. In two volumes. By Isaiah THOMAS, Printer, Worcester, Massachusetts. Worcester: From the press of Isaiah THOMAS, jun. Isaac STUR- TEVANT, printer, 1810. 8º 2 vols. Pp. vi., 7-487; iv., 5-576. The second edition, published in 1874 as Vols. V and VI of the Transactions and Collections of the American Antiqua- rian Society, has an added value from the preliminary memoir of Mr. THOMAS, the appended catalog of American publica- tions prior to the Revolution, and the notes by the committee supervising the printing of this edition. A work superseding that of THOMAS, in a large measure, re- specting the early New England newspapers, is the following: Introduction. xiii Specimens of Newspaper Literature: with Personal Memoirs, Anec- dotes, and Reminiscences. By Joseph T. BUCKINGHAM. Boston: Charles C. LITTLE and James BROWN. 1850. 12º 2 vols. Pp. xii, 348; (4), 356, 2 portraits. Mr. BUCKINGHAM's work is based mainly on original examin- ations of newspaper files, and on personal recollections; having the advantage of writing forty years after THOMAS, he is able to correct some errors of his predecessor. The third general work on the subject is: Journalism in the United States, from 1690 to 1872. By Frederick HUDSON. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, Franklin Square. 1873. 8 Oct. Pp. (4), xli, 43-789. This is the best account published of American journalism, especially of its political and news-gathering features, during the half-century prior to 1870. The most ambitious attempt to cover the whole subject of the history of American newspapers from the earliest day, and to the present the fullest statistics, is the work of NORTH, already mentioned, the full title being: History and Present Condition of the Newspaper and Periodical Press of the Untied States, with a Catalogue of the Publications of the Census Year. By. S. N. D. NORTH, Special Agent. "[Washington. Government Printing Office. 1884]" 4º Pp. vi, 1-446. Maps. "[Part of Vol. VIII. of the Tenth Cen- sus -- 1880--of the United States.]" The late Joel MUNSELL, the eminent Albany printer, made a contribution of some value to the history of the American news- paper press in the desultory mélange entitled: The Typographical Miscellany. By J. MUNSELL. Albany. Joel MUNSELL, 58 State Street. 1850. 8º Pp. (6), 267, (1). Its particulars respecting the press of the State of New York are especially valuable, and for the most part accurate. An odd compilation having some relation to the general sub- ject was: The Spirit of the Public Journals; or, Beauties of the American Newspapers, for 1805. "[Four lines of quotation.]" Baltimore: Printed by Geo. DOBBIN & MURPHY, No. 4, Balt- imore-Street. 1806. 12º Pp. xii, 13-300. xiv Introduction.. The preface gives a list of ninety-six American newspapers from which the selections are taken -- the earliest list of the kind in the nineteenth century. A similar venture was made by Joseph T. BUCKINGHAM, the title of the second volume being: Miscellanies selected from the Public Journals. Volume second. Boston: Published by Joseph T. BUCKINGHAM. 1824. 12º Pp. xi "[actually but 7,]" , 13-256. Each selection is credited to the newspaper whence it was taken, and these titles are useful additions to our information. Other special works will be cited as used, the references forming a bibliography of the subject, the extent of which will probably surprise most readers. Local histories have been largely consulted. Most recent works of this class devote spe- cial chapters to the history of the press in the respective local- ities. But the writer's principal reliance has been the newspaper files listed in the following pages. These lists contain the names of newspapers the very existence of which was unknown to some of the most diligent of local investigators, even in this special subject. Where local writers fail to mention their home newspapers, the particulars here given have been gath- ered with care from the papers themselves. The endeavor has been to give a brief history of every newspaper printed in North America prior to 1801, from all data available. In the compilation of the list of American Newspaper Files, correspondence has been had with nearly all the older College Libraries, with nearly every historical Society in North Amer- ica, with nearly all the State Libraries, with the principal Pub- lic Libraries, and with scores of individual historians, collectors and others. The lively interest taken in the work by his hun- dreds of correspondents has been a gratifying incentive to the writer to persevere in his effort to make it as complete as prac- ticable. Special thanks are due to that most accomplished biblio- grapher, Justin WINSOR, of Harvard University Library, who furnished a list filling sixteen large folio pages, enumerating the enormous and unrivaled Newspaper Collections of that Library; Introduction. xv to William KELBY, Librarian of the New York Historical So- ciety; to Frederick D. STONE, Librarian of the Historical So- ciety of Pennsylvania, who with the generous cooperation of Charles R., HILDEBURN, not only furnished a list of that Society's collections, but procured similar lists from the Library Com- pany of Philadelphia, and the Franklin Library; to Prof. Ad- dison VAN NAME, who furnished a slip catalogue of the news- paper files in Yale University; to Albert C. BATES, Librarian of the Connecticut Historical Society; to Theodore F. DWIGHT, of the Boston Public Library; to John Ward DEAN, of the New England Historic Genealogical Society; to Clarence CUNING- HAM, Corresponding Secretary of the South Carolina Historical Society, for generous aid regarding South Carolina newspaper history and files; to Charles POINDEXTER, State Librarian of Virginia; to Philip A. BRUCE, Corresponding Secretary of the Virginia Historical Society; to James J. BARNWELL, Librarian of the Library Company of Philadelphia; to Dr. William H. EGLE, State Librarian of Pennsylvania; to Col. Morris R. HAMILTON, State Librarian of New Jersey; to Reuben G. THWAITES, Secretary of the State Historical Society of Wiscon- sin, one of the youngest, but among the most vigorous of such societies, and whose collections of newspapers is equaled by few in the country; to Theodore L. COLE, of Washington, D. C., for details of the earliest publications of the statutes of the Southern and Western States, and the beginnings of printing West of the Mississippi; to Paul Leicester FORD, of Brooklyn, who with characteristic liberality not only supplied a list of his own files, but placed at my disposal the very careful and minute lists he had prepared of the great newspaper collection of Dr. Thomas Addis EMMET, and likewise authorized the use of his Check-List of American Magazines Printed in the Eighteenth Century. The list of newspaper files in the Maryland Histor- ical Society is taken from that prepared by John M. W. LEE, former Librarian of the Society, and published in the Maga- zine of American History in June, 1881; John. G. MORRIS, the present Librarian, says few or no additions have been made since that date. The list in the Massachusetts Historical Soci- ety's library had been gleaned from the Society's catalogue, xvi Introduction. printed in 1859, and which Dr. Samuel A. GREEN, the Libra- rian, writes me has received but slight additions in that depart- ment since it was published. For cordial cooperation in preparing a history of the press of Canada, the writer is under the deepest obligations to the Hon. John George BOURINOT, Clerk of the Dominion House of Com- mons, at Ottawa, and President of the Royal Society of Cana- da; he is also indebted to F. Blake CROFTON, Provincial Libra- rian of Nova Scotia, and Corresponding Secretary of the Nova Scotia Historical Society; and to F. C. WURTELE, Librarian of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec. To others who have given special information regarding par- ticular States of localities acknowledgement is given in place. It should be clearly borne in mind by those examining the following Lists, that in many and even in most cases, the files are imperfect or incomplete. Extreme dates are given, and it may be that the file contains but a few isolated numbers of a given paper in the period embraced between these dates. In some cases the condition of the files is indicated by the words "incomplete," "imperfect," "few numbers," "many numbers missing," and the like. But the same is true of most of the files where no such qualifying words are used. To have indi- cated the precise numbers present in each file, or have noted the missing papers, would have involved an enormous amount of labor, and would have greatly increased the bulk of this vol- ume. Moreover, such minuteness of detail would have been less valuable than might at first supposed, for most of the great libraries are constantly adding to their files, and filling up the existing gaps. It is obvious that perfection is unattainable in a work of this kind, especially in a first attempt. The writer will be pleased to have any errors and omissions communicated to him. In the meantime he trusts that this volume may be of use to historical students, and that it may serve to awaken an increased interest in the history of American Newspapers. Paterson, N. J., February 10, 1894.