Old Virginia Editors; William and Mary Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 7, No. 1 Transcribed by Kathy Merrill for the USGenWeb Archives Special Collections Project ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net *********************************************************************** OLD VIRGINIA EDITORS William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Jul., 1898), pp 9-17 OLD VIRGINIA EDITORS. The first man to use a printing-press in Virginia was John Buckner, of Goucester county, ancestor of a numerous family in the United States. He employed one William Nuthead to print the laws of the General Assembly, which was begun at James City, June 8, 1680. On February 21, 1682-'83, he was Page 10 called before the Lord Culpeper and his council for not getting his excellency's license. Thereupon he and his printer were ordered to enter into bond in L100 not to print anything thereafter "until his majesty's pleasure should be known." This order was read in the Committee of Trade in England, on September 29, 1683; and thereupon it was decided that "Lord Howard should have all necessary orders that no person be permitted to use any printing press in Virginia upon any occasion whatsover." In 1690 Lord Howard was granted instructions that "noe persons should use any press for printing without the government's especial license." (Saisbury Manuscripts.) The intervention of the mother government threw Virginia behind the other colonies in the establishment of a newspaper, though there is reason to believe that there was a printing-press at Williamsburg in the beginning of the eighteenth century. And yet it would be wrong, from a literary standpoint, to lay too much stress upon the absence of a newspaper, since the extensive shipping engaged in the Virginia trade -- far exceding the trade of the other colonies -- must have kept the colony well supplied with the newspaper literature of Edinburgh, Brisol, and London. But, be that as it may, the first editor was William Parks -- nomen proeclarum et venerabile. This gentleman was born in England, and, emigrating to Maryland, he established at Annapolis, in 1727, The Maryland Gazette, which he continued for eight years. Soon after, he established a printing-press in Williamsburg, and was employed by the governments of both colonies to print their laws, at a salary of L200 per annum. In the State Library is "A Collection of the Laws of Virginia," printed by William Parks, 1733, at Williamsburg. Encouraged by several gentlemen of the colony, he issued, on Friday, August 6, 1736, the first number of a weekly called The Virginia Gazette. This issue contained a stilted introduction characteristic of the times, but it uttered some thoughts and hints which might be useful to his successors of the craft at the present day. There is, in the Virginia Historical Society's library, a bound volume containing the first three years' issues. The type is excellent and the printing finely executed. In 1742 Parks opened up a book-store in Williamsburg, and the Faculty of the College accepted his proposal to furnish the students with books, on condition "that he take all the school-books now in the College at 35 per cent advance on the sterling cost, to make it currency." (Faculty Minutes.) This book-store was thencefor Page 11 ward run in connection with the newspaper, and kept remarkably well provided with ancient and modern classics, as shown by advertisements in the Gazette. Threre is a deed at Yorktown dated August 19, 1749, which shows that Parks had as partner in the printing establishment and store-house in Williamsburg, Mrs. Sarah Packe, widow of Capt. Graves Packe; that when the small-pox occurred in Williamsburg, Parks had established a store-house at Hanover Courthouse; and the object of the deed was to provide for a settlement of accounts between him and Mrs. Packe. Embarking for England on March 23, 1750, Parks died at sea April 1, 1750, and was buried at Gosport, England. His will, proved at Yorktown June 18, 1750, provides as follows: L100 to each of the children of his sister, Jane Spilsbury, wife of Thomas Spilsbury; to sister Elizabeth Parks, L50 current money; that his wife Eleanor Parks and his son-in-law John Shelton, of Hanover county, should "complete the printing of the Laws of Virginia which I have undertaken"; the accounts with Mrs. Sarah Packe to stand until the determination of John Garland and Benjamin Waller; son-in- law John Shelton, Benjamin Waller, and William Prentis, of Williamsburg, gentlemen, executors; and Mr. Waller to please accept L20 for executing this will; his residuary estate to fall to his daughter Eleanor Shelton. It would seem from this will that the first wife of Patrick Henry, Sarah Shelton, daughter of John Shelton, of Hanover, was granddaughter of William Parks and Eleanor his wife. It is probable, too, that Mrs. Henry derived her name, Sarah, from Mrs. Packe, who was, perhaps, connected by family ties with William Parks or his wife Eleanor.(1) The estate of William Parks was valued at L6,211, 15s, 9d. And in the accounts mention is made of L3, 14s, 3d paid Mr. ____________________________________________________ (1) Was Mrs. Packe mother of William Parks' wife? Captain Graves Packe married, first, about 1725, Mary, sister of Stevens Thompson, the Attorney-General, and widow of Thomas Booth, of York county. He died before 1732, at which time Sarah Packe was his widow. The had a son Graves, drowned in 1745, aged eighteen years. John Packe Garland, in 1771, devised his property to Mr. Holderby Dixon, in trust for the separate use of his mother, Sarah, wife of Dr. George Pitt, except a legacy to George Pitt, son of George and Sarah Pitt. The will (proved 1773) of Mrs. Sarah Pitt, wife of Dr. George Pitt, of Williamsburg, names daughter Mary Pitt, late son John Packe Garland, and sons Richard, William, and Thomas Pitt. See, also, QUARTERLY, III., pages 268, 269. Page 12 McNamara, attorney-at-law in Maryland, for docking the entail of a tract of land called "Parks Hall," and also a lot in Annapolis, and for other services. After the death of Parks, the Gazette was suspended for a few months. Then William Hunter issued his first number on January 3, 1750-'51. The title of the paper was, The Virginia Gazette, With the Freshest Advices, Foreign and Domestic. On August 15 following, Ellyson Armistead, Sheriff of York county, sold to William Hunter "lot 48, on which the printing office of William Parks stands," to satisfy a decree against John Shelton and Eleanor, his wife, daughter and heir of William Parks. Thomas, in his History of Printing, says that William Hunter was born at Yorktown, Virginia. He had a brother, Col. John Hunter, of "Little England," anciently Capps' Point (near (Hampton.) Col. Hunter is frequently mentioned in the Letters of Gov. Dinwiddie, and was an important merchant. In 1766, he sold out to Capel & Osgood Hanbury & Richard Goslin, of London, and was residing at South St., in the parish of St. George's, near Hanover Square, with his wife, Amelia, and his daughter, Isabella. William Hunter, his brother, was a great friend of Benjamin Franklin, and in 1753 was appointed with him deputy postmaster general, which office he held during life. Like his predecessor, he printed the laws and kept a book- store. He died in August, 1761. His will was proved at Yorktown, August 17, 1761. Desires his executors to enter into a partnership with Joseph Royle to carry on "the business I am at present engaged in at the printing office in Williamsburg" for the equal benefit of Joseph Royle and "his natural son, William Hunter (under age), now living with Benjamin Weldon." Gives to his son, William Hunter, all his stock in partnership with James Tarpley,(1) also the houses and lot in Williamsburg No. 48, where the printing office is now kept. Leaves legacies to his "brother and sisters," names the wife of Rev. Joseph Davenport, Rosanna Hunter and Eliza Holt,(2) daughter of [John Holt]. "I give to Miss Molly Davenport all the books and pamphlets in the closet and book-cases at my dwelling-house." Desires L100 to be laid out in the purchase of mourning rings to ___________________________________________________ (1) On the old bell, which was rung the years for over a century and a third from the steeple of the old church in Williamsburg, is engraved: The gift of James Tarpley to Bruton Parish, 1761." The clock on the steeple is said to have been taken from the Capitol. (2) See note on John Holt, brother-in-law of William Hunter. Page 13 be presented as a token of my friendship to John Hunter, Esq., Mrs. Emelia Hunter, Benjamin Franklin, George Wythe, Nathaniel Walthoe(1), Robert Carter Nicholas, William Small(2), Benjamin Waller, Thomas Everard(3), and James Tarpley. The estate of William Hunter, Esq., was valued at L8,614, 8, 1-1/4. Among the items of the settlement is "L7, paid by the executors to Ann Wager for teaching the negro school." Upon lot 48 on the Main St. (Duke of Gloucester St.) was William Hunter's frame residence of a story and a half, and the small printing office(4). The parlor of the house was furnished with the following articles: L s. 2 large glasses with sconces, 10 1 chimney glass with sconces, 5 1 grate, fender, tongs, shovel and bellows with a poker 5 10 12 mahogany chairs, two of them armed 20 00 1 square maho. table, L4; 2 card tables, L5; 1 round table, L1, 15s, 10 15 1 sea-chest, 18s; 1 large carpet, L4; 1 sea piece in gilt frame, 15s., 5 13 19 prints with glass in frames, L3, 1 fire screen, L1, 10s 4 10 _______ [60 18] His bed chamber had the following furniture: 1 bed, bedsted, curtain, bolster, and pillows 13 5 6 chairs, with hair bottoms 3 18 1 writing table, 10s.; 1 mahogany des, L7, 7 10 1 sea chest, 15s.; 1 dressing glass, 15s; 1 carpet, L1, 2 10 1 Grate, shovel, tongs, L1 5s., 1 bellows, harth brush, 1 10 One landscape in a frame, 5s., 5 ______________________________________________________ (1) Clerk of the council. (2) Professor of Natural Philosophy and Mathematics in the College. (3) Clerk of York county. (4) The old printing office was standing as late as March, 1896, when the square of old houses in which it stood was wholly destroyed by fire. In the ashes was found some old type. In 1775, John Dixon and Rosanna, his wife, sold to William Hunter, Jr., lot 47, "bounded on the north by Nicholson St., on the east by the lot of William Hunter, whereon the printing office now stands, on the south by Duke of Gloucester St., and on the west by a small lane." These logs are marked "Hunter" on the old map of Williamsburg in College library. Further east, on Duke of Gloucester St., was the Raleigh Tavern (burned in 1859), numbered 54, at this time owned by Anthony Hay. Page 14 L S One piece, the Ruins of Rome, in a large gilt frame, 3 0 One small piece, in a guilt frame, 15 2 small do. with glasses and frames, 2 00 Books in a closet, valued by Mr. Hunter, and left Miss Mary Davenport 28 00 We are told the Royle, who was bred to printing in England, married William Hunter's sister, Rosanna,(1) and was foreman in his printing establishment. He continued the Gazette, but died in a few years. His will was proved in Yorktown, May 19, 1766, and in it he makes a similar provision for continuing the Gazette as Hunter had. The new editor was Alexander Purdie, born in Scotland, and then living with Royle. The beneficiary was his young son, William Royle. To his son Royle gave his lots 266, 267, 268 and 700 in the plan of Williamsburg. To Hunter Royle, another son, L1,000 current money. In case of his death, his estate to be vested in the minister and church wardens of Bruton Parish for a Free School, to be called "Royle's Free School," of which he desired the teacher to have a salary of L50, to be of good character, and capable of "teaching the English language with propriety, accent, cadence, and emphasis, civility, arithmetic, and practical mathematics"; the school-house to be built on any part of lots 266 and 267, and any overplus to be applied to erecting "a monument to the memory of my worthy friend and benefactor, William Hunter, Esq., dec'd." In default of this, the money shall go to his wife Rosanna's heirs, and in default of such heirs, to be divided among the children of her brother, John Hunter, and her sister Mary Davenport. George Davenport, John Tazewell, and John Dixon, of Williamsburg, made executors. Mary Davenport, mentioned in the will, was wife of Rev. Joseph Davenport, and their daughter, Elizabeth Hunter Davenport, married her cousin, William Hunter, Jr., in 1776. After Royle's death, the usual suspension took place. The first number by Purdie, whose second wife was Peachy Davenport, sister of Rev. Joseph Davenport, was dated March 7, 1766. In a few months he joined with him John Dixon, who married Royle's _______________________________________________________ (1) William Hunter's father was evidently married twice. Mary Anne Hunter, of Elizabeth City county, does not name either William or John Hunter in her will proved February 9, 1742-'43, but daughters Mabel, Elizabeth, Mary and Rosanna. So that Rosanna Royle, was only half-sister of William Hunter. Page 15 widow, Rosanna Hunter. The price of the Gazette was fifteen shillings per year. During this year, the colonies were greatly excited over the Stamp Act, and the Gazette being deemed too much under government control, William Rind, an apprentice of Jonas Green, of Annapolis, was invited by Thomas Jefferson and leading patriots to set up an opposition paper. His first paper, bearing the same name Virginia Gazette, is said to bear date on May, 1766. He was appointed government printer by the Legislature. The motto of his paper was "Open to all parties, but influenced by none." The same year Rind, Purdie, and Dixon were presented at the instance of John Wayles (father-in-law of Thomas Jefferson) and William Byrd, for printing attacks on the Judges Blair, Thornton, and Byrd, respecting their bailment of Col. John Chiswell, who killed Robert Routledge. (See QUARTERLY, Vol. I, p. 235.) But the grand jury did not find a true bill. In 1775, there were three different Virginia Gazettes printed at Williamsburg. There was first the Virginia Gazette, edited by John Dixon and William Hunter (son of William Hunter). It appeared every Saturday. Dixon's partnership with Purdie expired December 18, 1774, and the new partnership with Hunter had been formed December 29, 1774. The first number under the new auspices appeared January 7, 1775. The issue continued the numbers of the old Gazette as before, from 1750-'51. The partnership continued through the year 1777, but as I have seen no Gazette for the year 1778, I cannot say whether it continued during 1778 or not. Thomas says Hunter was a Tory, and left the colony. The volume in the State Library beginning February 12, 1779, substitutes the name of Thomas Nicholson for Hunter. This new partnership was continued in Williamsburg till April, 1780, when the editors moved their office to Richmond. Here John Dixon died in 1791, greatly esteemed. The second Gazette was run by Alexander Purdie, with the motto, "Always for liberty and the public good." This Gazette appeared every Friday. He issued the first number February 7, 1775, and was made soon after public printer to the colony. He died at Williamsburg in 1779 of dropsy, and his will was recorded at Yorktown April 10, 1779. His children were by his first wife Mary, whose tombstone lied in Bruton church-yard. (Virginia Historical collections, Vol. XI., p. 69.) Their names were James, Hugh, Alexander, William and Jane. His inventory Page 16 mentions, 1 double writing desk, valued at L20; 1 "Midnight Modern Conversations," at L5; 3 lots of books, at L23, 3s.; "Woods Institutes," at L5; 4 large church prayer books, L12; ten years Gazette, L5; a lot of music, L5," etc. The third Gazette was by Jno. Pinckney, and appeared every Wednesday and Saturday. This Gazette was the succesor of Rind's publication. William Rind died August 19, 1773 (1), and his paper was carried on for two years by the widow Clementina Rhind, who was born in Maryland. She died two years after her husband. Jno. Pinckney succeeded her in 1775, and did other printing. He died in North Carolina in 1777. John Clarkson, the nephew of Purdie, and his apprentice, was co-partner with Augustine Davis in the publication of a Gazette at Williamsburg in April, 1778. They were printers to the State in 1779. His partner, Augustine Davis, born at Yorktown, married another member of the Davenport family, Martha Davenport, in 1778. He removed to Richmond in 1779, where, as editor of the Virginia Gazette, he was the first editor of a newspaper in that place. He was a Federalist, and was postmaster under John Adams. [Thomas' History of Printing, York Records, Elizabeth City County Records, Original Gazettes. etc.] NOTES. John Holt, brother-in-law of William Hunter, was born in 1726; received a good education; was a merchant; mayor of Williamsburg; went first to New York, and then formed a connection with James Parker, printer, in New Haven. In the summer of 1760, the business being discontinued, Holt re- __________________________________________________________ (1) The Masons, of Williamsburg, provided for his children William and John. (See QUARTERLY, Vol. I., p. 13.) Rind's inventory and appraisement has the following items: L s. d. 500 weight of long primer, @ 1/3 31 5 0 500 ditto of English, @ 1/3 35 5 0 25 ditto of double, @ 1/3, 1 11 3 25 ditto of French canon, @ 1/3, 1 11 3 Two presses, 25 0 0 Two imposing stones, 5 0 0 15 chases, 3 15 0 One rack, 0 11 0 Eight frames, 4 0 0 8 pair of cases, 18 0 0 15 gallies, 1 0 0 Composing sticks, 12 letter boards, two large pine tables and sundry other implements, etc., belonging to the printing office 5 0 0 Cutting press and other material for binding 4 0 0 Page 17 returned to New York, and, as partner, had charge of Parker's Gazette. He also kept a book-store. In 1765 he began the publication of The New York Gazette and Post-Boy. He was a man of ardent feelings, a high churchman, a firm Whig, and a good writer. He was printer to the State during the war. He died on the 30th of January, 1784. Davenport Family. -- This family was presented at Williamsburg about 1730 by Joseph Davenport, clerk of the Hustings court and town clerk, and Bedford Davenport, a lawyer. Joseph Davenport had by Margaret, his wife, (1) Elizabeth, married Anthony Hay, proprietor of the Raleigh Tavern, and was mother of George Hay, the attorney-general; (2), Margaret, twin to Elizabeth, born March 5, 1729-'30; (3) Joseph, minister of Charles Parish (married Mary Hunter), bor February 21, 1731-'32, died in 1788; (4) George Davenport, a lawyer, who died in 1766; (5) Matthew Davenport, writing master at William and Mary in 1766; (6) Judith Davenport married John Greenhow; (7) James; (8) Peachy, married Alexander Purdie; she married 2d, William Holt, and 3rd, ----------- Wills; (9) Johan Shank Davenport, twin to Peachy; (10) Sarah Davenport. (See QUARTERLY V. P. 271.) Joseph Davenport had probably an earlier wife than Margaret, as he mentions in his will a daughter, "Frances Ann Wright, now in England." (See QUARTERLY, IV., p. 271.) John Greenhow, merchant of Williamsburg, was born in Staunton, near Kendal, in Westmoreland, Great Britain, November 12, 1724, and died August 29, 1787. (Virginia Historical Collections, Vol. XI., p. 171.) He married three times: First Judith Davenport (born 1736, died January 7, 1765); second, Elizabeth Tyler, sister of Governor John Tyler; third, Rebecca Harman, daughter of Benskin Harman. Issue by first wife: (1) Robert (born May 11, 1761); (2) Ann (born December 29, 1762). Issue by second wife: (3) John (born February 4, 1769, died 1795); (4) Judith; (5) Samuel (born May 10, 1771, died February 13, 1815); (6) Elizabeth (born October 30, 1773, died 1804); (7) James; (8) George; (9) Charles; (10) Patsy. Issue by third wife: (11), Patsy (born October, 1786, died 1808, single). Of these (1), Robert Greenhow, married first, Mary Ann Wills, who was burned in the Richmond theatre in 1811, and by whom he had Robert, who married Rose O'Neil, of Washington; (2) Anne, married Armistead Long, of Culpeper; (7) James, married Miss Hardiman, and had four children; (8) George, married Elizabeth Ambler Lewis, and had twelve children, of whom Frances Elizabeth married first, Thomas Williams; second, John Nelson; Ann Wills married William Williams; Samuel C. (late treasurer of Richmond) married Mary Tinsley Johnson; Martha Bickerton married Robert H. Maury; Mary Jane married Dr. John Wayt. The other children of (8) George Greenhow died either single or in infancy. (See Virginia Historical Collections, Vol. XI., and Family MSS.)