Huguenot Historical Society
Early American
Newspaper Collection (1783-1835)
Finding Aid completed by Eric Roth 3/2/2000
Last revised 7/5/2005
Volume: 0.5 cu. ft., 32 items.
Acquisition: The newspaper were donated separately and aggregated
together at the repository. Acquisition information for each item is
provided in the Item Descriptions section.
Access:
Unrestricted.
Copyright: Request for permission to publish materials from these
records should be discussed with the Archivist and Director of the
Huguenot Historical Society.
Collection Description
The Early
American Newspaper Collection is a miscellaneous
aggregation of 34 newspapers (15 different titles) in
original print form dating from the late 18th and early
19th centuries. The majority of the titles were printed
at Kingston, NY, but other issues come from Newburgh,
NY, New York City, Philadelphia, and Staunton, VA. There
are no runs of papers, only single issues, although there
are multiple issues of the Ulster County Gazette,
Ulster Palladium, and The Plebian, all
from Kingston. More complete runs of all of titles found
in the collection are maintained on microfilm by the Library
of Congress, the New York State Newspaper Project in Albany,
NY, as well as by other libraries around the state. A
list of Ulster County newspaper titles on microfilm from
this time period is available at the repository upon request.
The overall physical
condition of the collection ranges from poor to fair, with most
items showing signs of damage from tearing, folding, fading,
and yellowing. Most of the newspapers span two to four pages,
although some items are fragments only. There are no restrictions
on access to the newspapers, however, the papers are fragile
and must be handled with extreme caution. The newspapers are
organized chronologically, regardless of title.
For local historians,
the greatest strength of the collection is the documentation
of business activities in Ulster County in the advertisement
sections. These advertisements provide information regarding
the formation and sales of businesses such as restaurants, coffee
houses, taverns, mills, tanneries, canal and road companies,
brokerage and law firms, farms, and factories. They provide
information on the sales of land, ships, livestock, farm tools
and equipment, books, medicines and other remedies for common
ailments, and domestic goods such as foods, kitchenware, clothing,
and other household items. Other advertisements seek apprentices
or journeymen for hire in industries such as shoemaking, blacksmithing,
“saddle and harness making,” and general and specialty stores.
The advertisements also provide a rich source for documenting
the institution of slavery through notices for the sales of
slaves and rewards offered for the return of runaway slaves.
These advertisements and notices often provide information regarding
the names, ages, clothing, hairstyles, work skills, ownership,
and price values of slaves.
In addition to the advertisements,
the contents of the newspapers cover a variety of subjects such
as political and military affairs; natural disasters and sensational
criminal acts; local transportation schedules (shipping, stage
coach, etc.); obituaries; weekly price indexes for domestic
goods; and miscellaneous material such as poems, jokes and novelty
stories. Of specific interest are numerous articles discussing
political matters at the state and national levels. Several
of the newspapers report local and state election returns and
copies of published letters of resignations submitted by elected
officials in the New York State Legislature and U.S. Cabinet.
Several Presidential and Gubernatorial addresses and legislative
reports discuss topics such as national and state trade tariffs,
canal construction, foreign and Indian relations, anti-masonic
philosophy, the Temperance and Abolitionist movements, and funding
for education and prison construction. There are also foreign
intelligence reports on Europe, the Middle East and North Africa,
and the Caribbean; and reports on diplomatic and military developments
during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.
Item List
#1: The New York
Morning Post , New York , NY (Friday, November 7, 1783).
#2: The Pennsylvania
Packet, and Daily Advertiser , Philadelphia , PA (Tuesday,
September 21, 1784).
#3: London 's
New York Packet , New York , NY (Thursday, March 17, 1785).
#4: The Newburgh
Packet , Newburgh , NY (Monday, June 19, 1797).
#5: Ulster County
Gazette , Kingston , NY (Saturday, July 13, 1799).
#6: Ulster County
Gazette , Kingston , NY (Saturday, July 20, 1799).
#7: Ulster County
Gazette , Kingston , NY (Saturday, January 4, 1800).
#8: Ulster County
Gazette , Kingston , NY (Saturday, October, 31, 1801).
#9: Ulster County
Gazette , Kingston , NY (Saturday, January 23, 1802).
#10: The Rights of
Man , Newburgh , NY (Thursday, May 20, 1802)
#11: The Plebian
, Kingston , NY (Wednesday, November 9, 1803)
#12: Unknown, possibly
Kingston , NY . (Winter or Spring 1805)
#13: Unknown, possibly
Ulster County Gazette , Kingston , NY (March 9, 1805).
#14: Unknown, possibly
Kingston , NY (June 1805).
#15: Ulster County
Gazette , Kingston , NY (January 1806)
#16: The Plebian
, Kingston , NY (October 1807).
#17: Unknown, possibly
Kingston , NY (March 1808)
#18: New York
Spectator , New York , NY (Saturday, July 15, 1809).
#19: The Plebian
, Kingston , NY (Tuesday, March 26, 1811).
#20: Ulster County
Gazette , Kingston , NY (Tuesday, January 7, 1812)
#21: Republican Farmer
, Staunton , VA (Thursday, February 18, 1813)
#22: Unknown, possibly
Albany , NY (March 1815).
#23: Ulster
Plebian , Kingston , NY (Tuesday, February 3, 1818).
#24: New York
Spectator , New York , NY (Friday, January 16, 1824).
#25: Unknown, possibly
Kingston , NY (1829).
#26: Unknown, possibly
Kingston , NY (Fall 1829).
#27: The Ulster Palladium
, Kingston , NY (Tuesday, April 6, 1830).
#28: The Ulster Palladium
, Kingston , NY (Tuesday, May 18, 1830).
#29: The Ulster Palladium
, Kingston , NY (Wednesday, May 11, 1831).
#30: The Ulster Sentinel
, Kingston , NY (Wednesday, December 19, 1832).
#31: Ulster County
Whig , Rondout , NY (Wednesday, September 9, 1835).
#32: Plebian ,
Kingston (Tuesday, May 14, 1811)
#33: Unknown, possibly
Kingston , NY (ca. 1835)
Item Descriptions
Newspaper #1
: The New York Morning Post, New York, NY
(Friday, November 7, 1783). Date and source of acquisition unknown.
Paper is torn around edges and slightly brittle. Contents include
articles and advertisements relating to the Revolutionary War
such as proclamations and orders from the office of the Commander
in Chief, General Washington's Farewell Address to the Armies
of the United States ; Congressional news, and an anti-loyalist
poem entitled “Tory's Soliloquy.” There are also numerous advertisements
for the sale of ships, houses and property, books, public auctions
and imported domestic goods. One advertisement offers a reward
for the capture and return of a runaway servant from Belfast
, Ireland named Patrick Gelson. There is also an advertisement
posted by a woman attempting to find work as a wet-nurse.
Newspaper #2
: The Pennsylvania Packet, and Daily Advertiser,
Philadelphia, PA (Tuesday, September 21, 1784). Forms part of
the Hendricus DuBois Family Papers (1702-1927). Date
and source of acquisition unknown. Paper in fair condition showing
early signs of brittleness. The print is faded, but most of
the text is still legible. Articles and advertisement relate
primarily to shipping news, crime reports, and items for sale
such as domestic goods, ships, books, land and brokerage services.
Items of interest include schedules for ships departing to Europe
and the Caribbean; Foreign Intelligence reports concerning military
and political affairs in Dublin, London, Hamburg and Turkey,
etc.; articles concerning ships recently sunk in the Caribbean;
and cash rewards for stolen objects. There are also numerous
reports of thefts and other crimes. One advertisement offers
a reward for a runaway slave woman.
Newspaper #3
: London 's New York Packet, New
York, NY (Thursday, March 17, 1785). Forms part of the Hendricus
DuBois Family Papers (1702-1927). Date and source of acquisition
unknown. Paper is wrinkled, dirty, and weak. Contents include
numerous advertisements and notices for sales of farms, livestock,
property, and domestic and imported goods; listings for weekly
tide-measurements; current prices for common foodstuffs; an
advertisement offering a reward for a runaway slave; and editorials
discussing tax and import tarrif rates, freedom of speech, and
slavery.
Newspaper #4
: The Newburgh Packet, Newburgh, NY (Monday,
June 19, 1797). Apparently belonged to a J.G. Johnston. Date
and source of acquisition unknown. Paper badly torn, some text
is lost. Contents primarily relate to local news such as runaway
livestock and slaves; ships, land and domestic goods for sale;
and shipping schedules. Other items include a detailed account
of the activities of the U.S. Congress for June 5-8, and reports
on the German Army of the Rhine and a mutiny within the British
Navy. Marginalia discusses the transfer of property from the
Terwilliger family to the Jansen family.
Newspaper #5
: Ulster County Gazette, Kingston,
NY (Saturday, July 13, 1799). Forms part of the Philip DuBois
Bevier Family Papers (1685-1910). Collection donated by
Richard Borcherding Bevier in 1958-1960 and in 1965. Paper
dirty but otherwise in good condition. Includes various articles
excerpted from the Albany Centinel concerning the court sentence
of the tax-resistance group known as the “Liberty Pole Lads,”
news of relations with the Native Americans in Ohio and Kentucky,
a Hessian fly outbreak that destroyed significant amounts of
wheat in New York, and a proclamation by U.S. President John
Adams discussing the suspension of trade between the United
States and France. Advertisements generally concern the sale
of farms, land, and domestic goods. One notice offers for sale
a slave woman and her young child.
Newspaper #6
: Ulster County Gazette , Kingston
, NY (Saturday, July 20, 1799). Forms part of the Philip
DuBois Bevier Family Papers (1685-1910). Collection donated
by Richard Borcherding Bevier in 1958-1960 and in 1965. Paper
dirty, but otherwise in good condition. Contents include articles
and letters discussing relations between the U.S. Government
and the Mackasooky Indians of Florida, shipping schedules and
news from the Americas and abroad; an advertisement for the
sale of a slave woman, and a notice of the accidental death
of two men during a cannon mishap on the Fourth of July at Salem,
NY. There are also several advertisements for sales of land
and goods.
Newspaper #7
: Ulster County Gazette , Kingston
, NY (Saturday, January 4, 1800) – 10 copies (reprints). Date
and source of acquisition unknown. Late 19 th century reprints
of this infamous issue recording the burial of George Washington.
The issue also includes articles on international political
and military news, foreclosure statements executed by Sherrif
Peter Ten Broeck, and store and private advertisements for the
sale of livestock, slaves, domestic goods, sawmills, houses,
and property.
Newspaper #8
: Ulster County Gazette, Kingston,
NY (Saturday, October, 31, 1801). Date and source of acquisition
unknown. Paper folded and torn, some text is lost. Contents
include notices of land transactions, announcements from the
Sheriff, international news reports on affairs in Europe and
North Africa, death notices, reports of stolen goods, notices
of domestic goods for sale, and two poems entitled “The Simile”
and “Hope”.
Newspaper #9
: Ulster County Gazette, Kingston,
NY (Saturday, January 23, 1802). Apparently belonged to R. Lounsberry.
Probably donated by Sarah Lounsberry in 1972. Paper folded,
wrinkled and dirty. Print faded but still legible. Includes
notices of land for sale in Western New York and Ohio, a report
from the National Treasury, advertisement for the sale of a
brewery in Kingston , Sherriff's sales and announcements, poems,
and obituaries. Contains signatures of R. Lounsberry and another
unidentified member of the Lounsberry family.
Newspaper #10
: The Rights of Man, Newburgh, NY (Thursday,
May 20, 1802). Date and source of acquisition unknown. Paper
very weak and dirty. Edges frayed and torn. Contents include
articles concerning diplomatic negotiations between the United
States Government and Napoleon, election results for Orange
County, NY, price index of foodstuffs and dry goods, and store
and private advertisements for the sales of domestic goods,
land, blank legal documents, farms and stores.
Newspaper #11
: The Plebian , Kingston, NY (Wednesday,
November 9, 1803) Forms part of the Patterson DuBois Family
Papers (1775-1921). Collection donated by Mrs. Sidney Johnson
in 1991. Paper dirty, folded and torn, some text lost. Includes
a notice for the sale of a brewery, report on the purchase of
New Orleans , and parts of Florida, advertisement for the 1804
edition of the Farmer's Almanac and Ulster And Dutchess
Counties Register, and general public notices.
Newspaper #12
: Unknown, possibly Kingston , NY. (Winter or Spring
1805). Date and source of acquisition unknown. Fragment only.
Contains articles on the escape and recapture of convicted murderer
Isaiah Martin in Baltimore , advertisements for medial remedies,
farms, and goods for sale; and legal notices, including one
concerning a woman who ran away from her husband. Written in
one of the margins is the phrase “boundaries of Hasbroucks patent
and DuBois patent.”
Newspaper #13
: Unknown, possibly Ulster County Gazette,
Kingston, NY (March 9, 1805). Date and source of acquisition
unknown. Paper edges torn and frayed, some text lost. Contents
include election results in the town of Kingston , and news
of recent U.S. Presidential appointments and Naval actions in
the Mediterranean near Tripoli. There are also store and private
advertisements for the sale of items such as mills, farms, houses
and property, livestock, domestic goods, shares for the Ulster
and Delaware Turnpike Road Company, and a notice concerning
a woman who ran away from her husband.
Newspaper #14 : Unknown,
possibly Kingston, NY (June 1805). Date and source of
acquisition unknown. Fragment only. Paper dirty and torn.
Includes advertisements of remedies for common ailments,
store and private advertisements for the sale of land,
a covered wagon, domestic goods, and a notice seeking
a blacksmith journeyman. There are also articles concerning
French Naval movements in the Caribbean and the capture
of Antigua.
Newspaper
#15 : Ulster County Gazette,
Kingston, NY (January 1806). Date and source of acquisition
unknown. Fragment only, fair condition. Includes store
advertisements for domestic goods, private advertisements
for the sale of land, farms, and houses by Josiah Deyo,
Petrus DuBois, Isaac LaFever, and John Van Vleeck. One
article discusses a case of murder and attempted suicide
by prisoner Josiah Burnhams in Haverhill, New Hampshire.
There is also an announcement of a fulling-mill recently
opened at High Falls in the town of Marbletown, Ulster
County by David Hasbrouck.
Newspaper
#16 : The Plebian, Kingston, NY (October
1807). Date and source of acquisition unknown. Paper badly
torn, much text lost. Contents include article entitled
“The Case of Aaron Burr” concerning a court case where
Aaron Burr testified against suspected military deserter
Jacob Dunbaugh; an article reporting recent diplomatic
negotiations between the U.S. and Britain concerning Naval
movements; and advertisements for the sale of land, farms,
and grist mills. There is also an advertisement from tailor
John Hogg in Kingston seeking to hire a journeyman.
Newspaper #17
: Unknown, possibly Kingston , NY (March 1808). Date
and source of acquisition unknown. Fragment only. Includes advertisements
for the sale of mills, farms, stoneware, land and houses; advertisements
for the Ulster and Delaware Turnpike Road Company and Saugerties
& Woodstock Turnpike Road Company.
Newspaper #18 : New
York Spectator, New York, NY (Saturday,
July 15, 1809). Date and source of acquisition unknown.
Paper in fair condition. Contains weekly price index for
domestic goods, obituary notices, crime reports, Congressional
news, European political and military news, and a list
of phrases suitable for toasting Independence Day celebrations.
There are also advertisements for the sale of books, medicines,
insurance, mineral water and stores in New York, a reward
offered for military deserters, and an advertisement for
a young boy apprentice wanted for “particulars.”
Newspaper
#19 : The Plebian, Kingston, NY (Tuesday,
March 26, 1811). Date and source of acquisition unknown.
Paper in fair condition, some tears along masthead. Contains
legal notices, an article on the Spanish Americans move
to secure independence from Europe, foreign intelligence
reports, reward offered for runaway slave, and announcements
for college lotteries, and notices concerning the Kingston
Academy. There are also advertisements for the sale and
lease of land, farms, houses, stores, sloops, and a tannery.
Newspaper #20
: Ulster County Gazette , Kingston
, NY (Tuesday, January 7, 1812). Date and source of acquisition
unknown. Paper in good condition, some fraying around edges.
Advertisements for the sale of land and domestic and manufactured
goods: a notice mentioning the “Old Kingston Coffee House:”
news of an earthquake in Charleston, South Carolina, and news
of fires in Philadelphia, Trenton, New Jersey, and Richmond,
Virginia. There are also several articles and poems concerning
New Year's Day.
Newspaper
#21 : Republican Farmer, Staunton, VA
(Thursday, February 18, 1813). Date and source of acquisition
unknown. Paper in good condition, minor fraying around
edges. Transcript of a speech by Josiah Quincy concerning
the War of 1812, news of British Naval movements near
Virginia, reward offered for runaway slave, an announcement
for a patented remedy for common ailments entitled “Columbia
Oil,” and advertisements for the sale of land in Rockbridge
County, Virginia .
Newspaper #22
: Unknown, possibly Albany , NY (March 1815). Date
and source of acquisition unknown. Fragment only, good condition.
Contains announcements and shipping and stage coach transportation
schedules between New York City and Albany , an announcement
of the U.S. Declaration of War against Algiers, notices of theatre
productions, national lotteries, and notices for the sale of
wood and furniture. There is also marginalia concerning an 8,000
acre tract of land for sale.
Newspaper #23
: Ulster Plebian, Kingston, NY (Tuesday,
February 3, 1818). Date and source of acquisition unknown. Paper
very dirty but otherwise in good condition. Print is faded but
still legible. Much of the contents consist of the transcript
and critiques of a speech given by New York State Governor George
Clinton discussing the agricultural industry, construction of
canals and roads, education, military, and crime and prisons.
There are also advertisements for a coffee house in Kingston,
an apprentice wanted for the “Saddle and Harness Making Business,”
recently opened stores and a footwear manufacturing business,
a book auction, sales of land, and “Thayer's Patent Water Wheel.”
Newspaper
#24 : New York Spectator ,
New York , NY (Friday, January 16, 1824). Probably belonged
to J.W. Jansen. Forms part of Jansen Family Papers
(1706-1869). Collection donated by Elaine Kniffen
in 1983 and 1985. Fragment only, torn, some text
lost. Article concerning "intrigue and conspiracy
afoot in Albany," notices of suicide and an accidental
hunting death, Court Martial of English officer for "dilatoriness,"
an article concerning a movement in Georgia to abolish
the practice of imprisonment for faulty debtors, and tally
of money raised at West Point for the "Greek Fund."
Newspaper
#25 : Unknown, probably The Ulster Palladium,
Kingston, NY, Jan. 1830. Date and source of acquisition
unknown. Fragment only, torn. Contains advertisements
for the sale of land, farms, domestic goods, minerals,
and medicines and surgical instruments; notices for the
blacksmithing, tanning, book printing and wagon and plough
manufacturing businesses; shipping schedules, and a bank
note exchange table for New England states and New York
State, There is also a notice of the Horse Thief Detection
Society, which was founded in New Paltz. The notice includes
an extensive list of local names.
Newspaper #26
: Unknown, possibly Kingston , NY (Fall 1829). Date
and source of acquisition unknown. Articles and notices concerning
anti-masonic philosophy, election results from various counties
in Pennsylvania, advertisements for land and stores, and a restaurant
for sale on Wall Street in Kingston.
Newspaper #27
: The Ulster Palladium , Kingston , NY (Tuesday,
April 6, 1830). Belonged to Daniel Gerow. Forms part of the
Gerow Family Papers (1753-1950). Collection donated
in 1972 by Mrs. Edgar R. Jones and Mrs. Francis Maymaley, and
in 1983 by Lois Gerow Frankel. Paper in very good condition.
Contains an article concerning debates in the New York State
Legislature over the anti-masonic movement, historical articles
about Wakonda and Esopus, NY, a weekly bank-note table, local
election returns, advertisements for the Delaware & Hudson
Canal, and miscellaneous jokes and other witticisms. There are
also advertisements for the sale of domestic goods, land, farms,
clothing, furniture, tomb stones, sloops, remedies for “swelled
neck,” and a recently patented washing machine.
Newspaper #28 : The
Ulster Palladium, Kingston , NY (Tuesday, May 18,
1830). Belonged to Daniel Gerow. Forms part of the Gerow
Family Papers (1753-1950). Collection donated in
1972 by Mrs. Edgar R. Jones and Mrs. Francis Maymaley,
and in 1983 by Lois Gerow Frankel. Paper in good condition.
Contents include a letter of resignation from New York
State Legislator John C. Spencer, an article on a law
enacted to exempt Revolutionary War Veterans from debtor's
prison, articles promoting anti-masonic philosophy and
the Temperance Movement, and news of accidental deaths
and other novelty stories. There are also advertisements
for the sale of domestic goods, farms, land, stores, lumber,
furniture and other items.
Newspaper
#29 : The Ulster Palladium, Kingston,
NY (Wednesday, May 11, 1831). Belonged to Daniel Gerow.
Forms part of the Gerow Family Papers (1753-1950).
Collection donated in 1972 by Mrs. Edgar R. Jones
and Mrs. Francis Maymaley, and in 1983 by Lois Gerow Frankel.
Paper in good condition. Contents include an address by
members of the New York State legislature on anti-masonic
philosophy, letter of resignation written by U.S. Secretary
of State Martin Van Buren to President Andrew Jackson,
and a memorial notice of the death of Daniel D. Demarest
of Plattekill, Ulster County, NY. There are also advertisements
for the sale of land, farms, domestic goods and kitchenware,
and horses.
Newspaper #30
: The Ulster Sentinel, Kingston, NY (Wednesday,
December 19, 1832). Belonged to Johannis Schoonmaker. Date and
source of acquisition unknown. Paper in good condition, edges
frayed. Contents include a proclamation by U.S. President Andrew
Jackson on trade tariffs and South Carolina, county election
returns for New York State, an article on South Carolina 's
secession movement, and an article promoting the development
of a Lyceum (an intellectual society that promotes public discourse)
in Kingston. There are no advertisements in this issue.
Newspaper #31 : Ulster
County Whig , Rondout, NY (Wednesday, September
9, 1835). Forms part of the Gerow Family Papers (1753-1950).
Collection donated in 1972 by Mrs. Edgar R. Jones
and Mrs. Francis Maymaley, and in 1983 by Lois Gerow Frankel.
Paper in good condition. Contains political discussions
on the Temperance movement and anti-abolitionist philosophy,
foreign intelligence reports, brigade orders of the New
York State Infantry, obituaries, shipping schedules, and
advertisements for the sale of land, farms and farm tools,
remedies for common ailments, wines and ales, and mills
and other businesses.
Newspaper
#32: Plebian, Kingston (Tuesday, May
14, 1811). Acquisition unknown. Belonged to John Vanderlyn,
the celebrated painter from Kingston. Includes advertisements
for the sale of farms, slaves, dry goods, and turnipike
stock. Also, political and international news, and poetry.
Newspaper #33:
Unknown, possibly Kingston, NY (ca. 1835). Donated
in 1962 by C.E.C. Longyear. Includes advertisements and announcements
pertaining to books, printing supplies, tanners, domestic goods
and groceries, paint, timber, law offices, livestock, steamships,
etc.
Newspaper #34: Political Index,
Newburgh , NY (Tuesday, March 18, 1828). Acquisition unknown.
Includes news of the “Capture of Constantinople by the
Turks,” the Battle of Navarin, and other foreign military
news; articles on courtship and mourning for the deceased,
biographical portraits of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella
of Spain in relation to Columbus' discovery of America;
pending Congressional bills on payments to veterans, internal
improvements, and tarrifs; notices of local marriages
and deaths, and advertisements for the sale of farms,
paper, and clothing. There are is also a poetry column,
the North Boat Steam Boat Line schedule, and an advertisement
seeking a “woman to manage a dairy: also a man to work
on a farm.”
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