FAMILY HISTORY AND STORIES
James Parker - The Printer
The first permanent press in New Jersey was not established until 1754, by James Parker, a native of Woodbridge. Parker served an apprenticeship under William Bradford in New York, but "ran away" before his service was up. For a while, he took refuge under Ben Franklin's roof in Philadelphia, until (we can speculate) Franklin persuaded him to return and finish out his apprenticeship (Dyer.) Later, Franklin again helped him to establish his first print shop, in New York. Parker was an early defender of the freedom of the press (though this freedom had not yet really been won, in the colonies) when he was accused of libel for printing an essay by a Native American on the virtues of his Native religion.
While still printing in New York, Parker started a newspaper, the New York Weekly Post-Boy,in 1743. This paper enjoyed wide circulation in New York. He was also New York's public printer from 1744-1752, which gave him all the government publications printing jobs. In 1753 he entered a partnership with his former employee, William Weyman, and Weyman stayed to run the press in New York while Parker returned to his hometown of Woodbridge. There he established New Jersey's first permanent press. In 1758 he started New Jersey's first magazine, the New American Magazine. It was published monthly for two years, and Dyer considers it Parker's greatest printing achievement in New Jersey.
Parker was given the title Government Printer for New Jersey in 1758, and later King's Printer for New Jersey, a title he held until his death in 1770. In 1765 he established a press in Burlington, in the hope that his son, Samuel, would maintain the Woodbridge office. His son, however, disappointed him greatly in this regard. Dyer believes Parker's tragic flaw was his bad choice of partners, and much of his life he was embroiled in lawsuits with some of them. His one loyal lifelong friend, however, turned out to be Benjamin Franklin. Most of the early printers had trouble turning a profit; supplies were hard to come by, and subscribers often did not pay their bills. Thus, Parker died in debt, even though he had been New Jersey's primary printer for fifteen years.
One of Parker's apprentices, Hugh Gaine, made an odd name for himself during the Revolution. For about three months, he fled the British in New York and printed his patriot-supporting newspaper, the New York Gazette in Newark. At the same time, Loyalist printers in New York continued to print his paper there (with obviously a different editorial slant), but still bearing Gaine's name. Then, he became a turncoat, and returned to New York to print his paper there as a Loyalist.
Reprint: http://www.constantreader.org/printers/intro.html
Want to read more history and stories?
|
