St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-09-14
Early Printers and Newspapers.

the admirable address of Hon. E. P.
Walton before the Vermont Editors
and Publishers Association, at Ben
nington, Aug, 18th:
''The first printing press in Vermont
was probably brought by Samuel Gale,
who was married in Brattleboro in 1773,
was surveyor under New York in that
year, and appointed clerk of Cumber-
land (now Windham) county court in
IVA. He was an Englishman by birth,
well educated, a gentleman in manners,
and a tory in politics. AS clerk of the
court side in the Westminster massacre
of l775, and for that he was arrested
and imprisoned by the wings and his
property was cOnfscated by Vermont.
In fact, he was SO long in prison under
different authorities that he abandoned
the country on his release by the CONT
mental Congress and took Office in Can
ada, and subsequently pension from
the British government. The evidence
that he brought the first printing press
into Vermont is meagre, yet satisfacto-
ry. The writing Office ESQ runs the
record) of one Pale at Westminster was
cOntiscated to the use of the state by the
legislature in 1880. The name Pale
does not appear in Thomas History of
Vermont, neither does that of Samuel
Gale, but it is obvious that the p in
stead of g is a natural clerical error.
There is ample evidence that Gale was
at Westminster in l774-5 as clerk of the
court; that he was man of learning
and ambitious of authorship in I772,
and actually an author subsequently, in
England. The most reasonable infer
ence is that Gale brought printing ma
terials with him to Vermont with the
intention of using them, though by rea-
son possibly of his short residence in
the state and the lack of printers, there
is no evidence that these materials were
used by him.
''The next press brought for the use
of Vermont was established at Dresden
(new Hanover, N. H. in 1779, by Tim
Othy Green and Judah Paddock Spoon
er. In both ThOmas's History and Ia
dock Thompson's Vermont, it is stated
that they set up their press at West
minister in that year, but Thomas sub
sequently stated that they first went to
Hanover, printed newspaper for
short time, and afterward removed to
Westminster and printed the fist news
paper i'll Vermont. In October, l77S,
Dresden and Hanover (now but one
town., and nine other New Hampshire
towns were represented in the Vermont
legislature, and on the second day of
the session it was voted and resolved,
that Judah Paddock and Alden Spoon
er be and are hereby appointed printers
for the General Assembly of this state
A proclamation of Governor Chitten-
den, dated June 3, 1879, was printed
by Judah Paddock and Alden Spooner,
printers to the General Assembly of the
state of Vermont The first union of
the New Hampshire towns with Yer
mont was dissolved in February, l779,
and it is therefore probable that the
brothers Spooner had removed their Of
flee from Dresden to Westminster in
that year, and Timothy Green had tax
en- the place of Alden Spooner. How
ever that may be, it is certain that the
first newspaper within the present linn
it's of Vermont was issued at Westmin-
ster February 18th, 1881. | will de-
scribe it from copy in the library in
the Historical Society. The sheet
measures seventeen by twelve and a
half inches. Isaiah Thomas called il
pot paper. Alas How many printers
and printing offices in Vermont have
gone to pot the type to the melter
and retiner, to come ont anew, as brill
liant as silver, to print the wisdom that
is more precious than gold; and the
poor printers, l would gladly hope with
Benjamin Franklin, to appear once
more in a new and more elegant edition
corrected and revised by the author /
read the title: Volume l, No. 8. The
The Vermont Gazette or Green Mountain
Post Boy. Monday, April 2, 1881
PLANT as reeds where streams of free,
dom glide firm as the hills to stem
Oppression's tide. Westminster, print
ed by Judah Paddock Spooner anG
Timothy Green will state its con.
tents, and first the class most profitable
to the printer-the advertisements
there are four, viz: A notice of an ap-
| plicatiOn for a meeting of the prOprie
tors of the town of Dorset a commits.
sioner's notice; promise of reward fol
settlers in the town of Killington (now
Sherburne); and the standing adver.
tisement in every Vermont newspaper
for many years, Cash given for any
kind of linen rags Next | turn to the
editorial, eight lines in all, announcing
an adjourned session of the General
Court at Windsor, meaning the legisla-
ture, to consider the proposed union OF
a large part of New Hampshire will
| Vermont; and report of the capture
of General Arnold with all his troops
And now for the news: Two columns
| and half are given to Revolutionary
war news and three columns to foreign
news, the last being more than can bt
found ordinarily in any number of &
Vermont newspaper of the present day
On the fourth page is 'ParnassiaI
Packet containing an ode on charity
and complete the list of contents by
Noticing a well-written political article
by contributor, the first of a series
| against the annexation of part of New
York to Vermont, which was then pro-
posed in Western Vermont as balance
to the New Hampshire territory that
was coveted by Eastern Vermont. And
this reminds me of prominent feature
in the early newspapers of Vermont, tC
which l will barely advert. The editors
Matthew Lyon being an exception,
think, to the general rule-paid little
ao1cnoiou " polllIcdl mdGleTS, leaVlns
this to their contributors, among whom
were the ablest men in the state-the
Aliens, Chipmans, Bradleys aud Rob-
insons; and in both politics and litera.
ture contributions were frequent from
Chief Justice Tyler, Jas. Elliott, Thos
G. Fessenden the poet, and probably
from Chief Justice Prentiss, who was
an associate with Fessenden and an in.
innate friend. This list of contribu.
tors could be considerably extended
proving that the best minds in the state
were jealous for the public good. anC