Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-19
DONE In PHILADELPHIA

j. ford, who chats so pleasantly every alter-
noon in the next column but one to this, was
a man of historic figure in any account oil
! American journalism or printing. AS already
| have mentioned the editor who first pup
lished an evening paper in this city, I now
want to call to your mind the man who
printed the first newspaper published In this
country south of Massachusetts,.
! This was Andrew Bradford, the son of
| William Bradford who was the first printer
! in Pennsylvania, and, for that matter, in the
Middle Colonies. Andrew was born in Phta-
delphia in 1886, the year his father issued the
first publication from his press.
! There is strong reason to believe that Will
| lam Bradford came to this country with Will
| lam Penn, and this is one of the things that
| will be cleared up when my friend Albert
Cook Myers completes his search for mate
rials for life of the founder of Pennsylvania.
Mr.. Myers is now in England, and is hard at
work gathering and copying letters and docu-
ments for his projected definitive edition of
the works of Penn. I have assumed that
he will subsequently write life of Penn in
view of the immense amount of unknown
material he has already garnered from the
old families in this country and in England
and Ireland.
1t is only fair to Mr.. Myers to say that
he has not yet declared that he will do this,
but when 1 suggested it to him, he would not
deny that such an idea had come to him. also.
All the early Bradfords were men of dis.
tinction, and held high position among their
fellow citizens here and in New York, but
today want talk about Andrew in par
ticular
DEADERS of Franklns autobiography
~ will get an impression of the man and
printer that probably Is a little prejudiced.
have no doubt that Franklin intended to be
fair to his rival In business both as printer
and as a newspaper publisher, but he does
attempt to deride both the subject matter
that appeared in Bradford's Weekly Mercury
and also the Typography of that and the
other publications that came from Bradfords
Press.
After the elder Bradford has been arrested
for an indiscretion, by order of the Provin-
cial Assembly, and his printing shop over
hauled with the thoroughness of the old Rus
sian Secret Police, the victim decided to
shake the dust of Philadelphia and set up a
shop in New York, where inducements had
been made to him by the Legislature. This
was in 1693 when his son Andrew was about
seven years of age. The boy afterward was
placed in his fathers shop and learned the
trade.
There was only a limited amount of print
ing to be obtained in New York and the Brad
fords got it. There was a little in New Jer-
sey, and they got that, too, but in the greater
city of Philadelphia and in the more promis-
ing province of Pennsylvania there was lot
of trade that was going to others, and the
Bradfords seem to have decided that Andrew
would better go to Philadelphia and, on the
strength of the house. get the official and
other business.
So in 1872 w find An1revv
back in the city Of his BIRTH opening a print
ing house or, has been suggested, merely
taking over the shop which William Bradford
had left in the charge of Reiner Jensen.
At this time the only attempt to issue
newspaper in this country had been promptly
suppressed in Boston. This the News
Letter, a little half sheet that believe made
its appearance once; for the publisher, hav-
ing had the audacity to comment upon the
characters OF the assembly, it was promptly
closed up.
TN THOSE days the liberty of the press had
i not yet been regarded constitutional
right, and no printer dared make the VEN
ture. However, in 1719 another Boston at
tempt was made, with the Boston Gazette.
The same year Andrew Bradford b can the
publication Of his American Weekly Mer-
curry, and this was continued for many
years. The first number was issued on Tues
day, December 22, 171s, the day after Bostons
Gazette appeared. Among the reasons an
nounced for the appearance of the paper was
the general one, ''the encouragement of
trade"
1t was small four-page sheet, with a very
crude picture of postboy ornamenting the
wings of the title. There was little of what
we now would call news, and for long time
the only attempt at literary establishment
was occasional excerpts from some of the
English periodicals.
Although the elder Bradford renounced
his membership in the Society of Friends, the
Friends seem to have brought a great part
of their printing to the younger Bradford
when he began here, He also became the
printer to the province, and the so-called
Bradford Laws were all printed at his shop.
The exact location of his office cannot be
learned, but it seems to have been at one
time at the corner of Second street and
Black Horse alley between Market and
Chestnut streets. Outside hung his sign of
the Bible.
ANDREW BRADFORD also was one OF the
"A earliest postmasters Of Philadelphia II
not the first and. OF course, his shop was the
postoffice. Franklin was envious of him in
this position realizing that to be postmaster
and have the control of the postboys was
newspaper. How Franklin managed to get this
office and how he turned the tables on Brad
ford by bribing the postboys to neglect Brad
fords Mercury and take care of his Gazette
is very characteristic of the great philoso-