Benjamin Edes (October 15, 1732 – December 11, 1803) was an
early American printer, publisher, newspaper
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
and a revolutionary advocate before and during the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
. He is best known, along with
John Gill, as the publisher of the ''
Boston Gazette
The ''Boston Gazette'' (1719–1798) was a newspaper published in Boston, in the British North American colonies. It was a weekly newspaper established by William Brooker, who was just appointed Postmaster of Boston, with its first issue release ...
'', a colonial newspaper which sparked and financed the
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell t ...
and was influential during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
.
[ Wilson & Fisk (eds.), 1900, p. 302]
Early life
He was born on October 28, 1732 in
Charlestown,
Province of Massachusetts
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of E ...
. He was one of seven children of
Peter Edes and Esther Hall.
[NEHGS, p.16] His great-grandfather was John Edes. He was born in England, March 31. 1651, son of Rev. John Edes, rector of Lanford,
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
and a graduate of
St. Johns College, Cambridge, England. He relocated to Charlestown in 1674. John was a ship carpenter and lived in Charlestown; by wife Mary Tufts, the daughter of
Peter Tufts, a prominent early citizen of
Medford, he had the following children: John, Edward, Mary, Peter, Jonathan and Sarah Edes.
[Cutter, p.975]
Marriage
He married about 1754, at Boston, Massachusetts, Martha Starr, who was christened on June 22, 1729 at the
Brattle Street Church[Church in Brattle Square, p.145] in Boston,
Suffolk County, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Joseph Starr and Margaret Bulman. She was the great great granddaughter of Dr. Comfort Starr of Boston, a founder of
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
and a surgeon who emigrated from
Ashford, Kent,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. He is buried on Tremont Street in
Boston, Massachusetts at
King's Chapel Burying Ground
King's Chapel Burying Ground is a historic graveyard on Tremont Street, near its intersection with School Street, in Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1630, it is the oldest graveyard in the city and is a site on the Freedom Trail. Despi ...
, the oldest cemetery in the city, established in 1630. Benjamin and Martha were the parents of ten children.
[NEHGS, p.16]
Career
Edes established a partnership with Gill and together they printed various works.
Edes and Gill became the proprietors of ''
The Boston Gazette and Country Journal'' on April 7, 1755. The Gazette was established on December 21, 1719 by William Brooker. Edes made the paper a leading voice favoring American independence. Edes and Gill were members of
The Sons of Liberty, a revolutionary society of American patriots in
Revolutionary America. Edes and Gill worked closely with
Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams ( – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachusetts, a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, an ...
who employed the ''Boston Gazette'' in the publication of Adams' many revolutionary essays and letters.
Andrew Oliver said, "The temper of the people may be surely learned from that infamous paper".
Governor Bernard advised the arrest of both Edes and Gill as publishers of sedition.
Edes, as a member of the
Loyal Nine, the directing group behind the Sons of Liberty, filled the columns of the Gazette with numerous articles criticizing the
Stamp Act. He fought British policy overall through written attacks on other taxes, including the
tea tax, the
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts () or Townshend Duties, were a series of British acts of Parliament passed during 1767 and 1768 introducing a series of taxes and regulations to fund administration of the British colonies in America. They are named after the ...
, and other such measures he deemed as oppressive.
The two editions of the poems of
Martha Wadsworth Brewster
Martha Wadsworth Brewster (April 1, 1710 – ) was an 18th-century American poet and writer. She is one of only four colonial women who published volumes of their verse before the American Revolution and was the first American-born woman to pu ...
were printed by Edes and Gill in 1757 and 1758. She was a poet and writer, and one of the earliest American female literary figures as well as the first American-born woman to publish under her own name.
[Schmidt, p.9]
In 1760 Edes and Gill printed and published ''
Eddy's Almanak'' for 1761, containing astronomical positions of the sun, moon and planets for each month of the year, times of the year eclipses would occur, with literature about the planets and their professed influence on the various parts of the human anatomy. The almanack opened with a satire on Bernard, which appealed to Americans to hold to the non-importation agreement. Edes, relied on the advice and encouragement of Samuel Adams, Warren, Otis, Quincy inasmuch as his contentious spirit often lacked the intellectual capacity to articulate his outspoken and revolutionary ideas in a manner suited for publication.
On February 29, 1768, the Gazette printed an article written by
Joseph Warren
Joseph Warren (June 11, 1741 – June 17, 1775), a Founding Father of the United States, was an American physician who was one of the most important figures in the Patriot movement in Boston during the early days of the American Revolution, ...
, but signed "A True Patriot"
Though it referred to an unnamed official, it was an obvious and acrimonious attack on
Governor Bernard. Bernard, already the subject of numerous insults, immediately sent a message to the Council and to the House of Representatives stating that the Gazette had now endangered "the existence of the Government". The Council unanimously agreed with the Bernard and called the attack "insolent," "licentious," and "subversive of all order and decorum." While they assured the Governor that it would always defend his honor, the House, however, did not go along with such assurances. By a vote of 39 to 30, it informed the Governor that his apprehension of danger was an unfounded conclusion, as no actual person was named in the article. In June, 1769, Bernard demanded that Edes and Gill be arrested for seditious libel, no such action was ever taken. Within three months, upon demand of the Council, he was recalled as Governor.
During the
Siege of Boston, Edes escaped to
Watertown, Massachusetts
Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Square, and the West End.
Waterto ...
where he continued to publish the Gazette until 1798, 43 years after he started.
[
]
Death and memorials
He died on December 11, 1803 in Boston, Massachusetts. He is supposedly buried at Copp's Hill Burying Ground
Copp's Hill Burying Ground is a historic cemetery in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1659, it was originally named "North Burying Ground", and was the city's second cemetery.
History
The cemetery was founded on Februa ...
located on Copp's Hill
Copp's Hill is an elevation in the historic North End of Boston, Massachusetts. It is bordered by Hull Street, Charter Street and Snow Hill Street. The hill takes its name from William Copp, a shoemaker who lived nearby. Copp's Hill Burying G ...
in Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. There is an memorial stone with 'Edes' on it, but cemetery records do not attribute it to anyone in particular. There are headstones to other members of this family at Copp's Hill
Copp's Hill is an elevation in the historic North End of Boston, Massachusetts. It is bordered by Hull Street, Charter Street and Snow Hill Street. The hill takes its name from William Copp, a shoemaker who lived nearby. Copp's Hill Burying G ...
as well.
The Printing Office of Edes & Gill is a living history museum
A living museum, also known as a living history museum, is a type of museum which recreates historical settings to simulate a past time period, providing visitors with an experiential interpretation of history. It is a type of museum that recrea ...
that attempts to replicate the original print shop of Benjamin Edes and John Gill. The office opened in 2011 and is now located on the Freedom Trail
The Freedom Trail is a path through Boston, Massachusetts, that passes by 16 locations significant to the history of the United States. Marked largely with brick, it winds from Boston Common in downtown Boston through the North End to the Bu ...
, at Faneuil Hall
Faneuil Hall ( or ; previously ) is a marketplace and meeting hall located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts. Opened in 1742, it was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others ...
.
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
* Church in Brattle Square. ''The Manifesto church: Records of the church in Brattle square, Boston, with lists of communicants, baptisms, marriages and funerals, 1699-1872''. Publisher: The Benevolent fraternity of churches, 1902.
*Cutter, W.R. ''Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts.'' New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1910.
* NEHGS. ''New England historical and genealogical register, Volume 16''. Author New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1862.
*
*Schmidt, Gary D. ''A passionate usefulness: the life and literary labors of Hannah Adams''. University of Virginia Press, 2004
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edes, Benjamin
1732 births
1803 deaths
American male journalists
People from Charlestown, Boston
People of Massachusetts in the American Revolution
Patriots in the American Revolution
Massachusetts Federalists
American people of English descent
American publishers (people)
18th-century American people
18th century in Boston
Burials in Boston
People of colonial Massachusetts
People from colonial Boston
American spies during the American Revolution
18th-century American newspaper publishers (people)
Colonial American printers