Charles Jacobs Peterson (July 20, 1818 - March 4, 1887) was an American author and publisher.

Biography

Peterson was born in Philadelphia and studied law at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, but never practiced law. He became an owner and partner in ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

'' and editor at ''

Graham's Magazine ''Graham's Magazine'' was a nineteenth-century periodical based in Philadelphia established by George Rex Graham and published from 1840 to 1858. It was alternatively referred to as ''Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine'' (1841–1842, and J ...

'' early in his career, and in 1842 founded ''

Peterson's Magazine ''Peterson's Magazine'' (1842–1898) was an American magazine focused on women. It was published monthly and based in Philadelphia. In 1842, Charles Jacobs Peterson and George Rex Graham, partners in the '' Saturday Evening Post'', agreed ...

''. This became a popular women's journal, which he edited until his death.Charles Jacobs Peterson
Edgar Allan Poe Society, Retrieved September 14, 2012 Mott, Frank Luther
A History of American Magazines, 1850-1865, Volume 2
Supplement Sketch 6 (history of magazine) (1938, 1970)
The Beadle and Adams Dime Novel Digitization Project, Retrieved September 14, 2012 In 1852, Peterson published the novel '' The Cabin and Parlor; or, Slaves and Masters'' under the pseudonym J. Thornton Randolph, an early example of the

Anti-Tom literature Anti-Tom literature consists of the 19th century pro-slavery novels and other literary works written in response to Harriet Beecher Stowe's ''Uncle Tom's Cabin''. Also called plantation literature, these writings were generally written by author ...

which arose in response to ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U. ...

''. It was published by T.B. Peterson, Ltd.; Theophilus B. Peterson was one of Charles' brothers and a leading publisher of cheap and sensational fiction.Tebbel, John Willia
Between covers: The rise and transformation of book publishing in America
p. 71 (1987) Peterson was not necessarily defending the institution of slavery, but instead a gradualism for ending of slavery in future instead of a destruction which would fracture the United States. After the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

broke out, he was clearly on the Union side.Hayne, Barrie
Standing on Neutral Ground: Charles Jacobs Peterson of Peterson's
''

Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography The ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the history of Pennsylvania. It has been published by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania since 1877. Issues from January 2006 forward are avail ...

'', (Vol. 93, No. 4, October 1969, pp. 510-26)
archived
October 21, 2021, at the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

. He is interred at

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Founded in 1836, it was the second major rural cemetery in the United States after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery is ...

, Philadelphia.

Selected bibliography

Some were originally published in serial form in ''

'' or ''Peterson's'': * ''Agnes Courtenay'' (1847) * ''The Oath of Marion'' (1847) * ''Grace Dudley'' (1849) * ''The Valley Farm'' (1850) * ''Cruising in the Last War'' (1850) * '' The Cabin and Parlor; or, Slaves and Masters'' (as J. Thornton Randolph) (1852)
''Kate Aylesford''
(1855) * ''The Old Stone Mansion'' (1859) * ''Mabel or Darkness at Dawn'' (18??)

Nonfiction

* ''Military Heroes of the Revolution'' (8 volumes) (1847) * ''Military Heroes of the War of 1812 and the Mexican War'' (1848) * ''Naval Heroes of the United States'' (1850) * ''The American navy: being an authentic history of the United States navy, and biographical sketches of American naval heroes, from the formation of the navy to the close of the Mexican war'' (1857)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Charles Jacobs 1818 births 1887 deaths American magazine publishers (people) Writers from Philadelphia American naval historians American male non-fiction writers Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Historians from Pennsylvania 19th-century American businesspeople