Nathaniel Willis (1755–1831) was a publisher and editor in the late 18th century. He participated in 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 ...

in 1773. He issued the '' Independent Chronicle'' (1776–1784) and the '' American Herald'' 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 ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, and worked for some years with Edward Eveleth Powars as "Powars & Willis." "In 1784 he sold his interest in the "Independent Chronicle," and became one of the pioneer journalists of the unsettled West. He removed first to

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...

, where he published a paper for a short time; then to Shepardstown, where he also published a paper; and thence in 1790 to

Martinsburg, Virginia Martinsburg is a city in and the seat of Berkeley County, West Virginia, in the tip of the state's Eastern Panhandle region in the lower Shenandoah Valley. Its population was 18,835 in the 2021 census estimate, making it the largest city in the ...

, where he founded the ''Potomac Guardian'' and edited it till 1796. In that year he went to Chillicothe, Ohio, and established the ''Scioto Gazette,'' the first newspaper in what was then known as the Northwestern Territory. He was printer to the government of the territory, and afterwards held an agency in the Post Office Department. He bought and cultivated a farm near Chillicothe, on which he ended his days April 1, 1831." Willis married "Lucy Douglas, of New London, Connecticut;"Beers. 1885 children included Nathaniel Willis, also a newspaperman.

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External links

* WorldCat
Willis, Nathaniel 1755-1831
* http://www.boston-tea-party.org/participants/Nathaniel-Willis.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Nathaniel 1755 births 1831 deaths American publishers (people) Writers from Boston 18th century in Boston People from Chillicothe, Ohio People from Martinsburg, West Virginia People from Winchester, Virginia People from Shepherdstown, West Virginia Editors of West Virginia newspapers Farmers from Ohio People of colonial Massachusetts Journalists from Virginia Journalists from Ohio

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