Nathaniel Willis (1780–1870) was an editor and publisher 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 ...

, USA, in the 19th century. He established the ''

Eastern Argus The Eastern Argus was a newspaper published in Portland, Maine, United States from 1803 to January 1921. In early 1921, it was succeeded by the Portland Press Herald. History The newspaper was founded by Calvin Day and Nathaniel Willis. Its ...

'' and the ''

Boston Recorder The ''Boston Recorder'' was a Congregationalist newspaper established by Nathaniel Willis ( Nathaniel Parker Willis's father) and Sidney E. Morse in 1816 in Boston, Massachusetts. It published weekly newspapers from 1817 to 1824. The paper prim ...

'' newspapers, and ''The Youth's Companion'' magazine.

Biography

Willis was born in Boston in 1780 to newspaperman Nathaniel Willis (1755–1831). In 1787 he moved to " Winchester, irginia and was employed in newspaper office, and subsequently at Martinsburg, irginia on the ''Potomac Guardian''". Young Nathaniel was put to work at once in folding papers and setting types. At Martinsburg he used to ride post, with tin horn and saddle-bags, delivering papers to scattered subscribers in the thinly settled country. At the age of fifteen young Nathaniel returned to Boston and entered the office of the '' Independent Chronicle''. He also found time, while in Boston, to drill with the "Fusiliers". In 1803, invited by a Maine congressman and other gentlemen of the Republican Party, he went to

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

aine Aine may refer to: * Áine Áine () is an Irish goddess of summer, wealth and sovereignty. She is associated with midsummer and the sun,MacKillop, James (1998) ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'' Oxford: Oxford University Press pp.10, 16, 12 ...

and established the ''Eastern Argus'' in opposition to the

Federalists The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

. Henry Augustin Beers, ''Nathaniel Parker Willis'', Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and company, 1885 He married Hannah Parker in 1803; children included

Nathaniel Parker Willis Nathaniel Parker Willis (January 20, 1806 – January 20, 1867), also known as N. P. Willis,Baker, 3 was an American author, poet and editor who worked with several notable American writers including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfello ...

, Sara Willis Parton (

Fanny Fern Fanny Fern (born Sara Payson Willis; July 9, 1811 – October 10, 1872), was an American novelist, children's writer, humorist, and newspaper columnist in the 1850s to 1870s. Her popularity has been attributed to a conversational style and sense ...

Richard Storrs Willis Richard Storrs Willis (February 10, 1819 – May 10, 1900) was an American composer, mainly of hymn music. His best known melody is probably the one called, simply, '' Carol''. This is the standard tune, in the United States, though not in Great B ...

, Lucy Douglas (born 1804), Louisa Harris (1807), Julia Dean (1809), Mary Perry (1813), Edward Payson (1816) and Ellen Holmes (1821). Back in Boston in 1816, Willis established ''The Recorder'' newspaper, "published every Wednesday afternoon at no.76 State-Street, ... entrance through Mr. H. Messinger's Hat-Store or in the rear of the building from Wilson's Lane". Associates included Sidney E. Morse. He later moved to Congress Square.A large fire in November 1818 damaged his office on Congress Square. The nearby Exchange Coffee House burnt down in the fire; cf. New England Palladium, Nov. 6, 1818 Willis sold the paper to Martin Moore in 1844. In 1827 he established "a religious paper for children", ''

The Youth's Companion ''The Youth's Companion'' (1827–1929), known in later years as simply ''The Companion—For All the Family'', was an American children's magazine that existed for over one hundred years until it finally merged with '' The American Boy'' in 1929 ...

'' (1827–1929). He served as editor "for about thirty years".

Biography

References

Further reading