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

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, USA, in the 19th century. He established the '' Eastern Argus'' and the '' Boston Recorder'' 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 Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

, 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 The ''Independent Chronicle'' (1776–1840) was a newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts. It originated in 1768 as ''The Essex Gazette'', founded by Samuel Hall (v.1–7) in Salem, and ''The New-England Chronicle'' (v.7–9) in Cambridge, befor ...

''. 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 most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, aine and established the ''Eastern Argus'' in opposition to the Federalists. 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 writer, poet and editor who worked with several notable American writers including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfello ...

, Sara Willis Parton ( Fanny Fern),

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

Biography

References

Further reading