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 journalism ...

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 Revolu ...

. 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 ...

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 ...

. 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 Colonies, thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III of England, William III and Mary II ...

. 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 G ...

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 Peter Tufts (1617 – May 13, 1700) was a prominent early citizen of Medford, Massachusetts, and ancestor of Charles Tufts who donated land for the Tufts University campus. The Peter Tufts House is still standing; it is believed by some historian ...

, 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 The Brattle Street Church (1698–1876) was a Congregational (1698 – c. 1805) and Unitarian (c. 1805–1876) church on Brattle Street in Boston, Massachusetts. History In January 1698, "Thomas Brattle conveyed the land on which the meet ...

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 ...

and a surgeon who emigrated from

Ashford, Kent Ashford is a town in the county of Kent, England. It lies on the River Great Stour at the southern or scarp edge of the North Downs, about southeast of central London and northwest of Folkestone by road. In the 2011 census, it had a popula ...

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 ...

. 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. Despite ...

, 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 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 releas ...

'' 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 The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It pl ...

, 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, a ...

who employed the ''Boston Gazette'' in the publication of Adams' many revolutionary essays and letters.

Andrew Oliver Andrew Oliver (March 28, 1706 – March 3, 1774) was a merchant and public official in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Born into a wealthy and politically powerful merchant family, he is best known as the Massachusetts official responsible f ...

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 Loyal Nine (also spelled Loyall Nine) were nine American patriots from Boston who met in secret to plan protests against the Stamp Act of 1765. Mostly middle-class businessmen, the Loyal Nine enlisted Ebenezer Mackintosh to rally large crowds ...

, 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 Tea Act 1773 (13 Geo 3 c 44) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The principal objective was to reduce the massive amount of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses and to help th ...

, 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 p ...

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 (American Revolution), Patriot movement in Boston, Massachusetts, Bos ...

, 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 The siege of Boston (April 19, 1775 – March 17, 1776) was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. New England militiamen prevented the movement by land of the British Army, which was garrisoned in what was then the peninsular tow ...

, 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. Watertow ...

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 ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

. 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

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 recre ...

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 ...

, 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