Cornelia Smith Bradford (died August 1755) was a printer and newspaper editor located in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. She is one of only eleven American women known to have supported themselves as printers before the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

Life and career

Born Cornelia Smith in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

(date unknown), Cornelia grew up in a family of comfortable means. She married

Andrew Bradford Andrew Bradford (1686 – November 24, 1742) was an Early American publishers and printers, early American printer in colonial Philadelphia. He published the first newspaper in Philadelphia, ''The American Weekly Mercury'', beginning in 1719, as w ...

, son of William Bradford, both printers. She was said to have been "remarkable for beauty and talents," though their marriage was said to be unhappy. Andrew owned a print shop in Philadelphia as well as the ''American Weekly Mercury'' newspaper, founded in 1719. Upon Andrew's death, Cornelia took over his printing press, shop, and management of his newspaper. In 1742/3, she hired one Isaiah Warner as an assistant, but from 1744 until the last issue of the ''Mercury'' on May 22, 1746, Cornelia was the sole editor and printer. In addition the newspaper, her shop printed

almanac An almanac (also spelled almanack and almanach) is a regularly published listing of a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasting, weather forecasts, farmers' sowing, planting dates ...

s and various other publications. Cornelia was also a bookbinder and bookseller. She owned land in New York City, Philadelphia, and Germantown. In 1755, she died in Philadelphia and was buried in the Christ Church cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradford, Cornelia Smith 1755 deaths American printers 18th-century American newspaper publishers (people) Year of birth unknown Women printers Journalists from New York City 18th-century American businesswomen 18th-century American businesspeople 18th-century American women journalists 18th-century American journalists Journalists from Philadelphia Burials at Christ Church, Philadelphia

Life and career

See also

References