Samuel Hall

Samuel Hall (1740-1807), was an Early American publisher and printer, newspaper editor, and an ardent colonial American patriot from Bedford, Massachusetts who was active in this capacity before and during the American Revolution, often printing newspapers and pamphlets in support of American independence. Hall was the founder of The Essex Gazette, the first newspaper published in Salem, Massachusetts in 1768. He often employed his newspaper as a voice supporting colonial grievances over taxation and other actions by the British Parliament that were considered oppressive, and ultimately in support of American independence. Early life and family Samuel Hall was born on November 2, 1740, in Bedford, Massachusetts. He was the son of Jonathan and Anna (Fowle) Hall. His ancestor, John Hall, settled in Bedford around 1675. As a youth Hall served as an apprentice under his uncle, David Fowle, founder and printer of The New Hampshire Gazette, which is what introduced him to the printing trade. Career Hall moved to Rhode Island and at the age of twenty-two entered into a partnership with the widow Anne Franklin in the publication of the Newport Mercury, beginning with the issue of August 17, 1762. After the death of Mrs. Franklin on April 19, 1763, Hall continued publication of the newspaper paper with success until March 1768, after which he sold it to Solomon Southwick. {{multiple image | align=right | direction=vertical | width= | header=The Essex Gazette | width1=184 | image1=The Essex Gazzette, August 9, 1768.jpg | alt1= | caption1= | width2=180 | image2=The Essex Gazzette, emblem.jpg | alt2= | caption2=Detail of emblem used in the Gazette's header}} In 1767 Hall was persuaded by Captain Richard Derby to come to Salem, Massachusetts and establish a printing press.Robbiti, 1948, p. 36 Receiving financial assistance from Derby, Hall established the first printing house in Salem in 1768,Robotti, 1948, p. 36 and in the same year established its first newspaper, The Essex Gazette, where he announced the purpose of his newspaper, to promote "a due sense of the Rights and Liberties of our Country." Before Hall's printing press arrived in Salem there were only two other printing presses in Massachusetts; One which arrived at Cambridge in 1639, and one at Boston in 1674.