Legal Action

May 15

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Providence Gazette (May 15, 1773).

“Once more!”

The headline expressed some exasperation.  The partnership of Stewart and Taylor sought to settle their “Company Accounts, which was to have taken Place in November last,” but six months later they were placing an advertisement in the Providence Gazette to “Once more!” call on “all that are indebted to them to make immediate Payment.”  Merchants, shopkeepers, and others regularly ran newspaper notices for the same purpose.  John Carter, the printer of the Providence Gazette, inserted his own notice in the same issue that carried Stewart and Taylor’s advertisement, though it was brief in comparison.  Carter declared, “ALL Persons indebted for this Gazette one Year, or more, are requested to make immediate Payment.”

Along with the headline intended to attract attention, Stewart and Taylor provided details about the consequences for not complying with their final notice.  They wished to settle accounts quickly, “otherwise they will be necessitated to sue [at the] June Court.”  The partners hoped that such threats would prompt “all Delinquents [to] come and make Payment, to prevent a Method being taken that will be very disagreeable.”  Although not all advertisements placed for the purpose of settling accounts included allusions to legal action, enough did so that readers recognized the tactic for leveraging the “Delinquents.”  Relatively few, however, included such a headline.  The “Once more!” likely communicated to those “Delinquents” that Stewart and Taylor meant business.

Among those who devised headlines, most advertisers used their names, including Jabez Bowen, Nicholas Brown and Company, Polly Chace, Nathaniel Green, Jonathan Russell, Thurber and Cahoon, John Updike, Joseph West, and Samuel Young.  Joseph Russell and William Russell deployed their names as a secondary headline that followed the primary headline that promoted “WEST-INDIA RUM.”  In his advertisement about an indentured servant who absconded, Samuel Jefferys used “Eight Dollars Reward” as the headline.  That made “Once more!” unique among the headlines featured in advertisements in the May 15, 1773, edition of the Providence Gazette.  Stewart and Taylor shrewdly invoked a phrase intended to arouse curiosity and capture the attention of the “Delinquents” who had not yet settled accounts.

November 18

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Nov 18 - 11:18:1768 New-Hampshire Gazette
New-Hampshire Gazette (November 18, 1768).

“Preparing a number more Accounts to be left with different Attorneys.”

Daniel Fowle and Robert Fowle, the printers of the New-Hampshire Gazette, meant business. They placed a notice in their own publication to inform subscribers, advertisers, and other customers that they needed to settle their accounts or else face the consequences. The Fowles periodically placed such notices, but they ratcheted up the rhetoric in November 1768. The printers were exasperated and they made that clear to readers.

The Fowles declared that they were “determined in a few Weeks, to publish a List of Customers … whose Accounts are of long standing.” With this warning, they offered a grace period. Those subscribers delinquent in settling their accounts could avoid public embarrassment by resolving the matter soon after this notice appeared in the newspaper. If they chose, however, not to take advantage of the grace period then they could expect to have their public shaming compounded by having “the Sum due” printed alongside their name. The printers aimed “to show how injuriously they are treated” by customers who refused to pay their bills.

Furthermore, the Fowles made it clear they were aware of some of the stratagems used by those who owed them money. “Many Customers who live in the Country,” they observed, “are often seen in Town, but if possible avoid coming to the Printing Office.” To add insult to injury, those who did visit often informed the Fowles “how they are involved in such and such a Law Suit, and that they have just paid all their Money to such a Lawyer.” The printers reasoned that two could play that game: “Therefore as they fancy paying Money to Attorneys best, we have left, and are preparing a number more Accounts to be left with different Attorneys.” The Fowles would not hesitate to take legal action if it became necessary.

They made that threat, however, only after publishing gentle reminders for customers to submit payments. Less than two months earlier, they inserted a notice that celebrated the twelfth anniversary of the New-Hampshire Gazette but also called on “a considerable Number of our Customers” to settle accounts. They considered doing so a “great Service.” Several weeks later they abandoned the language of service in favor of legal obligation. Rather than flaunting the money they spend on lawsuits against others, it was time for customers of the New-Hampshire Gazette to invest those funds in paying the printers.

November 4

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Nov 4 - 11:4:1768 New-Hampshire Gazette
New-Hampshire Gazette (November 4, 1768).

“Said BARRELL having an utter Abhorrence of Law Suits.”

In the fall of 1768, William Barrell placed an advertisement in advance of departing New Hampshire on a voyage. He did not indicate where he was going, how long he planned to be away, or whether he intended to return to the colony. He did make it clear, however, that he wished to settle accounts, especially with those who owed him money. Merchants and shopkeepers frequently extended credit to customers, one of the factors that contributed to the widespread consumer revolution during the eighteenth century. Their advertisements for all sorts of imported goods often included or ran alongside calls for settling accounts.

Barrell made an investment in recovering what he was owed. His notice ran in the New-Hampshire Gazette for six consecutive weeks, commencing in the September 30 edition (the same date that appeared on the final line of the advertisement each time it appeared) and appearing for the last time on November 4. He advised that he planned to depart “within six or eight weeks at farthest.” He gave those who had done business with him plenty of opportunities to spot his notice, as well as time to make arrangements for payment. He “begs they wou’d be so obliging as to wait on him at his Store for that Purpose, any Day within the said Time.”

Yet Barrell anticipated that he might need to make an additional investment to “discharge any Ballances.” He confided that he had “an utter Abhorrence of Law Suits.” To that end, he pleaded that no one would “lay him under the painful Necessity of impowering an Attorney” to pursue payment. After all, everyone would be much happier if they voluntarily settled accounts “with but little Trouble, and no charge.” In other words, his customers would find their purchases much more expensive, despite having received credit to acquire them initially, if they found themselves in the position of paying legal fees as well as the price of the merchandise. Like other merchants and shopkeepers, Barrell was polite but firm in making this point. Given his “utter Abhorrence of Law Suits,” those found themselves prosecuted to make payment would have only themselves to blame.