What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
“I find the retaining said Commission is contrary to the Sentiments of the Publick in general.”
The December 20, 1774, edition of the Essex Gazette, published in Salem, carried three advertisements in which residents of Marblehead disavowed commissions granted to them by the former governor, Thomas Hutchinson. Nathaniel Lindsey, for instance, declared, “I find the retaining said Commissions is contrary to the Sentiments of the Publick in general, as well as inconsistent with my private Opinion.” He carefully asserted that his politics aligned with the principles espoused by Patriots, though such an assertion may have been performative rather than authentic. Either way, Lindsey distanced himself from his affiliation with the unpopular former governor, proclaiming, “I will not act any farther under said Commission, neither will I receive any Commission or act under any Authority whatsoever, that proceeds from any Creature which appears to have two Faces.” In other words, he did not find the current administration trustworthy to act in the interests of the colonies instead of Parliament. “I am a Well-Wisher to my Country and Town,” Lindsey concluded.
Ebenezer Graves and Samuel Trevett published the other two notices with similar messages. Indeed, their advertisements featured identical wording except for the first line. Graves stated that he “some Time since received a military Commission from the late infamous Governor Hutchinson,” while Trevett similarly declared, “I was so unhappy as to receive a military Commission from the late infamous Governor Hutchinson.” Each of them acknowledged that the “Commission has been continued by his successor,” General Thomas Gage. Graves and Trevett used identical language throughout the remainder of their notices: “I hereby publish a full Resignation of said Commission, as I conceive it inconsistent with the Laws of God and the Welfare of my Country, to hold it under the Command of such an enemy of my Country’s Liberties.” Hutchinson enforced the Coercive Acts, including the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, and the Quartering Act.
These advertisements resembled the apologies that many colonizers published to distance themselves from an address to Governor Hutchinson that they signed upon his departure for England. They claimed that they signed in haste, not having carefully read or fully comprehended the document. As William Huntting Howell has noted, many of the apologies featured identical language, leading him to argue that the signatories were not necessarily sincere but merely wanted to return to the good graces of their neighbors. Furthermore, Howell argues, what mattered most to Patriots was the public expression of allegiance to their cause, finding that more important for shaping public opinion than the true conversion of any individual. When Lindsay, Graves, and Trevett ran advertisements resigning their military commissions, they perhaps followed a similar path as their counterparts who apologized for signing the address to Hutchinson.