Transportation

February 2

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Essex Journal (February 2, 1776).

“He intends to go with a carriage weekly, from this town to Cambridge.”

When Thomas Wescomb of Newburyport, Massachusetts, launched a new enterprise, he placed an advertisement in the February 2, 1776, edition of the Essex Journal to promote it to prospective customers.  He described his notice as an “opportunity to acquaint the Public, that he intends to go with a carriage, weekly, from this town to Cambridge.”  Presumably he took passengers, but he did not provide the rates he charged, describe any of the amenities they could expect, or give further details about the schedule.  Other entrepreneurs who advertised carriage or stagecoach service between towns frequently included that kind of information to entice customers.  Just a few days earlier, for instance, John Mercereau ran an advertisement for the “New STAGE COACHES, THAT constantly ply between New-York and Philadelphia” in the January 29 edition of the New-York-Gazette and Weekly Mercury.  It included a schedule and prices per passenger “in the Coach” and “out” on seats exposed to the weather.  He also advised that a second service, called “The Flying Machine” for its speed, “Still continues … from Powles-Hook Ferry, opposite New-York, and from the Sign of the Cross-Keys in Philadelphia.”  Mercereau had years of experience operating and advertising his stagecoaches, with advertisements going back as far as 1769.

While Wescomb’s advertisement was not as elaborate or sophisticated, he did pitch other services that he offered, declaring that he “would be glad to serve such as may want him to carry packages” and other items “to, or from Cambridge; or any other business he may be entrusted with.”  Notably, Wescomb’s route terminated at Cambridge, not Boston.  The Continental Army’s siege of Boston continued, making Cambridge a more significant site than it had been before the Revolutionary War began.  Samuel Hall and Ebenezer Hall relocated the Essex Gazette from Salem to Cambridge and renamed it the New-England Chronicle.  George Washington, appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army by the Second Continental Congress, had his headquarters in Cambridge.  Readers of the Essex Journal in Newburyport and other nearby towns likely had a variety of reasons to visit Cambridge or to send packages to officers, soldiers, and others in that town.  Wescomb pledged his “fidelity” in delivering those packages or undertaking any other business assigned to him in his efforts to drum up business for his new venture.

September 17

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago this week?

Connecticut Gazette (September 15, 1775).

“Excellent Accommodations for Passengers.”

In the early months of the Revolutionary War, colonizers who needed to travel between Norwich and New London had an option other going by road between the two towns.  They could instead book passage on “BRADDICK’s NORWICH and NEW-LONDON PASSAGE-BOAT,” according to John Braddick’s advertisement in the September 15, 1775, edition of the Connecticut Gazette.  He offered that service “every Day in the Week, Wind and Weather permitting,” though his advertisement did not specify the time that the boat departed from each town.  Presumably it left Norwich in the morning, sailed about fifteen miles down the Thames River to New London on the coast, remained there for a few hours, and returned in the late afternoon before darkness arrived.  Prospective passengers could get more information from Braddick at his house near Chelsea Landing in Norwich or at the London Coffee House in New London.

Connecticut Gazette (September 15, 1775).

The same issue also carried an advertisement for “Henry Bates’s New-London and New-Haven Passage Boat.”  His service ran weekly rather than daily, transporting passengers over a much longer distance.  Despite the name in the advertisement, Bates’s passage boat actually originated in Norwich on Mondays and remained in New London overnight, departing for New Haven on Tuesdays.  The boat departed for the return trip through the Long Island Sound on Thursdays, though Bates did not indicate whether it arrived in New Haven on Tuesdays or Wednesdays or when it made its stop in New London.  He did state that his service depended on “Wind and Weather.”  Prospective customers could learn more “at Mr. Eliott’s, at the Town Wharf” in New London and “at Mr. Thatcher’s, at the Long-Wharf” in New Haven.

Newspaper advertisements advised readers of the transportation infrastructure that linked cities and towns in the colonies.  Most such advertisements promoted stage services, but along the Connecticut coastline travelers had other options.  Both Bates and Braddick emphasized the “excellent Accommodations” they provided for passengers, attempting to convince them that passage boats offered the most comfortable as well as the fastest way to travel from one town to another.

May 18

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

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

New-York Journal (May 18, 1775).

“THE FLYING MACHINE.”

When it came to stagecoaches that connected New and York and Philadelphia at the beginning of the American Revolution, travelers had more than one option.  One line, the “NEW STAGE COACHES,” left the Powles Hook ferry, on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River “opposite New-York,” and “the sign of the Indian Queen” in Philadelphia on Tuesday and Friday mornings at sunrise.  They met at Princeton in the evening, exchanged passengers, and returned to their respective points of departure the next day.  Another line, the “FLYING MACHINE,” followed a similar route, one stagecoach leaving from Powles Hook ferry and the other from the “sign of the Cross keys” in Philadelphia.  They also met in Princeton, exchanged passengers, and completed the journey in two days.  That did not, however, include crossing the Hudson River.  John Mercereau instructed passengers departing from New York that they should “cross over the ferry to Powles Hook the evening before, as the stages set off early.”  With coaches departing from each city four mornings each week, customers could choose which line best fit their schedules.

Not unlike passengers traveling by bus, train, or airplane today, stagecoach customers considered the prices of each service.  The New Stage cost thirty shillings “for each passenger in the coach,” but “out passengers” paid a bargain rate of only twenty shillings.  Each had to decide if the comfort of an inside seat was worth the additional cost and fit their budget.  The weather on the day of travel likely influenced the choices made by some travelers.  The Flying Machine charged twenty-one shillings per passenger, presumably for inside seats.  That made it a good deal compared to the New Stage for those who traveled with little luggage.  Each passenger was allowed up to fourteen pounds, with no mention of arrangements for anything in excess.  The New Stage, on the other hand, allowed fourteen pounds of baggage as part of the fare and then charged two pence per pound for anything above that.  Like passengers checking luggage at airports today, travelers apparently went through a process of having their bags weighed and potentially assessed additional fees prior to departure.  Those taking more than the allotted amount may have opted for the New Stage over the Flying Machine, resigned to paying more for the excess weight.  Like marketing for modern travel that highlights on-time rates, Mercereau promised “punctual performance.”  The mode for getting from one place to another has evolved over time, but the many of the considerations that passengers take into account have remained quite similar.

October 28

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Connecticut Journal (October 28, 1774).

“When a boat shall set off from either side, a boat shall immediately put off from the other.”

Jesse Leavenworth had two years of experience of operating a ferry “to and from East Haven, on the lower road,” but they had not been easy years.  In an advertisement he placed in the October 28, 1774, edition of the Connecticut Journal, he explained that the “hounourable General Assembly … thought fit to establish under his care and direction” the ferry in October 1772.  He accepted the charge, seeking to support “himself and a numerous family.”  That site, however, possessed “many difficulties” due to the “flats and openness of the place to sea” that had previously made it “insurmountable by all those who have heretofore attempted” a similar venture.  At a “vast expence,” Leavenworth “furnished himself with a number of large & sufficient boats.”  Whether they ran ferries or stagecoaches, entrepreneurs who provided transportation frequently underscored the financial investments they made in their businesses.  Leavenworth kept at least two boats on each side and hired staff to give “suitable attendance.”

Despite the obstacles, Leavenworth met with success.  He asserted that he “gain’d the approbation and custom of the public beyond his most sanguine expectations, which he gratefully acknowledges.”  The ferry was so successful that the operator prepared to introduce another innovation to the service.  Three weeks later, he planned that “when a boat shall set off from either side” that another boat “shall immediately put off from the other, to supply its place.”  The companion boat would go whether or not it had passengers or freight.  That way the ferry would maintain two boats on each side “to oblige his customers and prevent all suggestions of nonattendance on either side.”  Patrons would face less inconvenience in waiting if they happened to arrive when the ferry was in use.  Leavenworth concluded by noting that “this will be an additional expense” so he “hopes for the countenance of the public, and a continuance of their custom.”  Again, he suggested that prospective customers should recognize his investment and choose to hire his services because of it.

Following his signature, Leavenworth added a brief note aimed at recruiting an employee, a “hardy stout Man … who can be well recommended (for honesty, sobriety, and good nature).  A month earlier, he had advertised that a “negro man” who “speaks the Portuguese language, and bit little English” had “let himself to me.”  Suspecting that his new employee may have been an enslaved man who fled from his enslaver, Leavenworth placed a notice in the public prints.  Not long after that, an advertisement about just such a man in the Connecticut Courant featured an observation that a “Negro answering the above Discription has let himself to Mr. Jesse Leavenworth of New-Haven.”  The forthcoming innovation in his ferry service may not have been the only reason Leavenworth sought a new employee.  The Black man that he hired as he planned to launch the next stage of his business may have been captured and returned to his enslaver.

March 30

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

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

Pennsylvania Gazette (March 30, 1774).

“The superior conveniencies of the above Ferry.”

Rensselaer Williams and Patrick Colvin provided a public service.  At least that was how they wanted prospective clients to think about the “TRENTON FERRY” that they operated.  They opened their advertisement in the March 30, 1774, edition of the Pennsylvania Gazette with a declaration that they were “ever desirous of obliging the Public, and to give the utmost satisfaction in their power.”  To that end, they even set prices (or so they claimed) “by a sacrifice of their own interest, and at a rate really not be afforded.”  Williams and Colvin hoped such proclamations would attract attention in advance of opening for business on “the First Day of April next.”

At that time, they pledged to “ferry all persons, horses, [and] carriages” at “as low a rate and price as any ferry within four miles on the river.”  They certainly had in mind unnamed competitors that they expected were already familiar to prospective clients.  To make their service even more attractive, Williams and Colvin asserted that the “superior conveniencies” of their ferry compared to “any other on the river” included “its direct situation on the great road between the cities of Philadelphia and New-York,” a well-travelled corridor between the two largest cities in British mainland North America.  They emphasized that their location was “nearer by a considerable distance than the ferry below,” once again alluding to the competition.  Prospective clients might even consider passage on Williams and Colvin’s ferry faster and safer since the Delaware River was “narrower by upwards of one hundred yards” at their location.

This advertisement, along with others for ferries and stages, helps in mapping the transportation infrastructure in place in the colonies on the eve of the American Revolution.  Advertisements for almanacs frequently included descriptions of roads among the contents of those annual volumes.  Rather than relying on maps as they traveled from place to place, colonizers instead took into account general knowledge acquired through word of mouth as well as printed sources that included newspaper advertisements and almanacs.  Williams and Colvin certainly anticipated that merchants, travelers, and others would share with others what they read about the “TRENTON FERRY,” what they heard about it, and their own experiences hiring the service.

January 28

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

New-Hampshire Gazette (January 28, 1774).

“His Carriages, for twelve Years has never been overset, nor any Passengers met with any Hurt.”

John Stavers marketed experience when he advertised his stagecoach service between Portsmouth and Boston in the January 28, 1774, edition of the New-Hampshire Gazette, just as he had done in previous advertisements.  He proclaimed that “His Carriages, for twelve Years has never been overset, nor any Passengers met with any Hurt.”  That was quite the safety record.  The proprietor even invoked his experience in the name of his business, “Stavers’s STAGE-COACH, NUMBER ONE.”  That was not merely a ranking but also a reference to the fact that he had operated service between Portsmouth and Boston longer than any of his competitors.

Stavers also promoted the quality of that service, declaring that “FOUR HORSES, equal to any in AMERICA,” pulled the coach.  In addition, he “takes Care and provides good Drivers,” selecting only the best employees to represent the business he operated for more than a decade.  At the terminus in Portsmouth, Stavers ran an inn and tavern, where he provided “good Entertainment for Passengers and others” as well as “good Accommodations for Carriages and Horses.” Whether or not they rode his stagecoach, Stavers offered hospitality to travelers who visited Portsmouth.  For those who boarded in Boston or along the way to Portsmouth, he offered convenient lodging.

As was typical in advertisements for stagecoaches and ferries, Stavers provided a schedule so prospective clients could plan accordingly.  His service made the trip to Boston and back once a week.  “NUMBER ONE” departed Portsmouth at eight o’clock on Tuesday mornings and arrived in Boston the next day.  Passengers who planned to return to Portsmouth on the next trip had Wednesday evening and the entire day on Thursday to conduct business in Boston before the stagecoach left again on Friday morning and reached Portsmouth on Saturday.

Other operators also established service between Portsmouth and Boston, but Stavers most consistently advertised in the New-Hampshire Gazette and newspapers published in New England’s largest port city.  For instance, the February 3 edition of the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly News-Letter included the same advertisement with an additional nota bene to inform “Such as want a Passage from Boston, are desired to apply to Mrs. Bean’s in King-Street.”  Perhaps savvy advertising played a role in Stavers’s enterprise achieving such longevity.

April 21

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

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

Pennsylvania Journal (April 21, 1773).

“A STAGE WAGGON, to go from Great-Egg-Harbour to Philadelphia.”

Newspaper advertisements kept residents of Philadelphia and its hinterlands informed about transportation infrastructure that connected the busy port to other towns in the 1770s.  Shortly after Rensselaer Williams published his advertisement about the Royal Oak Inn adjacent to the Trenton Ferry and Charles Bessonett promoted his “FLYING MACHINE,” a stagecoach between Philadelphia and Princeton with connections to New York, William McCarrell ran his own advertisement to advise the public that he “has fitted a STAGE WAGGON, to go from Great-Egg-Harbour” in New Jersey “to Philadelphia once every week.”

McCarrell provided a schedule so passengers could plan their journeys.  The stage “set off from Ann Risleys, at Abseekam [Absecon], on Monday mornings” and passed by “Thomas Clark’s mill and the Forks” on its way to the Blue Anchor.  The stage likely stopped at that inn for the night before continuing to Longacoming and Haddonsfield and arriving at Samuel Cooper’s ferry on Tuesday afternoon.  After crossing the Delaware River via the ferry, the stage paused in Philadelphia until Thursday morning before retracing its route and returning to Absecon on Friday afternoon.

In addition to passengers, McCarrell’s stage also carried freight, such as “dry goods or other articles” as well as newspapers and letters, charging four pence each.  McCarrell sought to generate additional revenue with that ancillary service, declaring that “persons that live convenient” to the route “may have the news-papers regular” if they contacted him to make arrangements.  Although his advertisement ran in the Pennsylvania Journal, McCarrell transported any of the newspapers published in Philadelphia at the time, including the Pennsylvania Chronicle, the Pennsylvania Gazette, and the Pennsylvania Packet.  Each of those publications owed some of its circulation beyond the city to post riders and stage operators.  As a result, McCarrell and his counterparts not only carried passengers and freight but also helped disseminate information throughout the colonies.

April 7

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

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

Pennsylvania Gazette (April 7, 1773).

“The Royal-Oak INN is removed to Trenton Ferry.”

“The FLYING MACHINE … SETS out on Mondays and Thursdays.”

Several kinds of documents testify to the transportation infrastructure in the colonies during the era of the American Revolution.  Almanacs often included information about roads and ferries that connected cities and towns.  Newspaper advertisements gave details about the stagecoaches that transported passengers and packages from town to town as well as the inns and taverns that provided services along the way.

Such was the case in the April 7, 1773, edition of the Pennsylvania Gazette.  In one advertisement, Rensselaer Williams promoted the “Royal-Oak INN” near the Trenton Ferry that connected the New Jersey and Pennsylvania sides of the Delaware River.  Williams previously operated the inn at another location, but recently “removed” to a new location for the convenience of his guests.  He hoped that “the public in general, and his friends in particular” would express their appreciation for this new arrangement by continuing their patronage.  He pledged his “care and diligence” in operating both the inn (“with a stock of liquors”) and the ferry.  Williams asked prospective customers to consider the “many advantages of baiting at a Ferry.”  Modern readers may not be familiar with the term that Williams used, but eighteenth-century readers would have known that “to bait” referred to travelers, as the Oxford English Dictionary indicates, “to stop at an inn, originally to feed the horses, but later also to rest and refresh themselves; hence, to make a brief stay or sojourn.”  By “baiting at a Ferry,” Williams declared, travelers saved time compared to making additional stops to refresh themselves and take care of horses and carriages elsewhere.

In another advertisement, Charles Bessonett similarly emphasized efficiency in marketing the stage service he operated for passengers and goods.  He named his stage the “FLYING MACHINE” to suggest how quickly it covered the distance between Philadelphia and Princeton.  Bessonnett also provided a schedule to demonstrate the speed of the journey to prospective customers.  The stage departed from Philadelphia on Mondays and Thursdays and returned from Princeton on Tuesdays and Fridays.  In Princeton, the Flying Machine met a stagecoach from New York and exchanged passengers.  Bessonnett collaborated with another operator in connecting the two cities.

Colonial printers did not usually organize or classify newspaper advertisements.  That an advertisement for the Royal Oak Inn and Trenton appeared in close proximity to an advertisement for the Flying Machine, separated only by a notice offering hempseed for sale, happened more by coincidence than by design.  Still, the two advertisements gave readers of the Pennsylvania Gazette information about some of the options available to them if they wished to travel to New Jersey or New York or even continue on to New England.

March 26

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

New-Hampshire Gazette (March 26, 1773).

“Hart and Davis Inform their Friends and Customers; that their Stage for Passengers setts out for Boston every Friday Morning.”

Theodore Davis began offering stagecoach service between Portsmouth and Boston during the final days of 1772 and continued in 1773.  In advertisements that ran in the New-Hampshire Gazette in late December and early January, he advised prospective clients that his stage “will set off, on Mondays, from here, and return on Fridays.”  That provoked a response from John Stavers, who had operated similar service for more than a decade.  He objected to Davis attempted to siphon off customers from his weekly trip to Boston that departed on Tuesdays, stating that he “has always been ready to serve [passengers] on Monday, as well as Tuesdays, if their Business required it.”  He also presented an appeal that he advanced on previous occasions when he faced competition.  Stavers believed that his long experience as “the first Promoter of a Stage Coach in this Province” entitled him to “the Preference” of prospective clients.

Perhaps passengers found Stavers’s argument convincing.  Within a couple of months, Davis took a partner, Benjamin Hart, and revised his schedule.  Less than a year earlier, Hart had been a junior partner in the firm of Stavers and Hart. Now, he received first billing in the new partnership of Hart and Davis.  In addition, the stage departed “from Mr. HART’s House, near the Ferry in Portsmouth; where all Baggage, Bundles, &c. will be received and delivered as directed.”  Davis previously did not offer information about the terminus in Boston, but the new partners promoted the accommodations at the other end of the line, advising that their stage “Puts up at Mrs. Beans, Lower End of King-Street, Boston.”

For the convenience of passengers, the stage “setts out for Boston every Friday Morning,” rather than Monday mornings, thus putting it on a half-week interval with Stavers’s stage.  Some customers may have found that the Tuesday and Friday options suited their needs better than clustering departures at the beginning of the week.  That Hart and Davis adopted a new schedule suggests that they believed sufficient demand existed for two stages to operate simultaneously, provided that they stagger their trips to Boston.  They may have also believed that they could cultivate additional demand through expanding the options available to prospective passengers, thus benefitting both Stavers and themselves.  Such competition had the potential to yield more business for both stagecoach services as their operators participated in improving the transportation infrastructure in New England in the early 1770s.

January 15

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

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

New-Hampshire Gazette (January 15, 1773).

“He has set up a STAGE between this Town and Boston.”

As the new year arrived, Theodore Davis launched a new enterprise, informing the public that he established stage service between Portsmouth and Boston.  He first advertised in the New-Hampshire Gazette on December 25, 1772, and then continued placing notices in January 1773.  He had at least one competitor.  John Stavers had been operating a stage along that route for more than a decade, sometimes in partnership with others.

Realizing that he was a newcomer on the scene, Davis advised prospective passengers that he “served his Apprenticeship in the Business,” though he did not give more details.  Perhaps he had previously worked on a route that connected other towns or perhaps he had been involved with one of the competitors that periodically challenged Stavers or perhaps he had even worked with Stavers and now challenged him for business.  Whatever his background, Davis claimed that he was “well acquainted with the best Houses of Entertainment” and other amenities on the route between Portsmouth and Boston.  His advertisement suggested that some prospective clients did know him from one of the stages that plied that route; he requested “the Continuance of their Favours, as he now sets out on his own Account.”

New-Hampshire Gazette (January 15, 1773).

One aspect of Davis’s service certainly distinguished it from the stage operated by Stavers.  Davis departed on Mondays, a day before Stavers made the journey.  When Stavers answered Davis’s advertisement with a notice of his own in the January 15, 1773, edition of the New-Hampshire Gazette, he expressed some exasperation with that ploy.  As he had done on other occasions, he underscored that he established the first route between Portsmouth and Boston, declaring himself “the first Promoter of a Stage Coach in this Province.”  Accordingly, he felt a sense of entitlement, this time adding that “the Public will think he ought to have the Preference, and not countenance others in taking Passengers the beginning of the Week.”  Besides, he lamented, he had a history of accommodating his passengers and “has always been ready to serve them on Monday, as well as Tuesdays, if their Business required it.”  To make that possible, Stavers “expended a large sum of Money.”  The veteran stage operator did more than emphasize his long experience.  He attempted to leverage a sense of obligation on the part of prospective passengers.

That may have been an effective strategy for Stavers, at least in the past.  After all, other competitors had not managed to put him out of business.  Still, he believed that Davis’s new service infringed on a clientele that rightfully should have belonged to him and could have an impact on his livelihood.  He called on his “old Customers and others” to engage his services rather than choosing an upstart who was relatively new to route connecting Portsmouth and Boston.