About The Virginia Gazette

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				THE
About The Virginia Gazette				VIRGINIA GAZETTE
				WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA

On August 6, 1986, The Virginia Gazette celebrated its 250^th anniversary with a banner edition, still “Containing the freshest Advices, Foreign and Domestick.” For that occasion, William O’Donovan, the editor and publisher of the Gazette, wrote a brief history of the paper, the highlights of which, with his kind permission, appear in what follows.

Until 1984, when the paper began publishing editions twice a week, The Virginia Gazette enjoyed the reputation of being the oldest paper in America published on a non-daily (i.e., weekly) basis. Its founder, William Parks, who also established the Maryland Gazette in 1727, subsequently moved to Williamsburg, the then capital of Virginia, to set up a printing press and publish his first edition of The Virginia Gazette on August 6, 1736.

In those days most of the published news related to events in England. Local coverage was slim, consisting mainly of ship arrivals and announcements of runaway slaves and deserted spouses. Then too, publishers in the colonies worked under rather strict censorship laws established by the British.

Only 14 years after publishing his first Gazette, Williams Parks succumbed to a fatal attack of pleurisy while on a voyage to England. He was succeeded by his associate, William Hunter, who died in 1761. It was then that the paper fell into the hands of one Joseph Royle, who, because of his refusal to publish attacks on anyone associated with local government, encountered the wrath of Thomas Jefferson. It was he who urged William Rind, another publisher, to set up a second Gazette to be, as Jefferson said, a “free paper.” Indeed by 1775 there were in Williamsburg three separate papers, all calling themselves The Virginia Gazette.

However, it was Alexander Purdie, Royle’s successor, whose Gazette thrived during the Revolutionary War period. He in fact printed excerpts from Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” and published the first reference to the Declaration of Independence on July 12, 1776 and excerpted passages from the document on July 19, 1776.

Unfortunately, the transference of the capital from Williamsburg to Richmond brought with it the demise of newspapers in Williamsburg, and on April 8, 1780 John Dixon and John Nicolson published the last Gazette in the old capital. The paper, which had followed the movement to Richmond, died there as well in 1797.

In 1853, Thomas Martin re-established the Gazette, which was published successfully until May, 1862, when the Gazette plant was seized by Federal troops, and its then publisher, R.A. Lively, captured and sent to prison because of his confederate sympathies.

In 1893, W.C. Johnson revived the Gazette, which this time lasted until 1918. Two years later it was taken over by the Record Publishing Corporation, which published the paper until 1922.

In 1926, J.A.C. Chandler, president of The College of William and Mary, resumed publication of the paper, with Havilock Babcock of the School of Journalism as its editor. Within 6 months the paper ceased publication once again.

In 1930, however, the beginning of the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg brought with it a resurrection of The Virginia Gazette. J.A. Osborne resumed publication of the paper at that time, only to sell it to John O.W. Gravely III in 1961. And in March, 1986 the Gazette was sold to the Chesapeake Publishing Corporation. It was at this time that William O’Donovan took over as editor and publisher of the paper.

In the latest stage of its history, the Gazette, along with five other newspapers, two tourist magazines and several other publications were sold by the Chesapeake Corporation to The Daily Press and the Tribune Company on February 15, 2001.

In the end, The Virginia Gazette has had a truly amazing run through history. On its pages has appeared the historical essence of this country. Whether it be scooping its rivals during the Revolutionary War or being battered by the horrendous events of the Civil War, it survived. And though it died all too frequently, it always seemed to have the vitality necessary for resurrection.

Though no longer offering foreign or national news, The Virginia Gazette still provides the “freshest advices” to those fortunate enough to live in Williamsburg, Virginia and the surrounding counties. And given the fact that it’s now in the hands of a skilled and well-seasoned group of editors and writers, I suspect its trek through history will continue for many years to come.