Manuscripts Division
William L. Clements Library
University of Michigan

Finding aid for
Boston Evening Post Letters, 1769-1778

James S. Schoff Revolutionary War Collection

Finding aid created by
Meg Hixon, December 2011

Summary Information

Title: Boston Evening Post letters
Creator: Fleet, John, 1734-1806 and Fleet, Thomas, 1732-1797
Inclusive dates: 1769-1778
Extent: 8 items
Abstract:

This collection consists of 8 letters written to John and Thomas Fleet, editors of the Boston Evening Post , during the pre-Revolutionary period. The letters address the Boston non-importation agreement, riots, and other political issues related to the causes of the American Revolution.

Language: The material is in English
Repository: William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan

909 S. University Ave.
The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1190
Phone: 734-764-2347
Web Site: www.clements.umich.edu

Access and Use

Acquisition Information:

unknown. M-2947.18; M-2947.31; M-2947.32; M-2947.33; M-2947.34; M-2947.35; M-2947.36.

Access Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Copyright:

Copyright status is unknown

Processing Information:

Cataloging funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). This collection has been processed according to minimal processing procedures and may be revised, expanded, or updated in the future.

Preferred Citation:

Boston Evening Post letters , William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan

Arrangement

The collection is arranged chronologically, with one undated item placed at the end.

History

The Boston Evening Post, published on Monday evenings, was a continuation of Jeremiah Gridley's Weekly Rehearsal, renamed in August 1735 after Thomas Fleet (1685-1758) became its printer and editor. The newspaper was published by Fleet until his death in July 1758, and thereafter by his sons, Thomas Jr. and John. Its final issue was published on April 24, 1775, during increasing instability in pre-Revolutionary Boston.

Collection Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of 8 letters written to John and Thomas Fleet, editors of the Boston Evening Post, during the pre-Revolutionary period.

The collection contains the following letters, addressed to the newspaper's editors:

• [Joseph Warren?], attacking John Mein, publisher of the Boston Chronicle, for criticizing the Boston non-importation agreement (published September 4, 1769)
• [Joseph Warren?], describing the murder of 13-year-old Christopher Snider following a riot related to the Boston non-importation agreement (published February 26, 1770)
• Joseph Allen, describing a violent dispute over the ownership of a farm in Greenwich, Massachusetts, and including a related resolution from several nearby towns' Committees of Correspondence (November 10, 1774; published December 19, 1774)
• [John Fuller?], favorably reporting that "Doctor John Taylor of Lunenburg, in Order for the Promotion of Military Knowledge , which in these Times of Public Calamity, seems Indispensably necessary, generally gave to the Minute Company of that Town, 55 Military Books" (December 8, 1774)
• Anonymous, reporting that Thomas Weeks, Deputy Sheriff of Greenwich, Massachusetts, resigned and burned his commission as a protest against "Unconstitutional Government," including a list of 8 celebratory toasts (December 19, 1774; published January 16, 1775)
• Ephraim Whitney, recanting a statement published on October 17, 1774, in which he claimed to support the British government, and claiming the earlier statement was made under coercion [1774]
• Solomon Stoddard, affirming his intentions to submit to the actions of the Continental Congress and to have no correspondence with General Thomas Gage, possibly made under coercion (February 3, 1775)
• "A Real Friend to Government," quoting several laws related to punishments for British military officers who participate in riots and calling for a trial of related parties; possibly in response to the Boston Massacre (undated)

Subject Terms

Subjects:

• Boston (Mass.)--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.
• Boston (Mass.)--Newspapers.
• Greenwich (Mass. : Town)
• Letters to the editor.
• Massachusetts--Politics and government--To 1775.
• United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Causes.

Contributors:

• Allen, Joseph.
• Stoddard, Solomon.
• Whitney, Ephraim.

Genre Terms:

• Letters (correspondence)

Contents List

Container / Location		Title
Box   3, Schoff Revolutionary War Collection		Boston Evening Post letters,  1769-1775 [series]:

Additional Descriptive Data

Bibliography

Ayer, Mary Farwell, and Albert Matthews. Check-List of Boston Newspapers 1704-1780. Boston, Massachusetts: The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 1907.