Brown’s paper was the first to publish reports of the doings of Congress. He upheld the constitution when it was assailed, and earned the gratitude of men no less distinguished than Washington.
Another of the early Irish-American publishers was John Dunlap of the Pennsylvania Packet, the first daily published in America. He was born in Strabane, Ireland, in 1747. He died in Philadelphia in November, 1812. He was the first congressional printer, and acted as such to the Continental Congress. His paper was first to print the Declaration of Independence. He was an officer in the First Philadelphia cavalry which acted as Washington’s body-guard at Trenton and Princeton. Dunlap was an intense patriot, and during the Revolutionary War contributed more than £4,000 to the support of the Revolutionary army. He was a member of that noble band, the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, of Philadelphia, which furnished more field officers to the Revolutionary army and rendered more material aid to the colonists in the struggle for independence than any other single society.
Another prominent Philadelphia journalist of Irish birth was Mathew Carey, a native of Dublin. He landed in Philadelphia November 15, 1784. He had just been released from an English prison for political offenses. Two months later he issued the Philadelphia Herald. The Herald was the first paper to give correct legislative reports of Congress, Carey acting as his own reporter. For his vigorous opposition to English tyranny in his native land, he found himself one day a prisoner behind the bars at Newgate. Previous to this he was obliged to flee, for a vigorous use of his able pen in behalf of Irish freedom. He went to Paris and there made the acquaintance of the American minister, Benjamin Franklin, who gave him employment as clerk in the American embassy. After a year’s absence he returned to Dublin. He and Franklin were life-long friends, and it was he, I believe, who remarked to Franklin one day, that he agreed with the great philosopher in everything except religion.
He remained at his post editing his paper during the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, when all other editors felt obliged to desert their posts. He wrote and published much on economic and political subjects. His articles on protection were translated into different languages, and had a large sale. He fought a duel with Colonel Oswald, editor of a rival journal, and was confined to his bed for sixteen months, the result of wounds received from his antagonist. Mathew Carey was the first publisher of an American history. It was written by an Irish Presbyterian, Dr. Ramsay.
Perhaps the most interesting character among the Philadelphia editors of Irish blood was William Duane. He was the editor of the Aurora. Born in New York of Irish parents, he was sent to Ireland to be educated, graduating at Trinity College with honors. In 1794 we find him in India where he started a paper called the World and accumulated quite a fortune. With his inherent love of freedom, Duane championed the cause of the colonists against the East India Company. He was invited to breakfast one day with the governor of the colony, was arrested and sent to London in irons without any explanation. After petitioning for redress he awaited the outcome. Meanwhile he was employed editing the General Advertiser, which was subsequently merged into the London Times.
In 1795 Duane gave up his hope of redress from the Company and left London in disgust, coming to Philadelphia, where he became the editor of the Aurora, the leading organ of the Democratic party. It was to him that Jefferson attributed his election, owing to the vigorous advocacy of his candidacy through the Aurora columns which at that time was regarded as the most influential paper in America. President Jefferson made him a lieutenant-colonel in 1805, and during the war of 1812 he was adjutant-general of the army, which afforded the editor of the Aurora an opportunity to retaliate on his old enemy, England. The change of the seat of government from Philadelphia to Washington, diminished the influence of his paper, and later he retired from its editorship. He traveled much after retirement from his editorial labors, and on his return from abroad devoted himself to literary pursuits. He published a great many works on military subjects.
His son, who was born in Ireland, was originally a printer and paper dealer in Philadelphia. He studied law, was admitted to practice and represented Philadelphia in the state legislature for many years. He, like his father, took a deep interest in public matters, especially the building up of the great common school system of Philadelphia. He was his father’s right hand man in his editorial labors and secretary of the treasury in 1833 under President Jackson. He was removed from his position by the president after a controversy, for his refusal to remove the deposits from the United States bank during the exciting bank troubles. He was an author of note and wrote much on political and economic subjects.
The Binns family who settled in Philadelphia at the close of the eighteenth century were natives of Dublin. John and Benjamin were printers. John was tried in England for “treason,” but escaped punishment. Soon after his acquittal he was rearrested on a similar charge and served three years in jail. He came to America in 1801. In 1802 he commenced the publication of the Republican Argus at Northumberland, Penn., and in 1807 issued the Democratic Press at Philadelphia. For many years it was a most influential paper. For twenty years John Binn was an alderman of the city of Philadelphia, and was always active in matters affecting his native land. He was the first man to print an absolutely correct copy of the Declaration of Independence. For this public service he received the thanks of John Quincy Adams and General Lafayette. Appended to the copy of the document was a fac simile of the signatures of the signers of the immortal Declaration.
The proprietor of the New Jersey State Gazette which was established in 1792, the first daily paper published in that state, was William B. Kenny, the son of Irish parents. Under President Fillmore he was American minister to Sardinia.
Dr. James Hagan, the fighting editor of the Vicksburg (Miss.) Sentinel, was one of the earliest daily newspaper men in the South. He was killed in the prime of life while on his way to his office one day in 1842, by the editor of the Vicksburg Whig, with whom he had had a controversy. Dr. Hagan’s associate in the enterprise was James Ryan.