The Oyster Bay Connection:
The First American Newspaper Advertisement Offering Items For Sale

by Elliot M. Sayward

[Ed.: Elliot M. Sayward's article originally appeared in the Summer and Fall 1996 issues of the Freeholder. Our thanks to Mr. Sayward for permission to reproduce it here.]

At Oyster-bay on Long-Island in the Province of N. York, There is a very good Fulling-Mill, to be Let or Sold, as also a Plantation, having on it a large new Brick house, and another good house by it for a Kitchin & work house, with a Barn, Stable, etc. a young Orchard, and 20 Acres clear Land. The Mill is to be Let with or without the Plantation: Enquire of Mr. William Bradford Printer in N. York, and know further.

A copy of the newspaper advertisement shown above was dug out of the [Oyster Bay Historical] Society's files by Director Tom Kuehhas. He recognized that, while a piece of history itself, it also furnished a window on a plethora of fascinating subjects having to do with the early days of Oyster Bay and other parts of the original colonies.

The advertisement appeared in the Boston News-Letter of May 8, 1704. It is an historic milestone. Appearing early in the paper's first year of publication, it is drought to be the first newspaper advertisement announcing something for sale published in this country. Of course, Boston was the seed bed of newspaper publishing on this side of the Atlantic. Not only was the first newspaper published there but so was the second, The New-England Courant which was launched by James Franklin elder brother of Benjamin Franklin.

Benjamin Franklin will make another appearance in this account so it is germane to mention that, when material printed by his brother gave offense to the Assembly and he was prohibited from publishing, the paper appeared for a time under the name of the seventeen year old Benjamin who had already displayed considerable promise as a journalist.

The close ties of the residents of Oyster Bay with New England may have had something to do with the placement of the advertisement but it is more likely that "Mr. William Bradford printer in N. York" had become aware through the brotherhood of the press of the intention of the News-Letter to accept advertisements and had recognized that such a notice would reach a larger than usual group of prospective buyers for a productive farm and a going business. How did it happen that Bradford of New York City was attempting to dispose of property in Oyster Bay?

The deceased owner of the property, John Dewsbury, had been in debt to William Bradford who was not only a printer in New York but, as William S. Pelletreau tells us in his A History of Long Island, was also "a merchant of Oyster Bay", a description which he gave of himself in deeds prior to 1703. We don't know what brought Dewsbury into debt to Bradford, it may be that he borrowed money for the improvement of his business, the fulling mill or for his "large new Brick house." Whatever the reason for the debt, the General Assembly of the Colony of New York passed an act "to Enable the S[ai]d William Bradford of the City of Newyorke printer to Sell and dispose of the Real Estate of John Dewsbury, late of Oysterbay inn Queens County within the Colony Deceased for the payment of debts... ."

Who was this William Bradford? Very likely you already know of him as an important American printer of the 17th and 18th centuries. He was born in Leicestershire, England in 1663. He served his apprenticeship to a London printer and on completion thereof he emigrated to Philadelphia in 1685. Another account says he came with William Penn in 1682. In Philadelphia he set up the first printing press in Pennsylvania, as Benjamin Franklin who met him tells us. In 1688 he established a bookstore, perhaps his first venture as a merchant. Surely most of his stock must have been imported from abroad preparing him for later mercantile operations in Oyster Bay and New York City. Bradford also joined the Dutch Rittenhouse brothers to found a papermill, the product of which would have been important to his printing house.

However, shortly thereafter he printed the Pennsylvania charter for which act he found himself in trouble with the authorities. Deciding that the climate of Pennsylvania was not healthy for printers, Bradford removed in 1689 to the city of New York.

There he became the royal printer serving the administrators of the colony. It was a profitable connection but he had plenty of time for his own work. It is known that he issued some 400 publications including the first American Book of Common Prayer and pamphlets, almanacs and political writings. In 1725 he began the publication of the New-York Gazette, the first newspaper in that city.

One of Bradford's apprentices was John Peter Zenger who was to become famous in part because he thought Bradford's political writings "dry, senseless and fulsome panegyrics" and did something about it. He also thought that Bradford's ties with the government and his paper's role as mouthpiece for the administration should be challenged. As part of Bradford's bread and butter resulted from his connection with the government he was apparently loath to challenge his friends on issues important to Zenger who left him in 1733 and founded the Weekly Journal in opposition to the Gazette and the government. Zenger scathingly attacked the administration and its partisans, for which he went to jail. It took a Philadelphia lawyer, Alexander Hamilton, to get him out. Zenger's stand and eventual victory were major foundation stones in the developing idea of freedom of the press. It should not be thought that Bradford was without principle because of his adherence to constituted authority and his own best interests. He had already been through a freedom of the press controversy in Philadelphia.

In New York he had much earlier demonstrated his willingness to stand against wrong when he issued in 1693 the first published American attack on slavery, George Keith's An Exhortation and Caution to Friends Concerning Buying or Keeping Negroes. (The author wishes to thank Mildred DeRiggi, Ph.D. of the L.I. Studies Institute for bringing this piece to his attention.)

When Ben Franklin left Boston after a quarrel with his brother he went to New York seeking work. There he talked to Bradford who had nothing for him but sent him to Philadelphia to his son, also a printer, who had lost his chief assistant. This came to nothing although Franklin did get work with another printer, beginning his long Pennsylvania career. In Philadelphia he again met Bradford, who had come to visit his son. Franklin watched Bradford pry business information out of a competitor. He assessed him "as a crafty old sophister."

Bradford seems to have had Quaker connections even before he arrived in Philadelphia. He arrived there just three years after the proprietor of the colony, the Quaker William Penn, if not earlier. Another Quaker, George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends was the means of his introduction to Oyster Bay. Merle-Smith tells us that "a letter from George Fox to one of the Wrights of Oyster Bay introduced Bradford giving him his first contact with the village." He sets the date about 1685 which would have put Bradford in touch with Oyster Bay from the time of his arrival in America.

Fox, who came from Leicester as did Bradford, had preached to the inhabitants of Oyster Bay during his visit to America. While in this country, Fox journeyed from North Carolina to New England, calling on Quakers and Quaker congregations and preaching whenever opportunity arose. Pelletreau tells us that he "preached in the woods with a rock for a pulpit because there was no house in the place large enough to accommodate his auditors." Later that year Anthony Wright gave land to the Society of Friends for a meeting house and burial plot. Anthony Wright appears to have been a leader among the Quakers and may have been the Wright to whom George Fox wrote introducing Bradford.

Bradford engaged in real estate purchases in Oyster Bay until at least 1703. On one piece of land he bought he built the first bolting mill in the town. A bolting mill is a grist mill equipped with a machine that sifts ground grain into various grades or products suitable for different uses, as bran, coarse meal flour, etc. Prior to the introduction of bolting machines the job had to be done with a hand sieve.

Another of the properties Bradford purchased was a house and lot where he may have stayed while in town looking after his business or relaxing from his city labors. How extensive Bradford's connection with the town was is not clear. Considering what we know of his property purchases, his transactions with Dewsbury and his bolting mill, it would seem he was a substantial if part-time, citizen. If we remember that he described himself as a merchant of Oyster Bay, we may speculate that he engaged in a very considerable trade in imported goods landed at our port, which was able to accommodate vessels of substantial size for the times.

According to Pelletreau, Oyster Bay was one of four Long Island ports that in 1699 handled a full third of all the goods imported into the colony of New York.

Bradford was an important man in his day. His presses in both Philadelphia and New York made significant contributions to the developing intellectual life in America. He founded a family group of printer descendants who carried forward the work he had begun. One of his apprentices, John Peter Zenger, enabled by Bradford's training to commence publication of a New York City newspaper, achieved a place in history because he was responsible for a important advance in the American notion of freedom of the press. Bradford's establishment of a paper mill, a bolting mill and two important printing offices suggest that he was no small force in the developing American economy. Even as a part-time citizen of Oyster Bay he adds luster to its early history.

Although the advertiser himself is perhaps the most important topic introduced by the Boston News-Letter advertisement, that topic is not the only one that has dimmed in at least some 20th century minds. For example, the question was put to three chance-met acquaintances recently: What is a fulling mill? Not one of those asked was able to answer.

Fulling Mill. Illustration from Diderot's Encyclopedia.

Let us therefore consider the "very good Fulling Mill to be let or sold." Once a common convenience in American towns and villages, the fulling mill has ceased to exist as such and has been generally forgotten. It existed from early days because most of the non-luxury fabric for wearing apparel and other uses was made locally rather than imported. Weaving was done in many homes by family members or by professional weavers utilizing homespun yarns made from fibers raised or grown as part of the household economy. Much was used straight from the loom or was "fulled" at home A simple method of fulling at home was the "kicking frolic" involving several barefooted young men. It was an occasion of sociability and shared work like a husking bee or an apple cutting. The purpose was to clean, condense and thicken the newly woven textile by wetting it with warm soapsuds and kicking it around in a circle.

The process causes woolen cloth or other cloth made of fibers that will "felt" to thicken and harden, becoming slightly shorter in both length and width and also becoming capable of a smooth finish. Felting is the amalgamation of the individual fibers that make up the textile. It occurs because the surface of the fibers have microscopic barbs that interlock under manipulation, causing the mass to which they belong to compact and consolidate. Fibers can be felted as was done by hatmakers without the steps of making yarn from them and weaving it into cloth. Heat, moisture and manipulation alone can amalgamate the fibers into a compact textile useful for making hats and some other purposes but infrequently employed in clothing. Soap or other detergent is a necessary part of fulling as grease is not only natural to wool but is sometimes added in some of the processes necessary to convert fibers to textile. Grease impairs felting and must be removed as must soil. Fulling in a fulling mill was performed by giant hammers or beaters that worked the wet, soapy cloth in a trough.

The hammers were activated by a long shaft turned by water power. Cams on the shaft engaged the pivoted hammers for part of the shaft's revolution, raising them to their highest point and then dropping them to thud against the textile in the trough.

Following fulling several processes occurred and these were often part of the business of the fuller. Chief among them were teaseling and shearing.

Teaseling was raising the nap or surface fibers of the textile by brushing it with an instrument in which were mounted the teasers, dried, thistle-like flowerheads. These are equipped with many fine, wiry hooks or awns which tease the surface of the cloth, raising a pile or nap.

The nap was raised in order to allow shearing, that is cutting the nap off at a uniform height above the surface in order to create a smooth finish. In the days when there was a fulling mill at Oyster Bay, shearing was done manually using a giant pair of shears, not pivoted like your household scissors but joined by a semicircular spring at the handle end like an old fashioned pair of garden or sheep shears. A typical order from a customer bringing a length of cloth to the fuller to be "dressed" might have been expressed thus. I want it fulled, teaseled and sheared twice. Some fullers would have dyed it for him as well.

The first fuller in Oyster Bay may have been Isaac Horner who in 1677-8 and again in 1684-5 was granted "ye privilege of ye Stream at ye Beaver Swamp by ye Sho ... to set up a Fulling Mill." [G.W. Cocks, Old Matinecock ] A mill privilege was the right to dam running water for power even though it might back up on land not owned by the operator. Against Horner's primacy is Merle-Smith's comment that "As early as 1668 a fulling mill was established at Mosquito Cove."

Men were recorded as having been clothworkers in Oyster Bay by Merle-Smith. William Frost is listed from 1672 to 1702. He may have been connected with the fulling mill. John Dewsbury is also listed between 1685 and 1702. He, of course owned the mill.

When the mill was sold to satisfy Bradford's claim, the buyer was Samuel Haydon, blacksmith. Perhaps Haydon operated the fulling business but at this point that is not clear. That there was work for a fulling mill in the area is hinted at by the estate inventory of Johanna Ffurman. It included among her possessions a loom and tackling in 1672, George Townsend is identified as a weaver in a document of 1711.

The Brick House offered in the advertisement shows how much the standard of living in Oyster Bay had advanced in the 50 years since its settlement. It is the second one we know of. And, although Dewsbury was censured for extravagance, it indicates that a considerable degree of comfort and not a little conspicuous consumption had become available to the people of the town.

The "good house by it fit for a kitchin or a work house" is obviously the earlier dwelling house from which Dewsbury moved. In a time when buildings were few and valuable, older ones being replaced were frequently retained rather than torn down. Kitchens were often the major room in a house. Warm and pleasant in winter, they were hot and fly infested in summer. When possible the desirable location for them was outside the main house. The advertisement implies a recognition of this practical consideration as a sales feature. Further, in a day when almost every household strove toward self sufficiency, much work was done at home. If the householder was an artisan and self-employed, his place of work was usually at home. The extra building, suitable for such purposes, could have been a major inducement to a buyer.

The "Barn, Stable, Etc" offered tell us that the property had been used for serious agricultural purposes. It is reasonable to infer that hay and perhaps other crops were stored in the barn. Cows and oxen may have been kept there as well. We can guess that the "Etc" stood for items like a corn crib, a tool shed or a chicken house. At an earlier day a stable might have housed any form of livestock from goats upward but by the time of our advertisement the usual occupants were horses. Horses served two main purposes. Like oxen they provided the power that moved plows and harrows and perhaps other farming tools. And in an era when transportation facilities over land were drastically limited, horses transported people and goods to their destinations near and far with considerable speed and a fair degree of comfort for the people. The extent to which most Oyster Bay residents engaged in land travel is not easily gauged but the appearance in nventories of saddles, carts, horse furniture and horses suggest that people were capable of traveling considerable distances more or less at will.

If we remember that Madam Sarah Kemble Knight traveled, chiefly on horseback and often alone, from Boston to New York in the same year our advertisement appeared in a Boston newspaper, we will have some idea of how far ordinary citizens were prepared to travel in the days before super highways and even paved roads. We can probably assume that once they were supplied with horses and perhaps even before, some Long Islanders traveled both for social and economic reasons if not purely for entertainment. Bradford certainly expected a Bostonian, answering his advertisement to travel a great distance. If that had been unlikely, he wouldn't have wasted his money.

The "young Orchard" does not imply one that has very recently been planted. Bradford is presenting a major asset of the plantation. A quotation from Jonathan Perian's 1884 The Home and Farm Manual makes plain the importance of a young orchard, "The first ten bearing years of any apple or other long-lived trees is better than all that comes after. The profit is in young, thrifty trees, not in old ones." The apple was of course the most important fruit tree of colonial America. An orchard of no other fruit could have been described simply as "a young Orchard" with any expectation of comprehension on the part of the reader. The major importance of apples was that cider could be made from them. Households with orchards made many barrels of that popular beverage every year both for their own use and for sale to those not so fortunate. Not too many years later cider was being shipped from Oyster Bay by sloop to the South.

Our discursive ramble through a host of topics suggested by Bradford's advertisement illustrates how many aspects of history there are as well as how rapidly the common knowledge of one day can be forgotten in the next. The importance of our [Oyster Bay Historical] Society and its work is thereby emphasized and, we hope, others are encouraged to explore the roads pointed out by similar historical signboards.

Information Sources:
Cocks, George William Old Matinecock An Address, 1910
Di Riggi, Millie Unpublished Communication, 1996
Earle, Walter K. Out of The Wilderness, 1996
Franklin, Benjamin Autobiography, begun 1771
Gaw, Walter A. Advertising Methods And Media, 1961
Knight, Sarah Journal, 1704
Kuehhas, Thomas A. Unpublished Communications, 1996
Merle-Smith, Van S. Oyster Bay, 1653-1700
Pelletreau, William S. A History Of Long Island, 1903
Perian, Jonathan The Home And Farm Manual, 1884
Wallace, John W. An Address Before The N.Y. Historical Society, 1863
Copies of various records of early Oyster Bay belonging to the Oyster Bay Historical Society. Various standard histories, encyclopedias, biographical dictionaries, etc.