- John Fenno
John Fenno (Aug. 12, 1751 (O.S.) - Sept. 14, 1798), was a Federalist Party editor and major figure in the
history of American newspapers . His "Gazette of the United States" played a major role in shaping the beginnings of party politics in the United States in the 1790s.Fenno was born in
Boston , the son of Ephraim Fenno, leather-dresser and alehouse keeper, and Mary Chapman. He wed Mary Curtis, of Roxbury, Massachusetts, on May 8, 1777, and the couple had thirteen children. Fenno spent some early years as a teacher, and was secretary to GeneralArtemas Ward during part of theAmerican Revolution . Failure of an import business led to a move toNew York City , which at that time was the nation's capital. Having previously written for the "Massachusetts Centinel", Fenno on April 11, 1789 in New York City published the first issue of the "Gazette of the United States" to support Federalist Party positions. Fenno moved it toPhiladelphia when the national capital moved there in 1790.As opposing factions, centered around
Alexander Hamilton andThomas Jefferson , developed within President Washington's administration, political newspapers such as the "Gazette" became increasingly important. Fenno's little three-column folio, printed on a sheet seventeen by twenty-one inches, became the semi-official government newspaper, with a share of the government's printing and with contributions from prominent Federalists such asJohn Adams . Hamilton was especially active, writing articles under various pseudonyms and rescuing the editor from bankruptcy in 1793 by raising $2,000 to pay off creditors.Jefferson and his colleagues, angry at Fenno's attempt "to make way for a king, lords, and Commons" set up rival newspapers, the "Aurora" edited by
Benjamin F. Bache and the "National Gazette " edited byPhilip Freneau , to promote the newly formedDemocratic-Republican Party . As a highly visible Federalist spokesman, Fenno was engaged in verbal disputes that once led to fisticuffs with Bache. The tone of the "Gazette of the United States" was somewhat above the average of its contemporaries, and the Federalists were well served through its columns, although the circulation never exceeded 1,400. Copies circulated to major cities where other Federalist newspapers freely copied the news and editorials.Fenno, along with his wife and a newborn daughter, died in Philadelphia during the
yellow fever epidemic of 1798. His son, John Ward Fenno, carried on with the paper until 1800, when he sold it.On August 7, 1802, John Fenno's daughter Maria Fenno (1781-1823) married
New York State Attorney General Josiah Ogden Hoffman, their son wasCharles Fenno Hoffman (1806-1884).ee also
First Party System References
* [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=71887465 Humphrey, Carol Sue. "The Press of the Young Republic, 1783-1833" (1993)]
* Jerry W. Knudson. "Jefferson And the Press: Crucible of Liberty" (2006) how 4 Republican and 4 Federalist papers covered election of 1800; Thomas Paine; Louisiana Purchase; Hamilton-Burr duel; impeachment of Chase; and the embargo
* McCormick, Thomas Denton. "John Fenno" "Dictionary of American Biography" (1934)
* Pasley. Jeffrey L. "The Tyranny of Printers": Newspaper Politics in the Early Republic" (2001) [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=175631035832949 online review]
* [http://www.clements.umich.edu/Webguides/EF/Fenno.html Fenno-Hoffman Family Papers - notes] - William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan.
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