James Franklin (printer)

James Franklin (February 4, 1697 in Boston – February 4, 1735 in Newport, Rhode Island) was an early American printer, publisher and author of newspapers and almanacs in the American colonies. James published the New England Courant, one of the oldest and the first truly independent American newspapers, and the short lived Rhode Island Gazette.

Early years
James was an older brother of Benjamin Franklin and the son of Josiah Franklin, a chandler and businessman from Ecton, Northamptonshire, England, and Abiah Folger Franklin, who came from a family of Nantucket Puritans. In addition to James, their children included: John (1690–1756), Peter (1692–1766), Mary (1694–ca. 1730), Sarah (1699–1731), Ebenezer (1701–1702), Thomas (1703–1706), Benjamin (1706–1790), Lydia (1708–1758), and Jane (1712–1794). James had seven other siblings from his father's earlier marriage.

James married Ann Smith, who came from a Puritan family, in 1723, on his 26th birthday. The ceremony, in Boston, was performed by the Rev. John Webb of the New North Church. James Franklin was married to Ann Franklin and together that had a son, James Franklin Jr. who took over his father's newspaper, The Rhode-Island Gazette when his father died.

Career
James Franklin learned the printer's trade in England, thereafter returning to the American colonies in March 1717, bringing with him his own printing Ramage press and printer's type. to start in the printing trade, and younger brother, Benjamin, became indentured to him.

Soon he began publishing in 1719 while working for The Boston Gazette. After being replaced by Samuel Kneeland as its printer he established The New-England Courant in Boston in 1721 with wife, Ann, and brother, Benjamin, working alongside him. While at the Courant, James gathered a group, referred to by some as "The Hell-Fire Club", for assistance. In response, Thomas Walter, a Boston preacher, countered by writing a scathing piece entitled, “The Anti- Courant.” James, however, saw this as an opportunity to further promote his newspaper and published Walter's editorial piece, with a note that his Courant would ascribe to a neutral editorial policy.

Franklin, by means of his New-England Courant, boldly criticized Boston's religious orthodoxy on two fronts. First, he introduced the fashions of English literary journalism, commonly referred to as "yellow journalism," to American journalism. To this end he printed humorous and provocative essays with the intention of reforming the towns social mannerisms. This marked the first time Boston was subjected to a competing moral voice that challenged that of the pulpit. Among them was the publication of essays by "Silence Dogood", which, unbeknownst to James, were actually authored by his younger brother, Benjamin Franklin. Secondly, he openly criticized what was assumed to be the dangerous procedure of small-pox inoculation, while some prominent ministers, like Cotton Mather, supported the measure, while most of the citizenry of Boston were fearful of the practice. As such the Courant was considered very controversial, and James was imprisoned for four weeks in 1722 for writing "scandalous libel". The paper was suppressed in 1727 and James and Ann left Boston in the same year.

At the invitation of James's brother, John, a tallow chandler, James and Ann moved to Newport. Here, they had five children, including Mary, Elizabeth, and James Jr. Here, too, James and Ann established the first printing press in the colony of Rhode Island.

Starting in 1727, James printed and published eight editions of the Rhode-Island Almanack, sometimes under the pseudonym "Poor Robin". They were printed in James' shop near the town schoolhouse, or at his printing-house on Tillinghast's Wharf, near the Union-Flag Tavern. With the assistance of Thomas Fleet, the almanacs were sold as far away as Pudding-Lane in Boston.

On September 27, 1732, James published the first issue of the Rhode Island Gazette, 12 in by 8.5 in in size. Its run lasted only until May 24, 1733, and its issues were irregular.

Later years
James was ill while living in Newport, but before his death, his brother Benjamin Franklin came for a visit. When Benjamin left for Philadelphia, he had with him his nephew, James Jr., and provided him with a printing apprenticeship thereafter. After a long illness, James died in Newport in 1735, on his 38th birthday and 12th wedding anniversary. James Franklin was buried in the Newport Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery. He was survived by Ann, leaving her with four young children to support alone, one child having preceded James in death.

Ann Smith Franklin continued to operate the printing business until her death in 1763, publishing under the imprint of "The Widow Franklin", and producing books, almanacs, pamphlets, and legal announcements.