The Independent Chronicle (1776-1840) was a newspaper in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. It originated in 1768 as The Essex Gazette (v.1-7) in Salem

Salem, Massachusetts

Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...

, and The New-England Chronicle (v.7-9) in Cambridge

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

, before settling in 1776 in Boston as The Independent Chronicle. Publishers included Edward E. Powars

Edward Eveleth Powars

Edward Eveleth Powars was a printer in Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts, in the late 18th century. He published the Independent Chronicle , the Boston Evening-Post , the American Herald , and The Argus...

, Nathaniel Willis

Nathaniel Willis (1755-1831)

Nathaniel Willis was a publisher and editor in the late 18th century. He participated in the Boston Tea Party in 1773. He issued the Independent Chronicle and the American Herald in Boston, Massachusetts, and worked for some years with Edward Eveleth Powars as "Powars & Willis.""In 1784 he sold...

, and Adams & Rhoades; and for some time it operated from offices on Court Street

Court Street (Boston, Massachusetts)

Court Street is located in the Financial District of Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to 1788, it was called Prison Lane and then Queen Street . In the 19th century it extended beyond its current length, to Bowdoin Square. In the 1960s most of Court Street was demolished to make way for the...

 formerly occupied by James Franklin

James Franklin (printer)

James Franklin was an American colonial author, printer, newspaper publisher, and almanac publisher...

. As of the 1820s, "the Chronicle [was] the oldest newspaper ... published in Boston; and has long been considered one of the principal republican papers in the state; and its influence has, at all times, been in exact proportion to the popularity of the cause which it has so warmly espoused." After 1840 the paper continued as the Boston Semi-weekly Advertiser published by Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale (journalist)

Nathan Hale was an American journalist and newspaper publisher who introduced regular editorial comment as a newspaper feature.-Life and career:...

.

Variant titles

Volumes 1-9

• The Essex Gazette (Salem): Vol. 1, no. 1 (Aug. 2, 1768)-v. 7, no. 353 (Apr. 25-May 2, 1775)
• The New-England Chronicle, or, the Essex Gazette (Cambridge): Vol. 7, no. 354 (May 2-12, 1775)-v. 8, no. 400 (Mar. 28-Apr. 4, 1776)
• The New-England Chronicle (Boston): Vol. 8, no. 401 (Apr. 25, 1776)-v. 9, no. 411 [i.e. 421] (Sept. 12, 1776)

Volumes 9-77

• The Independent Chronicle: Vol. 9, no. 422 (Sept. 19, 1776)-v. 9, no. 428 (Oct. 31, 1776)
• The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser: Vol. 9, no. 429 (Nov. 7, 1776)-v. 33, no. 2162 (Dec. 14-17, 1801)
• The Independent Chronicle: Vol. 33, no. 2163 (Dec. 21, 1801)-v. 49, no. 3768 (May 29, 1817)
• Independent Chronicle & Boston Patriot: Vol. 49, no. 3769 (June 4, 1817)-v. 77, no. 6166 (May 23, 1840)

Further reading

• Boston Newspapers. Boston News-Letter. Sept. 23, 1826; p.133+