To James Madison from Anthony Haswell, 23 November 1804 (Abstract)
§ From Anthony Haswell
23 November 1804, Bennington. “Apprehending that the information of the destruction of my Printing-Office, by fire, might have reached the city of Washington, and fearing that the printing for the General Government might consequently be withheld from me, I take the earliest opportunity to notify, that we have prepared a new room, and shall issue a paper next week. I have associated with Mr. Benja. Smead, (an inflexible republican and warm advocate of the Administration,) in the business of Printing,1 and can give assurance that any work which the national Government may give us, shall be elegantly executed. Any favor, from yourself or friends, Sir, would at this unfortunate crisis be received with gratitude.” Adds in a postscript: “Joyful congratulations, dear, Sir, on the result of the late choice of Presidential Electors in Massachusetts.”2
RC (DNA: RG 59, Miscellaneous Letters Received regarding Publishers of the Laws). 1 p.; docketed by Wagner.
1. Haswell’s Bennington Vermont Gazette had been suspended on several occasions since its establishment in 1783, with the most recent suspension being caused by an 8 Nov. 1804 fire that destroyed the printing office. The partnership of Haswell and Benjamin Smead, established in August 1804, was dissolved in January 1806, after which Smead established the Vermont Gazette: An Epitome of the World. Smead later printed papers for several Vermont editors before founding the Bath, New York, Steuben Patriot in 1816 (Brigham, History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1:552, 2:1074–75).
2. In the 5 Nov. 1804 race for presidential electors in Massachusetts, the Republican slate garnered over four thousand more votes than the Federalist (Boston Columbian Centinel, 3 and 21 Nov. 1804).