John Burke, printer and journalist, worked in Richmond at the printing office of Samuel Pleasants and also saw service during the War of 1812. In partnership with Philip DuVal, he purchased the Virginia Argus from the Pleasants estate by mid-February 1815. Shortly thereafter DuVal left the firm. In February 1816 Burke formed a partnership with Louis H. Girardin, who remained with him at the Argus until its demise in October of that year. Burke also established a separate printing shop by the spring of 1815 and conducted it until January 1817 with a series of business associates: Arthur G. Booker, DuVal, and lastly, his own brother David Burke. Neither venture prospered, and by early in 1821 Burke had left both the United States and his creditors behind (A. Paull Hubbard Jr., “Notes on the Book Trade in Richmond, Virginia, together with a Preliminary Checklist of Richmond, Virginia, Imprints: 1780–1860” [1987], fascicle 1; Hugh Nelson to an unidentified correspondent, 12 Dec. 1816 [DNA: RG 59, LAR, 1809–17]; Brigham, American Newspapers description begins Clarence S. Brigham, History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1690–1820, 1947, 2 vols. description ends , 2:1143; Norfolk American Beacon and Commercial Diary, 24 Oct. 1816; Richmond Enquirer, 3 May 1822).