Lt. Gov. of New Hampshire John Usher

Parents: Hezekiah Usher (1616 Boston, Suffolk Co., MA - 5/14/1676 Boston, Suffolk Co. MA) & Frances LNU (c. 1617 in Boston, Suffolk Co., MA - 4/25/1652).

John was publisher of Morton's New-England's Memorial, and in 1672, he was granted the first American copyright, which gave him the sole privilege of publishing the Massachusetts laws printed that year. Ushers publishing was not limited to America, for in the same year he acted as one of the publishers of John Davenport's The Power of Congregational Churches Asserted, printed in London. Richard Chiswell, a London bookseller with many American contacts, had the book issued with two different imprints, 'Printed in the Year 1672' for English distribution, and 'Printed for Rich. Chiswell, and to be sold by John Usher of Boston in New-England, 1672' for American distribution." Source: George E. Littlefield, Early Boston Booksellers (Boston, 1900), pp. 65-82.

MASSACHUSETTS (COLONY). LAWS. "The Book of the General Lawes and Libertyes Concerning the Inhabitants of the Massachusets, Collected Out of the Records of the General Court, for the Several Years Wherin They Were Made and Established. Cambridge, Printed [by Samuel Green] According to Order of the General Court. 1660. The first book of the collected laws of Massachusetts published in America was issued in 1648 and now exists only in a unique copy at the Huntington Library. This is the second collected laws, compiled by Daniel Denison, Thomas Clark, and Edward Rawson. This copy, in a binding by John Ratcliff, belonged to Rawson. Bound in are six later session laws, keeping the volume current through 1668. A new edition was not thought necessary until 1672, when the Court granted the first copyright given in the colonies to the merchant and bookseller John Usher, allowing him to publish and sell that edition exclusively." http://www.reeseco.com/papers/fruits.htm

"The Printers' First Fruits - An Exhibition of American Imprints, 1640-1742, from the Collections of the American Antiquarian Society. Nathaniel Morton. New-England's Memorial: Or, a Brief Relation of the Most Memorable and Remarkable Passages of the Providence of God, Manifested to the Planters of New-England in America". Cambridge: Printed by S.G. and M.J. [Samuel Green and Marmaduke Johnson] for John Usher of Boston. 1669. http://www.reeseco.com/papers/fruits.htm

While in London in 1677 John Usher paid £1,250 to Fernando Gorges for the land that would become the state of Maine. He turned the deed over to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Maine remained part of Massachusetts until it was granted statehood in 1820 (Find A Grave Memorial # 18516989).

JOHN BUNYAN. The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to come.... Boston in New England: Printed by Samuel Green upon Assignment from Samuel Sewall: and Are to Be Sold by John Usher of Boston. 1681. Pilgrim's Progress was first published in London in 1678 and was an immediate best seller, with nine editions by 1681. The tremendous demand for the book is attested to by this American edition, since the expense of printing so long a text in the colonies would have been higher than the normal cost of importing, unless Usher expected that high demand would swiftly recoup his cost. This is the first American reprint of a British work of literature, and a book that must have been very widely read in New England. http://www.reeseco.com/papers/fruits.htm

In Boston, booksellers seemed to control the printed word more than the printers. John Dunton, the British bookseller, who had enough American trade in 1686 to be owed £500 there, did a brisk further business when he came over with a large stock of books that year. He described John Usher as a man who 'makes the best Figure in Boston, he's very rich, adventures much at Sea; but has got his Estate by BOOKSELLING,' and gave pointed portraits of the other booksellers, to whom he reckoned he was as welcome as 'sowr ale.' http://www.reeseco.com/papers/first100.htm

• Joseph Dow's History of Hampton: THE NEW CONNECTION SEVERED, 1692 -"Agents had been sent to England from Massachusetts, to solicit from the crown a new charter for that colony, which was granted. The agents had asked that it might include the New Hampshire towns, so that their connection with Massachusetts might be permanent. Many of the people of New Hampshire were in favor of such a union. But the interests of a certain London merchant were, with King William, paramount to the interests and the wishes of the people of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and the boon asked for was not granted. The newly formed connection was severed. Some time previous to this, namely, March 1, 1692, the heirs of Mason had sold their interest in New Hampshire to Samuel Allen, the London merchant referred to in the last paragraph, for the sum of £750; and he now obtained from the sovereigns the governorship of the province for himself, and the appointment of John Usher, as lieutenant-governor. Nine councilors besides Usher, who was allowed a seat at the council-board, were named in the governor's instructions, and provision was made for three others to be added to the board. Three councilors constituted a quorum, though no business, except in extraordinary cases, was to be transacted, unless five at least were present. One of the councilors named in the instructions was Henry Green, and one of the three added to the board, Nathaniel Weare. These were the only members belonging to Hampton.

The popular notion that Usher was at this time son-in-law to Allen is incorrect, as proved by records: John Usher, son of Hezekiah and Frances, was born in Boston, April 17, 1648. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Lidgett (who was born in the Island of Bbds [Barbadoes] November 4, 1651), on the 24th of April, 1668. She died Aug. 17, 1698, six years after Usher's appointment to the office of lieut.-governor. About seven months after her death, Usher was married to Allen's daughter, in Hampton, by Rev. John Cotton, pastor of the Hampton church. The marriage is entered thus on the church record of marriages: March 11 1598/9 The Honourable Jn Usher Esq. & Madam Elizabeth Allen"

• http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/history/dow/chap6/dow6_3.html
• Colonial Lieutenant Governors of New Hampshire: John Usher served from 1692-1697 and then again from 1702-1715. At that time, a Lieutenant Governor headed the New Hampshire Council. *http://74.6.238.252/search/srpcache?ei=UTF-8&p=Lt.+Gov.+John+Usher&...
• http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vtwindha/nhsp/nhspv02_toc.htm - New Hampshire State Papers, Provincial Papers, Documents and Records Relating to the Province of New Hampshire From 1686 To 1722: Being Part 1 of Papers Relating to That Period. Published by Authorityi of the Legislature of New Hampshire. Volume II Compiled and Edited By Nathaniel Bouton, D.D., Corresponding Secretary of the New-Hampshire Historical Society, Manchester. John B. Clarke, State Printer, 1868: Commission of Lt. Gov. John Usher — 1703, pgs. 406 - 407. Administration of Lieut. Gov. John Usher — 1692 - 1696, "Minutes of Council," &c., in same period
• http://74.6.238.252/search/srpcache?ei=UTF-8&p=Lt.+Gov.+John+Usher&...
• Find A Grave Memorial# 18516989. To see a picture of the vault inscription, go to the Media section. Reference: Ancestry Genealogy
• SmartCopy: Dec 22 2017, 17:58:44 UTC
• http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Usher-48.