"Deacon" Nathaniel Willis, Jr.

Nathaniel Willis (1780–1870)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• (Portrait of Nathaniel Willis by Chester Harding, ca.1830)

Nathaniel Willis (1780–1870) was an editor and publisher in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, in the 19th century.[1][2] He established the Eastern Argus and the Boston Recorder newspapers, and The Youth's Companion magazine.

Biography

Willis was born in Boston in 1780 to newspaperman Nathaniel Willis (1755–1831). In 1787 he moved to "Winchester, [Virginia], and was employed in [a] newspaper office, and subsequently at Martinsburg, [Virginia], on the Potomac Guardian". Young Nathaniel was put to work at once in folding papers and setting types. At Martinsburg he used to ride post, with tin horn and saddle-bags, delivering papers to scattered subscribers in the thinly settled country. At the age of fifteen young Nathaniel returned to Boston and entered the office of the Independent Chronicle. He also found time, while in Boston, to drill with the "Fusiliers". In 1803, invited by a Maine congressman and other gentlemen of the Republican Party, he went to Portland, [Maine], and established the Eastern Argus in opposition to the Federalists.[3]

He married Hannah Parker in 1803;[4] children included Nathaniel Parker Willis, Sara Willis Parton (Fanny Fern), Richard Storrs Willis, Lucy Douglas (born 1804), Louisa Harris (1807), Julia Dean (1809), Mary Perry (1813), Edward Payson (1816) and Ellen Holmes (1821).[5]

Back in Boston in 1816, Willis established The Recorder newspaper, "published every Wednesday afternoon at no.76 State-Street, ... entrance through Mr. H. Messinger's Hat-Store or in the rear of the building from Wilson's Lane".[6] Associates included Sidney E. Morse.[7] He later moved to Congress Square.[8] Willis sold the paper to Martin Moore in 1844.[3]

In 1827 he established "a religious paper for children", The Youth's Companion (1827–1929). He served as editor "for about thirty years".[3]

From The Recorder, 1816

References

1. Boston Directory. 1823
2. WorldCat. Willis, Nathaniel 1780-1870
3. Henry Augustin Beers, Nathaniel Parker Willis, Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and company, 1885
4. Gazetteer (Boston); Date: 07-23-1803
5. Warren, Joyce W., Fanny Fern: An Independent Woman, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1992: 5. ISBN 0-8135-1763-X
6. Boston Recorder, Jan.3, 1816
7. New York Times, October 27, 1858
8. A large fire in November 1818 damaged his office on Congress Square. The nearby Exchange Coffee House burnt down in the fire; cf. New England Palladium, Nov. 6, 1818

Nathaniel Willis Jnr (1780 - 1870)

Born 6 Jun 1780 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United Statesmap

ANCESTORS

Son of Nathaniel Willis Sr and Lucy (Douglas) Willis
Brother of Andrew Willis, Mary Willis and Rebecca Willis
Husband of (Parker) Willis — married 1803 [location unknown]

DESCENDANTS

Father of Nathaniel Parker Willis, Sara Payson (Willis) Parton and Richard Storrs Willis
Died 1870 at about age 89 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United Statesmap
Biography
Notables Project
Nathaniel Willis Jnr is Notable.
Nathaniel was born in 1780. He is the son of Nathaniel Willis and Lucy Douglas.

Sources

• A collection of family records, with biographical sketches, and other memoranda of various families and individuals bearing the name Douglas, or allied to families of that name, by Douglas, Charles Henry James, 1856-1931
• Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 24 April 2021), memorial page for Nathaniel Willis (1780–26 May 1870), Find A Grave: Memorial #6687994, citing Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Peterborough K (contributor 46537737).

Wikipedia : Nathaniel Willis (junior)
Wikidata: Item Q6969933, en:Wikipedia help.gif

"Deacon" Nathaniel Willis was an editor and publisher in Boston, Massachusetts in the 19th century. He established the Eastern Argus and the Boston Recorder newspapers, and The Youth's Companion magazine.

Sources

• Reference: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Willis-7507
• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jul 29 2023, 17:35:12 UTC
• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Aug 2 2023, 23:53:41 UTC schwartz
• Reference: * Wikipedia: Nathaniel Willis