This week in Brattleboro History the topic will be freedom of the press versus the needs of government. In 1776 British born Samuel Gale was living under house arrest in New York City. He had been held in jail in Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York for a year and a half because of his loyalty to Great Britain and the desire of the infant US government to suppress his voice.
In 1773 Samuel Gale had moved to Brattleboro as a New York land surveyor and clerk of the local court. During the years leading to the American Revolution he was loyal to Great Britain and married Rebecca Wells, from a prominent Brattleboro Tory family. He was also a writer with outspoken views supporting the British government and it is thought that he brought the first printing press to Vermont during this time.
In 1775, as the clerk of the court in Westminster, Samuel Gale was a prominent participant in the Westminster Massacre that resulted in the deaths of two local farmers. He sided and marched with the Tory/New York contingent and was arrested after the incident. His property, including the printing press, was confiscated and never returned to him.
From March of 1775 to September of 1776, Samuel Gale was passed from jail to jail as the American Revolution took shape. He was a known supporter of Great Britain who had been in possession of publishing equipment and was an accomplished writer. The organizers of the Revolution did not want his voice to find its way to print during these critical months of early rebellion.
Here is an excerpt of one of his letters requesting release from prison, “In this intolerable place, the wind, when cold, fairly chills every vein in my body. The smoke, when there is fire, not only blinds but nearly suffocates me; and the continual smell of the room has, I fear, tended to rot my very vitals.” He was called a very dangerous man by his captors but was released after a year and a half of captivity in September of 1776 when he pledged he would not be active against the rebellion of the colonies.
Once freed, he joined his family and moved to British controlled Quebec. He became one of the loyalists who were granted free land in Canada because they had lost property in the American Colonies when the Revolution began.
We believe Samuel Gale’s printing press was confiscated by Vermont because there are government records from 1780 that indicate the Vermont legislature confiscated and used Gale’s “writing office” for their own purposes.
So, outspoken British sympathizer Gale’s printing press was used by the young, independent Vermont government to promote its agenda throughout the newly formed state.
In this case Samuel Gale’s voice of opposition to the newly formed United States and Vermont governments was squelched and suppressed in order to meet the needs of the young government.