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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper Burlington Free Press (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865 Weekly free press

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About Burlington Free Press (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865

In 1827, the town of Burlington, Vermont had about 3,000 residents, a thriving village on Lake Champlain, a university, a medical college, and a growing industrial and commercial economy. The town’s single newspaper, the Vermont Centinel, supported the democratic politics of Andrew Jackson. Because many Vermonters favored Jackson’s opponent, President John Quincy Adams, lawyer Luman Foote advertised a new weekly paper that would “provide content entertaining and instructive to every class of reader” and support the Adams administration and its policies. Foote and Seneca Austin published the first issue of the Burlington Free Press in June 1827.

After Foote left to pursue the ministry in 1833, his associate, Henry B. Stacy, ran the paper until 1846, when DeWitt C. Clarke became owner and editor. According to historian Gene A. Sessions, Clarke was a “gifted, combative, and partisan editorial stylist.” Although Clark optimistically began publishing The Daily Free Press in 1848, both papers met significant financial challenges. In 1853, George W. Benedict, a prominent businessperson and former University of Vermont professor, and his son, George G. Benedict, assumed ownership and editorial responsibilities for the Free Press.

The Benedict family’s association with the Free Press lasted into the first decades of the twentieth century. G.W. Benedict served as editor until 1866, when his son succeeded him. G. G. Benedict modernized the facilities and equipment, and he expanded coverage and distribution. In 1866, the weekly adopted a new title to distinguish it from the daily edition. Other local businesspeople joined the Benedicts to form the Burlington Free Press Association in 1868. The Benedict family maintained majority interest until 1897, when business manager Willard B. Howe acquired the controlling interest. John L. Southwick, a longtime employee, replaced G. G. Benedict as editor-in-chief in 1907 and served until his death in 1932.

In its early years, the Burlington weekly Free Press provided news of the world beyond Burlington and surrounding communities. As it grew from four pages to sixteen (and back to twelve in its last years), the paper extended its coverage and influence to cover the state. The Free Press focused its local reporting on Burlington, but it included several pages of news from towns across central and northern Vermont. Portions of each issue provided news about state and national politics and events. As a family paper, the weekly also included feature articles, poetry, and fiction. The Free Press supported Whig and then Republican politicians and platforms, but, especially under the direction of G. W. and G. G. Benedict, promoted progressive causes such as antislavery, suffrage for women, temperance, and prohibition.

In March 1923, the Free Press announced that the weekly edition would be discontinued after 96 years of continuous publication. The announcement indicated that the weekly had been operating at a loss for some time. For the “comparatively few hundreds of old friends within the state and without who preferred a weekly summary of Vermont’s doings,” the publishers offered a new service, a subscription to an expanded Saturday issue of the daily edition. The masthead proclaimed that the Saturday Free Press was the largest Vermont weekly until late October 1941.

Provided By: University of Vermont

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Burlington Free Press (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865

Other Title

  • Weekly free press

Names

  • Foote, Luman, 1794-1876
  • Clarke, D. W. C. (De Witt Clinton), 1812-1870
  • Benedict, George Wyllys, 1796-1871
  • Benedict, G. G. (George Grenville), 1826-1907

Dates of Publication

  • 1827-1865

Created / Published

  • Burlington, Vt. : L. Foote, 1827-1865.

Headings

  • -  Burlington (Vt.)--Newspapers
  • -  Vermont--Burlington
  • -  United States--Vermont--Chittenden--Burlington

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 21 (June 15, 1827)-v. 34, number 27 (Dec. 29, 1865) = new series, vol. 12.
  • -  Publishers: Foote & Stacy, <1828-1832>; H.B. Stacy, <1835-1846>; D.W.C. Clarke, <1850>-1853; G.W. Benedict, 1853-<1863>; G.W. & G.G. Benedict, 1854-<1863>.
  • -  Republican. Cf. Rowell, 1869-1876.
  • -  Editors: Luman Foote, 1827-<1832>; D.W.C. Clarke, <1850>-1853; G.W. Benedict, 1853-<1863>; G.G. Benedict, 1854-<1863>.
  • -  Issues for called:
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Daily eds.: Daily free press (Burlington, Vt.), Apr. 1, 1848-July 9, 1868, and: Burlington daily free press (Burlington, Vt. : 1868), July 10-Dec. 31, 1868.
  • -  Other weekly eds.: Times (Burlington, Vt. : 1858), 1858-1861, and: Burlington times (Burlington, Vt. : 1861), 1861-1865.
  • -  Burlington weekly free press 2166-2037 (DLC)sn 86072143 (OCoLC)14907707

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84023127

OCLC Number

  • 6497291

ISSN Number

  • 2166-2029

Succeeding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Burlington Free Press Burlington, Vt. -1865. (Burlington, VT), Jan. 1 1827. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84023127/.

APA citation style:

(1827, January 1) Burlington Free Press Burlington, Vt. -1865. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84023127/.

MLA citation style:

Burlington Free Press Burlington, Vt. -1865. (Burlington, VT) 1 Jan. 1827. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn84023127/.