Joseph Beasley

• formal_name:
• first_date: 1820
• last_date: 1823
• function: Printer
• locales: Richmond
• precis: A journeyman printer who died in Richmond in the late spring of 1812.
• notes: Printer
  Richmond
  A journeyman printer who died in Richmond in the late spring of 1812.
  Beasley has left only a scant trace in the record of Virginia's printing trade. Obituaries in the three Richmond newspapers in late May 1812 noted his passing, with that printed in The Enquirer of Thomas Ritchie (360) being the longest, suggesting that he worked there then.
  The only other Joseph Beasley appearing in the larger American printing trade labored in North Carolina on a series of short-lived newspapers; however, it is only the timing of the demise of his last paper there that indicates a link here. That Beasley was a practical printer in Edenton, who printed The Post Angel or Universal Entertainment in the fall of 1800 for one Robert Archibald; that November, he became its sole proprietor and changed its name to the Edenton Gazette. That weekly continued until late 1806, although with a lengthy suspension between 1802 and 1805. By early 1807, Beasley had sold the Gazette to James Wills and had relocated to Elizabeth City, publishing the Elizabeth City Gazette there; this paper lasted through 1808, and may have survived into 1810. But this Beasley is no longer seen in the bibliographic record after 1810. Thus, he could have easily been in Richmond in 1812 and working at a busy press that was about to add a daily newspaper (The Commercial Compiler) to its production. However, absent further evidence, such a link is conjectural.
  
  Personal Data
  
  
  
  Died:
  1812
  May 21
  Richmond, Virginia
  
  Obituary reported he was survived by a wife and an infant child.
  
  Sources: Brigham; AAS printer file, obituary in Richmond Enquirer, 22 May 1812.
  
• Related Bios:
  • Thomas Ritchie

This version of the Index of Virginia Printing was a gift from the estate of the site's creator, David Rawson. The content contained herein will not be updated, as it is part of the Library of Virginia's personal papers collection. For more information, please see David Rawson Index of Virginia Printing website. Accession 53067. Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.