Pittman

• formal_name:
• first_date: 1799
• last_date: 1799
• function: Printer, Publisher
• locales: Fredericksburg
• precis: Publisher of the Genius of Liberty (1799) at Fredericksburg with Robert Mercer (301).
• notes: Printer & Publisher
  Fredericksburg
  Publisher of the Genius of Liberty (1799) at Fredericksburg with Robert Mercer (301).
  This unidentified Pittman was briefly a part of an effort to publish a Republican newspaper in Fredericksburg that would counter the influence of the established Federalist journal there, the Virginia Herald of the Connecticut-born Timothy Green (194).
  His identity is masked by the omission of his given name in the surviving print record. He may have been the William Pitman (507) who was recorded in the Richmond tax list for 1794 as a journeyman printer working there then. He may also have been Henry Pittman (327), a journeyman of dubious character who later published newspapers in Alexandria. Still, either of those identifications is more conjectural than factual.
  What is clear is that this Pittman was the practical printer in a partnership with editor-financier Robert Mercer, the Commonwealth Attorney for the courts meeting in the town. Mercer began publishing the Genius of Liberty in October 1797 in league with George Carter (082), a cousin to his wife. The pair hired printers to produce the paper for them until Carter withdrew from the firm in spring 1799. Mercer then instituted a series of limited-term partnership agreements with journeymen to produce the paper – and this Pittman was the first so engaged. Their association lasted about six months, probably from January to July 1799 before Pittman also left the venture and Fredericksburg as well. Mercer continued his paper with other tradesmen until his unexpected death in September 1800. The Genius of Liberty survived him, published by James Walker (425), the last practical printer the Jeffersonian leader brought to Fredericksburg to assist him.
  
  
  No Personal Data yet discovered.
  
  Sources: Imprints; Brigham.
  
• Related Bios:
  • Robert Mercer

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.