Virginia Advocate

• id: 51
• end_date: March 1860
• frequency: Weekly
• lineage_id: 13
• proprietors: Gilmer, Davis & Co.
• start_date: July 28, 1827
• variant_number: Charlottesville 01-02
• notes: In June 1827, McKennie sold his paper and press to Thomas W. Gilmer, then his editor, and John A.G. Davis; the first number of their restyled Virginia Advocate issued on July 28, 1827; a month later, they were joined by printer Reinhart, formerly of Danville, as an unnamed partner; he would eventually gain control of the paper in August 1830.
  The scattering of surviving issues masks the exact dates of changes in ownership after that transfer. In May 1828, Nicholas P. Trist replaced Gilmer, forming the firm of Davis, Trist & Co. In November 1828, the entire business was sold to Dr. Francis Carr, who conducted the paper in a series of arrangements with his printers; in late 1829, that printer-partner was Jefferson Clark, formerly of Boston; Carr suspended publication after the issue of July 23, 1830 as a result of Clark's departure.
  Two weeks later, Reinhart issued his first number as owner of the weekly and remained its proprietor until August 1831, when he took a patronage appointment in Washington; he sold the Advocate office to Wilson M. Cary and Egbert R. Watson at that time. Cary left the paper in October 1832, selling his share to William W. Tompkins; Watson did likewise in mid-1834, leaving the Advocate in Tomkins hands alone. In October 1835, Tompkins made Alexander Moseley, his new-found editor, his new partner; their alliance lasted until Moseley was offered an ownership stake in the Richmond Whig in July 1836; in the winter of 1835-36 (December 5 to April 30), the Advocate issued twice-weekly to counter the introduction of a competitor, the Jeffersonian Republican, and resumed its weekly pace once the threat it posed had passed. After Moseley's departure, Tompkins made Robert C. Noel his new partner in the venture that fall; subsequently, Noel acquired Tompkins interest on his partner's retirement in March 1840.
  Noel retained the Advocate until sometime in 1849; during which time he often rotated editors of the paper; in 1845, he sold a minority share in the business to Charlottesville attorney James W. Saunders, who evidently remained with the journal until Noel's sale of the office in 1849. The new proprietor was Orville S. Allen, who conducted the business as O. S. Allen & Co. until March 1860, so leaving his partners unknown. The pair divested themselves of the entire business in March 1860 by selling it to a new firm conducted by James. C. Southall, who may have been their editor then, and Green Peyton.
• lineage_title: Central Gazette
• Related Bios:
  • Elhanan Winchester Reinhart

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.