Sarah Goddard (1700-1770) and Mary Katherine Goddard (1738-1815)

Sarah Goddard (1700-1770) and Mary Katherine Goddard (1738-1815), at the marker for William Goddard (1740-1817)

Sarah Goddard (1700-1770) and Mary Katherine Goddard (1738-1815), at the marker for William Goddard (1740-1817) In the 1760s, the Goddard family produced the first newspaper printed in Providence, just in time for the crises that would lead to the American Revolution. Two of the most important women century Rhode Island, Sarah Goddard and Mary Katherine Goddard, were involved in its in 18th production, and both would continue to excel in publishing, in Providence and elsewhere.

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Sarah Goddard, mother to William and Mary Katherine, was born Sarah Updike, to a prominent family in Cocumscussoc, Rhode Island in the year 1700. Her great-grandfather was Richard Smith, a friend of Roger Williams, Canonicus and Miantonomo, who built what is known as the “old castle” as his home in 1639. A tutor who lived with her family educated the young Sarah. At age 35 she married Giles Goddard, on December 11, 1735, in Cocumscussoc. The couple moved to Goddard’s home in New London, Connecticut, where Giles served as postmaster and amassed some wealth. Sarah gave birth to Mary Katherine on June 16, 1738 and to William on October 20, 1740. She taught both of her children Latin, French, and the literary classics. After her husband’s death in 1757, Sarah inherited his wealth and she and her children soon left New London for Providence.

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With a loan from his mother, William began to publish the Providence Gazette and Country Journal in October 1762. Sarah and Mary Katherine worked with William at the paper, and since William preferred to constantly travel it was Sarah who actually ran the shop, while Mary Katherine, just 24 years old in 1762, quickly learned the skills of a journalist, typesetter, and printer. They also created a bookbindery and published almanacs, pamphlets, and books. When William left Providence for good after 1765, the paper continued operation under the banner of "Sarah Goddard & Co." Sarah managed the Gazette with the help of a man name John Carter, who took over after she dissolved her company in early 1769. Mary Katherine continued to work at the Gazette until the end of 1768, when she and Sarah joined her brother’s thriving Philadelphia Chronicle and Universal Advertiser in Philadelphia. A little over a year later, Sarah Goddard died at the age of 70 and was buried in the Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia, where the body of fellow printer and family acquaintance Benjamin Franklin also lies. William’s name remained on the paper, but he was often absent, and Mary Katherine ran the shop until February 1774, when she moved to join and soon replace her brother in a new venture, this time in Baltimore.

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After arriving in Baltimore in 1773 and beginning publication of The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser, Baltimore’s first newspaper, William established a line of post-riders from New Hampshire to Georgia called the Constitutional Post, which later became the first United States Postal Service. He also published a number of books with his brother-in-law James Angell, some by the African American scientist and writer Benjamin Banneker, and many of which were anti-slavery publications. Following the now well-established precedent within the family, his sister Mary Katherine again took over publication of the newspaper after William lost interest. She took over control in 1774, though her name would not replace William’s on the colophon until 1775, when it began to read “Published by M.K. Goddard.” Mary Katherine also simultaneously served as Baltimore's postmaster from 1775 to 1789 (the first woman to hold such office) and bravely published official copies of the Declaration of Independence in January 1777, while the Second Continental Congress was in Baltimore after having fled from Philadelphia. Her copy, the Goddard Broadside, was the second version to be printed and the first to contain the names of the signatories. Until she made her broadside, the public was ignorant of who had signed the incendiary document. Now the names were known to all. The Rhode Island State Archives holds one of the few remaining copies of the Goddard Broadside.

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Goddard’s dual role as publisher and postmaster made her the center of Baltimore’s information exchange. Since she received news from outside the city before almost anyone else, her newspaper was often the first to publish stories of the crucial events leading up to and during the American Revolution. Her readers were among the first in America to know of the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775. Despite the chaos of the war years, Goddard never missed publication of a single issue between 1775 and 1784. Even more remarkably, she kept the postal service in operation during the war, sometimes paying riders out of her own pocket to avoid disruptions in service. However, in 1789, U.S. Postmaster General Samuel Osgood fired Goddard and replaced her with a close political ally. The official reason given was that the position now required more travel than a woman could possibly undertake. After fourteen years of exemplary service, Goddard had many supporters in Baltimore, and more than two hundred leading businessmen signed a petition that was sent to President Washington and Congress on November 12, 1789 that demanded her reinstatement. It had no effect. Goddard remained in Baltimore, opening a bookshop, publishing an almanac, and retaining a share in the newspaper she had formerly published.

Mary Katherine lived to the age of 78, dying in 1816 in Baltimore. Mary Katherine never married and had no children, but her brother William and his wife Abigail Angell produced four children, including William Giles Goddard, a noted Brown University professor also buried here, and many grandchildren, including his namesake William Goddard. Mary Katherine Goddard was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame, and is recognized for her contributions by the National Postal Museum. Sarah Updike Goddard was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 1998. The contributions of both women in the establishment of independent newspapers and printing presses at such a critical moment in American history should not be forgotten.

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Erik Christiansen, PhD

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Further Reading

Hudak, Leona M. Early American Women Printers and Publishers 1639-1820. (Metuchen: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. 1978).

Young, Christopher J. “Mary K. Goddard: A Classical Republican in a Revolutionary Age,” Maryland Historical Magazine, vol. 96, no. 1 (spring 2001).