The Wilmington Mercury

The Wilmington Mercury was a newspaper based in Wilmington, Delaware. It was the state's first major newspaper, having been founded in September 1798.[1]

The Wilmington Mercury
Front page on October 30, 1798.
TypeDaily newspaper
Founder(s)W. C. Smyth
FoundedSeptember 1798 (1798-09)
LanguageEnglish
Ceased publicationNovember 1798 (1798-11)
HeadquartersWilmington, Delaware
ISSN2639-6262

History

The Mercury was founded by W. C. Smyth in September 1798 as a response to the outbreak of yellow fever going through Wilmington, Philadelphia, and New York City.[2] It was published daily and given without charge. All issues included the names of those who had died in the last 24 hours, as well as encouraged donations to the Board of Health.[3] Though it first had just listed deaths in Wilmington, by October 4 it listed Philadelphia and New York City too. It also listed the names of people who contributed to the Board of Health as well as gave important advice about dealing with the outbreak. When the epidemic subsided in November, The Mercury closed.[2] Its last issue was published on October 30.[4]

References
  1. Conley, Madison. "The first major newspaper in every state — and what they looked like when they were first started". Insider.
  2. "The Wilmington Mercury". Library of Congress.
  3. Tyson, Rae. "Old Delaware newspapers sorted, cataloged". The News Journal.
  4. "The Wilmington Mercury. October 30, 1798". Library of Congress. October 30, 1798.
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