Topliff's Travels Letters from Abroad in the Years
(This book an EXACT reproduction of the original book publ...)
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(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
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Samuel Topliff was an American journalist and a news-dealer.
Background
Samuel was born on April 25, 1789 in Boston, Massachussets. He was the son of Samuel and Mindwell (Bird) Topliff, and a descendant of Clement Topliff who settled in New England between 1635 and 1637. His father was a sea-captain, with a fatal inclination to indorse other men's notes, so that the younger Samuel's life was spent, when he was at home from his voyages as supercargo, in straightening out the family finances. When his father was murdered at sea in a mutiny in 1811, the support of the family devolved upon him, and he forsook the sea and his employer, William Gray, a merchant.
Career
Joining Samuel Gilbert, he took charge of the books at "Mr. Gilbert's Marine and General News-room, " then in the Exchange Coffee House in Boston. In 1814 he succeeded Gilbert and changed the name to the Merchants' Reading Room. Two years later he formed a short-lived partnership with Elkanah Cushman, the father of Charlotte Cushman, selling West Indian goods on Long Wharf.
Meanwhile he was selling foreign news from his correspondents to the Boston, New York, and Philadelphia papers, and the nearer New England journals. For this reason Melville E. Stone characterized him as the forerunner of the Associated Press.
In 1820 he erected a ninety-two-foot signal staff on an island in Boston harbor by which the approach of vessels could be signalled from far down the harbor, and he had two boats which brought news and bills of lading. In the same year he added the Merchants' Hall Reading-Room to his own. In 1824 his brother Benjamin became his partner.
For the New England Galaxy, January 12, 1821, he wrote the story of Pitcairn's Island and the mutiny of the Bounty. The year 1828, and part of 1829, he spent in making the "grand tour" of Europe. He visited Lafayette at Lagrange and met again in Paris his old friend John Cheverus, archbishop of Bordeaux. His letters home about his adventures have been published as Topliff's Travels (1906).
In 1830 the Reading Room and the Boston Post Office shared space in the old State House (then called the City Hall). Later the basement was fitted up for the Reading Room. Here it remained until the Topliffs sold out in 1842. When it closed one newspaper commented that "it has sustained the reputation of the best news-room in the country, and it has become as much identified with the merchants of Boston as State Street itself. "
Topliff served on the Boston City Council (1844 - 49), was elected alderman in 1855, and in March offered an ordinance for the erection of the first public library. He later refused to run for the state Senate because of his timidity in public speaking.
(This book an EXACT reproduction of the original book publ...)
Personality
On his death he was characterized as "not only indefatigable in procuring intelligence of every kind, but remarkably accurate".
Connections
Topliff married in Providence, R. I, on December 2, 1829, Jane Sisson Blackstock (d. 1860), the daughter of a Scotch merchant of Boston, formerly of New York. On the roof of their house in Washington Square, Fort Hill, overlooking the harbor, was a telescope, and a constant watch was kept to augment Topliff's news-gathering facilities. He and his wife were very social, and their chafing-dish and venison dinners were well known. They had five sons and three daughters.