Thomas Green was born on August 25, 1735 in New London, Connecticut, the son of Samuel and Abigail (Clark) Green, a great-great-grandson of Samuel Green, the publisher of Eliot’s Indian Bible, and a grandson of Timothy Green, father of Jonas Green, who was appointed official printer for Connecticut in 1713. Descended from such a line, he naturally entered the trade.
Education
Thomas received his early training in New London, but it is not known whether his instructor was his grandfather, his father, or any one of three uncles who were printers.
Career
After the death of his grandfather in May 1757, Thomas went to New Haven, where he entered the employ of James Parker & Company, printers of the Connecticut Gazette.
In 1764, as the father of two children, he was anxious to establish an office of his own. Looking over the surrounding country, he selected Hartford for the enterprise, as that town was the most important one in Connecticut without a newspaper. In the autumn of 1764 he established himself on Main St. , over the shop of an Irish barber, James Mookler, and began, October 29, the Connecticut Courant.
Green acted also as bookseller, stationer, and bureau of general information. Advertisements of his stock in trade listed a miscellaneous collection of articles, ranging from Bibles to sealing-wax. In 1767, apparently believing that prospects for success were brighter in New Haven than in Hartford, he began to make arrangements to return there. The control of the Courant was transferred to an associate, Ebenezer Watson. In New Haven Green began another paper, The Connecticut Journal and Nezv Haven Post Boy, the first number of which appeared October 23, 1767.
About 1799 Thomas Green, Jr. , was taken into partnership with his father. The elder Thomas retired in 1809 and died in May 1812.
The Courant has had a continuous existence to the present day, now being called the Hartford Courant; after reorganization the second paper has continued as the New Haven Journal Courier.
Achievements
Politics
Green was a conservative editor. The papers under his control flourished in advertisements and in news but did not contain, compared with most American journals of the period, a great mass of political or party propaganda. Editorials, in the strict sense of the word, were noticeably few. Because of his moderation during the Revolution, Green was once accused of being a Tory. After 1789 the Journal was mildly Federalist.
Connections
He was married three times. In September 1761 he married Desire Sanford. Abigail, his second wife, died September 20, 1781, and on March 21, 1782, he married Abigail Miles, who survived him.