Publisher. A former mayor of colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, the city of his birth, his tenacity as a newspaperman furthered the cause of liberty both before and during the American Revolution. Co-founder of the "New York Gazette and Post Boy" with fellow patriot James Parker, he established a second paper, the "New York Journal" in 1766. The paper's revolutionary tone was evident in its masthead, which bore Ben Franklin's illustration of a divided snake with the legend "Unite or Die" beneath it. Despite British seizure of his print types and the imprisonment of his printers in 1775, Holt continued to publish his paper on the run, working on a small press he took with him to various locations in upstate New York. When he died at the age of 62, he was eulogized as "...a high churchman, a good writer, and a warm advocate for the cause of his country."
Publisher. A former mayor of colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, the city of his birth, his tenacity as a newspaperman furthered the cause of liberty both before and during the American Revolution. Co-founder of the "New York Gazette and Post Boy" with fellow patriot James Parker, he established a second paper, the "New York Journal" in 1766. The paper's revolutionary tone was evident in its masthead, which bore Ben Franklin's illustration of a divided snake with the legend "Unite or Die" beneath it. Despite British seizure of his print types and the imprisonment of his printers in 1775, Holt continued to publish his paper on the run, working on a small press he took with him to various locations in upstate New York. When he died at the age of 62, he was eulogized as "...a high churchman, a good writer, and a warm advocate for the cause of his country."
Bio by: Nikita Barlow
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