June 21, 1804 - Elihu Stout Brings Printing Press to Vincennes
First Printing Press in Indiana Territory
June 21, 1804 - Elihu Stout Brings Printing Press to Vincennes
When Indiana Territory Governor William Henry Harrison arrived in Vincennes to govern the huge new territory on January 10, 1801, he had several problems to solve. One of these problems was that there was no printer in the territory. Harrison needed a printer to print the proceedings of the Territorial government and disseminate the news out to the residents in the vast region. He first used a Kentucky printer, William Bradford. In 1804, Bradford's apprentice Elihu Stout seized his opportunity and moved to Vincennes, becoming the first printer to serve the Indiana Territory.
Elihu Stout (April 16, 1782 - June 22, 1860)
The son of Jediah Stout and Mary Stout, Elihu was a native of Hopewell, New Jersey. The Stout family moved to Lexington Kentucky in 1792. At age fourteen Stout apprenticed himself to William Bradford, publisher of the Kentucky Gazette. Stout completed his apprenticeship at age twenty-one. Hearing of the need for a printer from Harrison's dealings with Bradford, Stout visited Vincennes in 1803. The population at the time was around 1500 people in Vincennes and the surrounding area. Most of these people were fur traders, French/Amerindian half-breeds, and trappers. Many of these people could not read English. It did not seem a profitable place for a young printer to establish himself. Harrison, however, needed a printer. He needed one to print documents for the Territory and he wanted a newspaper, which he felt would help attract new settlers into the area. He offered Stout $500.00 per year as the Territory's official printer if he would set up a newspaper.
From the Book
The Print Shop
Stout, with a loan from his father, purchased a wooden printing press in Frankfort, Kentucky. He arranged for shipment by boat down the Ohio and up the Wabash River, a three-month trip. After his June 21 arrival, he established a print shop on Second Street in Vincennes and began printing his newspaper, the first copy of the Indiana Gazette appearing on July 31, 1804. A subscription for the paper was $2.50 per year. In lieu of cash, a scarce commodity on the frontier, he would barter with customers, accepting agricultural products as payment. In April 1806, a fire destroyed his print shop. Elihu purchased another press in Kentucky and launched his second newspaper, the Western Sun, on July 11, 1807.