The Gazette

The Richmond County Gazette 1859-1889 & Staten Island Gazette 1901

The “Richmond County Gazette” was established at Stapleton by George M. Root in June, 1859, with Charles Vogt as editor, as a successor to the “Sepoy.” Later it was owned by a stock company, John Bale, manager. Since 1864, it had as editors: Thomas J. Folan, Ernest F. Birmingham, James S. Spencer, Colon K. Urquhart, James E. Lee, and William A. Suydam. It was consolidated with the “Sentinel” on May 10, 1882. This paper was Republican in politics. In 1882 its office was at 6 Arietta Street, James S. Spencer, editor and business manager; James E. Lee, local editor; Arthur Livingston, superintendent of printing; publication days: Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The public museum has (with a few numbers missing) Volumes 1 to 24, 1859 to 1882, of the “Gazette,” and 29 to 33, 1885 to 1889, of the “Gazette and Sentinel.” The interval between 1882 and 1885 is occupied by Volumes 1 to 4 of the “Gazette and Sentinel,” equivalent to the missing 25, 26, 27, and 28.

Search Tips:

All issues are stored as .PDF files and can be keyword searched using Adobe Reader. After opening the file press Ctrl+f to enable keyword searching.

The date of each issue is in the file name: RCG 4. 13. 1859 p1 = Richmond County Gazette April 13, 1859, page 1

Note: Poor quality of original print in the Gazette will prevent keyword searching in many instances.

A Note on the temperature reports in the Gazette from Staten Island and It's People recorded by pharmacist Joseph Bassett:

Bassett was a brown-eyed Englishman, and when he was preparing his pink-colored Pectorial Candy, or stewing some herbs in the retort, his store had a pleasant odor, which to our youthful minds was most attractive. We also partook of some of the candy on occasions, or gazed in admiration into the large wardian case with its wealth of luxuriant plants within that occupied a sunny window. For some years from 1859 he furnished the “Gazette” with a weekly record of the “Range of the Thermometer at Tompkinsville, cor. Hannah and Griffen Sts.”