American almanacs

Last updated September 18, 2023

A tradition of almanacs published for the purposes of North America began in New England in the 17th century. A New World's dwelling would seldom be found without the latest print of North American almanac and The Pilgrim's Progress .^{[ citation needed ]}

The earliest almanac published for New England appeared in Cambridge, Massachusetts as early as 1639, by William Pierce. It was the second work printed in the English colonies of America altogether (the first being The Oath of a Free-man , printed earlier in the same year).^[1] The earliest New England almanac of which an extant copy survives in the Library of Congress ^[2] was published by Zechariah Brigden in Cambridge in 1659.^[3] Harvard College became the first center for the annual publication of almanacs with various editors including Samuel Danforth, Oakes, Cheever, Chauncey, Dudley, Foster, et alia. An almanac maker going under the pseudonym of Poor Richard, Knight of the Burnt Island began to publish Poor Robin's Almanack one of the first comic almanacs that parodied these horoscopes in its 1664 issue, saying "This month we may expect to hear of the Death of some Man, Woman, or Child, either in Kent or Christendom." Other noteworthy comic almanacs include those published from 1687-1702 by John Tully of Saybrook, Connecticut. The Boston ephemeris was an early almanac published in Boston during the 1680s.^[4]

The most important early American almanacs were made from 1726-1775 by Nathaniel Ames of Dedham, Massachusetts. Many colonists sewed blank pages into their almanacs to keep a daily journal. Daily journal entries consisted of buildings being built, debt and spending, the death of neighbors, personal diaries, earthquakes, and weather. A few years later James Franklin began publishing the Rhode-Island Almanack beginning in 1728. Five years later his brother Benjamin Franklin began publishing Poor Richard's Almanack from 1733–1758. Benjamin Banneker improved on the Almanac from 1792–1797.

Almanacs Published in United States

From the late 18th to early 19th century, there began a fashion of Farmers' Almanacs published regionally in the newly independent United States.

The Boston Ephemeris an Almanack, published 1685–1686 in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Samuel Green. Nathaniel Mather contributed the meridian calculation for Boston located in New England.
"The United States almanac" 1776–
The Farmer's Almanac, published from 1792, since 1836 known as The Old Farmer's Almanac
Longworth's American Almanack, published 1797–1842 in New York City, New York by David Longworth and Thomas Longworth.
Georgia and South-Carolina Almanack was published in Augusta, Georgia from 1807-1848 by Hartford, Connecticut native William Joseph Bunce from Richmond County, Georgia. The lunar phase and solar cycle calculations were contributed by Robert Grier from Wilkes County, Georgia. The Southern planter's ephemeris is recognized as the longest spanning almanac in the United States providing agriculturist and rural economist an annual probability for the Antebellum South. Upon the immortality of Robert Grier in 1848, the almanac became known as the Grier's Almanac.
Washington's citizen and farmer's almanack, for the year 1810 .. containing, besides the astronomical calculations by Joshua Sharp, a variety of pieces in prose and verse
"The Annual Visiter and Citizen and Farmer's Almanac" 1812–
The Citizen and farmer's almanac 1814–?
The Farmers' Almanac , published since 1818 in Morristown, New Jersey, later in Newark, New Jersey, since 1955 by the Almanac Publishing Company in Lewiston, Maine.
The Farmer's almanac, for the year of our Lord 1819 ... calculated for the meridian of Philadelphia by Andrew Beers (1749-1824), published by S. Potter & Co.
The New England Farmer's Almanac (1820s-1830s?)
The Maine Farmers' Almanac, printed from 1819 in Hallowell, Maine and later in Augusta, Maine, printed by Goodale, Glazier & Co. and edited by Daniel Robinson and Abel Bowen. Appeared until 1968.
The New England Anti-Masonic Almanac, published 1829–1833 in Boston, Massachusetts by John Marsh
The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge was published 1830-1861 by Gray and Bowen in Boston, Massachusetts. The annual was founded by Jared Sparks in 1830.
The American Anti-Slavery Almanac, published 1836–1844 in Boston, Massachusetts by Nathaniel Southard.
Ayer's American Almanac: For the Use of Farmers, Planters, Mechanics, and All Families was published in Lowell, Massachusetts from 1854–1911.
Annual Register of Rural Affairs and Cultivator Almanac, published from 1855–1881 in Albany, New York by Luther Tucker also known for The Country Gentleman (1831) and The Genesee Farmer (1831).
The Confederate States Almanac, and Repository of Useful Knowledge was published 1862-1865 by H.C. Clarke in Vicksburg, Mississippi and Mobile, Alabama. The Diary of the War for Separation was published as a continuum to the Confederate States Almanac presenting a chronicle narrative of the significant events and history of the present day civil revolution.
Confederate States Almanac for the Year of Our Lord was published 1862-1865 by Southern Methodist Publishing House in Nashville, Tennessee and Burke, Boykin & Company in Macon, Georgia. The University of Alabama contributed the astronomical chronology for the annual almanacs.
Hostetter's United States Almanac, for Merchants, Mechanics, Farmers, Planters, and General Family Use was published 1863–1909 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by Hostetter & Smith. The publication advertises Hostetter's Stomach Bitters with branding of Saint George and the Dragon.
American Almanac and Treasury of Facts published from 1878-1889 by The American News Company

Notes

Related Research Articles

Benjamin Banneker was an African-American naturalist, mathematician, astronomer and almanac author. A landowner, he also worked as a surveyor and farmer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Almanac</span> Annual publication of prospective events

An almanac is a regularly published listing of a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and other tabular data often arranged according to the calendar. Celestial figures and various statistics are found in almanacs, such as the rising and setting times of the Sun and Moon, dates of eclipses, hours of high and low tides, and religious festivals. The set of events noted in an almanac may be tailored for a specific group of readers, such as farmers, sailors, or astronomers.

Poor Richard's Almanack was a yearly almanac published by Benjamin Franklin, who adopted the pseudonym of "Poor Richard" or "Richard Saunders" for this purpose. The publication appeared continually from 1732 to 1758. It sold exceptionally well for a pamphlet published in the Thirteen Colonies; print runs reached 10,000 per year. Franklin, the American inventor, statesman, and accomplished publisher and printer, achieved success with Poor Richard's Almanack. Almanacks were very popular books in colonial America, offering a mixture of seasonal weather forecasts, practical household hints, puzzles, and other amusements. Poor Richard's Almanack was also popular for its extensive use of wordplay, and some of the witty phrases coined in the work survive in the contemporary American vernacular.

<i>Old Farmers Almanac</i> Annual American periodical

The Old Farmer's Almanac is an almanac containing weather forecasts, planting charts, astronomical data, recipes, and articles. Topics include gardening, sports, astronomy, folklore, and predictions on trends in fashion, food, home, technology, and living for the coming year. Published every September, The Old Farmer's Almanac has been published continuously since 1792, making it the oldest continuously published periodical in North America. The publication was started by Robert B. Thomas and follows in the heritage of American almanacs such as Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard's Almanack.

The American Peace Society is a pacifist group founded upon the initiative of William Ladd, in New York City, May 8, 1828. It was formed by the merging of many state and local societies, from New York, Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, of which the oldest, the New York Peace Society, dated from 1815. Ladd was an advocate of a "Congress and High Court of Nations." The society organized peace conferences and regularly published a periodical entitled Advocate of Peace. The Society was only opposed to wars between nation states; it did not oppose the American Civil War, regarding the Union's war as a "police action" against the "criminals" of the Confederacy. Its most famous leader was Benjamin Franklin Trueblood (1847–1916), a Quaker who in his book The Federation of the World (1899) called for the establishment of an international state to bring about lasting peace in the world. In 1834 the headquarters of the society were removed to Hartford, in 1834 to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1911 to Washington, D.C. The group is now based in Washington. Its official journal is World Affairs.

Nathaniel Ames, a colonial American physician, published a popular series of annual almanacs. He was the son of Nathaniel Ames first (1677–1736) and the father of Nathaniel and Fisher Ames. The family was descended from William Ames of Bruton, Somerset, England, whose son William emigrated to Massachusetts and settled at Braintree as early as 1640.

Nathan Daboll was an American teacher who wrote the mathematics textbook most commonly used in American schools in the first half of the 19th century. During the course of his career, he also operated a popular navigation school for merchant mariners, and published a variety of almanacs during the American Revolution period.

Dudley Leavitt was an American publisher. He was an early graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy in his native town of Exeter, New Hampshire, and later moved to Gilmanton where he first edited a newspaper and taught school. Within a few years, Leavitt relocated to Meredith, where in addition to teaching school and farming, he began publishing in 1797 Leavitt's Farmers Almanack, one of the nation's earliest farmers' almanacs. A polymath, Leavitt poured his knowledge of disparate fields including mathematics, language and astronomy into the wildly popular almanacs, which outlived their creator, being published until 1896. The inaugural issue of 1797 carried the title of The New England Calendar: Or, Almanack for the Year of Our Lord 1797. On the cover was the disclaimer that the new publication was "Calculated for the Meridian of Concord, Latitude 43° 14' N. Longitude 72° 45' W.: And with But Little Variation Will Answer for Any of the New England States."

James Franklin was an early American printer, publisher and author of newspapers and almanacs in the American colonies. James published the New England Courant, one of the oldest and the first truly independent American newspapers, and the short lived Rhode Island Gazette.

<i>Ames Almanack</i> First almanac printed in the British North American colonies.

Ames' Almanack (almanac) was the first almanac printed in the British North American colonies. While Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack is the one often mentioned in contemporary history classes, at the time Ames' Almanack enjoyed a much larger readership. Franklin's publication had a circulation of 10,000 copies, while Ames' Almanack had a circulation of 60,000.

The Massachusetts Magazine was published in Boston, Massachusetts, from 1789 through 1796. Also called the Monthly Museum of Knowledge and Rational Entertainment, it specialized in "poetry, music, biography, history, physics, geography, morality, criticism, philosophy, mathematics, agriculture, architecture, chemistry, novels, tales, romances, translations, news, marriages, deaths, meteorological observations, etc. etc." It was intended as "a kind of thermometer, by which the genius, taste, literature, history, politics, arts, manners, amusements and improvements of the age and nation, may be ascertained." Founded by Isaiah Thomas, the magazine was also published by Ebenezer T. Andrews (1789-1793), Ezra W. Weld (1794), Samuel Hill (1794), William Greenough (1794-1795), Alexander Martin (1795-1796), Benjamin Sweetser (1796), and James Cutler (1796). It was edited by Isaiah Thomas, Thaddeus Mason Harris (1795-1796), and William Bigelow (1796). Contributors included Joseph Dennie, William Dunlap, Benjamin Franklin, Sarah Wentworth Morton, Judith Sargent Murray, and Christian Gullager. Sheet music was published with some issues, including compositions by Hans Gram.

Joseph M. Bell was a New Hampshire and Massachusetts lawyer, abolitionist, and politician. Bell served as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1821 and from 1828 to 1830 and the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1845 to 1847. He served as a member of the Massachusetts Senate from 1848 to 1849 and President of the Massachusetts Senate in 1849.

The Southern Cultivator is a defunct agrarian publication that was published in the Southern United States.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Augusta, Georgia, USA.

Farmers' Bulletin was published by the United States Department of Agriculture with the first issue appearing in June 1889. The farm bulletins could be obtained upon the written request to a Member of Congress or to the United States Secretary of Agriculture. The agricultural circular would be sent complimentary to any address within the United States. The agricultural publication covered an extensive range of rural topics as related to agricultural science, agronomy, plant diseases, rural living, soil conservation, and sustainable agriculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1898 Massachusetts legislature</span>

The 119th Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1898 during the governorship of Roger Wolcott. George Edwin Smith served as president of the Senate and John L. Bates served as speaker of the House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1899 Massachusetts legislature</span>

The 120th Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1899 during the governorship of Roger Wolcott. George Edwin Smith served as president of the Senate and John L. Bates served as speaker of the House.

References

Ayer, Dr. James C. (1852). "Ayer's American Almanac ~ 1854-1911". Lowell, Massachusetts: Dr. J.C. Ayer and Co. – via Hathi Trust Digital Library.
Burdick, Bruce Stanley (2010). Mathematical Works Printed in the Americas, 1554–1700. Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Mathematics. ISBN 9781421402055. OCLC 470988838.
"Citizen's and Farmer's Almanac, for the year 1801". Philadelphia, PA: John McCulloch. 1801 – via Internet Archive.
Clarke, H.C. (1862). "The Confederate States Almanac, and Repository of Useful Knowledge". Vicksburg, Mississippi: H.C. Clarke – via Internet Archive.
"Hostetter's United States Almanac ~ 1863-1909". Hostetter's Illustrated United States Almanac, for Merchants, Mechanics, Miners, Farmers, Planters, and General Family Use. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Hostetter & Smith. 1861 – via Hathi Trust Digital Library.
Grier, Robert (1809). Georgia and South-Carolina Almanack. Augusta, Georgia: William J. Bunce. hdl:2027/emu.010001218424.
Grier, Robert (1827). Georgia and South-Carolina Almanack. Georgia and South Carolina almanac, for the year of our Lord 1827. Augusta, Georgia: William J. Bunce. hdl:2027/emu.010002418033.
Grier, Robert (1848). "Grier's Almanac". Augusta, Georgia: M.G. McKinne – via Hathi Trust Digital Library.
Beers, Andrew; Shoemaker, Abraham; Longworth, Thomas; Longworth, David (1842). "Longworth's American Almanack ~ 1797-1842". Longworth's N.Y. Register. New York City, NY: David Longworth: 46 v.
Spofford, Ainsworth Rand. "American Almanac and Treasury of Facts, Statistical, Financial, and Political ~ 1878-1889". Hathi Trust Digital Library. New York: The American News Company: 12 v.
Summers, Thomas O. (1862). "The Confederate States almanac for the year of our Lord 1862, being the 2d after bissextile, or leap year, the 86th of American independence, & the 2d of the Confederate States". Nashville, Tennessee: Southern Methodist Publishing House – via Internet Archive.
"The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge ~ 1830-1861". American Almanac. Boston, Massachusetts: Gray and Bowen: 32 volumes – via Hathi Trust Digital Library.
"The American Anti-Slavery Almanac". Boston, MA: Nathaniel Southard. 1836 – via Internet Archive.
The Boston Ephemeris an Almanack - 1685. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Samuel Green. 1685. hdl:2027/inu.39000002594815.
"The Farmers Almanac for 1850". Philadelphia, PA: J. Hollowbush. 1849 – via Internet Archive.
"The New England Anti-Masonic Almanac". Boston, MA: John Marsh. 1829 – via Internet Archive.
"The New England Farmer's Almanac". Boston, MA: Thomas W. Shepard. 1823 – via Internet Archive.
Thomas, John Jacob (1856). "Annual Register of Rural Affairs and Cultivator Almanac". Internet Archive. Albany, NY: Luther Tucker & Son.
Thomas, John Jacob (1869). "Rural Affairs ~ 1855-1881". Illustrated Annual Register of Rural Affairs. Albany, NY: Luther Tucker & Son – via Hathi Trust Digital Library.

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[1] Burdick 2010, p. 186.

[2] Burdick 2010, p. 366.

[3] An almanack of the cœlestial motion for this present year of the Christian æra 1659: being (in our account) bissextile or leapyear, and from the creation (according to truest computation) 5608; whose vulgar notes are ... fitted to 315 degrees of longitude, the (supposed) meridian of the Massachusetts Bay ... and may without any sensible errour be applyed to any part of New-England

[4] The Boston ephemeris: an almanack for the year MDCLXXXIV, and of the worlds creation 5633, oppidi inchoati, 55; being the first after leap-year, of which the vulgar notes are ... calculated for the meridian of Boston in New-Engl. where the North Pole is elevated 42 gr. 30 m. longitude 315 gr , edited by Benjamin Gillam, printed by S. Green for S. Phillips.

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