Joseph T. Buckingham
Encyclopedia
Joseph Tinker Buckingham (December 21, 1779–April 10, 1861) was a journalist and politician in New England
. He rose from humble beginnings to become an influential conservative intellectual in Boston
.
Joseph Buckingham, with his mother's mother's surname, which he adopted legally in 1804. He was the youngest of nine surviving children of Nehemiah Tinker, a tavern
-keeper in Windham, Connecticut
, descended from Thomas Tinker
, one of the Pilgrim Fathers on the Mayflower
. Nehemiah died in 1783, ruined by the devaluing of the Continental currency he received for supplying the Continental Army
during the Revolutionary War
. Tinker's widow, Mary née Huntington, soon became destitute, until friends offered the family a home in Worthington, Massachusetts
.
Joseph was indentured
to a farmer named Welsh, where he was kindly treated and got a basic education. After his term, he worked briefly as a printer's devil
at the Farmer's Museum in Walpole, New Hampshire
, before become an apprentice
compositor
and copy-editor
at the Gazette in Greenfield, Massachusetts
. In 1800 he moved to Boston as a journeyman
at Thomas & Andrews. In 1803 he played summer stock
in Salem, Massachusetts
and Providence, Rhode Island
. In 1805, he married Melinda Alvord; they had thirteen children.
printer in Boston, Buckingham started and edited several publications: The Polyanthos
, an illustrated monthly magazine, which ran from 1806 till September 1807, and 1812 to 1814; and The Ordeal, which ran weekly from January 1809 for six months. These sided with the Federalist Party. He joined the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association
and became chairman in 1812; he was vice-president in 1830 and president in 1832. In 1815, he went bankrupt, both his publishing and printing businesses being hit by the War of 1812
. The New England Galaxy and Masonic Magazine, started in 1817, was popular among the growing number of Freemason
s in Boston. The reference to Freemasonry was dropped by 1820 after a backlash. The magazine supported Josiah Quincy
from 1821, as part of the "Middling Interest" coalition after the Panic of 1819
. In 1822, Quincy presided over a libel suit brought against Buckingham by John Newland Maffitt
.
On 2 March 1824, Buckingham founded the Boston Courier, a daily newspaper which supported protectionism
. He sold his interest in the Galaxy in 1828, and edited the Courier till selling out in 1848. It supported the National Republicans, and later the Whig Party
. In 1831, he started the monthly The New-England Magazine
with his son Edwin. Now considered "one of antebellum America's few worthwhile literary journals", its contributors included Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham
, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
, Edward Everett
, and Samuel Gridley Howe
. Edwin Buckingham died in 1833, aged 23, on a voyage to Smyrna
to relieve his tuberculosis
. Joseph sold the Magazine in 1834 to Howe and John O. Sargent. He had to mortgage
his property in 1836 when business turned bad.
for Boston and Cambridge
in 1828, 1831–3, 1836, and 1838–9, as a National Republican, and later a Whig
. He introduced a report in 1833 in favor of the suppression of lotteries
. He denounced the Tariff of 1833
, switching his allegiance from Henry Clay
to Daniel Webster
.
He represented Middlesex County
in the Massachusetts Senate
in 1847–8 and 1850–1. He leaned towards the Conscience Whigs
but was not an outright abolitionist, though he did oppose the Fugitive Slave Law in the Compromise of 1850
.
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. He rose from humble beginnings to become an influential conservative intellectual in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
.
Family and early life
Buckingham was born Joseph Buckingham Tinker but christenedInfant baptism
Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. In theological discussions, the practice is sometimes referred to as paedobaptism or pedobaptism from the Greek pais meaning "child." The practice is sometimes contrasted with what is called "believer's baptism", or...
Joseph Buckingham, with his mother's mother's surname, which he adopted legally in 1804. He was the youngest of nine surviving children of Nehemiah Tinker, a tavern
Tavern
A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in some cases, where travelers receive lodging....
-keeper in Windham, Connecticut
Windham, Connecticut
Windham is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. It contains the city of Willimantic and the villages of Windham Center, North Windham, and South Windham. The city of Willimantic was consolidated with the town in 1983...
, descended from Thomas Tinker
Thomas Tinker
Thomas Tinker was one of the Pilgrims who made the voyage on the Mayflower. He was a wood-sawyer, and was granted citizenship in Leyden January 6, 1617...
, one of the Pilgrim Fathers on the Mayflower
Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
. Nehemiah died in 1783, ruined by the devaluing of the Continental currency he received for supplying the Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
during the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. Tinker's widow, Mary née Huntington, soon became destitute, until friends offered the family a home in Worthington, Massachusetts
Worthington, Massachusetts
Worthington is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,270 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
.
Joseph was indentured
Indentured servant
Indentured servitude refers to the historical practice of contracting to work for a fixed period of time, typically three to seven years, in exchange for transportation, food, clothing, lodging and other necessities during the term of indenture. Usually the father made the arrangements and signed...
to a farmer named Welsh, where he was kindly treated and got a basic education. After his term, he worked briefly as a printer's devil
Printer's devil
A printer's devil was an apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type...
at the Farmer's Museum in Walpole, New Hampshire
Walpole, New Hampshire
Walpole is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,734 at the 2010 census.The town's central settlement, where 605 people resided at the 2010 census, is defined as the Walpole census-designated place , and is east of New Hampshire Route 12...
, before become an apprentice
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
compositor
Compositing
Compositing is the combining of visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live-action shooting for compositing is variously called "chroma key", "blue screen", "green screen" and other names. Today,...
and copy-editor
Copy editing
Copy editing is the work that an editor does to improve the formatting, style, and accuracy of text. Unlike general editing, copy editing might not involve changing the substance of the text. Copy refers to written or typewritten text for typesetting, printing, or publication...
at the Gazette in Greenfield, Massachusetts
Greenfield, Massachusetts
Greenfield is a city in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,456 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Franklin County. Greenfield is home to Greenfield Community College, the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra, and the Franklin County Fair...
. In 1800 he moved to Boston as a journeyman
Journeyman
A journeyman is someone who completed an apprenticeship and was fully educated in a trade or craft, but not yet a master. To become a master, a journeyman had to submit a master work piece to a guild for evaluation and be admitted to the guild as a master....
at Thomas & Andrews. In 1803 he played summer stock
Summer Stock
For the article about the theatre genre, see Summer stock theatre.Summer Stock is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers...
in Salem, Massachusetts
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
and Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
. In 1805, he married Melinda Alvord; they had thirteen children.
Journalism
While setting up as a masterMaster craftsman
A master craftsman or master tradesman was a member of a guild. In the European guild system, only masters were allowed to be members of the guild....
printer in Boston, Buckingham started and edited several publications: The Polyanthos
Polyanthos (magazine)
The Polyanthos was a monthly literary magazine published in Boston, Massachusetts by Joseph Tinker Buckingham....
, an illustrated monthly magazine, which ran from 1806 till September 1807, and 1812 to 1814; and The Ordeal, which ran weekly from January 1809 for six months. These sided with the Federalist Party. He joined the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association
Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association
The Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association of Boston, Massachusetts, was "formed for the sole purposes of promoting the mechanic arts and extending the practice of benevolence." Founding members included Paul Revere, Benjamin Russell, and others...
and became chairman in 1812; he was vice-president in 1830 and president in 1832. In 1815, he went bankrupt, both his publishing and printing businesses being hit by the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. The New England Galaxy and Masonic Magazine, started in 1817, was popular among the growing number of Freemason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
s in Boston. The reference to Freemasonry was dropped by 1820 after a backlash. The magazine supported Josiah Quincy
Josiah Quincy III
Josiah Quincy III was a U.S. educator and political figure. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives , Mayor of Boston , and President of Harvard University...
from 1821, as part of the "Middling Interest" coalition after the Panic of 1819
Panic of 1819
The Panic of 1819 was the first major financial crisis in the United States, and had occurred during the political calm of the Era of Good Feelings. The new nation previously had faced a depression following the war of independence in the late 1780s and led directly to the establishment of the...
. In 1822, Quincy presided over a libel suit brought against Buckingham by John Newland Maffitt
John Newland Maffitt (preacher)
John Newland Maffitt Sr. , was an Irish-born American Methodist clergyman and itinerant preacher....
.
On 2 March 1824, Buckingham founded the Boston Courier, a daily newspaper which supported protectionism
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
. He sold his interest in the Galaxy in 1828, and edited the Courier till selling out in 1848. It supported the National Republicans, and later the Whig Party
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
. In 1831, he started the monthly The New-England Magazine
The New-England Magazine
The New-England Magazine was a monthly literary magazine published in Boston, Massachusetts from 1831 to 1835.The magazine was published by Joseph T. Buckingham and his son Edwin. The first edition was published in July 1831, and it published a total of 48 editions...
with his son Edwin. Now considered "one of antebellum America's few worthwhile literary journals", its contributors included Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham
Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham
Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham was an American Unitarian minister and pastor of the First Church of Boston from 1815 to 1850. Frothingham was opposed to Theodore Parker and the interjection of transcendentalism into the church...
, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
, Edward Everett
Edward Everett
Edward Everett was an American politician and educator from Massachusetts. Everett, a Whig, served as U.S. Representative, and U.S. Senator, the 15th Governor of Massachusetts, Minister to Great Britain, and United States Secretary of State...
, and Samuel Gridley Howe
Samuel Gridley Howe
Samuel Gridley Howe was a nineteenth century United States physician, abolitionist, and an advocate of education for the blind.-Early life and education:...
. Edwin Buckingham died in 1833, aged 23, on a voyage to Smyrna
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
to relieve his tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
. Joseph sold the Magazine in 1834 to Howe and John O. Sargent. He had to mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
his property in 1836 when business turned bad.
Politics
Buckingham served in the Massachusetts House of RepresentativesMassachusetts House of Representatives
The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives serve two-year terms...
for Boston and Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
in 1828, 1831–3, 1836, and 1838–9, as a National Republican, and later a Whig
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
. He introduced a report in 1833 in favor of the suppression of lotteries
Lottery
A lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize.Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments...
. He denounced the Tariff of 1833
Tariff of 1833
The Tariff of 1833 was proposed by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun as a resolution to the Nullification Crisis...
, switching his allegiance from Henry Clay
Henry Clay
Henry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...
to Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster was a leading American statesman and senator from Massachusetts during the period leading up to the Civil War. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...
.
He represented Middlesex County
Middlesex County, Massachusetts
-National protected areas:* Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge* Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge* Longfellow National Historic Site* Lowell National Historical Park* Minute Man National Historical Park* Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge...
in the Massachusetts Senate
Massachusetts Senate
The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the state...
in 1847–8 and 1850–1. He leaned towards the Conscience Whigs
Conscience Whigs
The "Conscience" Whigs were a faction of the Whig Party in the state of Massachusetts noted for their moral opposition to slavery. They were noted as opponents of the more conservative "Cotton" Whigs who dominated the state party, led by such figures as Edward Everett, Robert C...
but was not an outright abolitionist, though he did oppose the Fugitive Slave Law in the Compromise of 1850
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War...
.
Later life
After retiring from politics and journalism, Buckingham published two two-volume sets of memoirs, and edited the annals of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association.Primary
-
- At Google Books: Volume 1 Volume 2
- At Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
: Volume 1 Volume 2 - At Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
: Volume 1 Volume 2
External links
- Works by: Buckingham, Joseph Tinker, 1779-1861 on Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...