Page:History of Delaware County (1856).djvu/419

 APPENDIX. 395 The first number of the Gazette was issued, Thursday^ November 18th, 1819, Mr. Sappan, its editor and publisher, who had been for some years associate editor of a paper in Otsego county, it is believed came to Delhi, then but a small village, and without any previous warning, commenced the publication of his paper. In 1822, April 1st, Mr. Sappan sold out his interest to David Johnson, an apprentice in the of&ce. Without any pecuniary resources, or capital of any kind, except the product of his own hard labor and industry, his successor was com- pelled to incur expenses and shoulder responsibilities, from which the profits of his paper proved hardly sufficient to release him. He was compelled by stern necessity to mort- gage his office, and even type, to a heavy amount, to enable him to continue the publication of his paper, and to support his family. In 1833, March 20th, Mr. Johnson left for New York, as was supposed with the intention of purchasing a fresh supply of material for his paper, leaving the office in charge of his assistant, J. D. Clark, a native of Hudson, N. Y., a practical and accomplished printer, who had spent the two preceding years in Sappan's employ, but not returning at the appointed time, the fact became publicly known that he had ahsented himself, and the creditors of the establishment came forward, and succeeded in elFecting a sale of the entire establishment to A. M. Paine, the present editor, who associated with him in the management of the paper J. D. Clarke, referred to above, whose experience in the office, as well as his practical know- ledge of the art of printing, rendered his services a necessary guarantee to the future success of the enterprise. Mr. Clark remained a copartner until May, 1839, when he closed his connection with the Gazette, disposing of his interest to his associate, Mr. Paine, who has since remained its sole proprietor. The Gazette, as inferred from the extract we copied above