[Illustration: Green-Bay Intelligencer. VOL. I. NAVARINO, WEDNESDAY
DECEMBER 11, 1833. NO. 1.]
"With a handful of brevier and an ounce or two of printer's ink"--as
he later recollected--Wisconsin's first printer managed to produce
1,000 lottery tickets at Navarino, now the city of Green Bay, in
1827. The printer was Albert G. Ellis, who had previously worked
as an apprentice at Herkimer, N.Y. He could not undertake regular
printing at Navarino before obtaining a printing press in 1833; then,
in partnership with another young New Yorker named John V. Suydam, he
began to publish the _Green-Bay Intelligencer_.[82]
The first issue of this newspaper, dated December 11, 1833, is the
oldest example of Wisconsin printing known to survive, and it is
represented in the Library of Congress collections. Neatly printed in
fine type on a small sheet, the four-page issue shows professional
competence. The publishers apologize for the type they use and
for the necessity, owing to limited patronage, of commencing the
_Intelligencer_ on a semimonthly basis. Their front page features
an Indian story entitled "The Red Head," chosen from some "fabulous
tales ... politely furnished us by a gentleman of this place, who
received them from the mouths of the native narrators." Inclusion of
the story accords with a stated editorial policy of giving faithful
descriptions of the character and manners of the natives. Some
articles in this issue concern proposed improvements on the Fox and
Wisconsin Rivers that would open navigation between Green Bay and the
upper Mississippi. And the question where to locate the capital of an
anticipated Territory of Wisconsin is another topic of the day. The
Territory was not actually created until 1836.
Aside from its obviously having been detached from a bound volume,
there is no visible evidence of the Library of Congress copy's past
history. It does not figure in _A Check List of American Newspapers in
the Library of Congress_ (Washington, 1901); but it is registered in
the union list, _American Newspapers 1821-1936_ (New York, 1937).
The Library of Congress also owns the only known copy of
_Kikinawadendamoiwewin or almanac, wa aiongin obiboniman debeniminang
iesos, 1834_, printed at Green Bay on the _Intelligencer_ press. Its
14 leaves, printed on one side only, are within an original paper
cover bearing the manuscript title "Chippewa Almanac." A document
held by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin reveals that in
1834 the Catholic mission at Green Bay charged "the Menominee Nation
of Indians" for "an Indian Almanac rendered by signs equally useful
to those among the Natives who are unable to read their language,
published at Green Bay, 150 copies, $18"; and that the bill went
unpaid.[83] Since the almanac was intended for use in the year 1834,
it was likely printed before the end of 1833; yet there is no evidence
to suggest that it predates the _Intelligencer_. At the suggestion of
Douglas C. McMurtrie, the Library purchased its unique copy from the
Rosenbach Company for "$375.00 less usual discount" in 1931.
[Footnote 82: See Douglas C. McMurtrie, _Early Printing in Wisconsin_
(Seattle, 1931).]
[Footnote 83: See Douglas C. McMurtrie, _The First Known Wisconsin
Imprint_ (Chicago, 1934).]