Peter Timothy: printer, patriot, prisoner
By Elizabeth F. Gay, Cheves Leland, and Renée Marshall
The Timothy family surely represented the Huguenot motto, “I am burned but not consumed.” In Peter, we find a champion of this motto.
Pre-Revolution family life
In the years leading up to the Revolution, Peter and Ann Timothy operated the printing office and had an estimated 12 children. Six of the known children were deceased before 1770, with six surviving children later named in Peter’s will dated April 22, 1780. Peter watched his mother experience similar losses with his siblings, and now he and Ann suffered the same. Lowcountry epidemics of malaria, yellow fever and smallpox took the lives of many colonial residents, and it was not uncommon to lose children during their teething age. We gain insight into Peter’s concerns through a letter he wrote to Benjamin Franklin in August of 1772, in which he stated: “My Son Benjamin Franklin has just happily got thro’ the Measles, and a fine promising Boy; but as I have lost eight Sons in Teething, my Apprehension for him will not be over till he has all his Teeth.” As to the “eight Sons” our research continues as we try to sort out all the children.
In the years leading up to the American Revolution, Timothy increasingly engaged in activities associated with civic duties, the patriot rebellion and the American Revolution. We were intrigued by how many times the printing office changed locations during this period, but records have not yet provided any understanding as to why the printing office moved so frequently. Welcome to “chasing the colophon,” as we termed it, as we examined each available issue of the paper to study the printer’s colophon to record the printer’s name and location along with any other useful information. In a few instances, the timing seems to indicate an annual lease that had reached the end of its term.
Never did the business move far, and it was consistently located near the business center of Charles Towne. In 1747, the printing office was located “on the Bay, the corner opposite to the New Market.” By February 1748, it was “now kept at the House of the Printer thereof” for a brief period soon to be followed by “Post-Master at the new Printing Office in Broad Street, at the corner next to the Upper Market.” As indicated in the colophon, Timothy was made postmaster. In February 1749, it moved to “the new Printing Office, at a corner of Tradd-street and King-street.” The printing office moved at least six more times up until 1775.
In 1746, Timothy became the official public printer to The Honourable and The Commons House of Assembly. He also began his progression into civic life in Charles Towne, as was customary among many of his contemporaries of the period. His positions included: founding member of The Charles Towne Library Society, secretary of the Ancient and Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons, elected to the South Carolina Assembly, appointed first provincial post-master for the Southern District by the crown, member of the South Carolina Society and a pew-holder in St. Philip’s Church.
The emergence of the patriot
We have an indication of Timothy’s fiery patriotism during the time of the Stamp Act. To bolster support for opposition to the Stamp Act, the following was published in The South-Carolina Gazette: “The Liberty Boys, being content to keep out the stamps, do not injure, but protect the town.” He and fellow Charles Towne printer Robert Wells of The South Carolina Weekly Gazette announced in 1765 that their subscribers would experience an increase in price “due to the Stamp-Act” and all advertisements would require “ready money.” By November 5, Timothy suspended printing the paper, “it being impossible to continue it without great loss to the printer ... during the suspension, the printer hopes those indebted to him” will consider paying him so that he may continue to support his family. In 1766, Timothy helped organize the first meeting held at what became known as the Liberty Tree in Mr. Mazyck’s pasture in Charles Towne.
However devoted Timothy was to his work and community, it did come at a price to his health and wellbeing. It came as no surprise to find that in 1772, at the age of 47, Timothy took a step away from his business. He was taken ill and placed the business under the care of Powell, Hughes & Co. His male children were not old enough to take over the business during his illness, and his priorities turned to caring for his family and restoring his health. His patriotism was made evident in his notice of closure where he wrote, “The public good has ever been the chief Object of my Views — my private interest has often been sacrificed to it — and I still do, and ever shall, love this County (sic) enough, to sacrifice more.”
This corresponded with his August 1772 letter to Franklin mentioned previously, where he wrote, “My natural Eyes being almost worn out, I have declined the Printing Business, and am now employed in putting my Affairs in order for a Settlement.” Franklin responded, writing in part, “I hope you will alter your mind and go on with your Business. … You have done me Honour in giving a Son my Name. I wish he may live to be an Honour and Comfort to you.”
In November 1773, Peter did “alter his mind” and returned to the print business, where he resumed his duties as printer to the Assembly. He returned to civic and political life with vigor. The following month, the first Charleston Tea Party occurred, and the seized tea was locked in the Exchange. The following year, in July and December, there were two additional tea incidents in Charles Towne, and Timothy would have been involved in these events as he was active in the Sons of Liberty.
We read a most descriptive piece that provided us with a view into the mindset of Peter Timothy at the time. The following was published in November of 1774 in The South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal. As you begin to read, imagine yourself on an early morning on Broad Street near the corner of Church.
“Saturday last, being the Anniversary of the Nation’s happy Deliverance from the infernal Popish POWDER PLOT in 1603, and also of the glorious REVOLUTION by the Landing of King William in 1688, two Events which our Brethren in England seem of late to have too much overlooked, the Morning was ushered in with Ringing of Bells, and a MAGNIFICENT EXHIBITION of EFFIGIES, designed to represent Lord North, Gov. Hutchinson, the POPE, and the DEVIL, which were placed on a rolling Stage, about eight Feet high and fifteen Feet long, near Mr. Ramadge’s Tavern in Broad-Street, being the most frequented Place in Town.”
The pope was exhibited with Lord North on his right and Gov. Hutchinson on his left. The article continued, “ … the Devil, with extended Arms, behind the Three, and elevated above them, holding in one Hand a Javelin directed at the head of Lord North, and in the other a scroll, inscribed ‘Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer;’ on his Arm was suspended a large Lanthorn, in the Shape of a Tea Canister, on the sides of which was writ in Capitals, ‘Hyson, Green, Congo and Bohea Teas.’ The exhibition was constantly viewed by an incredible Number of Spectators.”
The day included a service at St. Michael’s Church and concluded with a parade through the streets of the entire display, which was then set on fire. “The whole was consumed in a short time, in the Presence of some Thousands; who rejoiced to see the Abbettors of American Taxation consumed, by that very Engine of Oppression which was intended to subvert American Liberty.”
Between 1774 and 1776, Timothy was secretary of the Committee of Correspondence, served on the Committee of Ninety-Nine for Charles Towne and joined the Committee of 45. In 1776, he was secretary to the Congress that drafted the Constitution for the new state government, and he added to his activities secretary of the General Committee, First Provincial Congress; member of The Association, and clerk of the Assembly. Throughout these years his paper supported the patriot cause and regularly printed notices for political meetings, opinion pieces and other columns in support of liberty and resistance to the crown.
The Revolution and the ultimate price
Just before the battle of Fort Sullivan, the printers of Charles Towne broke down the printing offices and removed the necessary materials from the city to prevent their confiscation in the event of the loss of the city to the British. Toward the end of July, the printers returned, and it was in the first weeks of August that Timothy printed the most important broadside of his career, the Declaration of Independence. The document was dispatched by courier from Philadelphia to all the official printers in the colonies who were to print broadsides for distribution to the public and public readings. Timothy not only printed it, but he also put his name and address in the colophon, thereby sealing his fate as a treasonous patriot. Only one issue of the Gazette is known to have been printed between Monday, 4 August and Monday, 15 September 1776. In his remarks to the session of the Assembly held 17 September 1776, the Reverend William Tennent began by reporting that Peter Timothy had submitted a letter of resignation as secretary of the Assembly. Six issues of the Gazette were published between 25 Nov 1777 and early January 1778 when Timothy’s printing office was destroyed by the great fire of 1778. The Gazette resumed publication June 24, 1778.
The only known issue of the Gazette for 1780 appeared on February 9, shortly before the siege of Charles Towne began in early March. During the siege, publication was suspended, but Timothy kept his own hand-written Journal of Observations from March 26 to April 8, 1780, recording the movements of the British army and navy. He was stationed in the steeple of St. Michael’s Church and could see the fires of the British on land, as well as the movements of ships in the harbor and as they approached the bar. Reports from Timothy were utilized by Moultrie to direct military movements. Shortly after the journal entries concluded, Timothy prepared his will. It is in the opening paragraph that we find Timothy’s description of his situation: “ … involved in all the perils of a siege, by an enemy who do not promise to exercise all that humanity which distinguishes a generous foe, and being also of sound mind and memory, but compelled in my later days to share the fate of a retreating Army — do make and declare this to be my last will and testament.”
Charles Towne surrendered on May 12, 1780, and Timothy was arrested by the British forces and accused of treason. He gave his parole and was allowed to remain in Charles Towne. Then, according to the Diary of Josiah Smith, Jr., one of the exiles to St. Augustine during the British occupation, “On Sunday 27 August 1780 early in the morning 29 Citizens, prisoners on Parole in Charlestown were suddenly taken from their habitations by armed soldiers … detained in the upper part of the Exchange until 10 am, then were moved to a ship in Charlestown harbor.” They were housed in an armed ship, the Sandwich, which was moored near the ruins of Ft. Johnson. In September, they were sent to St. Augustine. After 10 months, Timothy was sent to Philadelphia as part of a prisoner exchange. Timothy never returned to Charleston, and research has yet to prove the circumstances of his demise. In Moultrie’s Memoirs of the American Revolution is a footnote stating, “Mr. Timothy, who was cast away at sea.” Reported in the South-Carolina Weekly Gazette of April 19, 1783, was the arrival of a ship from Philadelphia on which the “widow of the deceased Mr. Timothy” traveled with her daughter, “Miss Timothy,” and her other daughter “Mrs. Valton” (Elizabeth Ann) and the “ladies of Christopher Gadsden and Thomas Ferguson.”
Ann would then begin the journey through widowhood that her mother-in-law, Elizabeth, had withstood. She continued the printing business until her son Benjamin Franklin Timothy reached his majority and could assume the business. The parallel is uncanny.
Our research into the Timothy family has provided a vehicle for the study of the colonial and revolutionary experiences of families and patriots in Charles Towne. The society looks forward to publishing the complete work in the coming year. It will serve not only as a study of the Timothée-Vilain lineage, but also to learn more of the shared experiences of the many French Protestant refugees and their descendants who nobly sacrificed blood and treasure to secure their freedom.
Elizabeth Gay, Cheves Leland and Renée Marshall are all proudly associated with The Huguenot Society of South Carolina.
