Independence Baby
The Connecticut Courant reported both the Declaration of Independence and the baptism of Independence
The Hartford Courant claims the title of the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. In fact, the Courant predated the nation. On July 15, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was printed in the newspaper then known as the Connecticut Courant and Hartford Weekly Intelligencer.
Connecticut Courant, July 15, 1776, p. 2, Library of Congress
The Declaration reached Hartford by July 11, a week after the Continental Congress approved the text in Philadelphia. The governor of Connecticut and other local officials debated how to publish the Declaration but ultimately decided to let the General Assembly make a decision when they reconvened. This meant that there were no official public readings planned in Connecticut in July 1776. Communities had to rely on newspapers and broadside printings to learn about the Declaration.
While Ebenezer Watson, the printer of the Connecticut Courant, prepared to deliver the news of independence in Hartford, about twenty miles away in Enfield, Mary Booth gave birth to a daughter. This baby girl was the eighth child for Mary and her husband, Joseph. In his journal, Joseph Booth recorded the details of each child’s birth: Mary in 17763, David in 1765, Annis in 1766, Lydia in 1768, Joseph in 1770, Peter in 1772, and Eliphal in 1774. There was nothing extraordinary about the names chosen for these children. The eldest daughter was named for her mother, and Joseph noted that Peter was named “with a Design to keep in memory” the Rev. Peter Raynolds, the late minister in their town.
Then came Independence Booth, born around four o’clock in the morning on Sunday, July 14.
Detail, Joseph Booth Journal, 1758–1777, p. 30, Connecticut Museum of Culture and History
The Connecticut Courant reported both the Declaration of Independence and the baptism of Independence. On July 29, two weeks after the issue with the Declaration, Watson printed that “Last Sunday a Child was baptised by the Rev. Mr. Perry of East Windsor, by the Name of INDEPENDENCE.” Other newspaper printers copied the news from Hartford, clearly feeling that readers would be interested to learn about this child named Independence.
Over time, the details of Independence Booth’s birth became hazy. Her gravestone in Ludlow, Massachusetts says that she was born on the Fourth of July.
Grave of Independence Barber (née Booth), Fuller Cemetery, Ludwell, MA, Find A Grave
There is another gravestone that tells the story of the Connecticut Courant and the people involved in printing the news of independence (and Independence). Ebenezer Watson died suddenly on September 16, 1777. His widow, Hannah, and other workers published the news in the Courant the following week, in an issue with thick black mourning borders that alerted readers to the news of a notable death. Ebenezer had printed the Courant for a decade, but he was only 33 years at the time of his death. He and Hannah had a young family of five children. His obituary describes him as a “gentleman of a most humane heart, and susceptable of the tenderest feelings for distress, in whatever manner discovered.” This meant care for his family and friends as well as his country. “Jealous of the rights of human nature, and anxious for the safety of his country,” his printing press had been “devoted to the vindication of rational liberty.” Watson’s beautifully carved gravestone in the Hartford burying ground similarly described him as an advocate for the “rights of human nature” whose death “happened in the years of vigor & usefulness.”
Grave of Ebenezer Watson, Ancient Burying Ground, Hartford, CT, Find A Grave
The baptism announcement for Independence Booth and the obituary for Ebenezer Watson a year later are evidence of two families who were committed to the cause of liberty. Perhaps Mary and Joseph Booth had a different name in mind before their baby girl’s birth coincided with the independence of the United States. The next Booth child, born in 1778, reverted to the relatively mundane pattern of names with Hannah. Joseph Booth was a veteran of the Seven Years War who was actively fighting in the Revolutionary War in 1776. Arguably, more than any military record, his daughter’s name shows most clearly where the Booth family’s interests lay.
Where to See It Online: Library of Congress
