The Philanthropist Newspaper

At the corner of Walnut and Willow Streets once stood the blacksmith shop of Samuel Ridlen where the anti-slavery newspaper The Philanthropist was first published on January 1, 1836. Publisher, James G. Birney, was a former enslaver from Danville, Kentucky. Brothers Thomas and Christian Donaldson along with Dr. John Rogers provided financial support and protection for the project. The paper’s content often prompted the anger of slaveholders and their apologists. There were credible threats of mob violence against the paper during the time it was published in New Richmond. A vigilante group led by Dr. Rogers and others, known as the “Chieftains of Liberty,” was formed to protect the paper. Tired of the weekly commute from his home in Cincinnati to New Richmond, Birney moved the press to Cincinnati in April of 1836. The move aroused the ire of pro-slavery elements in the city. An angry mob formed on the evening of July 30, 1836. The mob broke into the paper’s office and destroyed the presses. The paper reopened soon thereafter and continued to print incendiary commentary upon the issue of slavery.