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From Archival Absence to Digital Presence: (Dis)Covering the 19th-Century Black Press in Ohio

Figure 10

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Advertisements Advertisements in the Palladium of Liberty show what kinds of business Black Ohioans in Columbus operated and what goods and services they looked for. As the graph suggests, three major categories are medicine and doctor’s office, furnishing, and clothes and shoes.

Interestingly, despite the diverse categories of the advertisements, advertisers are mostly limited to a small number of Black business owners: G.W. Stanton, James Beckwith, J.B. Wheaton, and David Jenkins. Except David Jenkins, it is difficult for us to find information about the other three businessmen. Nevertheless, their advertisements themselves help us to assume about them.

As we see in his biography, David Jenkins had a painting business and operated a boarding house that were advertised in every issue.

The name of G.W. Stanton appears as a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church of Columbus in “An Act to Incorporate Sundry Churches named Therein” in 1845.[i] He joined the seven Executive Committee from the second or third issue of the Palladium of Liberty. The advertisements on March 10, 1844, help us know his businesses [Figure 9]. He possessed a large farm to host horses and buggies near the Buckeye House, a boarding house for both men and women, and a shop for barbering and hair dressing. This variety also leads us to assume that he had familial supports and/or a number of employees.

[Figure 9. Palladium of Liberty, March 20, 1844, page 4
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/african/id/25893/rec/5]

Another frequent advertiser was James Beckwith. [Figure 10] He recently opened a store in Columbus, named “The Mechanics’ Hall,” where he, the subscriber, sold goods transported from New York that ranged from bread to clothes to a variety of dry goods. He could have moved from New York or at least East Coast where he still had a business connection. In separate advertisements, expensive fabrics such as muslin, silks, and flannels. It is unclear that customers purchased them in the same store or that he operated more than one store in the business district. He also sold books at Derby and Allen’s, which must be another store than the general store. He also managed to sell horse wagon and buggy, which required more space than an ordinary store. He might have a farm outside of the busy business district in Columbus. Other than these advertisements, he has not been located.

[Figure 10. Palladium of Liberty, July 17, 1844, page 4
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/african/id/25962/rec/22]

From the inaugural issue to the last one, J.B. Wheaton ran a series of advertisements. He was a “druggist and dealer in patent medicines, paints, oils, dye stuff-glass, &c, as one of his advertisements shows. [Figure 11] At his drug store, which was located on High and Broad Streets in Columbus [Figure 12], people purchased various medicines mostly for ancient homeopathy including chrome yellow, scarpa’s oil for deafness, and arrowroots. These items indicate that African Americans treated ailments at home instead of visiting a doctor when medical professionals of color were hard to find. He also dealt with construction materials such as trusses and window glasses. These suggest a growing number of Black residents in Columbus who newly moved to the city in need of new houses and buildings.

[Figure 11. Palladium of Liberty, July 17, 1844, page 4
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/african/id/25962/rec/22]

[Figure 12. Broad and High Street in 1863, where J.B. Wheaton’s drug store was located in the early 1840s. Touring Ohio: The Heart of America http://touringohio.com/central/franklin/columbus/broad-high-streets.html]

Other than medicines, clothes, and general goods, readers of the Palladium of Liberty were educated enough to enjoy readings from classical literature to popular magazines. With a package of promotions, Saturday Disiter, Baltimore-based magazine, recruits subscribers. The promotions included Graham’s Magazine, the Lady’s Book, or Ladies’ Companion, indicating the significance of women readers in the print market.[ii] Moreover, the collection of Derby and Allen’s bookstore, owned by James Beckwith, shows Black consumers’ refined taste for reading, as the advertisement lists “Allison’s History of Europe,” “Burnett’s History of Reformation,” “Shakespeare,” and “Greeley’s Treatise on Preaching.” [Figure 13]

[Figure 13. Palladium of Liberty, May 29, 1844, page 4.
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/african/id/25935/rec/15]

[i] N. Willis, Printer to the State, Acts of the State of Ohio, Vol. 43. https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=Z_FQAQAAMAAJ&hl=en&pg=GBS.PP1

[ii] “Saturday Disiter,” Palladium of Liberty, May 8, 1844, page 3.
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/african/id/25923/rec/22