“T” is for Timothy, Elizabeth (d.1757). Newspaper publisher. A native of Holland, she immigrated with her husband Louis and their children to Philadelphia in 1731. Her husband worked for Benjamin Franklin who helped establish him in 1733 as the new printer of the South-Carolina Gazette in Charleston. Elizabeth and the children moved to Charleston in 1734 and established themselves in the community. In December 1738 her husband died unexpectedly, leaving Elizabeth in the care of “six small children and another hourly expected.” Within a year, the widow purchased Franklin’s interest in the Gazette and became the first woman in the American colonies to own and publish a newspaper. In addition to publishing the Gazette and colonial laws, Elizabeth Timothy sold legal blanks, broadsides, and stationery and established a bookstore adjacent to the printing office.
“T” is for Timothy, Elizabeth (d.1757)
