Judah Padock Spooner
1748 - 1807
Place WorkedNorwich, Connnecticut, United States of America
Printer, Patriot, and Revolutionary
Judah Padock Spooner used the power of the press to fight for American independence. In 1773, he co-founded a printing office in Norwich, Connecticut, where he produced radical anti-British pamphlets and patriotic protest songs—including the famous 1774 tea-tax ballad set to the tune of "Hosier's Ghost."Spooner’s commitment went beyond ink and paper. He joined the Continental forces, was captured by the British, and narrowly survived the brutal conditions of a New York prison ship. After the war, he made history by taking the first printing press ever brought to British North America into the wilderness to become the very first official state printer of Vermont.
Judah Padock Spooner used the power of the press to fight for American independence. In 1773, he co-founded a printing office in Norwich, Connecticut, where he produced radical anti-British pamphlets and patriotic protest songs—including the famous 1774 tea-tax ballad set to the tune of "Hosier's Ghost."Spooner’s commitment went beyond ink and paper. He joined the Continental forces, was captured by the British, and narrowly survived the brutal conditions of a New York prison ship. After the war, he made history by taking the first printing press ever brought to British North America into the wilderness to become the very first official state printer of Vermont.