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Born 1724
London, England
Died July 4, 1802
New York, New York

Publisher, printer, bookseller, spy

James Rivington, born in London to a family of publishers, was named by the king of England as the Royal Printer of New York during the Revolutionary War (1775–83). His Royal Gazette became one of the best-selling newspapers in the colonies, and it is considered the first daily newspaper to be published in the United States. He began the war as a Tory or Loyalist—someone who wanted to remain loyal to and keep the American colonies a part of England—but in 1781 he began to work as a spy for General George Washington (1732–1799; see entry). Rivington's work for the patriot cause was not known during his lifetime, however, and he died poor and unrecognized.

James Rivington was born in England in 1724, the sixth son of Charles Rivington and Eleanor...