In 1865, New England born inventor and woodworker Hezekiah Bradley Smith purchased the entirety of the town Shreveville for $20,000. Renaming it Smithville in his own name, he set about expanding his company and building a company town to support his fledgling manufacturing empire. In addition to selling woodworking machinery Smith produced the popular Star bicycle, which had a large rear wheel and smaller front wheel to aid balance.
The New Jersey Mechanic, which ran from 1871-1877, was Smith's industry trade paper that billed itself as "a weekly journal of mechanics, science, and literature". Perhaps most interestingly, Smith's second wife Agnes M. Smith (neé Gilkerson) served as editor in addition to maintaining a medical practice in Smithville.
The Rural Visiter was published in Burlington between 1810-1811 by David Allinson. This newspaper marks some of the earliest historical primary sources in the BCLS collection, and the earliest that appear in our volunteer-contributed newspaper index databases.
