[Ads-l] Definitely "Coos" [Was: Help reading a 1735 Boston newspaper]

[Joel Berson]

The same article appears in the Pennsylvania Gazette, 1735/6 Feb. 5, 1/1--2/1, with Ben's superior types and press, and the signature location is definitely "Coos", not "Ceos".  It may still be a variant of "Keos", since the writer is a physician (he signs himself "Esculapius") and Kos (Keos) is somewhat known as the home of an ancient physician. But I still believe it cannot be Coos, New Hampshire, which is close to the Canadian border, was not incorporated as a town until 1763, when the French and Indian War was over, and probably did not have any white men except perhaps the French in 1736.  King George's War was still to come (1744–1748).

I note that the Pennsylvania Gazette is not in EAN until a later year, and I did not try to search for the article outside of EAN's newspapers until I came across a reference to the article in Leo Lemay's "Life of Benjamin Franklin".


[Last known message in this chain, from me, was Mon Feb 11 19:42:37 UTC 2013.]
Joel



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