THIS DAY IN VIRGINIA HISTORY
Click image for larger view.
October 12, 1789
John Dixon Wrote a Certificate to the Clerk of the Council
This letter was an enclosure to a December 14, 1789, letter from Governor Beverley Randolph (1754–1797) to the Speaker of the House of Delegates, concerning the request of Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) for compensation for supplies that Franklin had provided a Virginia printer during the Revolutionary War. John Dixon (ca. 1741–1791) related to Archibald Blair (ca. 1753–1824) that his former partner Alexander Purdie (d. 1779) had received printing materials from Philadelphia. Purdie and Dixon published the
Virginia Gazette from 1766 to 1774. Subsequently Dixon published the newspaper with other partners. General Assembly records do not indicate that the state compensated Franklin.