A Free Press in FreeHand: The Spirit of American Blogging in the Handwritten Newspapers of John McLean Harrington 1858-1869

This is the astonishing story of North Carolinian John McLean Harrington, a maverick journalist who in the years leading up to and during the Civil War handwrote up to one hundred copies of each issue of his own weekly and monthly newspapers. Harrington sought to “sketch the world” for the citizens of Harnett County, site of one of the last major Civil War battles. While cultural and military battle lines were drawn across the South, Harrington as postmaster (his messaging hub) “blogged” personally in longhand about everything from the plight of slaves to unrequited love, and from international relations to technology--all without the benefit of a printing press and free of editorial oversight. Harrington thereby became an outspoken dilettante journalist, a defender of freedom of the press, and arguably the first but certainly one of the most productive American bloggers long before the Internet. Includes illustrative maps, photos, newspaper transcripts, and an analysis of Harrington's handwriting by a master graphologist.