James T. Callender
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Newsman James Callender (1758-1803) created a great deal of controversy in his native Scotland and later in the United States. He is appropriately known as a scandal monger, but the veracity of his reports has been a matter of contention for 200 years or more.
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[edit] Scotland
Callender was born in Scotland. He did not gain a formal education, but secured employment as a sub clerk in the Edinburgh Sasine office, the equivalent of the Recorder of Deeds. While working in that office Callender published satirical pamphlets in criticism of writer Samuel Johnson. Deformities of Samuel Johnson, written anonymously, satisfied populist Scottish sentiments.[1] Callender clashed with his employers and lost his steady employment. Later he wrote pamphlets attacking political corruption. He was paid for this work by brewers, who resented high excise taxes. He gained the favor of a wealthy patron, but under pressure the patron exposed Callender, causing Callender to flee to America.
[edit] Philadelphia
Callender quickly gained a position as a congressional reporter in Philadelphia.[2] He would remain at the epicenter of the new nation's political life until his death. His writings attacked Federalist positions. He soon exposed a sexual relationship between Alexander Hamilton and a married woman, Maria Reynolds. While Callender presented more compelling evidence of adultery, he also wrote that the affair was merely a cover for Hamilton's more nefarious offense, that of partnering with Reynolds' husband in corrupt financial dealings. Hamilton vehemently denied being a party to any improper financial matter. However, to his own peril, Hamilton confessed to the adultery.
[edit] In Virginia
Federalists passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which prompted Callender to flee to Virginia and seek less virulent subject matter. Callender was never a good provider for his wife and children.
Many accounts pointed to alcoholism. His wife died and his sons essentially became wards. Callender could not disavow his passions and soon wrote The Prospects before US, an attack on President John Adams. Callender was sentenced to jail in Richmond for sedition.
While Callender suffered in jail, Thomas Jefferson won the Presidency. Upon gaining his freedom, Callender sought a job as postmaster. The job was denied to him.
Callender later turned against Jefferson and his Republican-Democrat allies and published stories alleging a liaison between Jefferson and Sally Hemings. On September 1, 1802 he wrote, " ...[Jefferson] keeps and for many years has kept, as his concubine, one of his slaves. Her name is Sally. The name of her eldest son is Tom."
By some accounts, Callender was slated to provide testimony for a New York trial, The People vs. Croswell, which involved libel charges against a reporter.[3] However, Callender drowned in the James River on July 17, 1803. In 1990, an Australian, Michael Durey, wrote a biography covering Callender's turbulent life.
[edit] References
- ^ Michael Durey, With the Hammer of Truth, James Thomson Callender, (Charlottesville, Univ. Press of VA, 1990) 6.
- ^ Michael Durey, With the Hammer of Truth, 55.
- ^ Robert A. Henderickson, The Rise and Fall of Alexander Hamilton, (New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981), 579.
[edit] Further reading
- Michael Durey, With the Hammer of Truth, James Thomson Callender, (Charlottesville, Univ. Press of VA, 1990)
- William Safire, Scandal Monger, Ft. Washington, PA, Harvest Books, 2001)
- Byron Woodson , A President in the Family, (Westport, CT, Praeger, 2001)
- Annette Gordon Reed, Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, (Charlottesville, Univ. of VA Press, 1997)
- Robert A. Henderickson, The Rise and fall of Alexander Hamilton, (New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981)
- John Chester Miller, Wolf By The Ears, (New York, Macmillan, 1977)
