Mary Katharine Goddard

Categories: 1738 births | 1816 deaths

Mary Katherine Goddard (June 16, 1738-1816) was an early American publisher and the first American postmistress. She was the first to print the Declaration of Independence with the names of the signatories.

Her brother William Goddard had been the publisher and printer of a revolutionary journal called The Maryland Journal. Mary took over control of the journal in 1774 and continued to publish it throughout the American Revolutionary War until 1784. Her brother forced her to give up the newspaper amid an acrimonious quarrel. In 1775 she took control of the Baltimore post office. She also ran a book store and published an almanac.

When on January 18, 1777 the Continental Congress moved that the Declaration of Independence be widely distributed, Mary was one of the first to offer the use of her press. This was in spite of the risks of being associated with what was considered a treasonable document by the British. Her copy was the second printed, and the first to contain the typeset names of the signatories.