Top: Oil on canvas of Archibald Loudon, painted in 1807 by Cezeron (1952.005.001);
Bottom: Advertisement for Loudon's Narratives, or Outrages Committed By The Indians, etc. (25A-04-07).
Printer, publisher, postmaster, bookseller, paper manufacturer and author, Archibald Loudon was “the most interesting of the early printers and publishers of Carlisle.”1
Archibald, son of James and Christiana Loudon, was reportedly born at sea on August 24, 1754 during his parent’s emigration from Scotland. His father settled in the area of Cumberland County that later became Perry County,2 and where, “in 1765, the Loudon family’s cabin was visited by the famous Indian chieftain Captain John Logan.”3 Loudon described this event in his book Narratives, or Outrages Committed By The Indians, etc…
Loudon opened a bookbindery in Carlisle in 1790,4 and in 1795 he advertised that he was located at the sign of the Bible on High Street.5 In 1802, he was appointed postmaster. He ran the post office out of his store on West High Street where he also sold books and medicines, as well as musical instruments.6
In 1804, he set up his printing press in “a two-storied log structure painted white, and known as “Whitehall,”7 the name he used as his book imprint from 1805 to 1809. Several of the many books published from Loudon’s press include the 1804 and 1805 printing of two volumes of Part II of Hugh Henry Brackenridge’s Modern Chivalry,8 considered by scholars to be the first important work of fiction about the American frontier, and “Poems on Various Subjects,” by local poetess Isabella Oliver, also published in 1805.
Loudon is famous for the two-volume work he compiled, wrote, and published, titled A Selection of the Most Interesting Narratives, or Outrages Committed By The Indians in Their Wars With The White People. Also an Account of Their Manners, Customs, Traditions, Religious Sentiments, Mode of Warfare, Military Tactics, Discipline and Encampments, Treatment of Prisoners, &c. which are better explained and more Minutely Related, than has heretofore never before appeared in print. The whole Complied from the best Authorities. He published Volume I in 1808 and Volume II in 1811.
From 1805 until about 1814 Loudon published the “Cumberland Register” newspaper which supported the politics of the Constitutional Republicans.9 By 1816, he had retired from book publishing,10 and at about the same time, he opened a paper manufactory in South Middleton Township (Mt. Holly Springs) in partnership with several others.
By 1818, Loudon was 64-years-old, overwhelmed with debt, and confined in jail. In June, he petitioned the court for the Act of Insolvency. His petition stated that “…the cause of his insolvency was that he embarked in the manufacturing of paper at a time that offered great inducements without any real capital…” He also stated “…that he opened a large and extensive book store, many of the books he sold for 100 per cent less than they cost him…”11 In October 1818, Loudon’s stock of “upwards of 4,000 books,” as well as other property, was sold at a Sheriff’s sale.12
From 1820 onward, tax assessments for Carlisle list Loudon, but with no property,xiii and it is likely that he lived and worked with his son James, also a book seller. Archibald died on August 12, 1840 aged 86 years.13
Being the wife of a tavernkeeper meant that Elizabeth helped with the running of the tavern as well as taking care of her family. Washing, cleaning, cooking in a hot kitchen over a fire for hours as well as helping in the barroom was hard work.
[1] David Wilson Thompson, Early Publications of Carlisle, Pennsylvania 1785-1835, (Carlisle: The Sentinel, 1932), 23.
[2] Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, (Chicago, 1905), 818-821.
[3] Thompson, David, Early Publications, 24.
[4] Kline’s Carlisle Gazette, December 1, 1790.
[5] Kline’s Carlisle Gazette, July 1, 1795.
[6] Loudon’s Business Records, CCHS.
[7] Thompson, Early Publications, 25. (Loudon bought Lot #108 on West High Street in 1794. He paid off the mortgage and sold the western half of the lot in 1795 to Edward Magauran. Deed 1-R-453 and file 8-15 CCHS). In February, 1811, Loudon and his second wife Hannah sold the eastern half of Lot #108 to John Keith of Carlisle for $1,500. (Deed 1-U-179).
[8] William A. Hunter, Archibald Loudon, Pioneer Historian, (Carlisle: Hamilton Library and Historical Association of Cumberland County, 1973).
[9] Thompson, Early Publications, 26.
[10] Ibid, 28.
[11] Prothonotary, Insolvent Debtor Petition, 1818.0261. (See ccpa.net website for Archives)
[12] American Volunteer, Carlisle, October 8, 1818.
[13] On December 12, 1810, Carlisle merchant, Joseph Knox, agreed to sell the eastern half of Lot #124 on West High Street to Loudon for $3,000, in fee simple, upon payment of the last installment (Deed 1-BB-737). On February 8, 1819, Archibald Loudon’s property including a 2-story stone house, plastered in front, a stone kitchen, a brick printing office and a weather-boarded house was sold by the sheriff to Isaac Todd, Esq. for $2,901 (Sheriff Deed A-340).