John Holt

John Holt (1721—1784) was a colonial American newspaper publisher, printer, postmaster, and mayor of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. He was involved with publishing the Connecticut Gazette, the New York Gazette, and the New-York Journal newspapers. He worked with Benjamin Franklin, the prominent publisher James Parker, and Founding Father Samuel Adams. He had a store that sold miscellaneous supplies, ink, paper, and books on a variety of subjects including religion, freemasonry, economics, history, archaeology, poetry, and biographies. The publications Holt printed reflected his readers' struggle between the colonies and England. He openly challenged the Stamp Act of 1765, which was a direct British tax on the colonies in America for many types of papers used that included legal documents, magazines, playing cards, and newspapers. Holt was the favorite printer of the Sons of Liberty, a political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. Early life Holt was born in 1721 (exact date unknown), at colonial Williamsburg in the colony of Virginia. He received his formal schooling and training as a merchant in the colonial town. His brother-in-law, William Hunter, the "public printer", likely taught him the printing business there.