Joseph C. Neal
Joseph C. Neal was a 19th-century American editor and writer, born in Greenland, New Hampshire, in 1807. The son of a Congregationalist minister, Neal was raised in Philadelphia, where he was deeply influenced by literature and the arts, thanks in part to his mother's efforts in running a bookstore and library. He began his career in the newspaper industry as the editor of the Philadelphia Pennsylvanian, a position he held for thirteen years, earning a reputation for his relatively impartial stance while promoting Democratic ideals. Neal was also known for his humorous writings, particularly his series of sketches titled "Charcoal Sketches," which gained significant popularity and showcased characters from urban life. Additionally, he contributed to various literary and periodical ventures, co-editing the Gentlemen's Vade Mecum and later establishing Neal's Saturday Gazette and Ladies Literary Museum. His health declined in the mid-1840s, prompting a series of travels in search of recovery. After his death in 1847, his wife, Alice C. Lee, published his final works and continued the publication of their literary endeavors, highlighting Neal's lasting impact on American literature and humor.
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Subject Terms
Joseph C. Neal
Fiction Writer
- Born: February 3, 1807
- Birthplace: Greenland, New Hampshire
- Died: July 18, 1847
- Place of death: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Biography
Joseph C. Neal was born in Greenland, New Hampshire, in 1807, the son of Rev. James A. Neal, a Congregationalist minister, and Christiana Palmer Neal. When his father died, his mother, an affectionate and interested parent, took her son back to Philadelphia, where she and his father had lived before his birth and where Neal would live most of his life. The family struggled financially, but Neal’s mother ensured that her son was well educated, and the boy grew up surrounded by books; his mother ran a bookstore in Philadelphia until 1832 and also coordinated the Union Circulating Library until 1841.
Around 1829, Neal spent some time working in the Pennsylvania coalfields, and he later worked in the newspaper industry in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, for two years. Upon his 1831 return to Philadelphia, Neal moved back in with his mother and began his longtime position as editor of the Philadelphia Pennsylvanian, a daily newspaper popular among Democrats, with four and seven columns. Two front-page columns focused on literature, and Neal often penned them himself. Neal also reprinted humor from other newspapers, wrote editorials, and included some of his “Charcoal Sketches.” As editor Neal was known for his relative impartiality, defending Democratic ideals but refraining from bitter debates, and he served as editor for thirteen years, leaving for health reasons in 1844.
While working for the Pennsylvanian, Neal undertook many other projects as well. In 1835 he joined Charles Alexander as assistant editor of Gentlemen’s Vade Mecum: Or, The Sporting and Dramatic Companion, which printed sporting and financial news as well as fiction, advice, and comic pieces. Neal also contributed his soon-to-be-customary series of humorous sketches, including his “Peter Brush, the Great Used Up,” which first appeared in Gentlemen’s Vade Mecum in the fall of 1835 and became his most famous and frequently reprinted piece. Neal began coediting Gentlemen’s Vade Mecum in 1836 with Morton M’Michael, and they renamed the paper Philadelphia Saturday News and Literary Gazette, which continued publication until January 5, 1839. The famed Peter Brush sketch was also featured in Neal’s famed collection of 1838, Charcoal Sketches: Or, Scenes in a Metropolis, a compilation of eighteen sketches about such city characters as Duberly Doubtington, Fydget Fyxington, and Peter Brush. The book was a popular success and was in its sixth edition by 1841.
Neal continued to live with his mother in her Philadelphia home. In 1841 and 1842, he traveled to Europe and Africa in the hope of reviving his failing health. His sketches appeared not only in the periodicals he edited but also in such publications as Godey’s and Graham’s. After retiring from the Pennsylvanian, Neal founded Neal’s Saturday Gazette and Ladies Literary Museum. It was through this venture that Neal met the writer Emily Bradley, who was writing under the name Alice C. Lee, and the two wed on December 13, 1846. Aware of his declining health, in 1847 Neal asked his new wife to collect and edit his final volume of sketches. He died on July 18, 1847, and his widow followed his wishes. Charcoal Sketches, Second Series appeared in 1848; Boots: Or, The Misfortunes of Peter Faber, and Other Sketches was published in 1855, and it included a foreword by Alice Neal, who noted her husband’s desire to instruct through humor. Alice Neal also continued publication of the Saturday Gazette after her husband’s death.