Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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Edes, Benjamin, 1732-1803

Journalist; born in Charlestown, Mass., Oct. 14, 1732; captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1760, and one of the Boston Sons of Liberty. In his printingoffice many of the tea-party disguised themselves, and were there regaled with punch after the exploit at the wharf was performed. He began, with Mr. Gill, in 1755, the publication of the Boston Gazette and country journal, which became a very popular newspaper, and did eminent service in the cause of popular liberty. Adams, Hancock, Otis, Quincy, Warren, and other leading spirits were constant contributors to its columns, while Mr. Edes himself wielded a caustic pen. He was in Watertown during the siege of Boston, from which place he issued the Gazette, the “mouth-piece of the Whigs.” It was discontinued in 1798, after a life, sustained by Edes, of forty years. He died in Boston, Dec. 11, 1803.