Although the first press arrived in Michigan in 1796, it was not used to produce a newspaper. In 1809 Father Gabriel Richard brought a new press to Detroit, and shortly thereafter—on August 31, 1809—James Miller printed the Michigan Essay: or, the Impartial Observer. Only two copies of the first issue survive: one at AAS and the other at the Detroit Public Library. The Society’s copy includes the following handwriting in the margin of the front page: “Utica, N.Y., Aug. 3, 1810 Mr Thomas, Sir, I send you this paper printed by a friend of mine to insert in your History of Printing. If he sees your advertisement, he will send you more, perhaps of a later date. Your ob’t Serv’t, C. S. McConnell.” Earlier that year, Isaiah Thomas had printed an advertisement in his paper, The Massachusetts Spy, (copied in numerous other papers) asking for copies of newspapers for his book about the history of printing.