Biography
David Frothingham was a journeyman printer at the New York Argus, a Democratic-Republican newspaper owned and edited by Thomas Greenleaf and, after Greenleaf's death from yellow fever in 1798, by his widow Ann Greenleaf. In November 1799 the Argus reprinted material from Bache's Aurora alleging that Alexander Hamilton, then a former Treasury Secretary, had attempted to secretly purchase the Aurora to suppress its anti-Federalist editorials. Hamilton brought a personal libel complaint and the New York attorney general indicted Frothingham on common-law libel charges (rather than under the federal Sedition Act).
Frothingham was tried in New York Court of General Sessions in November 1799, convicted, and sentenced to four months in the New York City Bridewell jail and a \$100 fine. He was unable to pay the fine and remained imprisoned beyond the four-month sentence. He died in the Bridewell in 1800 — making him, with William 'Avalon' Rodgers in 2005, one of the small handful of American press defendants to die in custody before completing a sentence.
Belt reports Frothingham’s November 21, 1799 trial under New York common-law libel and his not-guilty plea. The December 3 sentence included a $100 fine, continued confinement until payment, and a $2,000 bond for good behavior for two years. Neither the four-month term nor the bond period establishes his complete actual custody duration.
