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Original 1774 Phila. newspaper, found at Goodwill, heads to library

An original 1774 Philadelphia newspaper that was discovered at a New Jersey Goodwill is heading to a Philadelphia philosophy society founded by Benjamin Franklin.

FILE - In this Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018 file photo, Heather Randall displays a Dec. 28, 1774 Pennsylvania Journal and the Weekly Advertiser at the Goodwill Industries South Jersey in Bellmawr, N.J. An original 1774 Philadelphia newspaper that was discovered at a New Jersey Goodwill is heading to a Philadelphia philosophy society founded by Benjamin Franklin.
FILE - In this Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018 file photo, Heather Randall displays a Dec. 28, 1774 Pennsylvania Journal and the Weekly Advertiser at the Goodwill Industries South Jersey in Bellmawr, N.J. An original 1774 Philadelphia newspaper that was discovered at a New Jersey Goodwill is heading to a Philadelphia philosophy society founded by Benjamin Franklin.Read moreMatt Rourke / AP
    by The Associated Press, OTHER
    Published 

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An original 1774 Philadelphia newspaper that was discovered at a New Jersey Goodwill is heading to a Philadelphia philosophy society founded by Benjamin Franklin.

NJ Pen reports the American Philosophical Society has acquired the frayed Dec. 28, 1774, edition of the Pennsylvania Journal and the Weekly Advertiser. The newspaper has the iconic “Unite or Die” snake design on the masthead and boasts three items signed by John Hancock, who pleads for the Colonies to fight back against “enemies” who would divide them.

The society’s librarian, Patrick Spero, wouldn’t disclose how much was paid for the newspaper.

The society is home to some 13 million pages of historic manuscripts, including Franklin's papers and the journals of Lewis and Clark.

Heather Randall, of the Goodwill in Bellmawr, N.J., says it’s fitting that the newspaper, printed in Philadelphia, is heading back there.