The Pine St. Comet

The Pine Street Comet, later known as The Media Comet, The Comet, and The Three-tailed Comet. The editors listed are E. Parker, H. Felton, and A.M. Bent, and later on Flora Cometta, Stella Lina, and Planetta Sola, in Pennsylvania from 1863 to 1866. It is possible the editors remained the same but adopted astronomically themed pseudonyms. The newspaper published at least 4 volumes; the first two have 12 numbers each and volume 3 and 4 have only 1 number. The first issue was published on February 24, 1863 and reported news on the Civil War, local notices on marriages, deaths, and lost items, puzzles, and advertisements. As more issues were published, they expanded the themes of the paper to include epitaphs, travel correspondence, anecdotes, a section on accidents, translations of poems and fairy tales, and short stories. The themes of the articles included poverty, nature, U.S. and Native American history, the weather, visiting Gettysburg, Harper's Ferry, and Cape May, the Tower of London, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and April Fool's, a stereopticon exhibit at the National Hall in Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, the origin of the opera "Martha," country life, astrology, a crticism from the "Philadelphia Inquirer," fashion, and astronomy. A humorous letter from London in the October 21, 1863 issue comments on seeing the queen at the Marylebone Theatre. The contributor writes, "I saw the queen too, it was at the Marylebone Theatre. She is not at all pretty, and she did not dress in very good taste either."

It is assumed that E. Parker is Mary E. Parker, born in 1850 in Pennsylvania. In the 1910 US census she's listed as a boarder and widow. H. Felton is assumed to be Kate H. Felton, born in 1852 in Pennsylvania. She is also listed as widowed in the 1910 census. A.M. Bent is assumed to be Anna M. Bent, born in 1851 in Massachusetts. She lived in Pennsylvania and was recorded as a lodger and single in the 1910 census.