KEIMER, Samuel, printer, born in England; died in Barbadoes after 1738. He learned the trade of a printer in London, was a member of the sect known as the" French Prophets," and came to this country in 1722, accompanied by his sister, a prophetess of the same sect. He brought with him printing materials, consisting "of an old damaged press and a small cast of worn-out English types contained in one pair of eases," and established himself in business in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Probably the first printer that he employed to assist him was Benjamin Franklin, who, in 1723, found employment in Philadelphia in Keimer's office. Shortly afterward he published a pamphlet called " A Parable," which was said to be the joint work of himself and Franklin, and which so offended the Quakers that, by order of their monthly meeting in September, 1723, he was denounced and disowned. On Franklin's return from Europe he engaged again with Keimer, and on the latter's hearing that Franklin intended to publish a newspaper, Keimer issued a prospectus announcing his intention to begin the publication of one of his own, and on 24 December, 1728, appeared the first issue of the " Universal Instructor in all Arts and Sciences, and Pennsylvania Gazette." Through the covert opposition of Franklin, Keimer was unable to make his paper a success, and in nine months from its first issue he sold the "Gazette "to Franklin and Hugh Meredith. Shortly thereafter he removed to Barbadoes, where in 1731, at Bridgetown, he began the publication of the " Barbadoes Gazette," the first newspaper that was issued in the Caribbean islands, and the first that was published twice a week, for any considerable time, in any part of America. He continued its publication until 1738. Selections from this paper were after-wa, rd published under the title " Caribbeana, a Collection of Essays," arranged in imitation of the "Tattler" (2 vols., London, 1741). He was also the author of " A Brand plucked from the Burning, exemplified in the Unparalleled Case of Samuel Keimer " (London, 1718).