Title page from A Vindication, of Some of the Most Essential Doctrines of the Reformation, printed in 1817 by Ashbel Stoddard, Hudson, New York

From about 1800 to 1830, Stoddard produced a large number of instructional books for children in addition to juvenile poems and stories with a distinctly moral tone.  During these years he also printed a number of works written for the moral guidance and spiritual benefit of women.  One of these titles, The History of Charlotte Temple, a Tale of Truth, printed by Stoddard in 1803, was a national best seller.

In addition to operating a printing office, Stoddard also maintained a bookstore where he sold not only the titles he printed but also bibles of various sizes, school supplies, letter paper, wrapping paper, blank books, lawyers’ and justices’ blanks, writing and printing ink, Shaker garden seeds, certificates and pictures.¹¹  One early history of Hudson mentions that the interior of his bookstore was frequently festooned with strings of goose quills (for writing) that were hung to season.

In February 1793, tragedy befell Stoddard when his printing shop and bookstore were destroyed by fire.  At the time, Hudson had no fire company or readily available supply of water to extinguish the conflagration.  Consequently the blaze remained unchecked and the building burned to the ground.¹²  This was the first fire in the city of Hudson.  The incident inspired local citizens to take up a subscription for the purchase of the city’s first fire engines and encouraged Hudson’s leaders to form the earliest fire companies.  With financial assistance from his fellow citizens, Stoddard rebuilt on the same site and resumed publication of the Gazette.

Stoddard had a strong sense of civic duty and demonstrated concern for Hudson’s progress and development.  It appears that the first library in Hudson, established in 1786, was run from Stoddard’s office and may have been located in his bookstore.¹³ He presented Christ Church with a royal quarto bible as a Christmas gift in 1802.¹⁴  In 1806, he served as one of the incorporators of the Hudson Mechanical Society.¹⁵

Stoddard and his wife Patience had six children, all born in Hudson between 1790 and 1803.¹⁶  Three died in infancy and a fourth child passed away at age seventeen.  Only two of their children, Sarah Stoddard (1790-1877) and William Bolles Stoddard (1803-1884), lived to adulthood.