In early 1776, after the British army was driven from Boston, Hall moved the Gazette to the city, changing its name to The New England Chronicle.
I shall studiously avoid inserting any Pieces that can justly give Offence to Societies or Individuals: and with Regard to the Publishing of malicious personal Invectives, calculated to disturb the Peace and good Order of Society, or unjustly to injure the Character of any Individual, it is so repugnant to the Dictates of Justice, that no One, it is hoped, will be in the least apprehensive of its being practiced in this Gazette.
In December of that year, Hall named four residents of Marblehead, as merchants who ignored the agreement and continued to import goods from Britain.
He subsequently moved his printing operation to a large brick building nearby, owned by a Mr. Blaney, which also contained the office of the Custom House.
[12] The Essex Gazette was issued for approximately seven years leading up to the Revolution, during a period when many significant events occurred.
Colonial historian Harriet Tapley notes that, "To scan the files is like reading at first hand the history of protesting Massachusetts during those years.
"[13] Shortly after the American Revolutionary War broke out in Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775), by the advice of various members of the Massachusetts General Court, and other prominent men of the Whig party, the Hall brothers moved from Salem to Cambridge at Stoughton Hall at Harvard College with their printing equipment and continued publication of the Gazette, under the new title of The New England Chronicle.