Thomas, Robert Bailey

Thomas, Robert Bailey, 1766–1846, American journalist, b. Grafton, Mass. He was the founder and long-time editor (1792–1846) of The Farmer's Almanac[k] (later The Old Farmer's Almanac[k]). The work, which still has a new edition each year, has proven to be the most durable periodical in American publishing. The last important representative of a genre that in the 18th cent. attracted the efforts of up to 200 separate almanac-makers, The Old Farmer's Almanac still provides its readers with a mixture of astrology, weatherlore, practical farming, and anecdotes of homespun New England wit.