Virginia Independent Chronicle. He changed the name in May 1789 to the
Virginia Independent Chronicle, and General Advertiser and in August 1790 to the
Virginia Gazette, and General Advertiser. During the winter of 1787–1788, and apparently with assistance from George Washington, Davis began publishing essays from
The Federalist in his newspaper. When the state convention met in Richmond in June 1788 to consider ratification of the proposed constitution, Davis became the convention’s official printer and issued its forty-two-page journal (but not the record of debates) later that year. In 1789 the state government engaged him to publish the laws that the new Congress adopted.