John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) was an American Quaker poet and abolitionist. One of the Fireside Poets of New England, he is remembered for Snow-Bound and for ballads such as Barbara Frietchie, and for his lifelong campaign against slavery.
Works
In War Time, and Other Poems
The farm
Whittier was born on 17 December 1807 on a farm near Haverhill, Massachusetts, into a Quaker family. He had little formal schooling, but a teacher lent him the poems of Robert Burns, which made him want to write.
His sister sent one of his poems to the newspaper of William Lloyd Garrison, who published it in 1826 and visited the young farmer to encourage him.
The abolitionist
From the 1830s Whittier devoted himself to the cause of abolition, as a writer, editor and political organiser. He wrote the pamphlet Justice and Expediency (1833) and was a delegate to the founding convention of the American Anti-Slavery Society.
In 1838 a mob burned the offices of the Pennsylvania Freeman, which he edited, in Philadelphia.
The poet
Whittier's reputation as a poet grew in his later years. Snow-Bound (1866), a memory of his childhood family snowed in at their farmhouse, was a huge success and brought him financial security.
He lived at Amesbury, Massachusetts, and never married. He died on 7 September 1892 at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire.
Anecdotes
Garrison's visit
When William Lloyd Garrison came to the Whittier farm in 1826 to meet the young poet he had published, Whittier was working in the fields and had to be called in to receive him.
A town named after him
The city of Whittier in California, founded by Quakers in 1887, was named after the poet.
Frequently asked questions
What is Snow-Bound?
A long poem of 1866 recalling a winter when Whittier's family was snowed in at their farm.
Was Whittier an abolitionist?
Yes, he devoted much of his life to the fight against slavery as a writer, editor and organiser.
Who are the Fireside Poets?
A group of popular New England poets, Longfellow, Whittier, Bryant, Holmes and Lowell, read aloud in families.