Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892

Walt Whitman (1819-1892), poet and author.

Poet, journalist, essayist.

American author.

American poet.

Written from his home in Camden where he lived from 1873 until 1882.

American poet; of Camden, N.J.

Poet.

Walt Whitman (1819-1892), a noted American poet, essayist, and journalist, was the author of "Leaves of Grass." He had lived in Camden, New Jersey since 1873. By the time he wrote this letter to William Ingram in 1889, Whitman's health was failing. He had suffered a stroke in June of 1888 and died of miliary tuberculosis on March 26, 1892. Ingram was a pallbearer at Whitman's funeral.

Walt Whitman was born on 31 May 1819, at West Hills, Long Island, N.Y. From 1830-1846, Whitman served variously as office boy, printer's devil, schoolteacher, typesetter, and journalist. He published his volume of verse Leaves of Grass in 1855. In January 1873, he suffered a stroke of paralysis from which he never completely recovered. Whitman died in Camden, NJ, on 26 March 1892.

Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, at West Hills, Long Island, New York. From 1830-1846 Whitman served variously as office boy, printer's devil, schoolteacher, typesetter, and journalist. He published his volume of verse Leaves of Grass in 1855. In January 1873 he suffered a stroke of paralysis from which he never completely recovered. Whitman died in Camden, NJ, on 26 March 1892.

Born May 31, 1819, in West Hills, Long Island, Walt Whitman spent his early life working variously as an office boy, school teacher, compositor, reporter, and editor. Growing up in Brooklyn, he received only six years of formal education and took his first job at age 11. He was 21 before his first success as a writer, and between 1843 and 1846 wrote articles for several New York City papers. He become editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1846, but was fired after two years over political differences with the owner.

In 1848 Whitman spent three months working at the New Orleans Daily Crescent, then returned to New York to edit the Brooklyn Daily Freeman for one year. From 1849 to 1855 he lived with his parents in Brooklyn, writing occasional pieces for area papers and working briefly as a carpenter. Throughout this period he read numerous literary and social works and maintained notebooks of his own writings. These formed the basis of his first edition of poetry, Leaves of Grass, published in 1855. It received mixed reviews and limited sales, and Whitman continued his newspaper writing and editing while he reworked and expanded the book.

In 1862 Whitman's brother was wounded at Fredericksburg and Whitman traveled to his aid. Finding him with minor wounds, Whitman settled in Washington, DC, where he tended wounded soldiers and worked for the army paymaster. In 1864 he took a position at the Interior Department, and in 1865 published Drum Taps, a collection of Civil War inspired poems.

Whitman lost his job in 1865, but was soon offered work by the U. S. Attorney General. New editions of Leaves of Grass appeared in 1866, 1867, and 1871. He also published Democratic Vistas and Passage to India in 1871, but his good fortune did not last and in 1873 he suffered a debilitating stroke followed closely by the death of his mother. By 1874 he had lost his job at the Attorney General's office and was living in Camden, New Jersey, again writing for New York area papers.

Whitman published a reprint of Leaves of Grass in 1876 and continued convalescing and receiving guests at his home. An 1881 edition of Leaves of Grass was declared obscene by the Boston District Attorney, but the notoriety caused such demand that the book was reprinted in 1883, 1884, and 1888. Whitman suffered a second stroke in 1888 and his health continued to deteriorate. He died soon after an 1892 printing of Leaves of Grass, which he determined was finally complete.

American poet Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, in West Hills, Long Island, New York, and died of illness on March 26, 1892, in Camden, New Jersey. Whitman is best known for his collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass , which was first published in 1855. Whitman continued to revise and rework his Leaves of Grass for the remainder of his life, ultimately producing nine different editions, each featuring further revisions, new poems, and some deletions of earlier poems. In 1881 Whitman settled on the final arrangement of Leaves of Grass and subsequently made no further revisions to the core text. All new poems written after 1881 were added to Leaves of Grass as annexes to the 1881 edition; the final authorial edition of his poems, the so-called "death-bed" edition, appeared in 1892, shortly before his demise.

"Walt Whitman." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC (accessed March 2011). Whitman, Walt. Notes and Fragments. Ed. Richard Maurice Bucke. London, Ontario, Canada: Printed for the Editor by A. Talbot & Co., 1899.

American poet Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, in West Hills, Long Island, New York, and died of illness on March 26, 1892, in Camden, New Jersey. Whitman is best known for his collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass , which was first published in 1855. Whitman continued to revise and rework his Leaves of Grass for the remainder of his life, ultimately producing nine different editions, each featuring further revisions, new poems, and some deletions of earlier poems. In 1881 Whitman settled on the final arrangement of Leaves of Grass and subsequently made no further revisions to the core text. All new poems written after 1881 were added to Leaves of Grass as annexes to the 1881 edition; the final authorial edition of his poems, the so-called "death-bed" edition, appeared in 1892, shortly before his demise.

"Walt Whitman." Encyclopedia of World Biography , 2nd ed. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC (accessed March 2011).

Biographical Note

Biographical Note

Whitman, Walt

Walt Whitman was born May 31, 1819 on Long Island, one of seven children, and died March 26, 1892 in Camden, New Jersey. His family moved to Brooklyn when he was four years old. When he was thirteen he began work at the liberal Long Island Patriot, the beginning of his long involvement with journalism that included founding and running his own paper. Later in life, he worked as a teacher, a printer, a government clerk, and as a volunteer nurse to sick and wounded Civil War soldiers.

Walt Whitman (1819-1892), noted American poet, essayist, and journalist, was author of "Leaves of Grass."

Whitman had lived in Camden, New Jersey since 1873. By the writing of this letter to William Ingram in 1889, Whitman's health was failing. He had suffered his most recent stroke in June of 1888 and died of miliary tuberculosis 26 March 1892. Ingram was a pallbearer at Whitman's funeral.

Teunis G. Bergen was born in the town of New Utrecht, New York on October 6, 1806, the eldest child of Garret Bergen and his wife Jane (nee Wyckoff). While growing up, he worked on his father's farm in the Gowanus area of Brooklyn and was educated at both the common school of the district and at Erasmus Hall Academy in Flatbush. As a young man, he was trained as a surveyor and subsequently pursued a successful career in this field.

Bergen was also a farmer and an active civic leader. As a member of the 241st regiment of the New York State Militia, he held the ranks of Ensign, Captain, Adjutant, Lieutenant-Colonel, and finally, Colonel. He served on the Kings County Board of Supervisors as the Supervisor of the town of New Utrecht for twenty-three years, 1836-1859, and was Chairman of the Board from 1842 to 1846. Bergen served as a member of the New York State Constitutional Conventions of 1846, 1867, and 1868, and was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention of 1860. In 1864, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat to the Thirty-ninth Congress, an office which he held until 1867.

In addition to his professional and civic activities, Teunis G. Bergen was a self-trianed historical researcher and genealogist, as well as a published author. His genealogical interests included not only his own family, but also many other prominent Brooklyn families. His published works include The Register of the Early Settlers and Freeholders of Kings County, NY, from its First Settlement by Europeans, to 1700, with Biographical Notices and Family Genealogies ; Genealogy of the Van Brunt Family, 1653-1867 ; The Bergen Family; or, the Descendents of Hans Hansen Bergen, One of the Early Settlers of New York and Brooklyn, L.I., with Notes on the Genealogy of Some of the Branches of the Cowenhoven, Voorhees, Eldert, Stoothoof, Cortelyou, Stryker, Suydam, Lott, Wyckoff, Barkeloo, Lefferts, Martense, Hubbard, Van Brunt, Vanderbilt, Vanderveer, Van Nuyse, and Other Long Island Families ; Genealogy of the Lefferts Family, 1650-1878 ; and his seven volume A History of New Utrecht, Long Island . Additionally, he contributed frequently to the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record .

Teunis G. Bergen died of pneumonia at his residence in New Utrecht, Long Island at the age of 74, and was interred at Green-Wood Cemetery.

The Bergen family that settled and proliferated throughout New York and New Jersey beginning in the 17th century is descended from the common ancestor, Hans Hansen Bergen, a native of Bergen, Norway. A ship's carpenter by trade, Bergen moved to Holland as a young man, and subsequently emigrated to the colony of New Amsterdam in 1633. His name appeared in land and church records in different forms, including Hans de Boer, Hans Noorman, Hans Hanszen Van Bergen, Hans Hansen, and Hans Hansen Bergen. It was not until the late 17th or early 18th century that his descendents formally adopted the surname, Bergen.

In 1639, Hans Hansen Bergen married Sara Rapalje, who was mistakenly rumored to have been the first European child born in the colony of New Netherland. They had eight children, among them Michael Hansen Bergen (baptized November 4, 1646), who held civil office for several years and was one of the patentees named in Governor Thomas Dongan's patent of May 13, 1686, which provided the land grant that established the village of Breuklen in the colony of New York. He and his wife, Femmetje Bergen (nee Theunis) had five children.

Michael Hansen Bergen's son, Hans Michielzse Bergen (baptized March 11, 1689) was a baker who resided near Brooklyn Ferry with his wife, Rachel (nee Bensing or Benson). They had seven children, among them Tunis Bergen (baptized October 15, 1730), who held civil and military office in Brooklyn. Tunis and his wife, Johanna (nee Stoothoff) had nine children, including their son, Garret Bergen.

Garret Bergen (born January 11, 1772) held civil and church office in Brooklyn, and was married to Jane Wyckoff on January 6, 1806. Together they had eleven children, including their first born, Teunis G. Bergen, who was born on October 6, 1806.