John Townsend Trowbridge
Encyclopedia
John Townsend Trowbridge (September 18, 1827 – February 12, 1916) was an American author born in Ogden, New York
, USA, to Windsor Stone Trowbridge and Rebecca Willey. His papers are located at the Houghton Library at Harvard University
.
Trowbridge received an unremarkable education, and after teaching and working on a farm for one year in Illinois
, settled in New York City
where he wrote for journals and magazines. He moved to Boston in August of 1848, and in 1850, during the absence of Benjamin Perley Poore
in Washington, D. C., edited Poore's paper, the Sentinel, but his editorial on the fugitive-slave law nearly destroyed the paper's popularity. He married Cornelia Warren (May 1, 1834–March 23, 1864) in 1860.
In June of 1867 Trowbridge bought a house at 152 Pleasant Street, Arlington, Massachusetts where he lived until his death in 1916. Trowbridge also spent much time in Kennebunkport, Maine
, where he built Spouting Rock Cottage, near to Spouting Rock and Blowing Cave, both of which he named.
Trowbridge wrote numerous works under the pseudonym of Paul Creyton, including The Midshipman's Revenge (1849), Kate the Accomplice, or, The Preacher and the Burglar (1849), The Deserted Family, or, Wanderings of an Outcast (1853), Father Brighthopes, or, An Old Clergyman's Vacation (1853), Burr Cliff: its Sunshine and its Clouds (1853); Martin Merrivale: His X Mark (1854), Iron Thorpe (1855), Neighbor Jackwood (1857).
Among his very many juvenile tales are The Drummer Boy, The Prize Cup, The Lottery Ticket, The Tide-Mill Stories, The Toby Trafford Series, The Little Master, and the Jack Hazard series. His published volumes of verse include: The Vagabonds, and Other Poems; The Emigrant's Story, and Other Poems; A Home Idyl, and Other Poems; The Lost Earl; and The Book of Gold, and Other Poems. The Vagabonds, At Sea, Midsummer, and Guy Vernon: A Novelette in Verse are among his best-known poems.
In Darius Green and his Flying Machine, Trowbridge penned the following prophetic verse: "Darius was clearly of the opinion / That the air is also man's dominion / And that with paddle or fin or pinion, / We soon or late shall navigate / The azure as now we sail the sea."
He is today perhaps best remembered for his study *The South: A Tour of Its Battlefields and Ruined Cities* [1866, republished two years later with additions by another author as *A Picture of the Desolated States and the Work of Reconstruction, 1865-1868*]. Trowbridge toured much of the defeated Confederacy during the summer of 1865 and the following winter. He observed carefully, and talked with a wide variety of people of both sexes, including freedmen, die-hard Rebels, Unionists, farmers, businessmen, refugees, and Northern entrepreneurs. He lets them speak in their own voices, often adding his own perceptive comments. His book can profitably read with those of John Richard Dennett [*The South As It Is: 1865-1866*] and Whitelaw Reid [*After the War: A Tour of the Southern States, 1865-1866*]. All three accounts are written from the perspective of a loyal and fair Northerner, genuinely concerned about conditions in the South and the evolving policies of the United States towards that section.
Since his death he has been well known as a friend of Mark Twain
and Walt Whitman
.
Ogden, New York
Ogden is a town in Monroe County, New York, USA. The population was 19,856 at the 2010 census.The Erie Canal passes through the Town of Ogden.-Geography:...
, USA, to Windsor Stone Trowbridge and Rebecca Willey. His papers are located at the Houghton Library at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
Early life
Trowbridge was born in a log cabin his father constructed through the use of wooden pegs.Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, settled in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where he wrote for journals and magazines. He moved to Boston in August of 1848, and in 1850, during the absence of Benjamin Perley Poore
Benjamin Perley Poore
Benjamin Perley Poore was a prominent American newspaper correspondent, editor, and author in the mid-19th century...
in Washington, D. C., edited Poore's paper, the Sentinel, but his editorial on the fugitive-slave law nearly destroyed the paper's popularity. He married Cornelia Warren (May 1, 1834–March 23, 1864) in 1860.
Kennebunkport, Maine
Kennebunkport is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,720 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford metropolitan statistical area....
, where he built Spouting Rock Cottage, near to Spouting Rock and Blowing Cave, both of which he named.
Writing career
His novels include Neighbor Jackwood (1857), an antislavery novel; The Old Battle-Ground (1859); Cudjo's Cave (1864); The Three Scouts (1865); Lucy Arlyn (1866); Neighbors' Wives (1867); Coupon Bonds, and Other Stories (1873); and Farnell's Folly.Another is Evening At The Farm.Trowbridge wrote numerous works under the pseudonym of Paul Creyton, including The Midshipman's Revenge (1849), Kate the Accomplice, or, The Preacher and the Burglar (1849), The Deserted Family, or, Wanderings of an Outcast (1853), Father Brighthopes, or, An Old Clergyman's Vacation (1853), Burr Cliff: its Sunshine and its Clouds (1853); Martin Merrivale: His X Mark (1854), Iron Thorpe (1855), Neighbor Jackwood (1857).
Among his very many juvenile tales are The Drummer Boy, The Prize Cup, The Lottery Ticket, The Tide-Mill Stories, The Toby Trafford Series, The Little Master, and the Jack Hazard series. His published volumes of verse include: The Vagabonds, and Other Poems; The Emigrant's Story, and Other Poems; A Home Idyl, and Other Poems; The Lost Earl; and The Book of Gold, and Other Poems. The Vagabonds, At Sea, Midsummer, and Guy Vernon: A Novelette in Verse are among his best-known poems.
In Darius Green and his Flying Machine, Trowbridge penned the following prophetic verse: "Darius was clearly of the opinion / That the air is also man's dominion / And that with paddle or fin or pinion, / We soon or late shall navigate / The azure as now we sail the sea."
He is today perhaps best remembered for his study *The South: A Tour of Its Battlefields and Ruined Cities* [1866, republished two years later with additions by another author as *A Picture of the Desolated States and the Work of Reconstruction, 1865-1868*]. Trowbridge toured much of the defeated Confederacy during the summer of 1865 and the following winter. He observed carefully, and talked with a wide variety of people of both sexes, including freedmen, die-hard Rebels, Unionists, farmers, businessmen, refugees, and Northern entrepreneurs. He lets them speak in their own voices, often adding his own perceptive comments. His book can profitably read with those of John Richard Dennett [*The South As It Is: 1865-1866*] and Whitelaw Reid [*After the War: A Tour of the Southern States, 1865-1866*]. All three accounts are written from the perspective of a loyal and fair Northerner, genuinely concerned about conditions in the South and the evolving policies of the United States towards that section.
Since his death he has been well known as a friend of Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
and Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
.