Henry David Thoreau
Page 75
Sibley, John Langdon (Harvard librarian), 419
“Sic Vita” (HDT), 83–84, 86, 103, 117
Silliman, Benjamin, 517n9
Simonds, Martha, 389
Sims, Michael, 549n42
Sims, Thomas, arrest and rendition of, 316–17, 346
“Sir Walter Raleigh” (HDT), 142
slavery, 18, 42, 88, 93, 184; “scientific” justification of, refuted by Darwin theory, 458–59
“Slavery in Massachusetts” (HDT), 313, 346–49; made HDT famous, 348–49; printed by Garrison, Greeley, et al., 348
slaves, self-emancipated (“fugitive”), 215–16; protected by Concordians, 216, 315–16; sheltered by Thoreaus, 215–16. See also Burns, Anthony; Craft, William and Ellen; Hayden, Lewis; “John” (escaped slave); Minkins, Shadrach; Sims, Thomas, arrest and rendition of
Sleepy Hollow (Concord), 44, 48, 99, 115, 554n47; HDT buried in, 500; HDT surveyed for cemetery, 333, 378, 380, 458
Small, James, 282, 376
Smith, Ansell, 337
Smith, Captain, of Staten Island, 152
Smith, Corrine Hosfeld, 566n59
Smith, Elizabeth Oakes, 320; spoke at Concord Lyceum, 320
Smith, Garrett, 447
Smith, Ted A., 562n120
Smith and MacDougal (printing firm), 283
Smith’s Hill (Walden Woods), 472
Snow, Captain, of Cohasset, 25, 309
“Snuggery, The” (Staten Island), 151; mournfully portrayed by HDT, 161
Solnit, Rebecca, 534n40
Solomon, Sabattis, 550n63
South Carolina, racism and slavery in, 184
South Danvers, MA, 281
South Framingham, MA, 346
Southmayd, Rev. Daniel and Joanna, 48
Sparks, Jared (Harvard president), 280
Spear, Charles M., 140, 527n37
Spofford, Harriet Prescott, 552n2
Spooner, James, 327, 364, 404
Spring, Marcus and Rebecca, 392–93
Stacy, Albert, 385, 442, 444
St. Anne, Falls of (Quebec), 298
St. Anthony, MN, 480–81, 484
“Stanzas” (HDT), 116
Staples, Samuel, 103, 140, 182, 442, 446; and Alcott, 140, 212; arrest and jailing of HDT, 208–10; arrests C. Lane, 141; HDT on, 211, 252; at HDT’s deathbed, 497
Staten Island (NYC), 149
Stearns, George Luther, 447, 448
Stearns, Mary (Hall) (Mrs. George Luther), 495, 568n86
Stevens, Abby and Almira, 233
Stillwater, ME, 217
stinkhorn (phallic mushroom), 386
St. John (wrecked “famine ship”), 276–78, 309
St. John’s (Canada), 296
St. Lawrence River (Canada), 296–97, 490
Stow, Cyrus and Nathan, 38
St. Paul, MN, 483
Sturgis, Caroline, quoted, 165, 530n103
“Succession of Forest Trees” (HDT), 471; widely read, published by Greeley, 472
Sumner, Horace, 290–91
Sumner, Sen. Charles, 292, 293, 421, 466; praises Walden, 359; severely beaten on Senate floor (1856), 445; succeeded Sen. Webster, 315
Superior, Lake, 230
surveying, 99, 206, 259–60, 275, 475; HDT’s major jobs, 333–34, 378, 392–93, 441–43; HDT’s skill at, 206, 286–87; HDT surveyed Walden Pond, 259; professional career in, 206, 544n26
Swasen, Tahmunt (Abenaki hunter), 338, 550n63
“Sympathy” (HDT), 104, 111, 115, 122
Tahatawan (Musketaquid leader), 3–6, 13–17, 500
Tambora, Mount (Indonesia), 34
Tamworth, NH, 430
Tappan, Lewis, 152
Tappan, William, 152, 159, 343, 372; wilderness experiment, 183
Taunton, MA, 96
tax refusal, 140–41; by Alcott, 140; by HDT, 141, 208–9; by Lane, 140, 141
telegraph, trans-Atlantic, 432, 560n76; celebrated in Concord (1858), 432–33; demonstrated inanity of news, 433
Telos Lake (north Maine woods), 414
Temple School, 97–98; demise of, 98
Tennyson, Alfred, 144, 145, 434
tetanus, 124–25, 525n3
Texas annexation, 184; approved, 208; as invasion of Mexico, 207–8; as prelude to Civil War, 208; and slavery, 207
“Texas House” (Thoreaus’), 182, 184, 258, 284, 402, 532n1, Fig. 13
Thatcher, George (HDT’s cousin), 27–28, 334–39, 406; as antislavery activist, 222; attended HDT’s funeral, 499; HDT advised about son, 288; hosted HDT in Maine, 217–19; timber interests in Maine, 217
Thatcher, Samuel, Jr. (George’s brother), 480; death of, 484
Therien, Alek, 69, 198, 372
“Thomas Carlyle and his Works” (HDT), 155, 243–44; publication aided by Greeley, 244–45; read by Carlyle, 244
Thoreau, Cynthia (Dunbar) (HDT’s mother), 28–29, 96, 106, 190, 388, 463, Fig. 3; caught in religious controversy, 47–48; childhood on Virginia Road, 30; community service, 41; “faculty” as household manager, 31, 329; imparted love of nature, 44; moved within Concord, 73, 79, 181, 284; ran boardinghouse, 41, 56; and son’s death, 498; voluble, outspoken character of, 31, 373. See also Thoreau, John, Sr. (HDT’s father)
Thoreau, Helen (HDT’s sister), 31, 42, 96, 100, 140, Fig. 4; as anti-slavery activist, 167, 176; ceased churchgoing, 142; death of, 263–64; and Frederick Douglass, 143, 176; eulogized in Garrison’s Liberator, 267; funeral held in home, not church, 266
THOREAU, HENRY DAVID:
ailments: bronchitis and tuberculosis, 119, 146, 157, 375, 492; fatal tuberculosis attack began (1860), 476; “invalidity” (inability to walk), 373–74; narcolepsy, 157; pseudotetanus, 126–27; teeth pulled, 547n80
antislavery activist and conscientious tax-refuser, 381, 465–67; delivered “Slavery in Massachusetts” address, 346–47; escorts F. J. Merriam to safety, 455–56; and Fugitive Slave Law, 316–17, 345–47; hosted 1846 “First of August” at Walden, 214; jailed for tax refusal, 209–11, 214; “Last Days of John Brown,” 466; lectured on civil disobedience, 248; on W. Phillips, 185–86; “Plea for Capt. Brown” heard by thousands, 451–53, 456; ranked with greatest reform speakers, 368; supported “First of August” meeting (1844), 176–77; visceral reaction to John Brown’s capture, 449–50
birth, childhood and youth, 34–53; reversed his names, 84
brother, John, Jr.: devastated by John’s death, 125–28, 130, 146; river excursion with John, 106–10, 149, 255
character and psychology: courage, 313; empathy, 130–31, 251; endless curiosity, 327–28; homesickness, 160; joy, 396; moods, 146, 332, 415; oppositionality, 322; psychic conflict, 157–61, 238, 268; shame and guilt, 173
civil engineer and professional surveyor, 99, 206, 259–60, 275, 535n63; Alcott “Orchard House” survey, Fig. 34; last survey, 475; month-long survey in NJ, 392–93; numerous jobs and good reputation as, 285–87; surveying instruments, Fig. 33; survey of Concord River, 441–43; Walden survey, Fig. 21, Fig. 22; worked on Sleepy Hollow, 333–34, 378
Concord, 435; attachment to, 8, 150, 162–63, 396; education in, 51–54
death, 126–31; associated death of father with death of Indians, 437; decried killing and inhumanity, 420, 437; felt mystery of materiality, 293–94; moved by bones at Fire Island, 294; moved by corpses at Cohasset, 277
dreams: climbing Katahdin, “purified,” 429; “difference with a Friend” resolved, 109; “Evil Destinies,” 107; himself as railroad’s deep cut, 498; “rough” and “smooth,” 398–99; trout fishing, 223
Emerson, Ralph Waldo: aided HDT, 4, 79, 86–90, 95, 137, 183, 237, 256; critical of HDT, 144, 158, 322; employed HDT, 119, 131, 143–44, 158; felt love for Lidian, 239; HDT and death of RWE’s son Waldo, Jr., 127–28; HDT’s up-and-down friendship with RWE, 258, 267–68, 322, 387, 399, 400; joined Emerson household, 120, 231, 237, 258; as mentor, 4, 86–87, 89–90, 198; RWE eulogized HDT, 499; RWE’s lifelong influence, 87; RWE’s views of HDT, 178, 191, 267, 322
final years, 480–5
00; death and last words of, 498; final days, 493–98; funeral of, 498–500; memorial cairn at Walden, Fig. 44; Minnesota journey, 481–91, Fig. 41; procession of friends and three hundred schoolchildren, 499; remains moved to Authors’ Ridge, 500
friends and associates: Bronson Alcott, 188, 198, 326; H. G. O. Blake, 241–42, 262, 294–95; Ellery Channing, 43, 96, 115, 134, 166, 174–75, 183, 258–59, 304–5, 375, 477, 497–99; Thomas Cholmondeley, 363–64, 379, 381–82, 400; Margaret Fuller, 117–18, 120–22, 183; Nathaniel Hawthorne, 133, 135, 261; hiking with friends, 135, 156, 174, 258–59, 304–5; Horace Mann, Jr., 480–91; Daniel Ricketson, 362, 369; Franklin Sanborn, 372–73; Stearns Wheeler, 59–60, 62, 77, 123, 147, 159–60, 183
home, 96, 162–63, 322, 329–31; breaks into dance, 557n114; nursed dying father, 436; role in interdependent household, 329
intimate feeling for nature, 122–23, 128, 158, 163, 201–2, 222, 226–28; collected autumn leaves, 380; “think like a bream,” 435; “a true skylight,” 398; in Walden, 351–52; walking, importance of, 273–74; wild apples, 380–81
Maine, 217–19, 222; “Contact! Contact!,” meaning of, 227, 278; HDT’s evolving view of Indians, 420; HDT’s experience of Mt. Katahdin, 223–28
man of science, 228, Fig. 36; aided Agassiz and Cabot, 229–30; as botanist, 68, 330, 383, 384, 439, 469–74, 482, 490, 543–44n23; Darwin, 308, 458–59, 472; doubted Agassiz and Greeley theories, 308, 472, 473; and Humboldt, 289, 308–9, 544–45n36; knowledge as “sudden revelation,” 308; microcosmic method for science writing, 289; occupation recorded as “natural historian,” 569n100; as patient observer, 428–29; regretted “inhumanity” of killing specimens, 345; reversed Emersonian view of nature, 276; and sought wider view of universe, 274; visceral feeling for hands-on science, 288–89
music: body becomes a flute, 311–12; family sings together, 330; flute, 121, 126, 192, 202, 353, 355, 552n101; loves sound of piano, 329, 454, 557n114; singing, 18, 103, 401, 403; “Thoreau’s Flute” (L. M. Alcott), quoted, 462, 552n101
Native Americans. See Thoreau, Henry David: playing “Indian”; Native Americans (Indians)
pencil- and graphite-manufacturer. See John Thoreau & Company
philosophy of: argued for resistance to government, 249–50; concepts of genius, 272, 331; counseled H. G. O. Blake, 242, 278; HDT’s high moral values, 49, 80, 167–69; invoked ethical imperative in science and politics, 347; “keep up the fires of thought,” 441; paradox of knowledge, 308; visit to Brook Farm, 161–62
playing “Indian,” xix–xx, 3–4, 9, 71, 76–77, 91–92, 99, 120, 270, 338
portraits of, 552n7; in 1854 (S. W. Rowse), 361, Fig. 5; in 1856 (B. D. Maxham), 387–88, Fig. 24; in 1861 (E. S. Dunshee), 492–93, 567n75, Fig. 42
public schoolteacher, 84–86, 99; as manual laborer, 118, 119, 138, 258, 381, 402; as private-school teacher, 96–97, 118; as town gadfly, 178, 195
public speaker, 167–69, 371, 552n6; gave popular “Walden” lectures, 261, 326–27; gave successful “Cape Cod” lectures, 281–82; HDT’s engaging style, 282; Lyceum lectures by, 56, 142, 161, 244, 245, 246, 248, 260–61, 301, 421. See also Thoreau, Henry David: antislavery activist and conscientious tax-refuser
religion, 402; HDT’s unpopular view of Christianity (“blasphemy”), 147, 149, 263, 264, 271–72, 274, 296, 302, 393 (see also Christianity); mysticism, 307, 308; “pride, pretension and infidelity” found in Walden, 359–60; received Hindu classics from Cholmondeley, 379, 381–82; revered Bhagavad Gita, 130, 271, 382; withdrew from church membership, 118
sexuality of, 239–41; on love and marriage, 539n22; platonic attractions to women and men, 239; same-sex attraction, evidence for, 539n26; sublimation as “generative energy,” 240
student at Harvard, 57–74, 66–67, 76–81
traveler, 311; to Canada (1850), 295–300; Cape Ann (1858), 362, 433; to Cape Cod, MA, 276–80, 282, 376–77, 404–5; on Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1839), 107–10; excursions to Maine, 217–25, 334–40, 407–19; to Minnesota (1861), 481–91; to Mount Greylock and the Berkshires (1844), 174–76; to Mount Monadnock, 429–30, 468–70; to Plymouth (1851), 309–11; “traveled a good deal in Concord,” 311; to White Mountains (1858), 430–32
Walden: as bean farmer, 203–5; caused fire in Walden Woods, 171–74; criticism of, 195; followed interest in science, 229–30; furniture in house, Fig. 35; house in woods, 187–88, 198, 533n24, Fig. 23; interactions with locals, 192–93; lifelong consequences of the fire, 173; as literary persona, 196–97; as local celebrity, 192–95; not isolated at Pond, 192–94; purpose of move, 190–91; reasons for leaving Walden, 231; as writer at Pond, 191–92, 196–97
writer, 4, 9, 122, 144, 157, 191–92, 196–97, 381, 383; and Dial, 131, 143–44, 158; on freedom of speech, 435; HDT and literature, music, 62, 75, 121, 123, 136, 166, 242, 329–30, 401; impression of Whitman, 394–95, 556n99; Journal became HDT’s primary work (1850–60), 303–4, 475; literary career in NYC, 149–63; methods and patterns, 243, 283–84, 321; poetry, 104–5, 115, 117–18, 122, 144, 166; prepared unpublished manuscripts, 495; purpose is an awakening, 437; “scribe of all nature,” 289; success of Walden, 359–60; vast research projects, 300–301, 435. See also Thoreau, Henry David: Principal Works
THOREAU, HENRY DAVID: PRINCIPAL WORKS
CAPE COD: Curtis discontinued publication in Putnam’s (1855), 376–77; dark undertones of, 282, 405; highly popular in lecture form, 281–82, 301; opens with macabre shipwreck scene, 276–78, 406; published posthumously (1865), 405; reviewed by I. Hecker, 405; “Wellfleet Oysterman” portrait, 279, 281; written over a decade, 278
“CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE”: first publication and critics’ reactions, 249; as gateway to HDT’s environmental ethics, 254; given as Lyceum lectures, 248; known by other titles, 248, 540n43; republication and global recognition of, 249; resistance, meaning of, 248–54
“INDIAN BOOKS” (HDT research notes), 280, 282, 301, 305, 543n14
JOURNAL, 86, 204, Fig. 16, Fig. 17; became HDT’s primary work (1850), 303–4; HDT began to keep, 87; HDT destroyed pages of, 122, 160, 282; HDT’s drawings in, 305; last entry in (Nov. 3, 1861), 493; as monument to “self-registration,” 493; like scientific notebooks, 303; sense of power in, 308
MAINE WOODS, THE: based on three excursions (1846, 1854, 1856), 420; “Chesuncook” published but bowdlerized (1858), 421; comprises three parts, 419; HDT edited “Allegash and East Branch” but left book unfinished, 497; HDT read lectures from, 246, 341, 421; “Ktaadn” published (1848), 246; posthumous publication of book (1864), 423; as a record of HDT’s evolving view of Indians, 420
“RESISTANCE TO CIVIL GOVERNMENT.” See “Civil Disobedience” (HDT)
“SLAVERY IN MASSACHUSETTS,” 313; made HDT famous, ranked with greatest reform speakers, 346–47, 368; “my thoughts are murder to the state,” 347; presented “man as an inhabitant of nature rather than a member of society,” 318
WALDEN: British edition, 349, 551–52n95; completed full revision, 344; disparaged by Pillsbury, 479; early drafts of, 196–97, 205–7; HDT added fuller picture, darker seasons, “ant war” parable, 332; as HDT’s return to woods, 332; healing cycle of, 354–55; materiality in, 350–51; planned new edition with Fields, 496; Pond survey in, 306–7, 354; publicized by Greeley, 344; published, 544, 549; reviews of, 359–60; as scripture, 355; three mocking self-portraits in, 352, 353, 354–55; title page, Fig. 23
“WALKING,” 317–18, 397, Fig. 32; expanded into suite of lectures, 364, 367; publication, 496
WEEK ON THE CONCORD AND MERRIMACK RIVERS, A, 248, 255, 274; balanced review by Lowell, 265; “blasphemy” in, 263, 264, 271–72; consequent failure of, 268; as creation story, 270; as an elegy to multiple losses, 266; HDT planned new edition with Fields, 496; inspired by M. Fuller, 290; intellectual background of, 272; multiplying dualisms in, 269; nature vs. history in, 270; poor marketing of, 266; poor review in Greeley’s paper, 264; praised by Alcott and RWE, 256; publication arrangement, 263; RWE’s silence about, 265; time and existential conflict
in, 269–70
“WILD FRUITS,” 381, 434, 438, 467, 568n87; “Autumnal Tints,” 130, 434, 568n89; “Huckleberries,” 477; “November Lights,” 434
Thoreau, John, Jr. (HDT’s brother), 33, 42–43, 54, 91, 96, 104, Fig. 4; boyhood with HDT, 92; contracted tetanus, 124–25; courted Ellen Sewall, 111–12; death of, 125–28; as HDT’s muse, 129–30, 192; loved music and played the flute, 126; river trip with HDT, 106–10; as teacher, 97; tension between HDT and, 106; weakened by illness, 118; Whig politics of, 115
Thoreau, John, Sr. (HDT’s father), 25–28, Fig. 2; community service, 42; death of (1859), 436; early money woes, 27, 34–35, 73, 76; eulogized by HDT, 437; guided pencil company to success in Concord, 38–40, 56, 283; moves within Concord, 73, 79, 181, 284; played the flute, 41; refined character of, 31, 40–41, 388, 436; trade secrets of, 94, 283; worked in Salem, Bangor, Chelmsford, Boston, 27, 35–37
Thoreau, Sophia (HDT’s sister), 35, 91, 114, 234, 372, 463, Fig. 6; and abolitionism, 176; accompanied HDT’s last visit to Pond, 493; artistic gift, 42; burns family letters, 511n6; cared for HDT in his final days, 494, 498; joy in flowers, 42, 91, 330; served as literary executor, 496, 568n88; visited Walden house, 190, 236; visited Worcester, 387–88
Thoreau and Company. See John Thoreau & Company
Thoreau family, 23–25; children of, 514n10; Elizabeth (Betsy, HDT’s aunt), 25, 47–48; European origins of, 23–24, 513n3; Jane (aunt), 25, 47–48; Jane (Burns) Thoreau (HDT’s grandmother), 25; Jean Thoreau (HDT’s grandfather), 23, 26, 53; Maria (aunt), 25, 47–48, 210, 261, 272, 281, 439, 495; Nancy (aunt) (see Billings, Caleb and Nancy); original Thoreau house in Concord, Fig. 12; Sarah (aunt), 35
Thorson, Robert M., 513n12
Ticknor, Prof. George, 66, 518n21
Ticknor and Company (Ticknor and Fields), 263, 344; took over Atlantic, published HDT, 495–96
Tilton, James, 109
time, dimensions of, 192, 477
“Tom Bowling,” 403; HDT’s favorite song, 401, 557n115
Topsell, Edward, 461
Toronto (Ontario), 490; Toronto College, 490
“To the Maiden in the East” (HDT poem), 121, 228
Transcendental Club, 78, 88; disbanded, 116; HDT joined, 115