John Greenleaf Whittier Homestead Haverhill, MA

I know that last time I said I was going to Robert Frost's Farm up in Derry, NH, but my aunt, and fellow literary lover, saw an article in the AAA Newsletter that did a lovely little spread about the poet John Greenleaf Whittier. So we opted on July 16th, to go to his birthplace in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It was there that we discovered the most animated tour guide I have ever seen, Gus. Gus knew everything there was to know about John Greenleaf Whittier and because of this, kept us 4 hours! It was almost like getting our own personal tour. It was phenomenal that his thirst for knowledge is still so vast. He was a wonderfully, spirited tour guide.

John Greenleaf Whittier was a Quaker, poet and abolitionist. His family settled in the town of Haverhill, MA in the 1600's. He was a famous poet during his lifetime. He was the son of a farmer, John Whittier and Abigail Hussey. He hated farming and would rather read poetry by Robert Burns. The book of poetry from which he read almost daily is still in the home.

He attended a one room school house for most of his education and went off to high school on a scholarship spurred by one of his poems that his sister sent to be published, "The Exile's Departure". William Lloyd Garrison was the publisher of his first poem. To raise additonal funds to continue with school, he became a shoemaker. He completed his high school education in only two years.

After completing high school, he wrote articles for the National Philanthropist and other magazines and papers of the time. He was a staunch abolitionist and political critic. He was for women's equal rights and encouraged many female authors to continue writing. Two of them being Lucy Larcom and Louisa May Alcott.

In 1866 he wrote his most famous poem, "Snow Bound". It catapulted him to stardom and soon was compared to Longfellow's poem, "The Song of  Hiawatha".



He died on September 7, 1892 in Hampton Falls, NH and is buried in Amesbury, MA.

The house has many of the artifacts that it had when Whittier lived. Much of the furniture that has survived is in impeccable shape for being almost 150-200 years old. It is a remarkable tribute to the past that I hope survives for generations to come.