American poet who published the first edition of “Leaves Of Grass,” 1855, himself, because he was unable to find a publisher. Born in a farming village, second of nine kids, his Quaker dad was a house builder and he had a very close relationship with his mom, claiming she was “perfect.”
After receiving only an elementary education, he began omnivorous reading and worked as a printer, journalist and schoolteacher 1832-1845. He became an editor for the Brooklyn Eagle in 1846, but his views supporting abolitionism and free soil resulted in his termination. Offered a job on a newspaper in New Orleans, his two week train trip allowed him to see a large amount of the country, broadening his horizons for his poetry. His first edition of “Leaves Of Grass” was a collection of twelve poems and was hailed by Emerson. Later editions of “Leaves” were revised and enlarged, becoming best sellers in spite of unfavorable regard by critics.
In 1862, he moved to Virginia during the Civil War to care for a brother injured in service. The horrors he saw led to his volunteer work in the hospitals of Washington, D.C., staying for 11 years with jobs as the army paymaster and Dept. of the Interior. A stroke in 1873 left him with paralysis, forced him to leave his job and the capitol to live with his brother George in Camden, NJ. Although he grew feeble, he continued to write brief poems, received many visitors from across the country and foreign lands and before his death, he wrote “A Backward Glance O’er Travel’d Roads.”
Whitman died at 6:43 PM on 26 March 1892 in Camden, New Jersey, at age 72. The cause of death was officially listed as “pleurisy of the left side, consumption of the right lung, general miliary tuberculosis and parenchymatous nephritis.”
Link to Wikipedia biography