Fitz-Greene Halleck

Fitz-Greene Halleck (July 8, 1790 – November 19, 1867) was an American poet and member of the Knickerbocker Group. Born and raised in Guilford, Connecticut, he went to New York City at the age of 20, and lived and worked there for nearly four decades. He was sometimes called "the American Byron". His poetry was popular and widely read but later fell out of favor. It has been studied since the late twentieth century for its homosexual themes and insights into nineteenth-century society. In 1832, Halleck, a cultural celebrity, started working as personal secretary and adviser to the philanthropist John Jacob Astor, who appointed him as one of the original trustees of the Astor Library. Given an annuity by Astor's estate, in 1849 Halleck retired to Guilford, where he lived with his sister Marie Halleck for the remainder of his life. Biography Early life Fitz-Greene Halleck was born on July 8, 1790, in Guilford, Connecticut, in a house at the corner of Whitfield and Water Streets. He had an older sister Marie, and his father owned a store in the town. At the age of two, the young Halleck experienced hearing loss when two soldiers fired off their guns next to his left ear; he was partially deaf for the remainder of his life. As a boy, Halleck attended the Academy on Guilford Green, whose schoolmaster was then Samuel Johnson, Junior, the compiler of A School Dictionary, the first dictionary both compiled and published in the United States. Halleck was a favorite of Johnson, who gave him a copy of Thomas Campbell's first book of poems, The Pleasures of Hope, which was Halleck's first personal book. He left school at 15 to work in his family's shop in Guilford.