Interactive Timeline
Henry David Thoreau
1817
1833
1838
1845-47
Born in Concord, MA on July 12th
Enrolled at Harvard University
Begins teaching. Lousia May Alcott is a student.
Lives at Walden Pond & writes his memoir
1837
1840
1848
1823
Meets & befriends Emerson, becomes a Transcendentalist
Begins to contribute to Transcendentalist magazine, The Dial
Spends night in jail and writes "On Civil Disobedience"
Father took over brother's pencil factory
HENRY DAVID THOREAU
Timeline Infographic
1850
1859
1864
1862
1854
Hides fugitive slaves at his home in Concord
Writes speech in defense of captured abolitionist John Brown
Book The Maine Woods published posthumously
Walden is published & well-received by public
Dies of tuberculosis at age 44. Emerson gives his eulogy.
Lasting Friendship
When Thoreau was 19 years old, he first read Emerson's famous essay Nature. Thoreau was fascinated by him and his transcendentalist philosophy. He joined the Transcendental Club and in 1841, he even moved into Emerson's house, agreeing to work as a handyman and babysit his young children. Despite their age differences, their friendship was strong and reciprocal. It lasted until the end of Thoreau's life - with Emerson giving a eulogy at his funeral.
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Designed as an early American example of the garden cemetery, Concord's Sleepy Hollow Cemetery was inspired by Emerson's philosophies. The section known as Author's Ridge holds the graves of Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and of course, Henry David Thoreau. Pilgrims and visitors leave votives, flowers, coins, pebbles, sticks, pencils, notes or other items against the severely plain headstone simply engraved "Henry."
The Original Tiny House
Walden Pond is now a state reservation and a selected number of visitors per day can experience the connection with nature that inspired Henry David Thoreau's book. There is also a replica of Thoreau's single-room cabin.
- It was 10' x 15' with a single door in the front, windows on either side, and a fireplace at the far end.
- Thoreau had three chairs: "one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society."
Always a Critic
Thoreau was intelligent and well-read, but disagreed with the lecturing, grading, and rowdy classmates at Harvard. In 1840, he dismissed the unearned master's degree that Harvard offered, as it did then to all alumni three years after graduation.When Emerson said that Harvard taught all the branches of knowledge, Thoreau replied:
"Yes, all the branches and none of the roots."
Cool Fact!
Henry David Thoreau, that master of American Literature, had perhaps an even more profound effect on writing instruments than he did on writing. Thoreau, whose father ran a pencil factory, decided to start mixing graphite with clay, discovering that different amounts of clay produced lighter or darker shades, and that the mixture resulted in stronger, less smudgy marks. That variation gave us the numbering system that you'll recognize from being repeatedly warned not to use anything but a No. 2 pencil on your standardized tests.
A Lasting Inspiration
In protest against slavery and the war against Mexico, Thoreau stopped paying taxes. The sheriff arrested and jailed him for tax deliquency. This incident prompted him to write his famous essay, "Civil Disobedience," in which he argued that...
- human law and government are subordinate to laws of conscience and morality
- the best government is that which governs least
- it is an individual's responsibility to disobey unjust laws
Radical Support
"A Plea for Captain John Brown" is an essay by Henry David Thoreau based on a speech he delivered first to an audience in Concord two weeks after Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry. It was repeated several times before Brown's execution on December 2, 1859 and published a year later. In two events of his life, both involving violence and killing, John Brown was involved which led many to consider him a terrorist, and question Thoreau's support.
Active Abolitionist
The Thoreau family home in Concord was part of the Underground Railroad. Thoreau's mother - and all of the relatives who resided at the house - were active in the local antislavery movement. In his Journal, Thoreau gives several accounts of assisting fugitive slaves on their way north. He hid them, drove them to the train station, bought their tickets, and sometimes even accompanied them to the next station.
A School Girl Crush
When Louisa was seven, she was enrolled in a school taught by Thoreau, then 23. Thoreau often took his students out of the classroom into the woods. He taught them about birds and flowers, they gathered liches, and he showed them a fox den and deer tracks. Sometimes he took the children on the boat and gave them lessons as they floated. Before she wrote her most famous book, Little Women, she wrote Moods - a book about a young girl in love with an intellectual and naturalist.
Thoreau House
The Wheeler-Minot Farmhouse, also known as the Thoreau Farm or the Henry David Thoreau Birthplace, is a historic house at 341 Virginia Road in Concord, Massachusetts. The Thoreau Farm Trust operates it and offers free home tours.
thoreaufarm.org
- Home origins date back to 1635 when Concord was chartered
- Thoreau's mother grew up there
- Henry born here, lived here 8 months, and moved back to town with family
HENRY DAVID THOREAU
Ashley Snider
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Interactive Timeline
Henry David Thoreau
1817
1833
1838
1845-47
Born in Concord, MA on July 12th
Enrolled at Harvard University
Begins teaching. Lousia May Alcott is a student.
Lives at Walden Pond & writes his memoir
1837
1840
1848
1823
Meets & befriends Emerson, becomes a Transcendentalist
Begins to contribute to Transcendentalist magazine, The Dial
Spends night in jail and writes "On Civil Disobedience"
Father took over brother's pencil factory
HENRY DAVID THOREAU
Timeline Infographic
1850
1859
1864
1862
1854
Hides fugitive slaves at his home in Concord
Writes speech in defense of captured abolitionist John Brown
Book The Maine Woods published posthumously
Walden is published & well-received by public
Dies of tuberculosis at age 44. Emerson gives his eulogy.
Lasting Friendship
When Thoreau was 19 years old, he first read Emerson's famous essay Nature. Thoreau was fascinated by him and his transcendentalist philosophy. He joined the Transcendental Club and in 1841, he even moved into Emerson's house, agreeing to work as a handyman and babysit his young children. Despite their age differences, their friendship was strong and reciprocal. It lasted until the end of Thoreau's life - with Emerson giving a eulogy at his funeral.
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Designed as an early American example of the garden cemetery, Concord's Sleepy Hollow Cemetery was inspired by Emerson's philosophies. The section known as Author's Ridge holds the graves of Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and of course, Henry David Thoreau. Pilgrims and visitors leave votives, flowers, coins, pebbles, sticks, pencils, notes or other items against the severely plain headstone simply engraved "Henry."
The Original Tiny House
Walden Pond is now a state reservation and a selected number of visitors per day can experience the connection with nature that inspired Henry David Thoreau's book. There is also a replica of Thoreau's single-room cabin.
Always a Critic
Thoreau was intelligent and well-read, but disagreed with the lecturing, grading, and rowdy classmates at Harvard. In 1840, he dismissed the unearned master's degree that Harvard offered, as it did then to all alumni three years after graduation.When Emerson said that Harvard taught all the branches of knowledge, Thoreau replied:
"Yes, all the branches and none of the roots."
Cool Fact!
Henry David Thoreau, that master of American Literature, had perhaps an even more profound effect on writing instruments than he did on writing. Thoreau, whose father ran a pencil factory, decided to start mixing graphite with clay, discovering that different amounts of clay produced lighter or darker shades, and that the mixture resulted in stronger, less smudgy marks. That variation gave us the numbering system that you'll recognize from being repeatedly warned not to use anything but a No. 2 pencil on your standardized tests.
A Lasting Inspiration
In protest against slavery and the war against Mexico, Thoreau stopped paying taxes. The sheriff arrested and jailed him for tax deliquency. This incident prompted him to write his famous essay, "Civil Disobedience," in which he argued that...
Radical Support
"A Plea for Captain John Brown" is an essay by Henry David Thoreau based on a speech he delivered first to an audience in Concord two weeks after Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry. It was repeated several times before Brown's execution on December 2, 1859 and published a year later. In two events of his life, both involving violence and killing, John Brown was involved which led many to consider him a terrorist, and question Thoreau's support.
Active Abolitionist
The Thoreau family home in Concord was part of the Underground Railroad. Thoreau's mother - and all of the relatives who resided at the house - were active in the local antislavery movement. In his Journal, Thoreau gives several accounts of assisting fugitive slaves on their way north. He hid them, drove them to the train station, bought their tickets, and sometimes even accompanied them to the next station.
A School Girl Crush
When Louisa was seven, she was enrolled in a school taught by Thoreau, then 23. Thoreau often took his students out of the classroom into the woods. He taught them about birds and flowers, they gathered liches, and he showed them a fox den and deer tracks. Sometimes he took the children on the boat and gave them lessons as they floated. Before she wrote her most famous book, Little Women, she wrote Moods - a book about a young girl in love with an intellectual and naturalist.
Thoreau House
The Wheeler-Minot Farmhouse, also known as the Thoreau Farm or the Henry David Thoreau Birthplace, is a historic house at 341 Virginia Road in Concord, Massachusetts. The Thoreau Farm Trust operates it and offers free home tours.
thoreaufarm.org