Henry David Thoreau

1817 - 1862  (44 years)    Has more than 100 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.

• Name	Henry David Thoreau
  Birth	12 Jul 1817	Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA
  Gender	Male
  Death	6 May 1862	Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA
  Siblings	3 Siblings
  1. Helen Thoreau,   b. 1812   d. 1849  (Age 37 years)   2. John Thoreau, Jr.,   b. 1815   d. 1842  (Age 27 years)   3. Henry David Thoreau,   b. 12 Jul 1817, Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA d. 6 May 1862, Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA  (Age 44 years)   4. Sophia Thoreau,   b. 1819   d. Yes, date unknown
  Person ID	I468628	Geneagraphie
  Last Modified	29 Feb 2004

  
  

  Father	John Thoreau,   b. 8 Oct 1787   d. 1859 (Age 71 years)
  Mother	Cynthia Dunbar,   b. 22 May 1787, Keene, Cheshire, New Hampshire, USA d. 12 Mar 1872 (Age 84 years)
  Family ID	F186301	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

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• Notes

  essayist "The greater part of what my neighbors call good I believe in my soul to be bad, and if I repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?" Books: • Walden - Thoreau's 1845 experiment in living well. With annotated text, photos, help for students on the Walden Express, links to other Walden pages, and Ask Jimmy. • The Maine Woods - Three excursions to the backwoods of Maine in 1846, 1853, and 1857, including an attempt to climb Maine's tallest mountain. With annotated text, a route map and related links. • Cape Cod - Four trips to the Cape from 1849 to 1857 are narrated as a single visit; Thoreau walked most of the way. With related links, including Henry's own map. Essays: • Civil Disobedience - 1849 essay on the right and obligation to follow your conscience, with annotated text and related links. (Spanish) • Life without Principle - an 1854 lecture evolved into this essay: Thoreau rails against a culture whose primary focus is financial. • Slavery in Massachusetts - At an 1854 abolitionist rally, Thoreau vigorously attacks the support of slavery in his home state. • Walking - In 1862 Thoreau described wilderness as a treasure to be preserved rather than a resource to be plundered. With annotated text and related links. 1828-33 Attended Concord Academy. 1833-37 Attended Harvard College. 1837 Taught briefly at Concord Center School (public). 1838-41 Conducted a private school in Concord with his elder brother John. 1839 Went on boating excursion on Concord and Merrimack rivers with his brother John. 1840 Poems and essays published in The Dial. 1841-43 Lived with Ralph Waldo Emerson and his family in Concord. 1842 John Thoreau, Jr. (brother), died suddenly of lockjaw; "Natural History of Massachusetts" published. 1843 "Walk to Wachusett" and "A Winter Walk" published; tutored William Emerson’s children on Staten Island, New York. 1844 Accidentally set fire to woods in Concord with Edward Hoar. 1845-47 Lived in a small house he built himself on the shore of Walden Pond. 1846 Traveled to Maine and climbed Mt. Katahdin; spent a night in jail for refusing to pay a poll tax. 1847-48 Lived in Emerson household while Ralph Waldo Emerson lectured in England. 1848 Began career as professional lecturer; "Ktaadn and the Maine Woods" published. 1849 A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers and "Resistance to Civil Government" ("Civil Disobedience") published; traveled to Cape Cod; elder sister Helen died, apparently of tuberculosis. 1850 June: Traveled to Cape Cod. July: Traveled to Fire Island, New York, in search of Margaret Fuller’s remains. August 29: Moved into third-floor attic of parents’ house on Main Street, Concord. September–October: Traveled to Quebec. November: Began dating journal entries regularly; stopped cutting pages from journal volumes as part of his writing process. December 18: Elected corresponding member of the Boston Society of Natural History. 1851 April 23: First delivered "Walking, or the Wild" lecture. Summer: Began commonplace book for natural history readings; began compiling phenological lists and charts. September 7: Notes in journal that his profession was "to find God in nature." 1852 April 18: Notes in journal that he first perceived that "the year is a circle." July 2: Notes in journal that this was his "year of observation." 1853 Traveled to Maine woods; portions of "A Yankee in Canada" published 1854 Walden; or, Life in the Woods and "Slavery in Massachusetts" published; delivered early "Life without Principle" lecture for first time in Providence, Rhode Island. 1855 Traveled to Cape Cod; Portions of "Cape Cod" published 1856 Surveyed Eagleswood Community near Perth Amboy, New Jersey. 1857 Traveled to Cape Cod and Maine Woods; "Chesuncook" published. 1858 Traveled to White Mountains in New Hampshire. 1859 February: John Thoreau (father) died; delivered "Autumnal Tints" lecture in Worcester, Massachusetts. October: Began writing Wild Fruits; delivered "A Plea for Captain John Brown" in Concord. 1860 February 8: Delivered "Wild Apples" in Concord, getting "long, continued applause" at end of lecture. June–September: Worked on third draft of Wild Fruits. September–October: Delivered "The Succession of Forest Trees" in Concord, Massachusetts; published same in New-York Weekly Tribune. October–November: Visited local woodlots almost daily; worked on both Wild Fruits and The Dispersion of Seeds. December: Worked on both Wild Fruits and The Dispersion of Seeds. December 3: While researching tree growth, contracted a severe cold, which rapidly worsened into bronchitis and kept him housebound. December 11: Delivered last lecture, "Autumnal Tints," in Waterbury,Connecticut. 1861 January–early May: Worked on both Wild Fruits and The Dispersion of Seeds. May 12–July 14: Traveled to Minnesota with Horace Mann, Jr., in effort to regain health. 1862 February 20: Sent "Autumnal Tints" manuscript, culled from The Fall of the Leaf, to The Atlantic Monthly. February 28: Sent "Life without Principle" manuscript to The Atlantic Monthly. March 11: Sent "Walking" manuscript to The Atlantic Monthly. April 2: Sent "Wild Apples" manuscript, culled from Wild Fruits, to The Atlantic Monthly.