Jeremiah Hacker facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jeremiah Hacker
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| Born | 1801 |
| Died | August 27, 1895 (aged 94) |
| Occupation | Missionary, journalist |
Jeremiah Hacker (born 1801, died 1895) was an interesting person from Maine. He was a missionary, a reformer (someone who wanted to make things better), a vegetarian, and a journalist. He wrote and published two newspapers, The Pleasure Boat and The Chariot of Wisdom and Love, in Portland, Maine. He did this from 1845 to 1866.
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Jeremiah Hacker's Early Life
Jeremiah Hacker was born in Brunswick, Maine, in 1801. He grew up in a big Quaker family. Quakers are a religious group known for their peaceful beliefs. As a young adult, Hacker moved to Portland. He later lost his hearing and used an ear trumpet to help him hear.
In 1846, he married Submit Tobey, who was called Mittie. Hacker was a newspaper publisher in Portland for 20 years. People remembered him for being very tall and having a big, bushy beard. After a huge fire in Portland in 1866, Hacker left the city. He moved to Vineland, New Jersey, to live on a farm. Even in retirement, he kept writing. He sent letters and poems to newspapers until he passed away in 1895.
Hacker's Career and Newspapers
Before becoming a journalist, Hacker worked in Portland as a teacher. He taught penmanship (the art of writing neatly) and also ran a shop. In 1841, he sold his shop and became a traveling preacher. He traveled through Maine, telling people to find their "inner light." This meant he encouraged them to follow their own moral compass.
Starting The Pleasure Boat
Hacker returned to Portland in 1845. He then started writing and printing his own newspaper, called The Pleasure Boat. He was so dedicated that he sold his only good coat to pay for the first edition. He wore a borrowed coat after that, calling it "the old drab coat." He wrote his newspaper while living in a boarding house, often in poverty. His main goal was to share his important messages with others.
Speaking Out for Change
Hacker became known as a journalist who spoke his mind. He often wrote against things he thought were wrong. These included organized religion, government, prisons, and slavery. He also spoke out against land monopoly (when one person or group owns too much land) and warfare.
He strongly supported several important causes:
- Abolition: Ending slavery.
- Women's rights: Giving women equal rights.
- Temperance: Encouraging people to drink less alcohol.
- Vegetarianism: Eating only plant-based foods.
Hacker was also an early supporter of anarchism and free thought. Anarchism is a belief that society should be organized without a government. Free thought means forming your own opinions based on logic, not tradition. He also worked to improve prisons. He was upset about how young people were treated in adult prisons. Hacker helped build public support for a reform school in Maine. This school was only the third of its kind in the country.
The Pleasure Boat was very popular in 19th-century New England. However, as the American Civil War approached, Hacker faced a challenge. Many people thought the war was necessary. But Hacker believed in pacifism, which means opposing all war and violence. Because of his views, he lost many readers, and his newspaper struggled. In 1864, he started a new newspaper called The Chariot of Wisdom and Love.
Hacker was sometimes called "Maine’s original alt-journalist." He was known for criticizing "quack doctors." These were people who sold fake miracle cures.
Hacker's Beliefs: Vegetarianism
Jeremiah Hacker was a vegetarian. He used his Pleasure Boat newspaper to promote animal rights, protecting the environment, and vegetarianism. In one newspaper article from 1854, Hacker wrote about the benefits of eating vegetables. He said that people who eat plant-based foods are healthier. He also believed they could work harder, handle heat and cold better, and live longer.
Hacker's Beliefs: Temperance
Hacker supported temperance, which means drinking less alcohol. However, he did not support a total ban on alcohol. In 1845, he criticized a temperance group called the Martha Washingtons. This group served "hogs and oxen" at a Christmas dinner. Hacker wrote that eating animal meat makes people thirsty. He believed this thirst then leads people to drink too much alcohol. He thought this was a big reason for drunkenness in the nation.
Jeremiah Hacker's Death
Jeremiah Hacker passed away on August 27, 1895. He was 94 years old. He died in Vineland, New Jersey, and is buried in the Siloam Cemetery there.
Hacker's Influence and Legacy
Many people have recognized Jeremiah Hacker's impact. Historian William Berry said that Hacker was "strangely influential" in his time. Journalist Liz Graves noted that Hacker's ideas about society were similar to those of later anarchists like Emma Goldman. These ideas focused on individual morals rather than government rules.
Journalist Avery Yale Kamila said that The Pleasure Boat newspaper was like a "roadmap" for many important issues that became popular later. Authors Karen and Michael Iacobbo wrote in their book Vegetarian America: A History that Hacker "helped cultivate" the vegetarian movement in the United States.
