John Greenleaf Whittier Homestead facts for kids
The John Greenleaf Whittier Homestead is a very old house. It is where a famous American poet named John Greenleaf Whittier was born. He was also a Quaker and an abolitionist, meaning he worked to end slavery. Today, this special house is a museum. You can find it at 305 Whittier Road in Haverhill, Massachusetts.
Contents
A Look Back: History of the Homestead
Building the Home
This house was built a long time ago, in 1688. It was built by Thomas Whittier. He was John Greenleaf Whittier's great-great-grandfather. Thomas chose this spot because it was close to Fernside Brook. The brook gave them water and could even power a gristmill to grind grain.
Whittier's Early Life
John Greenleaf Whittier was born in this farmhouse in December 1807. He was born in the southwest parlor, which still looks much the same today. Growing up, John worked hard on the farm. He often had headaches and felt tired from all the work. He didn't go to Quaker meetings or school very often. He also learned he was color-blind. He couldn't tell the difference between ripe and unripe strawberries!
His Love for Reading and Writing
Even with all the farm work, John loved to read. His family had a small library with books, including poems by Robert Burns. His sister Elizabeth and his mother Abigail really encouraged his interest in books. But his father thought farm duties were more important than school or writing.
John's first poem was called "The Exile's Departure." It was printed in the Newburyport Free Press newspaper on June 18, 1826. The editor, William Lloyd Garrison, helped John go to Haverhill Academy. His tuition was paid with food grown on the family farm! For a short time, John even worked as an editor for the Haverhill Gazette.
Moving On
John Greenleaf Whittier lived in this home for 29 years. In 1836, he moved to Amesbury, Massachusetts. He sold the family farm. The house he moved to in Amesbury, called the John Greenleaf Whittier House, is also open to visitors.
The Homestead in Poetry
The homestead is the setting for Whittier's most famous poem, Snow-Bound. This long poem was published in 1866 and quickly became a bestseller. Whittier also wrote many other poems about the Haverhill area. These include "Fernside Brook," "The Barefoot Boy," and "The Sycamores."
The popularity of Snow-Bound made the home famous too. People loved the poem's description of a cozy kitchen. They even wanted to copy Whittier's childhood kitchen! In 1881, Whittier said someone from Cleveland, Ohio, asked for the exact size of his Haverhill kitchen. They wanted to build a copy of his childhood fireplace. He wrote that he never thought Snow-Bound would be "worthy of a counterfeit presentation."
After Whittier's Time
Becoming a Museum
After John Greenleaf Whittier passed away in 1892, a friend named James Carleton bought the farm. Carleton had been a childhood friend of the poet. He was also a former mayor of Haverhill. Carleton gave the property to the Haverhill Whittier Club. The homestead officially opened as a museum in 1893, just one year after the poet's death.
Today, it is a hands-on museum. Visitors can sit in chairs that the Whittier family actually used. The guest book for visitors sits on a desk built in 1786 for the poet's great-grandfather.
Family Burial Plot
The family burial plot is also on the grounds of the Homestead. However, John Greenleaf Whittier himself is buried in Amesbury.
A New Trend
The home became a museum during a time called the Colonial Revival Movement. This was when people in the United States became very interested in old colonial ways. It was one of the first homes of a writer to be saved and opened for visitors. Books by people like Alice Morse Earle helped make old New England traditions popular. Earle even included a photo of Whittier's fireplace in her book Home Life in Colonial Days. She often quoted Snow-Bound in her writings.
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