Thaxter, Celia (1835 - 1894)

Title

Celia Thaxter

Author

Thaxter, Celia (1835 - 1894)

Date

June 29, 1835 – August 25, 1894

Place of origin

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, US

Appledore Island, US

Country of origin

United States of America

Language

English

Profession

Poet

Periodical contributor

Atlantic Monthly; Century Magazine, Harper's Magazine, Independent Magazine, New England Magazine;

Juvenile literature

Our Young Folks; St. Nicholas.

Biographical details

Celia Laighton was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, June 29, 1835, but the family moved soon after to the Isles of Shoals, first on White Island, where her father, Thomas Laighton, was a lighthouse keeper of the Isles of Shoals Light, and then on Smuttynose and Appledore Islands. The gradual addition of summer visitors to the fishing population came slowly, Thaxter's father being the first to establish anything like a modern hotel.

The means of education were comparatively remote, and the permanent society of the islands for the greater part of the year offered very limited resources for a bright child. During the period of 1849–1850, she attended Mount Washington Female Seminary in South Boston. On September 13, 1851, at the age of 16, she married Levi Thaxter and moved to the mainland, residing first in Watertown, Massachusetts, at a property his father owned. Her first published poem was written during this time on the mainland.

That poem, "Land-Locked", was first published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1861 and earned her US$10. In 1879, Thaxter suddenly became known upon the literary horizon with a collection of poems entitled “Driftwood”, and considering that they came from a group of islands, away from the mainland far enough to prevent frequent communication, the debuting work was received with almost as much surprise as pleasure. Her poetry appeared in the Atlantic, Century, Harper's, Independent, New England Magazine, and Scribner's, while her writing for juvenile audiences appeared in Our Young Folks and St. Nicholas.

Thaxter died suddenly while on Appledore Island in 1894.

Selected publications

"And his will is our peace"

Link to external sources

Celia Thaxter - Wikipedia