Charles Henry Crandall (June 19, 1858 – March 23, 1923) was an American author and poet. He was a noted farmer and had become active in real estate having amassed in Stamford by 1910. Crandall was a member of the American Institute of Arts, Science and Letters, a council member of the Stamford Rural Association, and a member of the Stamford Historical Society.

Early life

Crandall's father served in various capacities as a public official within the state of New York. These included as a member of the legislature, assistant assessor, internal revenue collector, money order clerk in the post office and a number of positions in the New York Custom House. Crandall attended Greenwich Academy, but did not matriculate from an institution of higher learning. After spending the first seventeen years of his life as a farmer, he went into the mercantile business for five years, then began a literary career.

Literary accomplishments

After working as a reporter for the ''

New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...

'' and the ''

New York Globe ''The New York Globe'', also called ''The New York Evening Globe'', was a daily New York City newspaper published from 1904 to 1923, when it was bought and merged into ''The New York Sun''. It is not related to a New York City-based Saturday fami ...

'', he moved to Connecticut in 1886 as a result of ill health. He called his tenure with New York with the roles of reporter, correspondent and editor, his "university years". In 1890 he published "Representative Sonnets by American Poets" with an exhaustive essay on the

sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...

. Thereafter, he published a number of volumes of his own works from collections previously printed in newspapers and magazines in America. These publications included '' The Century Magazine, Harper's,

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

, The Outlook (New York), Independent, Critic, Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, North American Review'', and ''

Outing Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...

'', along with others.Stamford History, Vol. VII. July 1914. No. 2
/ref> His early collections often had a rural theme and his poems and prose would often involve farming life, as he became a serious farmer. A 1914 article in ''Guide to Nature Magazine'' gave him the moniker "Crandall - the Farmer-Poet".

Patriot

He had four sons who served in World War I, one of which, Robert Ferguson Crandall, died in combat in France. Despite this loss, he remained a stalwart patriot and in 1918 published ''Liberty Illumined and Songs for the Boys in Khaki''. The Stamford Historical Society has 109 of his poems, stories and essays in either typewritten or long-hand form.Stamford History, list of Crandall's Poems and Essays
/ref>

Later life

In 1923, feeling despondent over increasingly ill health after penning a thank you note to his housekeeper, he committed suicide in his barn, with a pistol.

Publications

* 1883 ''The Season'' * 1890 ''Representative Sonnets by American Poets'' * 1893 ''Wayside Music'' * 1898 ''The Chords of Life'' * 1899 ''Songs behind the Lines'' * 1909 ''Songs from Sky Meadows'' * 1918 ''Liberty Illumined'' * 1918 ''Songs for the Boys in Khaki''

References

External links

* *
''Representative Sonnets by American Poets'' in Google digitized format from Princeton University

''Wayside Music'' in Google digitized format from New York Public Library

''The Chords of Life'' Google digitized format from University of California
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crandall, Charles Henry 1858 births 1923 suicides 1923 deaths American reporters and correspondents Writers from Stamford, Connecticut People from Greenwich (town), New York Suicides by firearm in Connecticut American male poets American male non-fiction writers