Frederick Wadsworth Loring (December 12, 1848 – November 5, 1871) was an American journalist, novelist and poet. Loring was born on December 12, 1848, in Boston, Massachusetts, to David and Mary Hall Stodder Loring.Charles Henry Pope
Loring Genealogy
(1917), p. 260 He was a fifth great grandson to immigrant

Thomas Loring Thomas Loring was an early settler of Hingham and Hull, Massachusetts. He was present at some of the key moments in the earliest history of Hingham, Massachusetts. But later " e large Loring families were prominent in the town f Hull and remain ...

. He graduated from Phillips Academy, Andover, in 1866, and then from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, where he first made his mark with contributions to the ''

Harvard Advocate ''The Harvard Advocate'', the art and literary magazine of Harvard College, is the oldest continuously published college art and literary magazine in the United States. The magazine (published then in newspaper format) was founded by Charles S. ...

'', in 1870. Inheriting a love of literature from his mother, who died when he was eleven, he quickly gained in stature as an up-and-coming American author. In 1871, he published a novel, ''Two College Friends'', and a book of poems, ''The Boston Dip and Other Verses''. ''Two College Friends'', in which two Harvard students serve together in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, has been singled out as an important example of the representation of romantic male friendship. He also made numerous contributions, both fiction and non-fiction, to such periodicals as '' The Atlantic Monthly,'' '' Appleton's Journal,'' ''Old and New,'' ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

,'' and ''

Every Saturday ''Every Saturday'' (1866–1874) was an American literary magazine published in Boston, Massachusetts. It was edited by Thomas Bailey Aldrich and published by Ticknor and Fields (1866–1868); Fields, Osgood, & Co. (mid-1868–1870); James R. Osgoo ...

'' during this time.

Wickenburg Massacre

In the spring of 1871, '' Appleton's Journal'' sent Loring as a correspondent on a cartographic expedition to Arizona led by Lieutenant

George M. Wheeler George Montague Wheeler (October 9, 1842 – May 3, 1905) was an American pioneering explorer and cartographer, leader of the Wheeler Survey, one of the major surveys of the western United States in the late nineteenth century. Wheeler was bo ...

of the

US Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

. The articles Loring wrote included "A Council of War," "A Glimpse of Mormonism,"Frederick W. Loring
''Appleton's Journal: A Magazine of General Literature'', Volume 6
pp. 214-5 accessed 12 October 2015 "Silver Mining in Nevada," and "The Valley of Death." Their party suffered several setbacks, and in August 1871 Loring wrote to his employers from

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the ...

: "I am bootless, coatless, everything but lifeless. I have had a fortnight of horrors. This morning an Indian fight capped the climax. However, I am well and cheerful."Wilson, James Grant & John Fiske (editors). ''Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography'': Volume IV, Lodge-Pickens. Page 27. D. Appleton and Company, 1900. Although they escaped from the valley, his party's carriage was attacked on November 5 by a band of

Yavapai The Yavapai are a Native American tribe in Arizona. Historically, the Yavapai – literally “people of the sun” (from ''Enyaava'' “sun” + ''Paay'' “people”) – were divided into four geographical bands who identified as separate, i ...

near

Wickenburg, Arizona Wickenburg is a town in Maricopa and Yavapai counties, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 7,474, up from 6,363 in 2010. History The Wickenburg area, along with much of the Southwest, became part ...

, while on the way to La Paz. That ambush came to be known as the

Wickenburg Massacre The Wickenburg Massacre was the November 5, 1871, murder of six stagecoach passengers en route westbound from Wickenburg, Arizona Territory, headed for San Bernardino, California, on the La Paz road. Massacre Around mid-morning, about six ...

. The driver, Loring, and four other passengers were killed. After his death, he was mourned by Charles Reade as the most promising of all young American authors. Several of Loring's poems, including "In the Old Churchyard at Fredericksburg" and "The Old Professor", have appeared in American verse anthologies.

Bibliography

* ''Cotton Cultivation in the South'' (1869, with Charles F. Atkinson) * ''Two College Friends'' (1871) * ''The Boston Dip and Other Verses'' (1871)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loring, Frederick Wadsworth 19th-century American poets 19th-century American novelists American male novelists 1848 births 1871 deaths American male poets 19th-century American journalists American male journalists 19th-century American male writers Murdered American journalists People murdered in Arizona Novelists from Massachusetts Harvard Advocate alumni