Hiram Fuller (born in
Halifax, Massachusetts
Halifax is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 7,518 at the 2010 census.
History
Halifax was first settled by Europeans, most notably the Bosworth family from Bosworth Fields in England, in 1669, growing ...
, September 6, 1814; died November 19, 1880)
was a United States journalist and educator.
Biography
He started teaching at 16 years of age. After teaching in
Plympton
Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down river to Plym ...
, in 1836 he became principal of a school in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
. The impression he made on the people in the town was such that they built him a school on Green Street. It was dedicated in 1837 with a speech by
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...
.
[ For a time there, Fuller had ]Margaret Fuller
Sarah Margaret Fuller (May 23, 1810 – July 19, 1850), sometimes referred to as Margaret Fuller Ossoli, was an American journalist, editor, critic, translator, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movemen ...
for his assistant.
He afterward became a bookseller in Providence. In this capacity, he nurtured the local literary scene by publishing ''The Rhode Island Book'' (1841), which was edited by Anne Charlotte Lynch.[ In 1843 associated himself with ]N. P. Willis
Nathaniel Parker Willis (January 20, 1806 – January 20, 1867), also known as N. P. Willis,Baker, 3 was an American author, poet and editor who worked with several notable American writers including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfello ...
and George P. Morris in the publication of the ''New York Mirror
The ''New-York Mirror'' was a weekly newspaper published in New York City from 1823 to 1842, succeeded by ''The New Mirror'' in 1843 and 1844. Its producers then launched a daily newspaper named ''The Evening Mirror'', which published from 1844 ...
''. The three afterward established the ''Daily Mirror'', of which Fuller became sole proprietor, and edited it for 14 years.
For the ''Mirror'', Fuller wrote for a series of clever society letters from Newport, under the pen name of “Belle Brittan.” An attack on Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...
which he republished involved him in a libel action against him by that author; Poe won a $225 award.[ Under ]Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to th ...
's administration, Fuller had a place in the navy department.
Fuller went abroad at the beginning of the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, espoused the Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
cause, and established the ''Cosmopolitan'' newspaper in London. After being twice a bankrupt, he became a journalist in Paris. After the war, he tried unsuccessfully to win back his following in the United States with his 1875 book. He died in Paris, survived by his wife Emilie Louise (Delaplaine) and their daughter.[
]
Works
*''The Groton Letters'' (1845)
*''Belle Brittan on a Tour'' (New York, 1858)
*''Sparks from a Locomotive'', by Belle Brittan (1859)
*''Grand Transformation Scenes in the United States, or Glimpses of Home after Thirteen Years Abroad'' (1875)
Notes
References
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, Hiram
1814 births
1880 deaths
Editors of New York City newspapers
Journalists from Massachusetts
Writers from New York City
Writers from Rhode Island
19th-century American journalists
American male journalists
Journalists from New York City
19th-century American male writers
People from Halifax, Massachusetts
People from Plympton, Massachusetts
Educators from New York City
19th-century American educators