![Josiah Gilbert Holland 001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Josiah_Gilbert_Holland_001.jpg)
Josiah Gilbert Holland (July 24, 1819 – October 12, 1881) was an American novelist and poet who also wrote under the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
Timothy Titcomb. He helped to found and edit ''
Scribner's Monthly
''Scribner's Monthly: An Illustrated Magazine for the People'' was an illustrated American literary periodical published from 1870 until 1881. Following a change in ownership in 1881 of the company that had produced it, the magazine was relaunch ...
'' (afterwards the ''
Century Magazine
''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associati ...
''), in which appeared his novels, ''Arthur Bonnicastle'', ''The Story of Sevenoaks'', ''Nicholas Minturn''. In poetry he wrote "Bitter-Sweet" (1858), "Kathrina", the lyrics to the Methodist hymn "
There's a Song in the Air", and many others.
Biography
Born in
Belchertown, Massachusetts
Belchertown (previously known as Cold Spring and Belcher's Town) is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 15,350 at the 2020 census ...
, on July 24, 1819, Holland grew up in a poor family struggling to make ends meet. After a time, Josiah was forced to work in a factory to help the family. He then spent a short time studying at
Northampton (Massachusetts) High School before withdrawing due to ill health. Later he studied medicine at
Berkshire Medical College
Berkshire Medical College (originally the Berkshire Medical Institution, and sometimes referred to as Berkshire Medical College) was a medical school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It is notable for establishing the first professorship in mental d ...
, where he took a degree in 1844.
Hoping to become a successful physician, he began a medical practice with classmate Dr. Bailey in
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...
. While trying to establish the practice, he wrote for periodicals such as ''
Knickerbocker Magazine'' and even tried to publish a newspaper, ''The Bay State Weekly Courier'', but the attempt proved unsuccessful, as did his medical practice. In 1845 he married Elizabeth Luna Chapin. After giving up medicine in 1848, he left western Massachusetts and took a teaching position in
Richmond, Virginia
(Thus do we reach the stars)
, image_map =
, mapsize = 250 px
, map_caption = Location within Virginia
, pushpin_map = Virginia#USA
, pushpin_label = Richmond
, pushpin_m ...
, followed by one in 1849 in
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat, and the population at the 2010 census was 23,856.
Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vic ...
.
In 1850 Holland returned to western Massachusetts and became an editor of the ''
Springfield Republican
''The Republican'' is a newspaper based in Springfield, Massachusetts covering news in the Greater Springfield area, as well as national news and pieces from Boston, Worcester and northern Connecticut. It is owned by Newhouse Newspapers, a ...
'' newspaper, working with the well known editor
Samuel Bowles. Many of the essays Holland wrote for the paper in the decade before 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 ...
were collected and published in book form, which helped to establish his literary reputation.
His first book was a ''History of Western Massachusetts''. He followed in 1857 with an historical novel, ''Bay Path'', and a collection of essays titled ''Titcomb's Letters to Young People, Single and Married'' in 1858. In 1862, when Samuel Bowles took an extended trip to Europe, Holland temporarily assumed the duties as editor-in-chief of the ''Springfield Republican''. After the Civil War he reduced his editorial duties and wrote many of his most popular works, including the ''Life of Abraham Lincoln'' (1866), and ''Kathrina'' (1867).
Holland wrote an eloquent eulogy of
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
within days of Lincoln's death, prompting a commission for a full biography of the late president. He quickly pulled together the lengthy ''Life of Abraham Lincoln'', finished in February 1866, which portrayed Lincoln as an emancipator opposed to slavery. Although Holland wrote using "on-the-ground investigation," later historians noted that as a journalist with a deadline, the work had "the signs of hurry."
His work also spurred Lincoln's law partner
William Herndon to commence his own research and biography. Herndon was happy to help Holland but took issue with a tangential quote attributed to Lincoln in the work describing God's role in emancipation; Herndon believed Lincoln "had no religion more intense than a bland deism."
In 1868 Holland traveled to Europe, and while there he met Roswell Smith. Together they developed the idea of starting a magazine. When they returned to the United States in 1869, the two men collaborated with
Charles Scribner to publish ''
Scribner's Monthly
''Scribner's Monthly: An Illustrated Magazine for the People'' was an illustrated American literary periodical published from 1870 until 1881. Following a change in ownership in 1881 of the company that had produced it, the magazine was relaunch ...
''. The first issue was published in 1870 with Holland as editor.
These years in New York were also productive for his own literary efforts. During the 1870s he published three novels: ''Arthur Bonicastle'' (1873), ''Sevenoaks'' (1875), and ''Nicholas Minturn'' (1877). His poetry volumes included ''The Marble Prophecy'' (1872), ''The Mistress and the Manse'' (1874), and ''The Puritan's Guest'' (1881).
Holland died on October 12, 1881, at the age of 62, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Holland is buried in Springfield Cemetery in
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...
. His gravestone includes a
bas-relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
portrait sculpted by the eminent American 19th-century sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and includes the Latin inscription "Et vitam impendere vero" meaning "to devote life to truth".
Legacy
Although his literary products are rarely read today, during the late nineteenth century they were enormously popular, and more than half a million volumes of Holland's writings were sold. He is also remembered today for his contributions as an editor. Holland and his wife were frequent correspondents and family friends of poet
Emily Dickinson
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry.
Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massach ...
.
References
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External links
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Holland Collection of Literary Letters, University of Colorado BoulderTitcomb’s Letters to Young People, Single and Married
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Josiah Gilbert
19th-century American novelists
American male novelists
American magazine editors
Novelists from Massachusetts
1819 births
1881 deaths
East Texas Baptist University alumni
Massachusetts Republicans
American male poets
19th-century American poets
19th-century American journalists
American male journalists
Berkshire Medical College alumni
19th-century American male writers
Historians of Abraham Lincoln
People from Springfield, Massachusetts
American male biographers