Peter George Doyle (June 1843April 19, 1907) was an Irish-born American transit worker, known for being an intimate companion of

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...

from around 1865 to 1876, and to some extent to Whitman's death in 1892. Doyle also witnessed the

assassination of Abraham Lincoln On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was assassinated by well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth, while attending the play ''Our American Cousin'' at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Shot in the hea ...

in 1865.

Biography

Peter George Doyle was born in early June 1843 in Ireland to Peter George Doyle, a blacksmith, and Catherine Nash Doyle, the sixth of nine children. He was baptized on June 16, 1843, in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

. He moved with members of his family to

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

, in 1853, travelling through

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

which they reached on May 10. Doyle was not well educated. He grew to be around 5 feet and 8 inches tall. Doyle's niece described him as "a

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

". Somewhere between 1856 and 1859 the Doyles moved to

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 ...

, where Peter Sr. found employment at the

Tredegar Iron Works The Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia, was the biggest ironworks in the Confederacy during the American Civil War, and a significant factor in the decision to make Richmond its capital. Tredegar supplied about half the artillery used b ...

. When 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 ...

broke out, Doyle enlisted in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

on April 25, 1861. He fought in several engagements of the war, including the

Battle of Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union G ...

, where he was wounded and he was discharged on November 7, 1862. He likely re-joined the army for a time in 1863 before deserting and fleeing North, where he was placed in a prison near

Old Capitol Prison The Old Brick Capitol in Washington, D.C., served as the temporary Capitol of the United States from 1815 to 1819. The building was a private school, a boarding house, and, during the American Civil War, a prison known as the Old Capitol Priso ...

in April 1863. He was released on May 11 and began working at the

Washington Navy Yard The Washington Navy Yard (WNY) is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy. The Yard currently serves as a ceremonial and administrativ ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, holding a position there until 1865. After the war ended, he lived in Washington, D.C., and worked as a streetcar conductor for the

Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company The Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company (or Washington and Georgetown Railway Company) was the first streetcar company to operate in Washington, D.C., United States. It was incorporated and started operations in 1862, using horse-drawn car ...

. Doyle was an eyewitness to the

Ford's Theatre Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in August 1863. The theater is infamous for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater box ...

on April 14, 1865. Whitman later drew on Doyle's account of his experience.

Relationship with Whitman

Doyle first met Whitman in 1865 on a "cold, stormy night". Whitman was the only passenger on Doyle's streetcar at the time, and the two began talking. They became very close friends, corresponding regularly and frequently meeting. Whitman often rode Doyle's streetcar, they went on numerous hikes together, and wrote many letters, Whitman addressing Doyle as "boy" or "son", while Doyle signed his "Pete the Great". The historian Martin G Murray wrote that Doyle may have influenced Whitman's famous poem "

O Captain! My Captain! "O Captain! My Captain!" is an extended metaphor poem written by Walt Whitman in 1865 about Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the death of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln. Well received upon publication, the poem was Whitman's first to be Anth ...

", arguing that Whitman adopted a more conventional form to appeal to Doyle. The hero in Whitman's " Come Up From the Fields Father" is named "Pete" and according to Murray, Doyle may have inspired some of the poems or influenced Whitman's writing in the book ''

Drum-Taps ''Drum-Taps'', first published in 1865, is a collection of poetry written by American poet Walt Whitman during the American Civil War. 18 additional poems were added later in the year to create '' Sequel to Drum-Taps''. History Creating the p ...

''. In May 1870, the two briefly traveled to New York City, where they saw the opera ''

Poliuto ''Poliuto'' is a three-act ''tragedia lirica'' (or tragic opera) by Gaetano Donizetti from the Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, which was based on Pierre Corneille's play ''Polyeucte'' written in 1641–42. It reflected the life of the ear ...

''. Whitman was known to abbreviate Doyle as "16.4" (P being the 16th letter of the alphabet and D the fourth) in his diary. Whitman may have begun to worry that he loved Doyle and Doyle did not reciprocate. Whitman wanted to live with Doyle, but Doyle initially refused as he was supporting his mother. By the end of 1870, Whitman was more confident in their relationship. In 1872 or 1873, Doyle began working on the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

as a breaker. After Whitman had a stroke in 1873, Doyle helped to nurse him. Doyle gradually grew unhappy with his job and continued to visit Whitman, even after he moved to

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

, in 1874. After 1876, the two wrote and visited each other much less. Doyle met

Richard Maurice Bucke Richard Maurice Bucke (18 March 1837 – 19 February 1902), often called Maurice Bucke, was a prominent Canadian psychiatrist in the late 19th century. An adventurer during his youth, Bucke later studied medicine. Eventually, as a psychiatris ...

, a promoter and early biographer of Whitman, in 1880. After 1885, he moved permanently to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, where he was a member of the

Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order founded in 1868, originally as a social club in New York City. History The Elks began in 1868 as a soci ...

and joined the

United Confederate Veterans The United Confederate Veterans (UCV, or simply Confederate Veterans) was an American Civil War veterans' organization headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was organized on June 10, 1889, by ex-soldiers and sailors of the Confederate Sta ...

. The last time Doyle and Whitman were in contact may have been 1889, though they likely met at least once after that. Whitman left Doyle his watch and Doyle visited Whitman's body after he died in 1892, though he was almost not allowed into the funeral. Doyle was friends with

Horace Traubel Horace Logo Traubel (1858–1919) was an American essayist, poet, magazine publisher, author, and Georgist. Traubel was closely associated with the Arts and Crafts movement in the United States and published a monthly literary magazine call ...

and his wife Anne Traubel, as well as Gustave Percival Wiksell, Horace's friend or lover. Whitman's letters to Doyle were published in 1895 as ''Calamus, A Series of Letters Written During the Years 1868-1880 by Walt Whitman To A Young Friend (Peter Doyle).'' The collection has generally been recognized as being of love letters, and received mixed reviews. After Whitman died, Doyle had a coat that Whitman had worn, saying it was like " Aladdin's lamp". For the rest of his life, Doyle was considered a celebrity by "friends and followers" of Whitman.

Death and interment

Doyle died on April 19, 1907, in Philadelphia of

uremia Uremia is the term for high levels of urea in the blood. Urea is one of the primary components of urine. It can be defined as an excess of amino acid and protein metabolism end products, such as urea and creatinine, in the blood that would be nor ...

. He is buried in the

Congressional Cemetery The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American "cemetery of national m ...

in Washington, D.C.

Legacy

A portrait of Doyle and Whitman was taken around 1865 by M. P. Rice. It is the earliest known portrait of Whitman with someone else.

John Burroughs John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was ''Wake-Robin'' in 1871. In the words of his bio ...

described Doyle as "a mute inglorious Whitman". Doyle is considered possibly the most likely candidate for the love of Whitman's life. Whitman's biographer

Justin Kaplan Justin Daniel Kaplan (September 5, 1925 in Manhattan, New York City – March 2, 2014 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an American writer and editor. The general editor of ''Bartlett's Familiar Quotations'' (16th and 17th eds.), he was best kno ...

wrote in 1980 that "Whitman extended himself with Peter Doyle farther than he had with any other man and at greater risk to his psychic safety." Their relationship has been described as a "romantic friendship", though its exact nature is unknown.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doyle, Peter 1843 births 1907 deaths 19th-century Irish LGBT people 19th-century American LGBT people Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) Irish soldiers in the Confederate States Army People from Virginia Military personnel from Washington, D.C. Military personnel from Philadelphia People associated with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln Deserters 20th-century LGBT people