Robert Carter (February 5, 1819
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...
– February 15, 1879
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...
) was an American
editor,
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
and
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
. He was involved in the formation of the
Republican Party.
Biography
Education
He received a
common school A common school was a public school in the United States during the 19th century. Horace Mann (1796–1859) was a strong advocate for public education and the common school. In 1837, the state of Massachusetts appointed Mann as the first secretary ...
education, and passed one term in the
Jesuit college of
Chambly, Quebec
Chambly is an off-island suburb of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located in the Montérégie region, inland from the South Shore of the Saint Lawrence River.
It was formed from the merger in 1965 of Fort-Chambly (formerly Chambl ...
. At 15, he was appointed assistant to the state librarian, who was also his guardian,
at the state library at Albany. He remained there until 1838. At this time he began to publish poems and sketches in the daily papers, his first contribution being a long poem, which he dropped stealthily into the editor's letterbox, and which appeared the next day with flattering comments, but so frightfully misprinted that he hardly knew it. This experience and a natural aptitude led him to acquire proofreading as an accomplishment, at which he became very expert.
''The Pioneer''
In 1841 he went to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, where he formed a lifelong friendship with
James Russell Lowell
James Russell Lowell (; February 22, 1819 – August 12, 1891) was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the fireside poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets that ...
, and together they began ''The Pioneer, a Literary and Critical Magazine'', a monthly magazine which the ''Cyclopædia of American Literature'' said was "of too fine a cast to be successful."
[
] Nevertheless, its want of success was due, not to the editors, but to the publisher, who mismanaged it and failed when but three numbers had been issued. Among the contributors were
Poe,
Hawthorne,
Whittier, Neal,
Barrett (afterward Mrs. Browning), and the sculptor
Story
Story or stories may refer to:
Common uses
* Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events)
** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting
* Story (American English), or storey (British ...
. Carter began in its pages a serial novel entitled ''The Armenian's Daughter''.
William H. Prescott
He next spent two years in editing statistical and geographical works, and writing for periodicals. His story, "The Great Tower of Tarudant," ran through several numbers of the ''Broadway Journal'', then edited by Poe. In 1845 he became a clerk in the post office at Cambridge, and from 1847 to 1848 was private secretary to
Prescott the
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
. His elaborate article on the character and habits of Prescott, written for the
New York ''Tribune'' just after the historian's death in 1859, was republished in a memorial volume issued by the
Massachusetts Historical Society.
Early politics
Carter joined the
Free Soil Party
The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery int ...
in 1848, and in 1850 wrote for the Boston ''Atlas'' a series of articles in reply to
Francis Bowen
Francis Bowen (; September 8, 1811 – January 22, 1890) was an American philosopher, writer, and educationalist.
Biography
He was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He was educated at Mayhew School, Boston, Phillips Exeter Academy, and Harva ...
's attack on the
Hungarian revolutionists. These articles were republished in a pamphlet as ''The Hungarian Controversy'' (Boston, 1852). They are said to have caused the rejection of Bowen's nomination as professor of history at
Harvard. At the same time Carter edited, with
Kossuth's approval, a large volume entitled ''Kossuth in New England'' (Boston, 1852).
From 1851 to 1852 he edited, at first as assistant of
John G. Palfrey and afterward alone, the Boston ''Commonwealth'', the chief exponent of the free soilers. For two years he was secretary of the state committee of the Free Soil Party.
Republican Party foundation
In the summer of 1854, he obtained the consent of the committee to call a convention, which he did without assistance, sending out thousands of circulars to men whose names were on the committee's books. The convention met in
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
, July 20, was so large that no hall could contain it, and held its session in the open air. A short platform drawn up by him was adopted, together with the name "
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
," and on his motion a committee of six was appointed to organize the new party,
John A. Andrew being made its chairman.
More editing
In 1855 Carter edited the Boston ''Telegraph'', in conjunction with W. S. Robinson and
Hildreth the historian; in 1856 he edited the ''Atlas''; and from 1857 to 1859 he was Washington correspondent of the New York ''Tribune''. His next work was with
George Ripley George Ripley may refer to:
* George Ripley (alchemist) (died 1490), English author and alchemist
*George Ripley (transcendentalist)
George Ripley (October 3, 1802 – July 4, 1880) was an American social reformer, Unitarian minister, and journ ...
and
Charles A. Dana on the first edition of the ''
American Cyclopædia
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
'' (1859 to 1863), in which many important articles were from his pen, including "Egypt," "Hindostan," "Mormons," and the history of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. In January 1864, he was appointed private secretary of the treasury agent whose headquarters were at
Beaufort, South Carolina
Beaufort ( , a different pronunciation from that used by the city with the same name in North Carolina) is a city in and the county seat of Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South ...
; and from July of that year until October 1869, he edited the
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...
, ''Democrat'', doing such work for it as was seldom done on any but metropolitan journals.
When news came of the assassination of
President 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 throu ...
, he wrote, without consulting any book or memoranda, an article giving a brief but circumstantial account, with dates, of every celebrated case of regicide. He was editor of ''Appletons' Journal'' from 1870 to 1873. And then he became associate editor for the revision of the ''American Cyclopædia'', writing articles on "Jefferson Davis" and "The Confederate States of American".
In 1874 impaired health compelled him to discontinue his literary work, and in the next three years he made three tours in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
.
Family
His first wife, Ann Augusta Gray, was a successful writer of poems and tales for the young. They married in 1846, and she died in 1863. He married his second wife, Susan Nichols, in 1864.
She was principal of the women's art school at
Cooper Union in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, published handbooks of art and contributed to periodicals.
Works
He was the author of ''A Summer Cruise on the Coast of New England'' (Boston, 1864), which passed through several editions. The 1888 edition has an introduction by
Rossiter Johnson
Rossiter Johnson (27 January 1840 – 3 October 1931) was an American author and editor. He edited several important encyclopedias, dictionaries, and books, and was one of the first editors to publish "pocket" editions of the classics. He was als ...
with biographical notes.
He left unpublished memoirs, of which only the first volume was complete in manuscript.
Notes
References
*
External links
The Hungarian controversy: an exposure of the falsifications and perversions of the slanderers of HungaryKossuth in New England
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Robert
1819 births
1879 deaths
American editors
19th-century American historians
19th-century American male writers
Massachusetts Free Soilers
Massachusetts Republicans
American male non-fiction writers