Benjamin Tompson

Benjamin Tompson, (1642–1714), was a Puritan poet, author, educator and physician from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who was the first known American-born poet. Fussell, 1953, p. 494 He is also noted for his poems and writings involving King Philip's War and related conflicts between the colonies and ''Massachusett'' Indian Nations in 17th-century southern Massachusetts. Murdock;   Malone (ed.), 1936, v. xviii, pp. 584–585 In the aftermath of Indian attacks and the burning of entire towns and churches, Tompson saw this as an occasion to memorialize the tragic loses incurred in the conflicts through poetry and other writings in the hopes that it would also inspire other writers who were generally silent to take up the cause. His poem, ''Harvardine Quils'', is the definitive example, directed at Harvard's scholars and other writers. Eberwein, 1993, p. 1

Family background

Tompson was born on July 14, 1642, in which was then a part of Braintree. His parents were William Tompson and Abigail Tompson; Benjamin was the youngest of five children.

William was born in Lancashire county in 1596 or 1597; he likely attended the school in Winwick and knew Richard Mather who attended the same parish as he, and who had a great influence on William. Hall (ed.), 1924, p. 136 White, 1980, p. 28 William, a Puritan minister and the first pastor at Braintree, had emigrated from England in 1636. at a time when a "flood tide" of English migration to the colony was occurring. In May 1642, the Colony of Virginia was in need of ministers, where they sent some seventy letters to Boston in the hopes that they would heed their call and send any ministers that could be spared. The elders met and the letters were publicly read at a town meeting where it was agreed to send three ministers on the mission. William was one of the few ministers chosen, as he was one of several ministers who belonged to churches that had more than one minister. They set out in October from New York, but before they made it to the open sea they struck some rocks at Hell Gate and to prevent foundering they ran their ship ashore. While detained at New Amsterdam, they received "slender entertainment" and accommodations from the Dutch governor. It was mid-winter before they were able to secure another pinnace for their journey, where they departed from Narragansett Bay in October and safely arrived in Virginia. They were cordially received by the townspeople who welcomed their ministerial efforts. They were not, however, received in the same manner by the Virginia authorities because, as Puritans, Tompson and the other ministers would not conform to the dictates and precepts of the Church of England. Subsequently they were ordered to return to Boston, as Puritanism was not tolerated by Governor Sir William Berkeley and his officers. Sometime in the summer of 1643, they arrived back in Boston.

Benjamin's mother died shortly after his birth and he subsequently was raised in the household of Thomas Blanchard, a neighbor. He attended Harvard College and graduated in 1662. Tyler, 1880, v. 2. p. 21 In 1666 his father died. The next year Benjamin married Susanna Kirtland, with their marriage producing nine children. When he was fifty-one Susanna died in 1693. Subsequently he was forced to take care of his children as a single parent. On December 13, 1698, he married Prudence Payson, a widow. Benjamin's older brother was Samuel Tompson, who was a Puritan Deacon.

Vocations

Tompson taught at the Roxbury free school for three years, founded by Puritan missionary John Eliot, which eventually became the Roxbury Latin School. Among his students was Cotton Mather. Benjamin Tompson Poems, 2022 Thereafter he returned to Braintree, presumably in 1704, remaining there until 1710. Throughout his adult life he practiced medicine as a physician and was also a disciplinary teacher. As an author and poet Tompson is credited for being the first American-born poet to emerge. He is noted for his writings and poems eulogizing the various conflicts between the colonists and the Native Americans of Massachusetts. Because the work involved an epic issue in New England it became one of the best sellers in England, where works by American writers were welcomed. When Tompson was able to find time not involved with his teaching he pursued his writing aspirations and taught himself the art of writing poetic verse, and was motivated more by his own enthusiasm than from the influence of other writers.

After years of co-existence between the colonists and local Native American nations, Tompson was deeply moved by the conflicts and destruction that erupted during King Philips War in 1675–1676. In an effort to memorialize the loss of life Tompson took to poetry, which he also employed as a means to get other writers to join in the effort to bring attention to matters. Historian Peter White maintains that with the outbreak of the war, Tompson saw himself as "the public, representative voice" of threatened Massachusetts, and that he "decided to declare himself spokesman, apologist, critic, war correspondent."

Tompson's works include ''New Englands Crisis'', his most publicized work, a series of poems involving the troubles of King Philip's War, which included his definitive poem, ''Harvardine Quils''. It was Tompson's appeal and a challenge to the writers of New England to join in the effort of memorializing the tragic losses. The first verse reads:

The rights to the publication were bought by Boston's John Foster, who printed them in 1676; they are regarded as "the first collection of American poems to be printed in what is the American colonies". Also in 1676, Tompson wrote and published ''New-Englands tears for her present miseries'', printed in London, which was an account of the cause of the troubles among colonists and Native Americans.

Not long after the death and funeral of John Winthrope, a Puritan and once governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, Tompson wrote a Funeral Tribute in his honor, which appeared in ''New-Englands Tears''. White, 1980, p. viii, 109–110, 119

There are varying opinions among some historians as to who had the most inspirational influence on Tompson's authorship and his use of satire. Historian Moses Coit Tyler held the view that it was the English poet and social commentator, John Dryden, who bore the most influence on Tompson's work, and in particular his ''New Englands Tears''. Two of Dryden's works make reference to '' Tears'' in regards to the English colonies. Historian Howard Judson Hall held the opinion that it was Tompson's teacher, John Quarles, who had the greatest influence. Historian Edwin Sill Fussell, however, maintains that the evidence to support either view conclusively, while compelling, is circumstantial, as both Dryden and Quarles made use of satire in their writings.

On June 1, 1699, Gabriel Bernon sold Tompson and wife Prudence his mansion with two and one-half acres in Roxbury for 110 pounds. On January 3, 1670, Tompson refused an offer to teach in Boston, as he had accepted a call to teach at Charleston, replacing Ezekiel Chevers, the former teacher. He taught there until November 1674. The years spent between 1674 and 1678 remain uncertain due to lack of any records, diary entries or letters. Beginning in 1700 Thompson once again was teaching at the Free School in Roxbury, remaining there for the next three years. In 1704 he returned to Braintree and taught at the local school there, while also serving as the town clerk.

Historian Howard Hall believed that Tompson remained in Braintree until 1710, when old age compelled him to return to Roxbury where he lived with his sons, Benjamin, a saddler, and Philip, also a physician. Historian Peter White, however, said it was more likely that after Tompson retired as town clerk he returned to Roxbury with Prudence, his second wife, and once again took up residence in the Bernon mansion, where he lived out the remaining years of his life.

Final days and legacy

Tompson lived to the age of seventy-two. During his life time he authored about twenty-nine poems, beginning in 1658 with his poem about Samuel Arnold to his last work in 1713. Tompson died at his home in Roxbury on April 13, 1714, at the age of 71–72. His tombstone at the Eliot Burying Ground is inscribed with the following inscription: "Learned schoolmaster and physician and the renowned poet of New England".

Tompson's writings are historically significant because they are the first to appear in the colonies, and also reveal a common example of poetic verse in New England during the late seventeenth century, and especially because these works lend themselves specifically to the motives involved in the conflicts with Native Americans as they compared to Puritan precepts and culture, colonial fashions and the prevailing social attitudes. Not considered as someone with dynamic or unique writing ability, Tompson's works are distinguished more for their historical and subject content than they are for literary style.

See also

* William Hubbard (clergyman) — New England clergyman and historian who wrote ''A Narrative of Troubles with the Indians'' (Boston, 1677)
* Samuel Green and Marmaduke Johnson, Boston printers of the first Bible to appear in North America
* List of early American publishers and printers

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* {{cite book , last=Scheick , first=William J. , title=Seventeenth-century American poetry : a reference guide , volume= , authorlink= , publisher=Boston : G.K. Hall , year=1977 , isbn=9780816179831 , url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816179831/page/n5/mode/2up , ref=scheick1977

1642 births
1714 deaths
Colonial American and Indian wars
Colonial American poets
Harvard College alumni
People from Massachusetts