Top 10 Facts about Ralph Waldo


 

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century.

He achieved worldwide fame as the author of such essays as “Self-Reliance,” “History,” “The Over-Soul,” and “Fate.” He was a lecturer too.

Ralph Waldo was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the United States of America on May 25, 1857. He was named after his mother’s brother Ralph and his great-grandmother Rebecca Waldo.

Ralph was the second of the five sons who survived into adulthood while three others of his siblings did not make it to childhood.

Let’s look at 10 facts about Ralph Emerson Waldo.

1. Ralph Waldo was raised by women

Emerson’s father, Reverend William Emerson, was a prominent Boston resident who worked as a Unitarian minister. His father passed away less than two weeks before Emerson’s eighth birthday. He died of stomach cancer on May 12, 1811.

Despite following the footsteps of his father and joining the clergy, Emerson was without his father for most of his life. Their universe was populated and led by strong female minds and voices.

Emerson was raised by his mother and a series of aunts. His aunt named Mary Moody Emerson particularly had a profound effect on him. She is known as being Ralph’s earliest best teacher.

2. He was a boy genius

 
Ralph Waldo Emerson School_

Ralph Waldo Emerson School Photo By Conlin – Wikimedia Commons

The majority of us spend our 14th year in junior high, ever worrying about the coming of age. Emerson however, began formal schooling at the Boston Latin School (which is now the oldest school in the U.S.) in 1812, aged nine and in October 1817, Emerson went to Harvard Divinity College.

Before joining Harvard, his educators recognized he had a great mind and deeply encouraged him and this is how he found himself as the youngest member of his Harvard class at just 14 years old. At Harvard, he studied Latin, Greek, geometry, physics, history and philosophy.

He graduated in 1821 after four years of studying there.

3. Ralph ran a school for girls

Emerson Ralph Waldo House

Appletons’ Emerson Ralph Waldo House Photo By Unknown author – Wikimedia Commons

Emerson’s family was invested in educating women which were not considered a societal priority at the time. His brother William decided to found a school for girls in their mother’s home.

After graduating from Harvard, Emerson went to their home and began to teach young women. Emerson started giving lessons at that school by giving them lessons and sharing his views with his ideas.

William eventually left to study in Germany leaving Emerson with the responsibility of running the school by himself.

4. He was influenced by the culture, philosophies and writings of Asia and the Middle East

Ralph Waldo was first introduced to the Indonesian-Chinese trade after the revolutionary war. He watched the harbour as a boy in Boston and this trade was a staple of the docks. 

He further continued his study of Asia and the Middle East while studying at Harvard. There he studied the peculiarities of Asian and Middle Eastern culture.

Ralph was fascinated with the philosophy and culture of Asia so much that he even called it his second wife.

5. Ralph Emerson Waldo was an Ordained Unitarian Minister

 

Emerson was born into a Unitarian family in Boston. Coming from a long line of clergy, Emerson continued the family tradition. He studied the ministry and gained a license that allowed him to preach in 1826.

He was ordained as Unitarian Minister in 1829. Although, he lost faith resigned from the clergy in 1831 after his beloved wife dies of tuberculosis.

6. He was a leader in the Transcendentalism movement in America

Transcendentalism is a very formal word that is used to describe a very simple idea. People, men and women equally, know themselves and the world around them that goes beyond the five senses.

In search of a new system of beliefs, Ralph came across transcendentalism and found that one of his beliefs coincided with the major principle of the movement. He later led this movement of the mid-19th century.

7. Ralph Waldo married twice

On Christmas Day, 1827 Emerson met his first wife, Ellen Louisa Tucker in Concord, New Hampshire. The two got married two years later when she was 18 years old.

Less than two years into their marriage, Ellen died at the age of 20 on February 8, 1831. The twenty-year-old succumbed to tuberculosis.

Ralph Emerson proposed to the then Lydia Jackson via letters and married her in September 1835. After the wedding, the couple moved to Concord where Emerson had bought a house.

The couple had four children and named their first daughter Ellen Tucker to honour Emerson’s first wife.

8. Ralph was known as “The Sage of Concord”

Statue of Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson Statue Photo By Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division – Wikimedia Commons

Emerson is considered the most steadily attractive lecturer in America but also one of the pioneers of the lecturing system.

Emerson published “Poems” in 1847 and an essay about geniuses in history called “Representative Men: Seven Lectures”. He later moved to Concord, MA and some of his later works while living here include “Society and Solitude”. 

By this time, Emerson had already acquired the title “Sage of Concord” for his insightful and brilliant work. Even with his failing health, he continued to write, publishing Society and Solitude in 1870 and a poetry collection titled Parnassus in 1874.

9. He greatly influenced Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau was an American essayist, poet and practical philosopher known for his intellectual inspiration for the conservation movement. He inspired people to break the rules when they didn’t believe in them.

Despite the two great minds being fourteen years apart, they enjoyed intellectual sparring with one another. The two first met in 1837. Ralph embraced higher education while Thoreau detested it.

Emerson gave Thoreau housing, financial support and always encouraged him to keep a journal and offered him land to build a cabin on Walden Pond. Emerson used his influence to also promote Thoreau’s literary efforts.

10. Ralph hailed President Abraham Lincoln after criticizing him

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln Photo By Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division – Wikimedia Commons

Emerson heavily opposed slavery and was disappointed that President Abraham Lincoln cared more about preserving the union than freeing the slaves.

He often criticized the President for not doing enough to end it. In 1862, Ralph Waldo gave an anti-slavery lecture in Washington, D.C. and was invited to the White House the day after his speech.

His views about the President softened after this meeting and he described Lincoln as a well-meaning man with a boyish cheerfulness and clarity in speech. He even spoke at a memorial service held for Lincoln in Concord.

 

Planning a trip to Paris ? Get ready !


These are Amazon’s best-selling travel products that you may need for coming to Paris.

Bookstore

  1. The best travel book : Rick Steves – Paris 2023 – Learn more here
  2. Fodor’s Paris 2024 – Learn more here

Travel Gear

  1. Venture Pal Lightweight Backpack – Learn more here
  2. Samsonite Winfield 2 28″ Luggage – Learn more here
  3. Swig Savvy’s Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottle – Learn more here

Check Amazon’s best-seller list for the most popular travel accessories. We sometimes read this list just to find out what new travel products people are buying.