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Sophia Elizabeth Thoreau (1819–1876) was an American editor. As the sister of Henry David Thoreau and his close collaborator, she was responsible for the posthumous publication of many of his well-known works. [1] [2] The original title page of Walden was drawn by Sophia Thoreau. Sophia Thoreau was born in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, on June ...
- The Yellow House
- Underground Railroad
- Helen Thoreau
- Sophia Thoreau
- Protector of Henry’s Legacy
The entire Thoreau family loved nature, and Sophia Thoreau in particular shared Henry’s passion for botany. As children they hiked together around Concord, collecting rocks, lichens and plants. Henry liked to collect arrowheads. Henry left Walden in the fall of 1847 to babysit Ralph Waldo Emerson’schildren while Emerson lectured in Europe. When Eme...
The house served as a haven of another kind: a stop on the Underground Railroad. Helen and Sophia Thoreau, like nearly all the women in Thoreau’s life, held strong anti-slavery views considered radical at the time. His mother, aunts and sisters belonged to the Concord Ladies’ Antislavery Society, one of the first in the country. The family proudly ...
People suspected that Helen, of all the Thoreaus, ‘had more sympathy in his [Henry’s] peculiar way than perhaps any other.’ As Henry neared graduation from Harvard, he asked his mother what he should do after college. His mother, who had a biting wit, said, “You may buckle on your knapsack, dear, and seek your fortune in the world.” Helen, the elde...
For the last 13 years of his life, Sophia Thoreau was Henry only remaining sibling and probably his closest friend and confidante. When he saw something interesting or unusual, he told Sophia. They were very much alike: musical, witty and intensely interested in botany. A family friend observed they both had “a certain gravity of thought and uttera...
When Henry took to his bed with the tuberculosis that killed him at 44, Sophia not only cared for him but helped him edit his manuscripts. She also negotiated with publishers and made sure the Atlanticmagazine printed several essays after his death. She had to deal with about 60 volumes of his manuscripts and several thousand pages of notes. Thorea...
Sophia Thoreau [excerpted from her obituary written by F.B. Sanborn] The Springfield Republican (10 October 1876). Thirty-five years ago, there lived in Concord four brothers and sisters, one of whom, a recent graduate of Harvard college, had begun to acquire fame among the transcendentalists and abolitionists by the courage and genius of his writings.
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May 28, 2021 · Sophia Thoreau (1819–1876) was the youngest child of Cynthia Dunbar Thoreau and John Thoreau. She received some formal education and worked briefly as a teacher. All of the Thoreau family members were avid naturalists, and Sophia and Henry competed with each other in collecting botanical samples. The siblings, who lost their brother John to ...
Sophia Thoreau (1819–1876) was the youngest child of Cynthia Dunbar Thoreau and John Thoreau. She received some formal education and worked briefly as a teacher. All of the Thoreau family members were avid naturalists, and Sophia and Henry competed with each other in collecting botanical samples. The siblings, who lost their brother John to ...
Sep 7, 2017 · Discovery: Sophia Thoreau (1819–1876) Daguerreotype, circa 1855. H. 3¾, W. 3¼ in. Gift from the Geneva Frost Estate, Maine. Courtesy Concord Museum, Concord, MA. A previously unknown image of Henry David Thoreau’s sister, Sophia, has been bequeathed to the Concord Museum on the bicentennial of her famous brother’s birth.
October 7, 1876, Sophia outlived her brother by fourteen years, her mother, Cynthia Thoreau, by four. It is true that for her devotion as sister and daughter and for her "cheerful spirit" Sophia has won unanimous praise from friends and later writers, but few have spoken of her as an individual personality.
