"Moll Pitcher: A Poem"
Scope and Contents
This collection is comprised of the single volume hand-copied manuscript of John Greenleaf Whittier's "Moll Pitcher: A Poem." The poem was originally published in Boston in 1832, and Philadelphia in 1839, though the date of this manuscript, copied by Mary Sellers Millbourne, is unknown. The poem describes the clairvoyant and fortune-teller Moll Pitcher, born Mary Diamond (ca. 1736-1813), of Massachusetts, as a witch engaged in sinful work.
Dates
- Creation: Undated.
Creator
- Millbourne, Mary Sellers (Person)
- Whittier, John Greenleaf, 1807-1892 (Person)
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research use.
Use Restrictions
Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).
Biographical Note
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) was born on December 17, 1807, in Haverhill, Massachsetts, the son of Quakers John Whittier and Abigail Hussey Whittier. He was an American poet and editor, and his first
published poem, "The Exile's Departure," was printed in William Lloyd Garrison's Newburyport Free Press in 1826. He attended Haverhill Academy from 1827 to 1828. In addition to being a poet, Whittier was an involved abolitionist. He was a delegate to the Anti-Slavery Society in 1833, and a member of the State Legislature in 1835. Whittier founded the antislavery Liberty party in 1840, and ran for Congress in 1842. In the mid-1850s, he began to work for the formation of the Republican party; he supported presidential candidacy of John C. Frémont in 1856.
Whittier published his first collection of poems in 1837, his first authorized collection in 1838, the collection "Snow Bound" in 1866, and edited an edition of John Woolman's Journal in 1871.
John Greenleaf Whittier died on September 7, 1892, in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire.
Extent
0.06 linear ft. (1 volume)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
John Greenleaf Whittier's "Moll Pitcher: A Poem" describes the clairvoyant and fortune-teller Moll Pitcher, born Mary Diamond (ca. 1736-1813), of Massachusetts, as a witch engaged in sinful work.
Acquisition
Unknown.
Processing Information
Processed by Kara Flynn; completed November, 2015.
- Title
- "Moll Pitcher: A Poem," undated
- Author
- Kara Flynn
- Date
- October, 2015
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Find It at the Library
Most of the materials in this catalog are not digitized and can only be accessed in person. Please see our website for more information about visiting or requesting repoductions from Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections Library