Thomas Dunn English

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Thomas Dunn English

Born June 29, 1819 (1819-06-29)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died April 1, 1902 (aged 82)
Newark, New Jersey

Thomas Dunn English (June 29, 1819 - April 1, 1902) was an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey who represented the state's 6th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1891 to 1895. He was also a published author and songwriter, who had a bitter ongoing feud with Edgar Allan Poe.

Contents

[edit] Biography

English was born in Philadelphia on June 29, 1819.[1] He attended the Friends Academy in Burlington, New Jersey, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1839. His graduation thesis was on phrenology.[2] He studied law, and was admitted to the Philadelphia bar in 1842, but mainly pursued journalism.

[edit] Literary pursuits

Thomas Dunn English
Thomas Dunn English

English wrote scores of poems and plays as well as stories and novels, but his reputation as a writer was built on the ballad "Ben Bolt" (1843).[3] Written for Nathaniel Parker Willis's New York Mirror, it was turned into a song and became very popular, with a ship, steamboat and racehorse name in its honor.[4] Other works include the temperance novel Walter Woolfe, or the Doom of the Drinker in 1842 and the political romance MDCCCXLII. or the Power of the S. F. in 1846.[5] He was the founding editor of the monthly Aristidean in New York,[6] which printed its first issue in February 1845.[7] English later edited several other journals, including the humorous magazine The John Donkey, American Review: A Whig Journal and Sartain's Magazine.[8]

English and author Edgar Allan Poe were bitter enemies. In 1846, amidst a public scandal involving Poe, Frances Sargent Osgood, and Elizabeth F. Ellet, English and Poe got into a fistfight. English unintentionally punched Poe in the face, cutting him with a ring on his pinky.[9] That same year, Poe harshly criticized English's work as part of his "Literati of New York" series published in Godey's Lady's Book, referring to him as "a man without the commonest school education busying himself in attempts to instruct mankind in topics of literature".[10] The two had several confrontations, usually centered around literary caricatures of one another. One of English's letters which was published in the July 23, 1846 issue of the New York Mirror[11] caused Poe to successfully sue the editors of the Mirror for libel.[12] Poe was awarded $225.06 as well as an additional $101.42 in court costs.[13] That year English published a novel called 1844, or, The Power of the S.F. Its plot made references to secret societies, and ultimately was about revenge. It included a character named Marmaduke Hammerhead, the famous author of The Black Crow, who uses phrases like "Nevermore" and "lost Lenore." The clear parody of Poe was portrayed as a drunkard, liar, and domestic abuser. Poe's story "The Cask of Amontillado" was written as a response, using very specific references to English's novel.[14]

[edit] Political career

English's first foray into politics was as an advocate of the annexation of Texas.[15] He moved to Virginia in 1852, to New York City in 1857, and to Newark, New Jersey a year later. He was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly in 1863 and 1864.[16]

English was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses, serving in office from March 4, 1891 to March 3, 1895. He was chairman of the Committee on Alcoholic Liquor Traffic (Fifty-third Congress). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1894 to the Fifty-fourth Congress.[16]

After leaving Congress, he resumed his former literary pursuits in Newark. In 1896, he published Reminisces of Poe, in which he hinted at scandals without specificity. He did, however, defend Poe against rumors of drug use: "Had Poe the opium habit when I knew him (before 1846) I should both as a physician and a man of observation, have discovered it during his frequent visits to my rooms, my visits at his house, and our meetings elsewhere – I saw no signs of it and believe the charge to be a baseless slander."[17]

[edit] Death

Grave of Thomas Dunn English
Grave of Thomas Dunn English

English died April 1, 1902 and was interred in Fairmount Cemetery in Newark.[16]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Griswold, Rufus Wilmot (ed). The Poets and Poetry of America. Philadelphia: Parry and McMillan, 1855. p. 576
  2. ^ Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. p. 349. ISBN 0801857309
  3. ^ Oberholtzer, Ellis Paxson. The Literary History of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co., 1906. p. 293
  4. ^ Oberholtzer, Ellis Paxson. The Literary History of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co., 1906. p. 294
  5. ^ Griswold, Rufus Wilmot (ed). The Poets and Poetry of America. Philadelphia: Parry and McMillan, 1855. p. 576
  6. ^ Moss, Sidney P. Poe's Literary Battles: The Critic in the Context of His Literary Milieu. Southern Illinois University Press, 1969. p. 176
  7. ^ Thomas, Dwight and David K. Jackson. The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe 1809–1849. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1987: 501. ISBN 0816187347.
  8. ^ Griswold, Rufus Wilmot (ed). The Poets and Poetry of America. Philadelphia: Parry and McMillan, 1855. p. 576
  9. ^ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. Harper Perennial, 1991. p. 291.
  10. ^ Oberholtzer, Ellis Paxson. The Literary History of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co., 1906. p. 296
  11. ^ Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. Checkmark Books, 2001. p. 81, 83, 91
  12. ^ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. Harper Perennial, 1991. p. 312-313.
  13. ^ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. Harper Perennial, 1991. p. 328.
  14. ^ Rust, Richard D. "Punish with Impunity: Poe, Thomas Dunn English and 'The Cask of Amontillado'" in The Edgar Allan Poe Review, Vol. II, Issue 2 - Fall, 2001, St. Joseph's University
  15. ^ Oberholtzer, Ellis Paxson. The Literary History of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co., 1906. ISBN 1932109455. p. 297
  16. ^ a b c Thomas Dunn English profile, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 13, 2007.
  17. ^ Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. p. 351. ISBN 0801857309

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Preceded by
Herman Lehlbach		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New Jersey's 6th congressional district
March 4, 1891-March 3, 1895		 Succeeded by
Richard W. Parker
Persondata
NAME English, Thomas D.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES English, Thomas Dunn
SHORT DESCRIPTION American state and federal politician
DATE OF BIRTH June 29, 1819
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
DATE OF DEATH April 1, 1902
PLACE OF DEATH Newark, New Jersey, United States