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Sarah T. Bolton (Sarah Tittle Botlon, née Barrett (18 December 1814–5 August 1893)), an American poet and Indiana's "pioneer poet," is best known for her poem “Paddle Your Own Canoe” (1850). An activist for women’s rights, she worked with Robert Dale Owen during Indiana's 1850–1851 Constitutional Convention to include the recognition of women's property rights. Her husband Nathaniel Bolton (25 July 1803–26 November 1858) co-founded Indianapolis’s first newspaper, the Gazette, and was Indiana State Librarian from 1851 to 1854.


Biography

Early life

Nathaniel Bolton and Sarah T. Barrett marriage certificate, signed by James H. Johnson of Jennings County, Indiana on 16 January 1832.

Sarah T. Bolton was born Sarah Tittle Belcher Barrett on December 18, 1814 in Newport, Kentucky. She was the oldest child of Jonathan Belcher Barritt (1778–1855) and Esther Pendleton Barritt (b. 1790).[note 1][1] Bolton’s parents were from the East Coast, and nothing is known about when they came to Kentucky.[note 2] Her mother, Esther Pendleton Barritt (of Virginia), was the daughter of James Pendleton (b. 1751) and was U.S. President James Madison's first [2] or second cousin.[3] Bolton's father was born in Hagerstown, Maryland to Lemuel Barritt (1722–1814) and Sarah Tittle (1774–1814); he was named after Lemuel Barritt's friend Jonathan Belcher, the colonial governor of the provinces of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and New Jersey.[4]

Bolton was one of six children, and public records suggest only she and her sisters Beth Pendleton Barrett (1814–1893) and Missouri Tittle Barrett (1826–1883) survived to adulthood. When she was three years old,[5] her family moved from the busy city and military post of Newport, Kentucky about 75 miles west to a homestead along Sixmile Creek near the city of Vernon in Jennings County, Indiana.[6] Bolton’s own account of this move has her mother weeping and this heart wrenching scene is the subject of XXX poem. Late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century accounts of Bolton’s life emphasize the rugged conditions in which her family lived, describing their family’s farm as belonging to the wilderness where the family saw almost no other people.[7]

From 1817 to 1823, the family lived in this remote area where her father cleared the land for farming.[8] Although they lived six miles from the town of Vernon, their life was not one of total isolation as some sources have suggested. Jonathan Barritt was an active member of the Vernon community serving first as Captain and later as Colonel of the local militia,[9] and in 1819 he became an associate judge on the Jennings County Circuit Court.[10] There were, however, no opportunities for the Barrett children to attend school, and so in 1823 they moved to Madison, Indiana, a city about 25 miles south of Vernon in Jefferson County.[11] Located on the Ohio River, Madison was the state’s most “thriving” city.[12] As Bolton recalled in 1888, the family’s move to Madison resulted in her father’s financial ruin after the business he had entered into on the advice of Milton Stapp, future Lieutenant Governor of Indiana, failed.[13]

She was a remarkable student despite her late start. (XXX) She studied Latin and was reading Virgil’s Aeneid until social pressures dictating that women should not have such literary aspirations forced her to abandon those studies. (XXX) One of her classmates was Jesse D. Bright, a future Lieutenant Governor of Indiana.[14] To supplement her studies, Jeremiah Sullivan, future Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, gave her access to his library.[15]

Her first poem was written after hearing a wilderness preacher. (XXX) Her first published poem appeared in the Madison Banner in XXX when she was fifteen; the name of the poem is XXX. (Pictorial 344) Every week she published a poem in newspapers in Madison and Cincinnati until she married Nathaniel Bolton in 1831.[16]


Married Jefferson County, October 16, 1831.[17]

Bolton Tavern

1831–1845 Farm becomes tavern for financial reasons. V. popular place for political & cultural figures. Connections she has. Sale of farm/tavern to state for hospital; relocated to Indpls

Indianapolis and "Paddle Your Own Canoe"

Indiana's Statehouse from 1835 to 1876

1846–1854 NB as Librarian purchased carpet from Shillito's in Cincinnati (JCHS clipping file). RDO & 1850 Constitutional Convention Third Presbytarian

A Grand Tour

1855–1858

Return to Indianapolis

Civil War, 1861–1865 1863: Reese 1871: move to Beech Bank

Return to Europe

1871–1873

Final years and death

Literary themes and styles

Poems

Image of "Indiana" sheet music?

Reputation

Bronze relief of Sarah T. Bolton by Emma Sangernebo. The relief, mounted in the Indiana State House rotunda, has four lines from Bolton's poem "Indiana."
Bronze relief of Sarah T. Bolton by Emma Sangernebo. The relief, mounted in the Indiana State House rotunda, has four lines from Bolton's poem "Indiana."

where has my caption gone?

Selected list of works

• "Ralph Farnham's Last Dream." Harper's Weekly. 2 February 1861.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The spelling of Bolton's maiden name appears most often as "Barrett" when referring to her although public documents relating to her father almost always have the name as "Barritt." This article maintains the historical record by using "Barritt" when referring to ancestors of Sarah T. Bolton and "Barrett" when referring to Bolton herself.
  2. ^ Jonathan Barritt may have accompanied his parents to Kentucky. His father Lemeul Barritt died in Harrison County, Kentucky in 1814; his mother died in Newport, Kentucky in 1817.

References

  1. ^ "A Southern Poetess."
  2. ^ Greasley 383
  3. ^ Downing, 2
  4. ^ Downing, 2
  5. ^ Willard and Livermore, 102.
  6. ^ Dye, 254.
  7. ^ Larrabee, 69; Martin.
  8. ^ XXX SOURCE
  9. ^ Bolton letter to Cravens.
  10. ^ Monks, 789.
  11. ^ Greasley, 383.
  12. ^ Smith, 840
  13. ^ Bolton letter to Cravens
  14. ^ Downing, 6
  15. ^ Pictorial, 344
  16. ^ Pictorial, 344
  17. ^ Indiana State Library. Genealogy Database: Marriages through 1850. Retrieved 25 December 2010.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

  • Bolton, Sarah T. Letter to John R. Cravens, 6 February 1888. (Published in Madison Courier (Madison, Indiana) 24 February 1888.)
  • Bolton, Sarah T. The Life and Poems of Sarah T. Bolton. Indianapolis: Fred L. Horton, 1880.
  • Bolton, Sarah T. Paddle Your Own Canoe and Other Poems. Indianapolis: Bowen-Merrill, 1897.
  • Bolton, Sarah T. Poems. New York: Carleton Publisher, 1865.
  • Bolton, Sarah T. Songs of a Lifetime. Edited by John Clark Ridpath. Indianapolis: Bowen-Merrill, 1892.

Secondary Sources

  • “The American Communities.” Bulletin of the International Institute of Social History 6.2 (1951): 89–122.
  • “Death of Sarah Bolton.” Indianapolis Sentinel (Indianapolis, Indiana). 5 August 1893.
  • “‘Paddle Your Own Canoe:’ The Writer of that Noted Song Still Alive and Vigorous.” Bismark Daily Tribune (Bismark, North Dakota). 26 March 1892.
  • “Pen, Pencil and Brush.” The Trenton Times (Trenton, New Jersey). 26 April 1892.
  • “Pen, Pencil and Brush.” The Evening News (Lincoln, Nebraska). 26 April 1892.
  • Pictorial and Biographical Memoirs of Indianapolis and Marion. Chicago: Goodspeed, 1893.
  • “A Southern Poetess. The Author of ‘Paddle Your Own Canoe’ Passes Away.” Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas). 14 August 1893.
  • Obituary. The Publishers Weekly 44 (12 August 1893).
  • Banta, R. E. Indiana Authors and Their Books, 1816–1916. Crawfordsville, IN: Wabash College, 1949.
  • Bodenhammer, David J., and Robert Graham Barrows. The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994. ISBN 9780253312228.
  • Boyer, Paul. Notable American Women: 1607-1950. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1971. ISBN 0674627342
  • Brown, Austin H. “The First Printers in Indianapolis: George Smith and Nathaniel Bolton.” The Indiana Quarterly Magazine of History 2.3 (September 1906): 121–126.
  • Bryant, William Cullen. A New Library of Poetry and Song. Volume 2. New York: The Baker Taylor Company, 1923.
  • Buley, R. C. “Indiana in the Mexican War (Continued).” Indiana Magazine of History 15.4 (December 1919): 293–326.
  • Clement, J. “Hoosier Minstrels.” The Western Literary Messenger 22.1 (March 1854): 1–3.
  • Coggeshall, William T. The Poets and Poetry of the West. Columbus, OH: Follett, Foster and Company, 1860.
  • Coggeshall, William T. The Protective Policy in Literature: A Discourse on the Social and Moral of Cultivation of Local Literature. Columbus, OH: Follett, Foster and Company, 1859.
  • Cottman, George S. XXX Home and School Visitor. Sketch of Bolton possibly in 1911.
  • Cottman, George S. “The Western Association of Writers: A Literary Reminiscence.” Indiana Magazine of History 29.3 (September 1933): 187–197.
  • Dana, Charles A. The Household Book of Poetry. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1858.
  • DeMarr, Mary Jean. “Sarah T. Barrett Bolton: Nineteenth-Century Hoosier Poet.” Midwestern Miscellany 17 (1990): XXX.
  • Dershem, Elsie. An Outline of American State Literature. Lawrence, KN: World Company, 1921.
  • Downing, Olive Inez. Indiana’s Poet of the Wildwood. Marion, IN: News Publishing Company, 1941.
  • Draegert, Eva. “Cultural History of Indianapolis: Literature, 1875–1890.” Indiana Magazine of History 52.4 (December 1956): 343–367.
  • Dunn, Jacob Piatt. Greater Indianapolis: The History, the Industries, the Institutions, and the People of a City of Homes. Volume 1. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1910.
  • Dunn, Jacob Piatt. Indiana and Indianans: A History of Aboriginal and Territorial Indiana and the Century of Statehood. Volume 1. Chicago: American Historical Society, 1919.
  • Dunn, Jacob Piatt. Indiana and Indianans: A History of Aboriginal and Territorial Indiana and the Century of Statehood. Volume 2. Chicago: American Historical Society, 1919.
  • Dye, Charity. Some Torch Bearers in Indiana. Indianapolis, 1917.
  • Engel, Bernard F. “Linoln, Twain, Certain Lesser Midwestern Poets, and the Civil War.” The Great Lakes Review 8.2–9.1 (Fall 1982–Spring 1983): 38–50.
  • Engel, Bernard F., and Patricia W. Julius. A New Voice for a New People: Midwestern Poetry, 1800–1910. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1985. ISBN 0819144525.
  • Fowke, Edith. “‘Old Favourites’: A Selective Index.” Canadian Journal for Traditional Music 7 (1979): 29–56.
  • G.S.C. “Mrs. Sarah T. Bolton, Poetess.” The Indiana Quarterly Magazine of History 8.4 (December 1912): 181–190.
  • Garrison, Gertrude. "XXX: Essay on STB." Indianapolis Journal XXX (22 February 1880): XXX.
  • Greasley, Philip A. Dictionary of Midwestern Literature: The Authors. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001.
  • Hamilton, Holman. “Versatility and Variety: Hoosier Literary, Political, and Diplomatic Prominence, 1871–1901.” Indiana Magazine of History 65.2 (June 1969): 103–114.
  • Hayward, J. Henry. Poetical Pen-Pictures of the War: Selected from our Union Poets. New York, 1863.
  • Henricks, Sylvia C. “Adjourned in Peace: A History of Piner Baptist Church.” Indiana Magazine of History. 72.4 (December 1976): 291–314.
  • Holloway, William Robeson. Indianapolis: A Historical and Statistical Sketch of the Railroad City. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Journal Print, 1870.
  • Howe, Daniel Walt. “Browsing Around Among Old Books.” Indiana Magazine of History 11.3 (September 1915): 187–210.
  • Huston, James Alvin (editor). A Hoosier Sampler: An Anthology of Indiana Writers. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2000.
  • Hyman, M.R. The Hoosier Year of 366 Indiana Writers and Speakers. Indianapolis: Max Hyman, 1916.
  • Manser, Martin H., Rosalind Fergusson, and David Pickering. The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs. New York: Checkmark Books, 2007. ISBN 0816046085.
  • Martin, Paul R. “Famous Poem Indorsed as Song by State Federation: Fritz Krull Provides Musical Setting for ‘Indiana,’ Written by Sarah Bolton.” Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, Indiana). 27 October 1912.
  • McDonald, Daniel. History of Freemasonry in Indiana from 1806 to 1898. Indianapolis: The Grand Lodge. 1898.
  • Murray, Agnes M. “Early Literary Developments in Indiana.” Indiana Magazine of History 36.4 (December 1940): 327–333.
  • Nicholson, Meredith. The Hoosiers. New York: Macmillan Company, 1900.
  • Olney, Jesse. Psalms of Life: A Token for the Many. Hartford: Brockett, Hutchinson, 1855.
  • Parker, Benjamin S., and Enos Boyd Heiney. Poets and Poetry of Indiana: A Representative Collection of the Poetry of Indiana, 1800–1900. New York: Silver, Burdett and Company, 1900.
  • Peet, Louis Harmon. Handy Book of American Authors. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell and Co., 1907.
  • Richey, Ish. Kentucky Literature, 1784–1963. Tompkinsville, KY: Monroe County Press, 1963.
  • Reilly, John E. The Image of Poe in American Poetry. Baltimore: The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, 1976. ISBN 0910556059.
  • Sage, Lorna, Germaine Greer, and Elaine Showalter. The Cambridge Guide to Women’s Writing in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN 0521495253.
  • Sanders, Charles Walton. Sanders’ Union Speaker: Containing a Great Variety of Exercises for Declamation. New York: Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor and Co., 1864.
  • Shumaker, Arthur W. A History of Indiana Literature. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau, 1962.
  • Telle, Franklin D. “Sarah T. Bolton.” The Magazine of Poetry and Literary Review 6 (December 1894): 536.
  • Townsend, John Wilson, and Dorothy Edwards Townsend. Kentucky in American Letters, 1784-1912. Cedar Rapids: Torch Press, 1913.
  • Trautmann, Frederick. “Kossuth in Indiana.” Indiana Magazine of History 63.4 (December 1967): 299–314.
  • Van Bolt, Roger H. “Sectional Aspects of Expansion, 1844–1848.” Indiana Magazine of History 48.2 (June 1952): 119–140.
  • Venable, William Henry. Beginnings of Literary Culture in the Ohio Valley. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1891.
  • Whicker, J. Wesley. “Dr. John Evans.” Indiana Magazine of History 19.3 (September 1923): 226–240.
  • White, Richard Grant. Poetry, Lyrical, Narrative and Satirical, of the Civil War. New York: American News Company, 1866.
  • Willard, Frances E., and Mary A. Livermore (editors). Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-Seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women. Buffalo: Charles Wells Moulton, 1893.
  • Williams, Minnie Olcott. Indiana Authors: A Representative Collection for Young People. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1916.
  • Wilson, Floyd B. Book of Recitations and Dialogues; With Instructions in Elocution and Declamation. New York: Fitzgerald, 1869.
  • Wilson, James Grant, and John Fiske (editors). Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography. Volume 1. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1887
  • Wollen, William Wesley. Biographical and Historical Sketches of Early Indiana. Indianapolis: Hammond and Company, 1883.
  • Wooster, Lizzie E. The Wooster First(–Fifth) Reader. Volume 2. Chicago: Wooster Company, 1907.
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