In the year of 1759 Susannah Wheatley, wife of a prominent Boston businessman, purchased at a slave auction a frail young girl who had been kidnapped from her West African birthplace. She brought her to live in the Wheatley home to be trained as a slave. Mary Wheatley, the eighteen year old daughter of Susannah and John, took an interest in the child and within six months had taught her to speak proper English. The child, named Phillis, soon learned to read and within sixteen months was mastering difficult passages from the Bible.
Never A Slave
By the age of twelve Phillis was learning Latin and began studying English Literature under the tutelage of the Wheatley daughter. She had shown such intellect and literary accomplishments that the Wheatleys' treated her as an equal and even began to show her off to their acquaintances. Phillis never learned to serve the family, as was her station in life, which made her unique in Colonial America. She developed into a brilliant conversationalist and a devout Puritan becoming so indoctrinated by the white world she had no contact with others of her color.
Wheatley's First Poem
Phillis Wheatley not only loved to read she quickly learned to set her thoughts on paper in the way of poetry. She wrote her first poem, 'On Messrs Hussey and Coffin' in 1765. It was published in 1767 in the Newport Mercury. Phillis went on to write other poems and in 1770 her published elegy of George Whitefield, a famous Evangelical Methodist minister, caught the eye of a noblewoman, Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon. The Countess was much enthralled with the young slave's work and proposed that she come to England for a visit.
Traveling to England
In 1773, Phillis Wheatley, and her traveling companion, Nathaniel Wheatley , embarked to London. Phillis had by that time written enough verse to fill a book and tried, in vain, to get it published in America. The influence of her mentor, the Countess of Huntingdon, supplied her with a English publisher. She began to look forward to her seeing her name on the volume of 'Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral' which would make her the first African American to accomplish such a feat and the third woman in America to publish a book of poetry. A reception was held, in London, for this remarkable poet and was attended by many dignitaries including Benjamin Franklin. However, her moment of fame was cut short and she was not to see the book in published form.
Susannah Wheatley's Death
Word was received, from America, that Susannah Wheatley had taken ill and requested that her son and Phillis return home. Her mistress died in 1774 and before long the young country of America was thrown into the violent Revolutionary War of Independence. Phillis' life was changed; her British friends dangerous to know. She was freed after Mrs. Wheatley's death and went on to marry a young black intellect by the name of John Peters.
Authenticity Questioned
Despite the fact that her former master, John Wheatley, and sixteen of his most respected colleagues vouched for the authenticity of Phillis' writing the book came under attack as not being her work. Such personages as Thomas Jefferson questioned the fact that she had actually authored the poems. Phillis, however, continued to write and by the time of her death had penned over 100 pieces of poetry.
Tragic Ending
Phillis Wheatley was always in frail health and her marriage not a prosperous one. Peters was a poor provider and the family lived in poverty even though Phillis tried working as a domestic. She gave birth to three children, all died in infancy, two of them proceeding her and the third shortly after Phillis' untimely death at age 31. Her work was never published again in her lifetime despite the fact that she tired to find another benefactor. Her final manuscripts are lost. She died in 1784 in a boardinghouse and is buried in an unmarked grave.
Fame After Death
Two of Phillis Wheatley's volumes of poems was published after her death. They were titled; Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley and Letters of Phillis Wheatley, the Negro Slave-Poet of Boston. The first in 1834 and the second in 1864. A memorial to Phillis was erected in the Boston Woman's Memorial on Commonwealth Avenue. She shares the space with two other famous Bostonian Women, Abigail Adams and Lucy Stone.
More Information:
To read Wheatley's poems and obtain more information visit the website of PoemHunter. com.
Sources:Famous Poets and Poems.com
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