Woodworth, Samuel (1785–1842), playwright. The peripatetic editor, publisher, and poet was born into a poor family in Scituate, Massachusetts, and was largely self‐taught. He worked on many popular periodicals in Boston, New Haven, Baltimore, and New York, serving as editor of the New York Mirror in 1823. It was after this stint that he wrote most of his plays: the comic opera The Deed of Gift (1822), Lafayette; or, The Castle of Olmutz (1824), the “pastoral opera” The Forest Rose; or, American Farmers (1825), the melodrama The Widow's Son; or, Which Is the Traitor? (1825, the spectacular thriller The Cannibals; or, The Massacre Islands (1833), and the farce Blue Laws; or, Eighty Years Ago (1833). His last work, The Foundling of the Sea (1833), was written in response to G. H. Hill's search for a play containing a prominent Yankee character. In 1836 Woodworth abandoned all literary interests and went to work for the navy but was paralyzed a year later by a stroke. Except possibly for The Widow's Son there is little of enduring merit in his plays, and posterity will recall him, if at all, as the lyricist of “The Old Oaken Bucket.”
Samuel Woodworth
| American Theater Guide: Samuel Woodworth |
| Columbia Encyclopedia: Samuel Woodworth |
| Works: Works by Samuel Woodworth |
| 1816 | The Champion of Freedom. The only novel by the New York journalist and the editor of the New-York Mirror is a fantasy-filled romance set during the War of 1812, featuring the spirit of George Washington, which guides military figures such as Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison. |
| 1824 | Lafayette; or, The Castle of Olmutz. Woodworth's first serious drama is a romantic depiction of the imprisonment in Germany that Lafayette, the French hero of the Revolution, had endured in 1792. |
| 1825 | The Forest Rose; or, American Farmers: A Pastoral Opera. A successful domestic play, most notable for its character Jonathan Ploughboy, who popularized the Yankee stock character. The Yankee stereotype had been introduced in Royall Tyler's The Contrast (1790) and was often imitated. |
| 1826 | Melodies, Duets, Songs, and Ballads. Woodworth's collection includes his best-known poem, "The Old Oaken Bucket," and "The Hunters of Kentucky," a ballad celebrating the frontiersmen who helped General Andrew Jackson win the Battle of New Orleans. |
| Wikipedia: Samuel Woodworth |
Samuel Woodworth (January 13, 1784 – December 9, 1842) was an American author, literary journalist, playwright, librettist, and poet.
Contents |
History
Woodworth was born in Scituate, Massachusetts to Revolutionary War veteran Benjamin Woodworth and his wife Abigail Bryant. He was apprenticed to Benjamin Russell, editor of the Columbian Sentinel. He then moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where he briefly published the Belles-Lettres Repository, a weekly. He next moved to New York City, but recalled New Haven in his A Poem: New Haven.[1]
Personal life
Woodworth married Lydia Reeder in New York City on September 23, 1810. They had ten children between 1811 and 1829. Woodworth remained in New York for the rest of his life, dying there in 1842 at the age of 56.
Woodworth's son, Selim E. Woodworth, was a U.S. Navy officer who took part in the rescue of the snowbound Donner Party in California. The USS Woodworth (DD-460) was named for him.
The Old Oaken Bucket
Woodworth is best known for the poem The Old Oaken Bucket, which has been described as one of the most beautiful works in the English Language. The first stanza reads:
- How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood,
- When fond recollection presents them to view!
- The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild-wood,
- And every loved spot which my infancy knew!
- The wide-spreading pond, and the mill that stood by it,
- The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell,
- The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it,
- And e'en the rude bucket that hung in the well-
- The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,
- The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well.
In 1826 the poem was set to music by George F Kiallmark (1804-1887) and has been sung by generations of American schoolchildren. It was recorded in 1899 by The Haydn Quartet, the most famous barbershop quartet of the time, and was released on Berliner Gramophone.
The Old Oaken Bucket House
The Old Oaken Bucket House in Scituate, Massachusetts is on the National Register of Historic Places. A sign on the house reads: 1630-1930 THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET Homestead and well made famous by Samuel Woodworth in his poem "The Old Oaken Bucket." Homestead erected by John Northey in 1675: Poet born in Scituate January 13, 1784. Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission.
The Old Oaken Bucket trophy
The Old Oaken Bucket trophy has been awarded every year since 1925 to the winner of the Big Ten Conference college football game between Purdue University and Indiana University. Although Woodworth was not from Indiana, the trophy's name refers to the sentiment that Hoosiers have for their home state.
Works by Samuel Woodworth
Published poetry
- The Hunters of Kentucky
- The Heroes of the lake : a poem, in two books
- An excursion of the dog-cart : a poem
- Bubble & squeak, or, A dish of all sorts : being a collection of American poems
- New-Haven : a poem, satirical and sentimental, with critical, humorous, descriptive, historical, biographical, and explanatory notes
- The poetical works of Samuel Woodworth
- Quarter-day, or, The horrors of the first of May : a poem
- Erie and Champlain, or, Champlain and Plattsburg : an ode
Plays
- La Fayette, or, The Castle of Olmutz
- King’s Bridge Cottage : a revolutionary tale founded on an incident which occurred a few days previous to the evacuation of N. York by the British : a drama in two acts
- The widow’s son, or, Which is the traitor : a melo-drama in three acts
- Bunker-Hill, or, The death of General Warren : an historic tragedy, in five acts
Opera librettos
- The deed of gift : a comic opera in three acts
- The forest rose, or, American farmers : a drama in two acts
Novel
- The Champions of Freedom; or, The Mysterious Chief. A Romance of the Nineteenth Century, Founded on the War between the United States and Great Britain.
Hymn
- Samuel was a founding member of the New York Society of the New Church (Swedenborgian) and one of his poems became a hymn - "Oh for a seraph's golden lyre" - which is still sung by some New Church congregations.
References
- ^ "Old New Haven", Juliet Lapidos, The Advocate, March 17, 2005
External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Samuel Woodworth |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
 | New York Mirror (literature) |
| Widow's Son, the (American Theater) |
| Forest Rose, the (American Theater) |
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| Where is Maria Woodworth-etter buried? |
Copyrights:
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 | American Theater Guide. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more |
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| Works. The Chronology of American Literature, edited by Daniel S. Burt. Copyright © 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Samuel Woodworth". Read more |
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Mentioned in
- New York Mirror (literature)
- Widow's Son, the (American Theater)
- Forest Rose, the (American Theater)
- Cochise
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