The late Robert D. Richardson Jr.’s final book, Three Roads Back (Princeton University Press, 2023) explores how Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and William James each coped with the grief of losing loved ones. Emerson lost his first wife, Ellen, to tuberculosis after less than two years of marriage, and his first child, Waldo, died of scarlet fever at the age of five.

In the 19th century as it is today, December was a time of celebrations and gatherings. For Ralph Waldo Emerson, it was also a month when he experienced many life changes. 

A biographical profile of Ralph Waldo & Lidian’s second child, Ellen Tucker Emerson. A lifelong companion to her parents in their Concord home, Ellen was very active in the community and accompanied her father on lecture tours later in his life. She was an avid correspondent and her surviving letters offer many insights into Emerson family life

On September 30, 1829, Ralph Waldo Emerson married his first wife, Ellen Louisa Tucker. Already ill with tuberculosis when they met, she succumbed to the disease in 1831. Emerson mourned her death deeply and left the ministry soon thereafter.

This inaugural blog post shares a biographical profile of Ralph Waldo Emerson on the occasion of his 217th birthday.