T. B. Thorpe
Thomas Bangs Thorpe, born on March 1, 1815, in Westfield, Massachusetts, was an influential American humorist and painter known for his engaging character sketches and depictions of frontier life. After studying painting at Wesleyan University, he relocated to Louisiana in 1836, where he painted portraits of Southern aristocrats and contributed to several newspapers in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Thorpe gained recognition for his writing, particularly with his short story "The Big Bear of Arkansas," which showcased his talent for dialect and storytelling. His literary contributions, including the collection "The Hive of the Bee Hunter" and the antislavery novel "The Master's House: A Tale of Southern Life," reflect a keen social awareness of his time. Thorpe also served as a war correspondent during the Mexican War, providing narratives that enriched his later writings. He returned to New York City in 1854, where he continued to paint and write until his death on September 20, 1878. Through his humor and storytelling, Thorpe left a lasting mark on American literature and culture.
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Subject Terms
T. B. Thorpe
Author
- Born: March 1, 1815
- Birthplace: Westfield, Massachusetts
- Died: September 20, 1878
- Place of death: New York, New York
Biography
American humorist Thomas Bangs Thorpe was born on March 1, 1815, in Westfield, Massachusetts, to Rebecca Farnham and Thomas Thorp (the “e” was added later), a Methodist minister. He spent his childhood in New York. He studied painting at Wesleyan University in Connecticut from 1834 to 1835, and his piece Ichabod Crane was exhibited at the American Academy of Fine Arts in New York City when he was eighteen years old.
Thorpe moved to Louisiana in 1836, partly because of his poor health; there he worked as a painter of Southern aristocrats and published several newspapers in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. He moved back to New York City in 1854. He served in the Union army in New Orleans during the Civil War, after which time he returned to New York and painted, worked at the customhouse, and contributed pieces to journals such as Harper’s Magazine and Appleton’s.
Thorpe is known for his humorous character sketches and his vivid portrayals of American frontier life. “Tom Owen, the Bee-Hunter,” his first published short story, was printed in the New York magazine Spirit of the Times in 1839. The same journal published his famous story “The Big Bear of Arkansas” in 1841. “The Big Bear of Arkansas” is a narrated story told by Jim Doggett, a half-horse half- alligator man who spins in dialect a tale about his obsession with killing the biggest bear in all of Arkansas. When the narrator asks Jim for a bear-hunt story, Doggett replies, “I will give you an idea of a hunt, in which the greatest bear was killed that ever lived, none excepted; about an old fellow that I hunted, more or less, for two or three years, and if that ain’t a particular bear hunt, I ain’t got one to tell.” William Faulkner, who has his own Big Bear story, wrote about Thorpe, “That’s a fine story. A writer is afraid of a story like that. He’s afraid he’ll try to rewrite it. A writer has to learn when to run from a story.” The Hive of the Bee Hunter, a collection of his finest character sketches, came out in 1854. That same year, he published The Master’s House: A Tale of Southern Life, an antislavery novel.
Some historians view Thorpe as the first war correspondent. In May and June of 1846, Thorpe traveled to the battlefields of the Mexican War, reporting for the Daily Tropic and gathering material he would later use in several books on the war. Thorpe died in New York City on September 20, 1878.