Thomas Holley Chivers
Thomas Holley Chivers (1809-1858) was an American poet known for his unique contributions to literature during the 19th century. Born on a cotton plantation in Washington, Georgia, he initially pursued a medical career but shifted focus to writing after a tumultuous early marriage. Chivers's early works, including "The Path of Sorrow," reflected his personal struggles and experiences, including time spent with the Cherokee, which influenced his poetry.
Over the years, he lived in various northern states, including Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania, where he published plays and poetry, gaining recognition after Edgar Allan Poe praised some of his work. Despite personal tragedies, including the loss of several children, Chivers continued to write prolifically. His relationship with Poe evolved into a friendship, further shaping his literary journey. However, Chivers's legacy became complicated by accusations of plagiarism against Poe, which he vehemently contested. Ultimately, while he produced numerous works, questions regarding the originality of his poetry have persisted, overshadowing his contributions to American literature.
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Subject Terms
Thomas Holley Chivers
Playwright and Poet
- Born: October 18, 1809
- Birthplace: Washington, Georgia
- Died: December 18, 1858
Biography
Thomas Holley Chivers was born October 18, 1809, on a cotton plantation in Washington, Georgia. He studied medicine at Transylvania University in Kentucky, earning his M.D. in 1830; however, he soon gave up his medical career. Fleeing an early marriage that ended poorly, he traveled for a while on the frontier and spent time with the Cherokee, who made an impression on him that would appear later in his poetry. In 1832, he paid to have published “The Path of Sorrow, or the Lament of Youth,” a verse recounting his failed marriage.
Four years after his graduation, Chivers moved north, and over the next two decades he would live in Massachusetts, New York, and Philadelphia. While in Springfield, he met and later married sixteen-year-old Harriet Hunt. Later that same year, he paid to have his drama Conrad and Eudora: Or, The Death of Alonzo published. The play retold the story of the famous Sharpe- Beauchamp murder of 1826.
In 1837, he and his family moved to New York, where he finally had his first volume of poetry accepted by a non-vanity press. Nacoochee: Or, The Beautiful Star made use of Chivers’s travels among the Cherokee and also demonstrated his appreciation for the romantic poets of his day, such as Lord Byron and the Transcendentalists. By the end of the decade, a daughter and a son had been born to Chivers and his wife. They had seven children in all, although only three would live to adulthood.
In 1840 and 1841 Chivers submitted a number of poems to various magazines. After Poe had published a review that extolled Chivers’s better poems but denigrated his weaker ones, Chivers entered into a correspondence with him. Eventually Poe relented and accepted poems for Graham’s Magazine, effectively launching Chivers’s public career. At the peak of his first success, however, tragedy struck in 1842 when the typhoid epidemic claimed the life of his oldest daughter. Within a year he had lost four of his children. Nevertheless, he published more poetry throughout the 1840’s and 1850’s. His correspondence with Poe deepened into a friendship, and the two met on several occasions.
In the years following Poe’s demise, Chivers tried to contribute to Poe’s legacy by writing a brief biography that was never published. However, when Chivers published his book of poetry Eonchs of Ruby, a Gift of Love in 1850, he was accused of having plagiarized sections of it—in form and method, if not verbatim—from Poe. Angered, Chivers fought back by eventually claiming that Poe had plagiarized parts of “The Raven” and other poems from him. Although Chivers would continue to publish volumes of poetry and be quite prolific until his death in 1858, his poetic legacy would forever be tainted with questions of legitimacy and originality.