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Study Guide
Ralph Waldo Emerson Timeline
May 25, 1803
Ralph Waldo Emerson Born
Ralph Waldo Emerson is born in Boston to Rev. William and Ruth Haskins Emerson. He is the second of their eight children, five of whom reach adulthood.
May 12, 1811
Father Dies
Less than three months after the birth of his eighth child, Rev. William Emerson dies of stomach cancer.
Dec 19, 2019
Begins School
Emerson enters Boston Latin School.
Oct 1, 1817
Enters Harvard
After graduating from Boston Latin, Emerson begins undergraduate studies at Harvard College. He teaches grammar school part-time to earn money.
Aug 29, 1821
Graduates
Emerson graduates from Harvard and takes a job teaching at a girls' school run by his brother William.
Nov 1, 1822
First Publication
Emerson publishes his first piece of writing, an article entitled "Thoughts on the Religion of the Middle Ages" in Christian Disciple and Theological Review magazine.
Feb 1, 1825
Divinity School
Emerson studies at Harvard's new School of Divinity.
Nov 25, 1826
Goes South
Emerson leaves his teaching job and sails south for the winter to Charleston, South Carolina and St. Augustine, Florida in order to restore his failing health. He returns to Boston in June.
Dec 17, 1828
Becomes Engaged
Emerson becomes engaged to Ellen Louisa Tucker, whom he met the previous year.
Jan 29, 1829
Becomes Pastor
Emerson joins Second Church, Boston as a colleague pastor. He is ordained and soon promoted to pastor of the church.
Sep 30, 1829
Marriage
Emerson marries Ellen Tucker.
Feb 8, 1831
Wife Dies
After less than 18 months of marriage, Emerson's wife Ellen dies of tuberculosis at the age of twenty.
Dec 1, 1832
Travels to Europe
Emerson resigns from his pastor position at Second Church and sails for Europe. During his ten-month trip, he meets William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle. Emerson begins sketching out his philosophies on nature and self-reliance.
Nov 15, 1833
First Lecture
Emerson gives his first public lecture, a talk entitled "The Uses of Natural History," in Boston, launching a lecture career that lasts nearly 50 years.
Dec 9, 1834
The Sage Arrives in Concord
A week after the death of his brother Edward from tuberculosis, Emerson moves to the town of Concord, Massachusetts, where he keeps a home for the rest of his life. His presence in the hub of transcendentalism earns him the nickname "the sage of Concord."
Jan 29, 1835
Starts Lecture Series
Emerson starts his first lecture series, "Biography," in Boston.
Sep 14, 1835
Marries Again
Emerson marries his second wife, Lydia Jackson.
Sep 9, 1836
Nature Published
Emerson publishes the essay Nature, which outlines his ideas about the manifestation of the universal in nature. A week later, he presides at the first meeting of the Transcendental Club, a meeting of New England intellectuals that includes Henry David Thoreau, Bronson Alcott and Margaret Fuller. Emerson's Nature is one of their founding documents.
Oct 30, 1836
Son Born
Ralph Waldo and Lydia Emerson's first son Waldo is born.
Aug 31, 1837
"The American Scholar"
Emerson gives his lecture "The American Scholar" to a crowded house at Harvard. In the audience is an undergraduate student named Henry David Thoreau, who is profoundly moved by the talk.
Feb 24, 1839
Daughter Born
The couple's second child is born. At Lydia Emerson's suggestion, they name her Ellen Tucker Emerson after Emerson's first wife.
Mar 20, 1841
Essays Published
Emerson's first essay anthology is published. It contains works like Self-Reliance and The Over-Soul, which will come to define his philosophies. Henry David Thoreau moves into Emerson's house, earning his keep by acting as a handyman and babysitter.
Nov 22, 1841
Daughter Born
The couple's third child, daughter Edith, is born.
Jan 27, 1842
Son Dies
The Emersons' eldest son Waldo dies suddenly of scarlet fever at the age of five.
Jul 1, 1842
Edits The Dial
Emerson takes over editorship of the transcendentalist journal The Dial, replacing former editor Margaret Fuller. The magazine folds two years later.
Jul 10, 1844
Son Born
The couple's fourth and final child, son Edward Waldo Emerson, is born. Soon after Emerson publishes the book Essays: Second Series, and delivers his first anti-slavery lecture.
Jul 4, 1845
On Walden Pond
Emerson's friend Henry David Thoreau moves into a cabin on Emerson's property on Walden Pond and lives there for the next two years and two months. His experiences are the subject of his memoir Walden.
Dec 12, 1846
Poems Published
Emerson's collection Poems is published in the U.S. and in England.
Dec 19, 2019
European Lecture Tour
Emerson sails to England for one of several European lecture tours.
Dec 19, 2019
Decries Slavery
During his lecture tours, Emerson speaks out against the Fugitive Slave Law, which requires all runaway slaves to be returned to their owners and makes it a crime to assist escaped slaves.
May 6, 1862
Thoreau Dies
Emerson's friend and colleague Henry David Thoreau dies at the age of 44. Emerson gives the eulogy at his funeral. In his honor, Emerson publishes the memorial essay "Thoreau" in The Atlantic.
Jan 1, 1863
Honors Proclamation
Emerson writes the "Boston Hymn" in praise of President Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Dec 19, 1866
Honorary Degree
Harvard honors Emerson with an honorary doctorate. The following year, he is elected to Harvard's Board of Overseers.
Dec 19, 1875
Letters and Social Aims
Emerson's book Letters and Social Aims is published. With his memory failing and his intellectual abilities slowing down, Emerson drops his habit of daily journal-writing.
Feb 4, 1880
100th Lecture
Emerson delivers his hundredth lecture before the Concord Lyceum.
Apr 27, 1882
Ralph Waldo Emerson Dies
After catching a cold, Ralph Waldo Emerson dies at home in Concord, Massachusetts, a month before his 79th birthday. He is buried in Concord's Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.