|
1817
|
Born July 12 in Concord, Massachusetts, to John and Cynthia (Dunbar)
Thoreau. |
|
1828-33
|
Attended Concord Academy. |
|
1833-37
|
Attended Harvard College. |
|
1837
|
Taught briefly at Concord Center School (public). |
|
1838-41
|
Conducted a private school in Concord with his elder brother John. |
|
1839
|
Went on boating excursion on Concord and Merrimack rivers with his
brother John. |
|
1840
|
Poems and essays published in The Dial. |
|
1841-43
|
Lived with Ralph Waldo Emerson and his family in Concord. |
|
1842
|
John Thoreau, Jr. (brother), died suddenly of lockjaw; "Natural History
of Massachusetts" published. |
|
1843
|
"Walk to Wachusett" and "A Winter Walk" published; tutored William
Emerson’s children on Staten Island, New York. |
|
1844
|
Accidentally set fire to woods in Concord with Edward Hoar. |
|
1845-47
|
Lived in a small house he built himself on the shore of Walden Pond. |
|
1846
|
Traveled to Maine and climbed Mt. Katahdin; spent a night in jail for
refusing to pay a poll tax. |
|
1847-48
|
Lived in Emerson household while Ralph Waldo Emerson lectured in England. |
|
1848
|
Began career as professional lecturer; "Ktaadn and the Maine Woods"
published. |
|
1849
|
A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers and "Resistance to
Civil Government" ("Civil Disobedience") published; traveled to Cape Cod;
elder sister Helen died, apparently of tuberculosis. |
|
1850
|
June: Traveled to Cape Cod.
July: Traveled to Fire Island, New York, in search of
Margaret Fuller’s remains.
August 29: Moved into third-floor attic of parents’ house
on Main Street, Concord.
September–October: Traveled to Quebec.
November: Began dating journal entries regularly;
stopped cutting pages from journal volumes as part of his writing process.
December 18: Elected corresponding member of the Boston
Society of Natural History. |
|
1851
|
April 23: First delivered "Walking,
or the Wild" lecture.
Summer: Began commonplace book for natural history readings;
began compiling phenological lists and charts.
September 7: Notes in journal that his profession was
"to find God in nature." |
|
1852
|
April 18: Notes in journal that he first perceived that
"the year is a circle."
July 2: Notes in journal that this was his "year of observation." |
|
1853
|
Traveled to Maine woods; portions of "A Yankee in Canada" published |
|
1854
|
Walden; or, Life in the Woods and "Slavery in Massachusetts"
published; delivered early "Life without Principle" lecture for first time
in Providence, Rhode Island. |
|
1855
|
Traveled to Cape Cod; Portions of "Cape Cod" published |
|
1856
|
Surveyed Eagleswood Community near Perth Amboy, New Jersey. |
|
1857
|
Traveled to Cape Cod and Maine Woods; "Chesuncook" published. |
|
1858
|
Traveled to White Mountains in New Hampshire. |
|
1859
|
February: John Thoreau (father) died; delivered "Autumnal
Tints" lecture in Worcester, Massachusetts.
October: Began writing Wild Fruits; delivered "A
Plea for Captain John Brown" in Concord. |
|
1860
|
February 8: Delivered "Wild Apples" in Concord, getting
"long, continued applause" at end of lecture.
June–September: Worked on third draft of Wild Fruits.
September–October: Delivered "The Succession of Forest
Trees" in Concord, Massachusetts; published same in New-York Weekly Tribune.
October–November: Visited local woodlots almost daily;
worked on both Wild Fruits and The Dispersion of Seeds.
December: Worked on both Wild Fruits and The Dispersion
of Seeds.
December 3: While researching tree growth, contracted
a severe cold, which rapidly worsened into bronchitis and kept him housebound.
December 11: Delivered last lecture, "Autumnal Tints,"
in Waterbury,Connecticut. |
|
1861
|
January–early May: Worked on both Wild Fruits and
The
Dispersion of Seeds.
May 12–July 14: Traveled to Minnesota with Horace Mann,
Jr., in effort to regain health. |
|
1862
|
February 20: Sent "Autumnal Tints" manuscript, culled
from The Fall of the Leaf, to The Atlantic Monthly.
February 28: Sent "Life without Principle" manuscript
to The Atlantic Monthly.
March 11: Sent "Walking" manuscript to The Atlantic
Monthly.
April 2: Sent "Wild Apples" manuscript, culled from Wild
Fruits, to The Atlantic Monthly.
May 6: Died in Concord, Massachusetts. |