Charles Calvin Ziegler (1854–1930) was a

German-American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

poet from

Rebersburg, Pennsylvania Rebersburg is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. Rebersburg is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 494 at the 2010 c ...

. His native language was

Pennsylvania Dutch The Pennsylvania Dutch (), also referred to as Pennsylvania Germans, are an ethnic group in Pennsylvania in the United States, Ontario in Canada, and other regions of both nations. They largely originate from the Palatinate (region), Palatina ...

, and although he learned English in school, he wrote his poetry in the Pennsylvania Dutch language. He is said to have been the most accomplished poet to write in it, and may have written the only Pennsylvania Dutch sonnet on record.

Biography

Ziegler was born on a farm on June 19, 1854, to a 39-year-old mother and an even older father. He had at least one older brother, Samuel, who moved to

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

when Calvin was still young. When he was sixteen, Calvin went to join Samuel, eventually graduating the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

in 1878. He returned to Rebersburg and pursued teaching, but left again in October 1881 to study Greek and Latin at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

. In 1884 he graduated magna cum laude and returned briefly to Rebersburg. He left for good in 1885, settling in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. Ziegler published a volume of poems with a

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

publisher in 1891, '' Drauss un Deheem'', helping spur a revival of Pennsylvania Dutch literature. Included in the volume in a set of nineteen poems devoted to his mother, who died weeks before his Harvard graduation. The volume was republished in Pennsylvania in 1936, with some additional material. Calvin Ziegler died in St. Louis on April 23, 1930.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziegler, Calvin 1854 births 1930 deaths Poets from Pennsylvania University of Iowa alumni Harvard College alumni People from Centre County, Pennsylvania American people of German descent