Jacob Abbott (November 14, 1803 – October 31, 1879) was an American writer of children's books.

Early life

On November 14, 1803, Abbott was born in

Hallowell, Maine Hallowell is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,570 at the 2020 census. Popular with tourists, Hallowell is noted for its culture and old architecture. Hallowell is included in the Augusta, Maine, micropolitan ...

to Jacob Abbott II and Betsey Chandler. He attended the Hallowell Academy.

Education

Abbott graduated from Bowdoin College in 1820. At some point during his years there, he supposedly added the second "t" to his surname, to avoid being "Jacob Abbot the 3rd" (although one source notes he did not actually begin signing his name with two t's until several years later). Abbott studied at

Andover Theological Seminary Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. ...

in 1821, 1822, and 1824. He taught in Portland academy and was tutor in Amherst College during the next year.

Career

From 1825 to 1829 Abbott was professor of mathematics and

natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe. It was dominant before the development of modern science. From the ancient wo ...

at Amherst College; was licensed to preach by the Hampshire Association in 1826; founded the Mount Vernon School for Young Ladies in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in 1829, and was principal of it in 1829–1833; was pastor of

Eliot Congregational Church The Eliot Congregational Church is a historic Congregational church at 56 Dale Street, at the corner of Walnut Avenue in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. History and architecture The Walnut Avenue Congregational Church was o ...

(which he founded), at Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1834–1835; and was, with his brothers, a founder, and in 1843–1851 a principal of Abbott's Institute, and in 1845–1848 of the Mount Vernon School for Boys, in New York City. He was a prolific author, writing juvenile fiction, brief histories, biographies, religious books for the general reader, and a few works in popular science. He wrote 180 books and was a coauthor or editor of 31 more. He died in Farmington, Maine, where he had spent part of his time after 1839, and where his brother, Samuel Phillips Abbott, founded the Abbott School. His ''Rollo Books'', such as ''Rollo at Play, Rollo in Europe'', etc., are the best known of his writings, having as their chief characters a representative boy and his associates. In them Abbott did for one or two generations of young American readers a service not unlike that performed earlier, in England and America, by the authors of ''Evenings at Home'', '' The History of Sandford and Merton'', and '' The Parent's Assistant''. To follow up his Rollo books, he wrote of ''Uncle George'', using him to teach the young readers about ethics, geography, history, and science. He also wrote 22 volumes of biographical histories and a 10 volume set titled the '' Franconia Stories''. His intention was to both amuse and educate, shown by this quotation from the Preface of ''Bruno'':

The books, though called story books, are not intended to be works of amusement merely to those who may receive them, but of substantial instruction. The successive volumes will comprise a great variety, both in respect to the subjects which they treat, and to the form and manner in which the subjects will be presented; but the end and aim of all will be to impart useful knowledge, to develop the thinking and reasoning powers, to teach a correct and discriminating use of language, to present models of good conduct for imitation, and bad examples to be shunned, to explain and enforce the highest principles of moral duty, and, above all, to awaken and cherish the spirit of humble and unobtrusive, but heartfelt piety.

His brothers, John Stevens Cabot Abbott and Gorham Dummer Abbott, were also authors. His sons, Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Austin Abbott, both eminent lawyers, Lyman Abbott, and Edward Abbott, a clergyman, were also well-known authors. See his ''Young Christian, Memorial Edition, with a Sketch of the Author'' by Edward Abbott with a bibliography of his works. Other works of note: ''Lucy Books'', ''Jonas Books'', ''Harper's Story Books'', ''Marco Paul'', ''Gay Family'', and ''Juno Books''.

Personal life

On May 18, 1829, Abbott married Harriet Vaughan. He had four sons; Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Edward Abbott, Austin Abbott and Lyman Abbott.

Select Bibliography

Biographies

* Alexander the Great (1878) * Alfred the Great * King Charles I * King Charles II * Cleopatra * Cyrus the Great(1878) * Darius * Queen Elizabeth * Genghis Khan * Hannibal * Josephine * Julius Caesar * Margaret of Anjou * Mary, Queen of Scots * Nero * Peter the Great * Pyrrhus * Richard I * Richard II * Richard III * Romulus * William the Conqueror * Xerxes

American History Series

* Aboriginal America (1860) * Discovery of America (1860) * Southern Colonies (1860) * Northern Colonies (1862) * Wars of the Colonies (1863) * Revolt of the Colonies (1864) * War of the Revolution (1864) * Washington (1865)

Educational fiction

*''Rollo's Experiments'' (1839) *''Rollo Learning to Read'' (1847) *''Rollo at Work or, The Way to Be Industrious'' (1848) *''Rollo at Play or, Safe Amusements'' (1850) *''Rollo in London'' (1854) *''Bruno or, Lessons of Fidelity, Patience, and Self-Denial Taught by a Dog'' (1854) *''Cousin Lucy's Conversations'' (1854) *''Rollo in the Woods'' (1857) *''Georgie'' (1857) ote: dates may be revised editions

References

Additional sources

External links

*
Portrait clipping of Jacob Abbott from The New York Public Library Digital Collections

Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson, John Fiske and Stanley L. Klos. Six volumes, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887–1889
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Works by Jacob Abbott
at Online Books {{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Jacob 1803 births 1879 deaths American children's writers American male writers Writers from Maine Abbott family People from Hallowell, Maine People from Farmington, Maine Bowdoin College alumni 19th-century American writers