Daniel Clement Colesworthy (14 July 1810 – 1 April 1893) was an American printer, bookseller, and poet.

Early life

Colesworthy was born in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

, in 1810, the second son of Daniel Pecker Colesworthy and Anna Collins. He became a printer, having served an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

in the office of Arthur Shirley, beginning at the age of 14. Early in his life, he became the editor and publisher of a young people's paper first known as ''The Sabbath School Instructor'', and afterwards ''Moral Reformer'', and ''Journal of Reform'', which did not last many years.Griffith, George Bancroft. ''The Poets of Maine: A Collection of Specimen Poems From Over Four Hundred Verse-Makers of the Pine Tree State, With Biographical Sketches''. Elwell, Pickard & Co. Portland, Maine. 1888. 139-141.

Career

In June 1840, Colesworthy commenced the publication of a small semi-monthly paper call ''The Youth's Monitor'', which he continued for about two years. In 1841 he printed the first number of a weekly literary paper, the ''Portland Tribune'', which he continued for four years and ten weeks, and in June, 1845, sold his interest in the paper to John Edwards, who was publisher of the ''Portland Bulletin''. The two papers, becoming united, were called the ''Tribune and Bulletin''. Colesworthy kept a book store on Exchange Street, and for a while in the basement of the

Mariner's Church Mariners' Church of Detroit is a church with worship services adhering to Anglicanism, Anglican liturgy, liturgical traditions located at 170 East Jefferson Avenue in Downtown Detroit. It was founded in 1842 as a special mission to the maritime ...

, on the corner of

Fore Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

and Moulton Street. He afterwards, and before 1851, moved to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and opened a bookstore on Cornhill. He was also proprietor of another store in the immediate vicinity, having his home in Chelsea. He was a voluminous writer, both in prose and verse, seeking to instruct as well as amuse his readers. Among his publications are several volumes of poetry, including the following in order of publication: "The Opening Buds," "A Group of Children," "The Year," and "School is Out." The latter of these was published in 1876, with copious notes, that were valuable for their biographical and historical data. The following notable quotation is from this work.

:Ay, soon upon the stage of life, ::Sweet, happy children, you will rise, :To mingle in its care and strife, ::Or early find the peaceful skies. :Then be it yours, while you pursue ::The golden moments, quick to haste :Some noble work of love to do, ::Nor suffer one bright hour to waste. ::: 'School is Out''

Personal life

Colesworthy's son, William Gibson Colesworthy (1851–1907), attended

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 ...

and Boston Universities, entered his father's business in 1877 and carried on his father's bookstore at 66 Cornhill until his own death in 1907.

Death

Colesworthy died in 1893 at his home, on Chestnut Street in

Chelsea, Massachusetts Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts Suffolk County ( ) is located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 797,936, making it the fourth-most populous county in ...

, aged 82. He was the oldest bookseller in the Boston area at the time.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Colesworthy, Daniel Clement 1810 births 1893 deaths Artists from Portland, Maine 19th century in Boston 19th-century American poets American male poets Writers from Portland, Maine 19th-century American male writers