Samuel Woodworth (January 13, 1784 – December 9, 1842) was an American author, literary journalist, playwright, librettist, and poet. He is best remembered for the poem "The Old Oaken Bucket" (1817), but he is also the first American to write a

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

Life

Woodworth was born in

Scituate, Massachusetts Scituate () is a seacoast town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on the South Shore, midway between Boston and Plymouth. The population was 19,063 at the 2020 census. History The Wampanoag and their neighbors inhabited the ar ...

, to Revolutionary War veteran Benjamin Woodworth and his wife Abigail Bryant. He was

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, 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 ...

d to Benjamin Russell, editor of the ''Columbian Sentinel''. He then moved to

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, where he briefly published the ''Belles-Lettres Repository'', a weekly. He next moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, but recalled New Haven in his ''A Poem: New Haven''.Old New Haven
, Juliet Lapidos, ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

'', March 17, 2005 Woodworth married Lydia Reeder in New York City on September 23, 1810. They had ten children between 1811 and 1829. Woodworth remained in New York for the rest of his life, dying there on December 9, 1842. Woodworth's son, Selim E. Woodworth, was a

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

officer who took part in the rescue of the snowbound

Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California interim government, 1846-1850, California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent ...

in California. The USS ''Woodworth'' (DD-460) was named for him.

"The Old Oaken Bucket"

Woodworth is best known for the poem "The Old Oaken Bucket" (1817). The first stanza reads: In 1826 the poem was set to music by George Kiallmark and by the early 20th Century it became one of America's most popular songs. It was recorded in 1899 by The Haydn Quartet, a famous barbershop quartet, and was released on

Berliner Gramophone Berliner Gramophone – its discs identified with an etched-in "E. Berliner's Gramophone" as the logo – was the first (and for nearly ten years the only) disc record label in the world. Its records were played on Emile Berliner's invention, the ...

The Old Oaken Bucket House

The Old Oaken Bucket House in

is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. A sign on the house reads: "1630-1930 THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET Homestead and well made famous by Samuel Woodworth in his poem 'The Old Oaken Bucket.' Homestead erected by John Northey in 1675: Poet born in Scituate January 13, 1784. Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission."

The Old Oaken Bucket trophy

The Old Oaken Bucket trophy has been awarded every year since 1925 to the winner of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

game between

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

and

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

. Although Woodworth was not from Indiana, the trophy's name refers to the sentiment that

Hoosier Hoosier is the official demonym for the people of the U.S. state of Indiana. The origin of the term remains a matter of debate; however, "Hoosier" was in general use by the 1840s, having been popularized by Richmond resident John Finley's 1833 ...

s have for their home state.

Works by Samuel Woodworth

Published poetry

*" The Hunters of Kentucky" *The Heroes of the lake : a poem, in two books *Ode written for the celebration of the French Revolution, in the city of New York *An excursion of the dog-cart : a poem *Bubble & squeak, or, A dish of all sorts : being a collection of American poems *New-Haven : a poem, satirical and sentimental, with critical, humorous, descriptive, historical, biographical, and explanatory notes *The poetical works of Samuel Woodworth *Quarter-day, or, The horrors of the first of May : a poem *Erie and Champlain, or, Champlain and Plattsburg : an ode
"American Music: Remembering Samuel Woodworth" - excerpts of his verse and songs

Plays

*La Fayette, or, The Castle of Olmutz *King's Bridge Cottage : a revolutionary tale founded on an incident which occurred a few days previous to the evacuation of N. York by the British : a drama in two acts *The widow's son, or, Which is the traitor : a melo-drama in three acts *Bunker-Hill, or, The death of General Warren : an historic tragedy, in five acts *The Foundling of the Sea

Opera librettos

*The deed of gift : a comic opera in three acts *The forest rose, or, American farmers : a drama in two acts

Novel

*''The Champions of Freedom, or The Mysterious Chief, A Romance of the Nineteenth Century, Founded on the Events of the War, Between the United States and Great Britain, which Terminated in March, 1815'' (1816), the first

by an American author

Hymn

*Samuel was a founding member of the New York Society of the New Church (

Swedenborgian The New Church (or Swedenborgianism) can refer to any of several historically related Christian denominations that developed under the influence of the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). The Swedenborgian tradition is considered to ...

) and one of his poems became a hymn - "Oh for a seraph's golden lyre" - which is still sung by some New Church congregations.

References

External links

Scituate Historical Society

A family tree of Samuel Woodworth

The Old Oaken Bucket

* ttp://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/piece-info.cgi?id=436 Recording of the song ''The Old Oaken Bucket''
Parody of the song
by

Nat M. Wills Nat M. Wills (born Louis McGrath Wills; July 11, 1873 – December 9, 1917) was a popular American stage star, vaudeville entertainer, and recording artist at the beginning of the 20th century. He is best known for his "tramp" persona and for per ...

Singer songwriter Greg Cherone's 2008 contemporary version of "Old Oaken Bucket."

"Introduction to THE POETICAL WORKS OF SAMUEL WOODWORTH"
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodworth, Samuel 1784 births 1842 deaths People from Scituate, Massachusetts American Swedenborgians 19th-century American poets American male poets Writers from New Haven, Connecticut

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

19th-century American dramatists and playwrights