Family Tree Tuesday – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American philosopher, essayist and poet, who was instrumental in leading the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. Emerson believed in individualism and the need for harmony between man and nature. A staunch supporter of the abolitionist movement, Emerson gave a number of lectures calling for the abolition of slavery.

Emerson was born on May 25, 1803 to Ruth Haskins and Reverend William Emerson in Boston, Massachusetts.  His father was one of Boston’s leading citizens and a Unitarian minister, who descended from a well known line of ministers. At the age of eight, his father passed, leaving his mother to raise and support the family.

After the death of his first wife, Ellen Tucker, Emerson married Lydia Jackson and together, they had four children. Their youngest child, Edward, studied medicine at Harvard Medical School. After his father’s death, Edward left medicine and spent his time writing and editing his father’s papers and manuscripts. Emerson’s daughter, Edith, went on to marry William Forbes, the son of wealthy railroad magnet John Murray Forbes.

Did you know Ralph Waldo Emerson carries the mitochondrial DNA of Mayflower passenger Elizabeth Tilley?

Check out his family tree! How are you related?