A Life of Peace

To have known one good old man—one man, who, through the chances and mischances of a long life, has carried his heart in his hand, like a palm branch, waving all discords into peace—helps our faith in God, in ourselves, and in each other, more than many sermons.

-       G. W. Curtis[1]

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[1] George William Curtis was born in Providence in 1824.  His mother died when he was two. At six he was sent with his elder brother to school in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, where he remained for five years. Then, his father having again married happily, the boys were brought home to Providence, where they stayed til, in around 1839, their father moved to New York. Three years later, Curtis, given his independence, and being in sympathy with the spirit of the so-called Transcendental movement, became a boarder at the community of Brook Farm. He remained there for two years, and met many interesting men and women. Then came two years, passed partly in New York, partly in Concord in order mainly to be in the friendly neighborhood of Emerson, and then followed four years spent in Europe, Egypt and Syria.

Curtis returned from Europe in 1850, attractive, accomplished, and ambitious for literary distinction. He settled on Staten Island and instantly plunged into the whirl of life in New York, obtained a post on the Tribune, became a popular lecturer, started work on Nile Notes of a Howadji (1851), and became a favorite in society. He wrote for Putnam’s Magazine, of which he was George Palmer Putnam’s associate editor; and a number of volumes, composed of essays written for that publication and for Harper’s Monthly, came in rapid succession from his pen.  In 1855 he married Anna Shaw, daughter of abolitionist Francis Shaw and brother of Robert Gould Shaw of the famed 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

In the period just preceding the Civil War, other interests became subordinate to those of national concern. He was involved in the founding of the Republican Party, and made his first important speech on the questions of the day at Wesleyan University in 1856; he engaged actively in John C. Fremont’s presidential campaign of that year and was soon recognized not only as an effective public speaker, but also as one of the ablest, most high-minded, and most trustworthy leaders of public opinion.

In 1863 he became the political editor of Harper’s Weekly, which was highly influential in shaping public opinion. Curtis’s writing was always clear and direct, displaying fairness of mind and good temper. He had high moral standards. From month to month he contributed to Harper’s Monthly, under the title of "The Easy Chair," brief essays on topics of social and literary interest, charming in style, touched with delicate humour and instinct with generous spirit.

In 1871 he was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant to chair the commission on the reform of the civil service. Its report was the foundation of every effort since made for the purification and regulation of the service and for the destruction of political patronage. From that time Curtis was the leader in this reform, and its progress is mainly due to him. In 1884 he refused to support James G Blaine as candidate for the presidency, and thus broke with the Republican party, of which he had been a founder and leader. From that time he stood as the typical independent in politics. He passed away in August of 1892. (Source: Wikipedia)