Park Benjamin Sr. (August 14, 1809 – September 12, 1864) was well known in his time as an American poet, journalist, editor and founder of several newspapers.

He was born inDemerara,British Guiana, August 14, 1809, but was early sent toNew England, and graduated fromTrinity College,Hartford, Conn. He practiced law inBoston, but abandoned it for editorial work there and later in New York.

On July 8, 1839, he joined withRufus Wilmot Griswold to produceThe Evening Tattler, a journal which promised "the sublimest songs of the great poets–the eloquence of the most renowned orators–the heart-entrancing legends of love and chivalry–the laughter-loving jests of all lands". In addition to fiction and poetry, it also published foreign news, local gossip, jokes, and New York police reports.^[1] In 1840 Benjamin helped to foundThe New World and after other brief editorial ventures became a lecturer, public reader, and periodical writer. He was sued for libel byJames Fenimore Cooper, and was on personal terms withOliver Wendell Holmes Sr.,Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,Nathaniel Hawthorne andEdgar Allan Poe.

By the time his first son,Park Benjamin Jr., was born, he had settled down to quiet retirement inLong Island. His son went on to become a writer as well as a patent lawyer and physician. Benjamin died, after a brief illness, on September 12, 1864.^[2]

Edgar Allan Poe had mixed feelings about Benjamin, calling his writing "lucid, terse, and pungent" and his character "witty, often cuttingly sarcastic, but seldom humorous".^[3]Walt Whitman, for a time one of Benjamin's employees and protégés, hated his poetry outright.^[4] In the 20th century, Park Benjamin Sr. was virtually forgotten. He is now known only through his shorter poems, of which "The Old Sexton"^[5] is oftenanthologized.

• Quotations related toPark Benjamin Sr. at Wikiquote
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• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905).New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.{{cite encyclopedia}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)
• Park Benjamin, 1809–1864, atLibrary of Congress, with 19 library catalog records
• Finding aid to Park Benjamin papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

• Poets from Boston
• 19th-century American writers
• Poets from New York City
• 1809 births
• 1864 deaths
• 19th-century American newspaper founders
• 19th-century American newspaper editors
• 19th-century American poets
• American male poets
• American male journalists
• 19th-century American male writers
• 19th-century American lawyers

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