Robert Carter | |
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| Born | February 5, 1819  |
| Died | February 15, 1879 (aged 60) |
| Occupation | Editor,writer |
Robert Carter (February 5, 1819Albany, New York – February 15, 1879Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an Americaneditor,historian andauthor. He was involved in the formation of theRepublican Party.
He received acommon school education, and passed one term in theJesuit college ofChambly, Quebec. At 15, he was appointed assistant to the state librarian, who was also his guardian,[1] at the state library at Albany. He remained there until 1838. At this time he began to publish poems and sketches in the daily papers, his first contribution being a long poem, which he dropped stealthily into the editor's letterbox, and which appeared the next day with flattering comments, but so frightfully misprinted that he hardly knew it. This experience and a natural aptitude led him to acquire proofreading as an accomplishment, at which he became very expert.
In 1841 he went toBoston, where he formed a lifelong friendship withJames Russell Lowell, and together they beganThe Pioneer, a Literary and Critical Magazine, a monthly magazine which theCyclopædia of American Literature said was "of too fine a cast to be successful."[2] Nevertheless, its want of success was due, not to the editors, but to the publisher, who mismanaged it and failed when but three numbers had been issued. Among the contributors werePoe,Hawthorne,Whittier, Neal,Barrett (afterward Mrs. Browning), and the sculptorStory. Carter began in its pages a serial novel entitledThe Armenian's Daughter.
He next spent two years in editing statistical and geographical works, and writing for periodicals. His story, "The Great Tower of Tarudant," ran through several numbers of theBroadway Journal, then edited by Poe. In 1845 he became a clerk in the post office at Cambridge, and from 1847 to 1848 was private secretary toPrescott thehistorian. His elaborate article on the character and habits of Prescott, written for theNew YorkTribune just after the historian's death in 1859, was republished in a memorial volume issued by theMassachusetts Historical Society.
Carter joined theFree Soil Party in 1848, and in 1850 wrote for the BostonAtlas a series of articles in reply toFrancis Bowen's attack on theHungarian revolutionists. These articles were republished in a pamphlet asThe Hungarian Controversy (Boston, 1852). They are said to have caused the rejection of Bowen's nomination as professor of history atHarvard. At the same time Carter edited, withKossuth's approval, a large volume entitledKossuth in New England (Boston, 1852).
From 1851 to 1852 he edited, at first as assistant ofJohn G. Palfrey and afterward alone, the BostonCommonwealth, the chief exponent of the free soilers. For two years he was secretary of the state committee of the Free Soil Party.
In the summer of 1854, he obtained the consent of the committee to call a convention, which he did without assistance, sending out thousands of circulars to men whose names were on the committee's books. The convention met inWorcester, July 20, was so large that no hall could contain it, and held its session in the open air. A short platform drawn up by him was adopted, together with the name "Republican," and on his motion a committee of six was appointed to organize the new party,John A. Andrew being made its chairman.
In 1855 Carter edited the BostonTelegraph, in conjunction with W. S. Robinson andHildreth the historian; in 1856 he edited theAtlas; and from 1857 to 1859 he was Washington correspondent of the New YorkTribune. His next work was withGeorge Ripley andCharles A. Dana on the first edition of theAmerican Cyclopædia (1859 to 1863), in which many important articles were from his pen, including "Egypt," "Hindostan," "Mormons," and the history of theUnited States. In January 1864, he was appointed private secretary of the treasury agent whose headquarters were atBeaufort, South Carolina; and from July of that year until October 1869, he edited theRochester, New York,Democrat, doing such work for it as was seldom done on any but metropolitan journals.
When news came of the assassination ofPresident Lincoln, he wrote, without consulting any book or memoranda, an article giving a brief but circumstantial account, with dates, of every celebrated case of regicide. He was editor ofAppletons' Journal from 1870 to 1873. And then he became associate editor for the revision of theAmerican Cyclopædia, writing articles on "Jefferson Davis" and "The Confederate States of American".[1] In 1874 impaired health compelled him to discontinue his literary work, and in the next three years he made three tours inEurope.
His first wife, Ann Augusta Gray, was a successful writer of poems and tales for the young. They married in 1846, and she died in 1863. He married his second wife, Susan Nichols, in 1864.[3] She was principal of the women's art school atCooper Union inNew York City, published handbooks of art and contributed to periodicals.
He was the author ofA Summer Cruise on the Coast of New England (Boston, 1864), which passed through several editions. The 1888 edition has an introduction byRossiter Johnson with biographical notes.[3] He left unpublished memoirs, of which only the first volume was complete in manuscript.
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