Walt Whitman's Life

Great American poet Walt Whitman was born into a large and poor family. His father, Walter Whitman Sr., a laborer, married Louisa Van Velsor, and the couple had nine children. Walter Jr., called Walt, was the second child, born May 31, 1819, on a farm in Long Island, New York. Much of what is known about his early life has been gleaned from memories he later set down in poems—details of farm life (lilacs, grass, a sow's faint-pink litter, apple trees) as well as city scenes (heavily loaded ferries, schooners, bustling men and women).

The memories are probably accurate since Walt's father tried many occupations to keep the family fed. He farmed, worked at odd jobs, and when Walt was four, moved the family to Brooklyn to try house building.