Fun Facts Friday: Charles Sprague the “Banker Poet of Boston”

Charles Sprague (26 October, 1791 – 22 January, 1875) was an American poet often known as the “Banker Poet of Boston”.

Fun Facts about: Charles Sprague the “Banker Poet of Boston”:

1. Sprague’s father, Samuel Sprague, was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and a participant in the Boston Tea Party.
2. Sprague’s schooling ended at the age of 13. He was then apprenticed to a merchant where he gained practical knowledge of business.
3. The poet won the best prologue prize at the 1811 opening of the Park Theater in New York City.
4. That same year, Mr. Sprague’s poems were published in the Centennial, Boston Gazette, and The Evening Gazette.
5. In 1814 Mr. Sprague married Elizabeth Rand. The couple had four kids, of which two made it to adulthood.
6. He wrote many of his poems for public events.
7. When the Marquis de Lafayette arrived in Boston, Mr. Sprague’s inscription were written on an arch that hung of the streets of the city.
8. Harvard College gave the poet an honorary degree of Master of Arts.
9. Charles James Sprague, the poet’s son, because the curator of botany at the Boston Society of Natural History.
10. Two of the poet’s grandsons become renowned artists, Charles Sprague Pearce and W.H.S. Pearce.

Zohar – Man of la Book