Thomas Gold Appleton American writer Date of Birth: 31.03.1812 Country: USA

Thomas Gold Appleton: A Biography

Thomas Gold Appleton, an American writer, gained fame for his wit, one of which is often quoted: "Decent Americans after death go to Paris." The authorship of this phrase is sometimes mistakenly attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes, whom Appleton met in 1833 on his way to Paris.

Thomas Gold Appleton, the son of merchant Nathan Appleton, was born on March 31, 1812, in Boston, Massachusetts. He later joked that he was almost born on April Fools' Day. Appleton graduated from Harvard College in 1831. During his trip to Europe in the 1830s, Appleton met poet and professor Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and they became close friends. Upon his return to Massachusetts, Appleton played a role in arranging the marriage of his sister Frances to Longfellow. However, it took Frances several years to be convinced that Henry was her intended. They finally got married in 1843 at the Appleton house on Beacon Hill.

Most of Thomas's life was spent traveling. In 1842, he visited Niagara Falls, and in the 1840s, he met education reformer Horace Mann and took him to a dance on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. In the same city, Appleton became interested in spiritualism and hypnotism.

Trying to pursue a career as an artist, Appleton was disappointed by the prospects. In a letter to his father in July 1844, he wrote, "You know as well as I do that my life, the life of an artist... has no value in this country... Do you think... I am foolish to call myself an artist or a poet? In the short term or the long term, I am not endowed with the kind of talent necessary for success here. This conclusion is melancholy, but true." In addition to art, Appleton tried his hand at poetry. In the winter of 1842, he wrote a tragedy in blank verse, which surprised his friends, who knew him only as a humorist.

Upon his return to the United States, Thomas became a member of the Board of Trustees of the Boston Public Library, serving from 1852 to 1856. On October 1, 1857, Appleton purchased a Greek Revival-style house near Longfellow's house in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His sister died in a tragic fire in July 1861, and Appleton was deeply saddened by her death. He never had children of his own but allowed Longfellow's eldest son, Charles, to borrow his yacht for a transatlantic voyage in 1866. Appleton invited his sister's daughters on regular carriage trips, noting that they were "cheerful and happy" when they exited the carriage.

Thomas sold his house in Cambridge on March 1, 1864, for slightly less than what he had paid for it ($7,600). He published several of his poems and prose works, including "Nile Journal" in 1876, "Syrian Sunshine" in 1877, "Windfalls" in 1878, and "Chequer-Work" in 1879.

In April 1884, while in New York, Appleton developed pneumonia. Despite knowing that death was imminent, he remained in good spirits, remarking, "How interesting this all is... It will be a new experience." Appleton passed away on April 17, 1884. His friend Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote a tribute in the Atlantic Monthly, stating, "The city seems grayer and older since he left us. The cold spring wind from the bay seems harsher and less friendly."

Appleton was buried in the family plot at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.