Frederick William Thomas
Frederick William Thomas was an American writer and lawyer born on October 25, 1808, in Providence, Rhode Island. He faced numerous health challenges throughout his life, including a severe leg injury in childhood that left him with a limp. After relocating to Charleston, South Carolina, his family eventually moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he began his career in law and writing. Thomas gained early fame with his song "'Tis Said that Absence Conquers Love" and published notable works such as his first novel, *Clinton Bradshaw*, which featured one of the first dramatic courtroom scenes in American literature.
He also contributed to various periodicals and published several books, including poetry and character sketches. His relationships with prominent figures of the time, such as Edgar Allan Poe and politicians like John Tyler, shaped his life and career, leading to various roles, including a personal aide in the Treasury Department. Later, he served as a Methodist minister and a professor of English before returning to law practice. Thomas passed away on August 27, 1866, in Washington, D.C., and is remembered today through the annual F. W. Thomas Performances, celebrating his contributions to American literature and culture.
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Frederick William Thomas
Writer
- Born: October 25, 1808
- Birthplace: Providence, Rhode Island
- Died: August 27, 1866
- Place of death: Washington, D.C
Biography
Frederick William Thomas was born October 25, 1808, in Providence, Rhode Island. His paternal ancestors were early New England settlers; one relative was Isaiah Thomas, founder of the American Antiquarian Society in Massachusetts and author of The History of Printing. Frederick was one of eight children (others were Lewis, Frances, Susan, Mary, Martha, Belle, and Calvin) of E. S. Thomas, a printer who moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he married before returning to New England. The Thomas family relocated to Charleston when Frederick was an infant. A delicate child, he severely injured a leg at the age of four, and limped throughout a life that was plagued with periodic illnesses.
Thomas grew up from the age of eight with an aunt in Baltimore. Because of his weak constitution, he attended school sporadically. During recoveries, he began writing. At the age of seventeen, Thomas started studying law and—without ever attending college—was admitted to the bar in 1828. He achieved local fame in 1831 with a popular song, “’Tis Said that Absence Conquers Love.”
In 1832, Thomas followed his father to Cincinnati, Ohio, where his father had established The Commercial Advertiser, and helped edit the newspaper. Father and son had a falling- out—though they later reunited to edit the Daily Evening Post for several years—and Frederick practiced as a defense attorney. The following year, he published The Emigrant: Or, Reflections When Descending the Ohio—A Poem. For six months thereafter, Frederick edited the Democratic Intelligencer, but relinquished the post due to ill health. While confined to bed, he wrote poems and sketches for such periodicals as The Cincinnati Mirror, Knickerbocker, The Weekly Chronicle, Graham’s, Hesperian, The Ladies’ Companion, and the Southern Literary Messenger.
Thomas’s first novel, Clinton Bradshaw: Or, the Adventures of a Lawyer, was a well-received satire about upper-class life and crimes and is notable for its early depiction of a dramatic courtroom scene. His East and West: A Novel was much less successful, although it contained a thrilling account of a race between two Mississippi steamboats. Howard Pinckney: A Novel by the Author of “Clinton Bradshaw” is noteworthy as one of the earliest examples of incorporating a detective story into an American novel.
A highly regarded lecturer, Thomas stumped for Whig presidential candidate William Henry Harrison in 1840. While in Washington, D.C., he met Edgar Allen Poe, and the two men became friends, corresponding regularly for five years. After Harrison unexpectedly died in office, Thomas befriended the sons of incoming President John Tyler, and landed a post as personal aide to Treasury Secretary Thomas Ewing. A charming man, Thomas managed to hang on to his office even after Ewing quit in protest of the president’s bank policy and stayed throughout the Tyler administration.
Following government service, Thomas lectured, wrote magazine articles and songs, and published several books, including The Beechen Tree:A Tale Told in Rhyme, and Other Poems, Sketches of Character, and Tales Founded on Fact, and John Randolph of Roanoke, and Other Sketches of Character; Including William Wirt; Together with Tales of Real Life. Thomas was briefly a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church in Cincinnati and a professor of English at Alabama University before resuming his law practice in Maryland in 1858.
Frederick William Thomas died in Washington, D.C., on August 27, 1866. A literary series, the F. W. Thomas Performances, is now held annually in his honor in Washington.