Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1872-04-25
A Poets Suicide.

! ih lhc New oik " UoTfd some few
years since:-
A Poets Suicide.
The Life Of the Late Major oisourney Sin
enlar ui-i.ry oJ the Author~hip of IN,
''Thr H-a -tiIui sno~"-rhe Ponul.r Por,,
a- Originally Written.
I Doubtless all. or nearly all. of th,
I persons who read this article have read
and admired a little Poem called 9Th,
] Beautiful Snow" which. immediately
4 on ITS appearance few wears ago. moi
I only attracted tcntion because of il.
intrinsic beauty. bui also because OF il.
unknown aud disputed authorship.
| Ihls mau claimed it aud that msn claim
ed ": now its author WAS woman
! whose degraded life had separated her
nom hcr sisters. aud whose retnorse
was mere shadowcd i'll verse. and again
ihe tax was that poor Bohemian
had written on the spur Of the moment
IL seemed destined 10 be one OF those
melancholy songs which wander ahont
the world, which 20 from mouth to
mouth. aud which, beau ilnl ~ the, are.
bilnS no recognition Ia him who has
made them. They live. As all true
poetry must live. simply because they
arc beautiful
~ The light of FRIDAY last Major
William \. II. Sigourncy was found
dad on the Bloomingdale road. He wa
'h"t through tho head. aud ali the cir
cun>iauccN of The case showed tina, me
h'd committed suicide iew hour. be-
lone he was found. The bod, wastakcn
{" the Lou>c ui "A friend in Ore hundred
shd Tenth street, where AN inquest was
held, aud whence it was removed To
nrrcnw ood Cemetery and there buried
l pnu his person were found letter. from
Mt. Stephen Mascot .Je. m. Pine.
Mr.. }. Jay Watson. and Mrs. lydia n
>lguarneN.
MAJOR Sigournev was the nephew Of
Mr>. l.. Il. Sisuurncy, the poet. and
~a> born near -. Albans. in Vermont
EArly ia liie he married Miss Amelia
Joseph nc Fillmore. sister of Mr.. VII.
liam Fillmore. of New York, who was
afterwards associated with him in th.
publication of hebdomcnal called the
botdeh 1qe, ia" first number oi which
appeared IN 1871. and was Issued from
No. $50 Broadwah. Mis- Fillmore j.
SAID. by those who knew her. to have
been "A very beautiful woman. Tn.
marriage. however. was by no means a
happy one. and two wears after il took
place, and the pair were IN Enrope.
ruinOr sld that she WAS uniaithinl .
her husband. Reports of this sort made
their way 10 the friend. and family OF
MIS- sisourney. and when the connie
feturned i,oid to this country, in 1852. they
cntlv the wife was bad by nature, for
almost immediately upon her appear
snoc IN tins city She entered upon life
oi shame. aud II was not long before
she was lodged in Blaekwell's Island as
Sagrant-the passion for strong drink
had ruined her. Through the kind Off
ees OF Mr. Henry j. Raymond, Major
Slgourney succeeded in obtaining the
release OF his wife, but all endeayors 10
reform her proved unavaIing, and il
was not long before she returned To her
evil wa,s. La the autumn Of 1853 she
left her husband, and he heard no NOR,
OF her TIL he learned through the papers
that she had been found dead in Whit,
street, frozen and buried under the snow
which had fallen upon her.
The papers had spoken OF her simply
as young and beautiful woman, but
some circumstances connected with the
case led Sigournev TO think that the
dead woman was his wife. and further
examination showed that it was she.
lie had her buried in Green W ood Gene
terry. Mr.. RAYMOND again befriending
him, and deiraying the funeral expenses.
Ii was in memory of this W oman and Ter
sad death that Sigourncy wrote (ss lie
claimed) he poem called 1.-The Beauti-
iul SNOW and published il in the
Golden Age OF the first week of January
1854.
After the death of his first wife he
again married, and appears ALWAYS 10
have been in destitute circumstances,
occasioned either by his own ne.iec; of
opport lniiiesor a constitutional inabili-
u To Keep money after he had made it
His lie was rowing one; now he was
busy at one thing. aud now at another
HIS health was not good, aud some time
ago pulmonary affection forced him to
relinquish his place AS editor OF the ST.
Albans Messenger. AT various times he
contributed articles 10 The New York
papers. but a. may readily be conceived
dld not make sufficient money in thi.
way TO support his family. or. at least
to provide for its support after his death.
| and his suicide has left them poor.
For some lime before his death he had
contributed stories and poems to Pack
ards Monthly. the Dispatch, and other
| publications, and the urgency with
| which he asked that the money for them
should be sent to him "as soon as posi-
| BILE" shows that he was sadly in need OF
il; indeed, he said that he was starving.
| One of bis letters reminds one of Poe's
To n. Z. Willis, begging tor five dollars
| TO keep him alive. 1t reads, "For Gods
sake send me some IN ney, no matter
how little, AS quickly as you can. Nv
crild cried for bread this morning, and
had none o give" This was written
but short time ago, and from it the
reason OF the self-murder may easily be
conjectured.
| In regard TO the poem "The Beautiful
Snow discussion has not elected un-
doubted truth. Yet, all things consider
ed, Major Si.ourney's claim TO it is as
well founded as that of any other per
son. not excepting Mr.. j. ". Watson
and tenrv FaxOn. As originally writ
tcn-supposing that Major Sigourncy
wrote, il as he claimed, in December
lo53-the poem is as follows:
| BEAUTIFUL SNOW.
| As originally written, December, 1853