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Son of Rev. William Emerson and Ruth Haskins, Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 25, 1803. He was the second of the five sons.
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Henry David Thoreau was the son of John Thoreau and Cynthia Dunbar. He was born the third child out of four on July 12, 1817 in Concord, Massachusetts. His birth name was David Henry Thoreau, but he later changed his name to Henry David Thoreau.
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At the age of 18, Emerson graduated from Harvard College which he had started at the age of 14, in October of 1817. During his freshmen year, he was appointed freshmen messenger for the president. Halfway through his junior year, he started keeping a list of books he had read. By Emerson's senior year, he decided to go by Waldo and was Class Poet.
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Emerson published his first piece of writing, Thoughts On The Religoin In The Middle Ages, in a magazine.
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Emerson met his first wife, Ellen Louisa Tucker, on December 25, 1827 in Concord, New Hampshire. They married when she was 18. Less then two years later, Ellen died of tuberculosis on February 8, 1831.
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Emerson joined Second Church in Boston as a colleague pastor. He is ordained and soon promoted to pastor of the church.
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On Christmas Day of 1832, Emerson left to tour Europe aboard the ship "Jasper". He returned to the U.S. on October 9, 1833.
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Thoreau attended Harvard College. He took way more than the required courses.
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On September 15, 1835, Emerson marries his second wife, Lydia Jackson. Together, they had four children; 2 boys and 2 girls.
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Emerson's first essay, "Nature", was published anonymously on this date.
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Emerson published his first essay which includes works like Self-Reliance and The Over-Soul.
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Thoreau moves into Emerson's house. He earns his board by helping with handy work around the house and babysitting the Emerson kids.
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Thoreau assists in his father's pencil factory.
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Thoreau moves into a cabin at Walden Pond and starts writing about his life there.
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Thorough goes to jail after refusing to pay poll tax. The refusal was supposed to protest the government's policies on slavery and the Mexican-American War.
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Thoreau's essay about his experience in jail is published.
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Thoreau published his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. It is about an 1839 rafting trip that he had taken with his late brother. The book does not sell well and he is forced to buy back 700 unsold copies.
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Thoreau published Walden, an account of his time at the pond. This book sells well and his reputation as a writer gets better.
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Thoreau dies at the age of 44 due to tuberculosis. Emerson delivered his eulogy.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson died on April 21, 1882 after suffering from pneumonia just days earlier. Emerson had been having problems with his memory for over 10 years before his death. He was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.
