author
Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin) Taylor
1819–1887
A vivid 19th-century American poet and journalist, remembered for blending homespun warmth with a reporter’s eye for scene and story. His writing ranges from Civil War reporting to travel sketches and reflective verse.
1 Audiobook
The World on Wheels, and Other Sketches
by Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin) Taylor
About the author
Born in Lowville, New York, in 1819, Benjamin Franklin Taylor built a varied literary career as a poet, author, lecturer, and newspaper writer. He became especially well known in Chicago literary circles and earned notice during the Civil War as a correspondent for Chicago newspapers.
In peacetime, he wrote as a freelance author and published poetry, sketches, and travel writing. Works associated with him include January and June, Songs of Yesterday, Pictures of Life in Camp and Field, and Between the Gates, a book drawn from his rail journey west and his time in California.
Taylor’s appeal seems to have come from his range: he could write about war, travel, memory, and everyday feeling in a style that aimed to be lively and accessible. He died in 1887, but his poems and prose still offer a clear glimpse of 19th-century American literary life.