Samuel T. (Samuel Thomas) Pickard

Born in 1828 and dying in 1915, Samuel T. Pickard was an American journalist, editor, and author with deep ties to New England literary life. He spent many years with the Portland Transcript, where he became known as an influential editor and newspaper proprietor.

Pickard is best known for Life and Letters of John Greenleaf Whittier, a major biography published in 1894, and for Whittier-land, his guide to the landscapes and stories connected with the poet. Contemporary and library records also connect him with other literary work, including material related to Nathaniel Hawthorne and essays read before the Maine Historical Society.

His connection to Whittier was personal as well as literary: he married Lizzie H. Whittier, the poet's niece, which helped give his writing an intimate, informed perspective. That closeness, combined with his background in journalism, made him an important early keeper of Whittier's memory and of the broader cultural world around him.