author
Seba Smith
1792–1868
Best known for creating the shrewd, comic Yankee Major Jack Downing, this Maine-born writer helped shape early American political humor. He worked as an editor and satirist, turning newspaper columns into a voice readers across the country recognized.
2 Audiobooks
Powhatan; A Metrical Romance, in Seven Cantos
by Seba Smith
About the author
Born in Buckfield, Maine, in 1792, Seba Smith became one of the best-known American humorists of the 19th century. He studied at Bowdoin College and later worked in journalism and editing, building his reputation through lively newspaper writing.
His most famous creation was Major Jack Downing, a fictional New England character whose letters used plain speech and satire to comment on politics and public life. Those pieces first appeared in the Portland Courier and became widely popular, helping establish a distinctly American style of comic political writing.
Smith was married to writer Elizabeth Oakes Smith, and their literary partnership placed him in a richly creative household. He died in 1868, but his wit and his ear for regional voice still mark him as an important early figure in American humor.