author
Seba Smith
1792–1868
A sharp early American satirist, he became famous for the comic political voice of Major Jack Downing, a fictional Yankee whose plainspoken letters helped shape U.S. humor. His writing mixed homespun comedy with pointed commentary on public life.
2 Audiobooks
Powhatan; A Metrical Romance, in Seven Cantos
by Seba Smith
About the author
Born in Buckfield, Maine, in 1792, Seba Smith studied at Bowdoin College and went on to work as a journalist, editor, and writer. He founded the Portland Courier in 1829, and it was there that he introduced Major Jack Downing, the character that made him widely known.
Through Downing's letters, Smith used rustic New England speech and sly political satire to comment on the issues and personalities of his day. The character became extremely popular and helped establish a lasting American style of humor built on the "common man's" voice, sounding simple on the surface while making shrewd observations underneath.
Smith later lived in New York and continued writing for many years. He was also part of a literary family: his wife, Elizabeth Oakes Smith, was a well-known writer in her own right. Today he is remembered as an important early humorist whose political comedy left a clear mark on 19th-century American writing.