Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatly was born c. 1753-5 in Gambia, Africa. Phillis was a slave child of seven or eight and sold to John and Susanna Wheatley in Boston on July 11, 1761.  Her first name was apparently derived from the ship that carried her to America, The Phillis. During her life, while it was not common for American women to be published, it was especially uncommon for children of slaves to be educated at all.  Her gift of writing poetry was encouraged by her owners and their daughter, Mary;  they taught Phillis to read and write, with her first poem being published at the age of twelve, "On Messrs. Hussey and Coffin." The countess of Huntingdon, Selina Hastings, was a friend of the Wheatley's who greatly encouraged and financed the publication of her book of poetry, Poems.  Obour Tanner, a former slave who made the journey through the middle passage with Phillis also was one of the chief influences and supporters of Phillis' craft. She was especially fond of writing in the elegiac poetry style, perhaps mirroring the genre of oration taught to her through the women in her African American tribal group.  Her elegy on a popular evangelical Methodist minister, George Whitefield, brought her instant success upon his death.  She also was well versed in Latin which allowed her to write in the epyllion (short epic) style with the publication of "Niobe in Distress."
Unfortuantly Phillis died December, 1784 in  Boston, Massachusetts as a result of childbirth. I love Phillis because she has some magnificent poetry and she was a slave that fullfilled her dream!