Death of Paternal Grandfather Samuel Fowler Dickinson
Poet involved
What happened
Emily Dickinson's paternal grandfather, Samuel Fowler Dickinson, a founder of Amherst College, died of 'lung fever' on April 22, 1838, in Hudson, Ohio, at age 62. He had been serving as treasurer of Western Reserve College.
Literary impact
Though Emily was only seven when her grandfather died, his legacy as a college founder and public figure cast a long shadow over the Dickinson household. The family's deep roots in Amherst's educational and civic institutions shaped Emily's sense of intellectual inheritance and her complex relationship with public life and ambition.
Source: Wikipedia
