William Austin (author)
Encyclopedia
William Austin was an American author and lawyer, most notable as the creator of the Peter Rugg
stories published in the New England Galaxy in 1824–1827. Austin's stories, constructed as long letters signed with the name Jonathan Dunwell, presented the Rugg story as a long-standing New England legend, about a strong and obstinate man who got lost in a thunderstorm in 1770 and wandered the roads ever afterwards.
, where his family had fled after the British burned down their Charlestown house during the Battle of Bunker Hill
. He was educated at Harvard College
and Lincoln's Inn
, London. He married twice, fought one duel with pistols, and had fourteen children.
As a young man he served as Unitarian chaplain aboard the USS Constitution
. After the Constitution captured a French ship, the salvage proceedings brought Austin $200 and the acquaintance of Alexander Hamilton
, who helped the young man begin his legal studies in London. While studying at Lincoln's Inn, Austin produced a lively series of "Letters from London", describing the politics and personalities in the age of Pitt and Fox. Back in America, Austin was active in local politics in the Boston area, serving in the state senate as a representative of Middlesex in the early 1820s.
Although he was a frequent contributor to local periodicals, on subjects ranging from Unitarian theology to chemistry to legal history, nothing else he wrote had the popularity of "Peter Rugg: The Missing Man" (1824) and its sequels. In 1882, his son, James Walker Austin, gathered the three Peter Rugg stories into a single volume In 1925 Austin's grandson Walter Austin reissued the Rugg tales, this time with a biographical sketch, in the volume William Austin: the Creator of Peter Rugg.
(who read them contemporaneously as a college student) and Herman Melville
, among others. Professor Thomas Wentworth Higginson
of Harvard, writing in 1908, described Austin as "A Precursor to Hawthorne" (essay title), resembling the younger writer not only in "penumbral" atmosphere of dread, but in his preferred era:
Peter Rugg
Peter Rugg is a New England literary character who figures in several American short stories and poems. Rugg is a stubborn and angry man, born about 1730. He rides out into a thunderstorm in the year of the Boston Massacre , and is cursed to drive his carriage till the end of time...
stories published in the New England Galaxy in 1824–1827. Austin's stories, constructed as long letters signed with the name Jonathan Dunwell, presented the Rugg story as a long-standing New England legend, about a strong and obstinate man who got lost in a thunderstorm in 1770 and wandered the roads ever afterwards.
Biography
Austin was born in 1778 in Lunenburg, MassachusettsLunenburg, Massachusetts
Lunenburg is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,086 at the 2010 census.For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Lunenburg, please see the article Lunenburg , Massachusetts....
, where his family had fled after the British burned down their Charlestown house during the Battle of Bunker Hill
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War...
. He was educated at Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
and Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
, London. He married twice, fought one duel with pistols, and had fourteen children.
As a young man he served as Unitarian chaplain aboard the USS Constitution
USS Constitution
USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America, she is the world's oldest floating commissioned naval vessel...
. After the Constitution captured a French ship, the salvage proceedings brought Austin $200 and the acquaintance of Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
, who helped the young man begin his legal studies in London. While studying at Lincoln's Inn, Austin produced a lively series of "Letters from London", describing the politics and personalities in the age of Pitt and Fox. Back in America, Austin was active in local politics in the Boston area, serving in the state senate as a representative of Middlesex in the early 1820s.
Although he was a frequent contributor to local periodicals, on subjects ranging from Unitarian theology to chemistry to legal history, nothing else he wrote had the popularity of "Peter Rugg: The Missing Man" (1824) and its sequels. In 1882, his son, James Walker Austin, gathered the three Peter Rugg stories into a single volume In 1925 Austin's grandson Walter Austin reissued the Rugg tales, this time with a biographical sketch, in the volume William Austin: the Creator of Peter Rugg.
Influence
The stories were so popular and convincing they were readily accepted as a recounting of actual legend. Austin's original fiction was forgotten, and Peter Rugg became accepted as a figure of popular New England ghost tales. The Rugg stories are said to have influenced Nathaniel HawthorneNathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
(who read them contemporaneously as a college student) and Herman Melville
Herman Melville
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
, among others. Professor Thomas Wentworth Higginson
Thomas Wentworth Higginson
Thomas Wentworth Higginson was an American Unitarian minister, author, abolitionist, and soldier. He was active in the American Abolitionism movement during the 1840s and 1850s, identifying himself with disunion and militant abolitionism...
of Harvard, writing in 1908, described Austin as "A Precursor to Hawthorne" (essay title), resembling the younger writer not only in "penumbral" atmosphere of dread, but in his preferred era:
The time to which Rugg's career dates back is that borderland of which Hawthorne was so fond, between the colonial and the modern period; and the old localities, dates, costumes, and even coins are all introduced in a way to remind us of [Hawthorne].