The Birthday of Eternity

Walt Whitman, died March 26, 1892

In 1873, Walt Whitman suffered the first of several strokes, which he called "whacks".  Whitman was induced to move from Washington to the home of his brother, George Washington Whitman, in Camden, New Jersey.  George was the brother Whitman had nursed during the Civil War.

George Washington Whitman in uniform during the Civil War

His mother, having fallen ill, was also there and died that same year, in May 1873. Both events were difficult for Whitman and left him depressed and he would remain at his brother's home until buying his own.  While iliving at his brother's, he was very productive, publishing three versions of Leaves of Grass among other works. He was also last fully physically active in this house, receiving both Oscar Wilde and Thomas Eakins. His other brother, Edward, an invalid since birth, also lived in the house.

In 1884, when his brother and sister-in-law were forced to move for business reasons, he bought his own house at 328 Mickle Street (now 330 Mickle Street).  First taken care of by tenants, he was largely confined to home for most of the years he lived there. 

Mary Oakes Davis at 328 Mickle Street

Shortly after moving in, he began socializing with Mary Oakes Davis, the widow of a sea captain. She was a neighbor to him, boarding with a family in Bridge Avenue just a few blocks from Mickle Street. She moved in with Whitman on February 24, 1885, to serve as his housekeeper in exchange for free rent. She brought with her a cat, a dog, two turtledoves, a canary, and other assorted animals. During this time, Whitman produced further editions of Leaves of Grass in 1876, 1881, and 1889.

Whitman sitting at window in Mickle Street, 1887

He suffered his second stroke in 1888. As the end of 1891 approached, he prepared a final edition of Leaves of Grass, an edition which has been nicknamed the "Deathbed Edition". He wrote, "L. of G. at last complete—after 33 y'rs of hackling at it, all times & moods of my life, fair weather & foul, all parts of the land, and peace & war, young & old". 

Handwritten note from Whitman in 1889

Preparing for death, Whitman commissioned a granite mausoleum and visited it often during construction. Whitman's $4,000 tomb was built to his specifications on a 20' x 30' plot of land gifted by the Harleigh Cemetery Association. Whitman ordered the construction of the "plain massive stone temple" with an iron gate and large bronze lock, inspired by an etching called "Death's Door" by William Blake. 

"Death's Door", William Blake

The roof was a foot and a half thick and some of the blocks weighed 8 to 10 tons. Whitman watched its construction, sent photos to friends, and proudly reported it as a celebration of his personality. Friends thought it a bit outrageous and accused the contractors, Reinhalter and Company of Philadelphia, of swindling the elder poet. Whitman himself only paid $1,500 of the cost; a friend settled the rest of the bill. The result was, he wrote, "the rudest most undress'd structure... since Egypt, perhaps the cave dwellers."  

Whitman's Tomb

On December 17th, 1891, Whitman was bedridden with pneumonia, and remained in bed until his death.  

Whitman's Bedroom

In the last week of his life, he was too weak to lift a knife or fork and wrote: "I suffer all the time: I have no relief, no escape: it is monotony—monotony—monotony—in pain."

Whitman with his nurse, Warren Fitzsinger

Whitman died at 6:43 p.m. on the evening of  March 26, 1892 at the age of 72.  According to his physician, the end was very peaceful.  His last words, about twenty minutes before his death, were "Warry, shift",  asking his nurse, Warren Fitzsinger to turn him over.  His housekeeper, Mary Davis, was also present, as well as his lawyer.

After Whitman's death, his friend Thomas Eakins and an assistant created his death mask as well as a plaster cast of the poet's hand. 

Whitman Death Mask by Eakins

An autopsy was performed, despite objections from brother Geroge Whitman, but following the request of the poet himself.   The autopsy revealed his lungs had diminished to one-eighth their normal breathing capacity, a result of bronchial pneumonia, and that an egg-sized abscess on his chest had eroded one of his ribs. 

Whitman's Parlor

Whitman's funeral was held March 30, 1892.  His polished-oak casket was displayed in the parlor of his home. The public viewing was from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. and drew at least a thousand visitors, including neighborhood friends and curious laborers on their lunch break. A police officer was stationed at the door to direct traffic.

A carriage then took Whitman's body to his final resting-place at Harleigh Cemetery. 

Funeral Mourners at Whitman's Tomb

Thousands lined the streets to watch the procession. A ceremony featured speakers from Whitman's cadre of disciples; readings came from Confucious, Buddha, Plato, the Koran, and the Bible. 

The only blood relative in attendance was his brother, George.

Whitman's friend, the orator Robert Ingersoll, delivered the eulogy.

"He was the poet of Life. It was a joy simply to breathe.

He loved the clouds; he enjoyed the breath of morning, the twilight, the wind, the winding streams. He loved to look at the sea when the waves burst into the whitecaps of joy. He loved the fields, the hills; he was acquainted with the trees, with birds, with all the beautiful objects of the earth. He not only saw these objects, but understood their meaning, and he used them that he might exhibit his heart to his fellow-men."

Robert Ingersoll

Later, the remains of Whitman's parents and two of his brothers and their families were moved to the mausoleum.