John Greenleaf Whittier was an American Quaker author who lived from December 17, 1807, to September 7, 1892. He fought to end slavery in the United States. He was inspired by the Scottish poet Robert Burns and is often called one of the fireside poets. Whittier is best known for his works against slavery and his book Snow-Bound, which came out in 1866. John Whittier and Abigail (née Hussey) Whittier had a child on December 17, 1807, on their farm in Haverhill, Massachusetts. The word for his given name, feuillevert, comes from the Huguenots who came before him. The farm was where he grew up. He lived with his parents, his brother and two sisters, an aunt and uncle from his mother's side, and many guests and farm workers. As a child, Whittier was color-blind because he couldn't tell the difference between cherries that were ripe and ones that weren't. It wasn't making much money on the farm, and there was just enough to get by. Whittier himself wasn't cut out for hard farm work, and he had bad health and was weak his whole life.
